I have been watching and observing Cessationism for some years. I have interacted with a number of Cessationists on Social Media as well. While I don’t pretend to know the heart of every person who believes in Cessationism, and I won’t claim to know every person’s standing with God, I can say that Cessationism is purely ungodly.
I don’t mean to demean a single person who holds to Cessationism. Some believe in it because of rampant abuses in the Charismatic. There are brilliant and eloquent men who hold to Cessationism.
Regardless of any of that, Cessationism is heresy, according to the Bible.
I won’t go into an intellectual article on this mainly because the Bible is clear and speaks against Cessationism, but also because intellectualism led to Cessationism.
1. Disunity
Psalm 133:1
Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!
Jesus is praying to the Father near the end of His life. Of the many things Jesus could have prayed, He prayed for unity. In fact, Jesus prays about this THREE times!
John 17:11, 20-22
11 And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.
“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one,
Does Cessationism fit that? Or:
1 Corinthians 1:13
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
There are now Cessationist conferences, books, movies, and more. What does any of that accomplish for the Kingdom of God? Does it promote unity? Or is it all noisy gongs and clanging cymbals?
I could post numerous links to articles, videos, and more where Charismatic leaders are viscously attacked and maligned. If you examined them, you would find charismatic leaders who are lovers of the scriptures and God.
This is not promoting unity. Instead, disunity is promoted.
2. Quenching God
1 Thessalonians 5:19-22
Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.
We see here where it does matter to God. So much so that if we don’t believe that the Holy Spirit gives out His gifts to Believers, we are quenching God. We must never forget that the Spirit mentioned here is God, the Holy Spirit. Essentially, Cessationism itself is quenching and despising God since true prophecy comes from God alone (2 Peter 1:21).
I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be a part of a belief system that despises God.
3. Denying scripture
Cessationism claims to hold to the sufficiency of scripture, yet they deny the very scriptures that teach us about the gifts and callings of God, especially when they will cease.
1 Corinthians 13:8-10
Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.
The scripture here makes it clear that these gifts will cease when Jesus returns. Jesus is the only perfect because God is perfect. It is NOT referring to scripture. Read this from Blue Letter Bible:
Therefore, when we speak of the Bible being perfect, it is relatively perfect, not absolutely perfect. It is as perfect as it needs to be. It is true in everything that it says, but sometimes the truths are only approximate. Consequently, we should not expect to find precise scientific language or descriptions.
(For the full article, read here)
Cessationism denies what scripture says about the gifts ceasing.
What else does Cessationism deny? That there are prophets and apostles today. Of course, there has to be the gift of prophecy in operation if there are prophets. This has to be said because of what God tells us in scripture here:
Ephesians 4:11-13
And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,
We see where Jesus Himself gives five different and distinct callings to His bride. We see as well exactly when these five callings will cease:
…until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,
We are told here when we are all in unity. There very fact that there are numerous denominations, sometimes denominations within denominations, proves that we have yet to attain this perfect unity.
The only way to get around the scripture in Ephesians 4 is to take away from it by removing apostles and prophets, which is a very grievous sin to God.
The fruit that Cessationism produces is very far from the Bible and, therefore, God. This view would have been unrecognizable to those who wrote the New Testament and those who lived in that first century.
Cessationism promotes disunity, quenches God Himself, and denies fundamental scriptures by adding to and removing scriptures.
Thanks for sharing this needed and important subject matter. The Pharisees and Sadducees also made statements about Jesus miracles coming from satan, in effect, blaspheming the Holy Spirit. These modern day “teachers” of cessationism are very much doing the same things and themselves at risk of judgement.