Expert: Phillip Senn - 7/13/2011

Question
How do you explain the absence of gifted people like Peter so described in Acts 5:15 &16?

Answer
Nihal,

Thank you for your question.

The Book of Acts, is described as the "Acts of the Apostles". It is so named because it describes the things which were done in and through the Apostles. An Apostle is one that not only was with Jesus throughout His earthly ministry, but that they also had been "chosen" by the Lord for this ministry, and thus were especially gifted for this ministry. Many teach that these Apostolic gifts continue to be passed from the Apostles to us today. I do not find any such teaching in Scripture. God is still in the healing business, as God does not change. He is still able to heal diseases, just as He did during Jesus' ministry and the Apostolic era. However, because there are no longer any persons that meet the criteria for Apostleship, there is no authority for one to have the Apostolic gifts.

The gifts of the Holy Spirit are often confused with the Apostolic gifts. The Holy Spirit is still very active in the lives of believers, and thus, the gifts of the HS are just as active. The difference is that that all believers do not have ALL of the gifts (see 1 Corinthians 12:11). The "signs" follow them that believe, does not mean that each has all of the He divides to each believer severally as He wills. The Apostolic gifts were presented to the Apostles for their ministry, just as we are gifted for our ministries, but the Apostolic ministry was a specific ministry during a specific period of time. We now have a ministry that is based upon the written Word of God, and we are empowered by the HS to carry out that ministry.

I hope this helps to provide clarity to you question.

With Love In Christ,
Phillip Senn