Expert: Onaga Thomas - 1/18/2007

Question
I was raised Southern Baptist but have recently been attending a local Church of Christ in North Carolina. Our Sunday School teacher was talking on 1 Corintians Chapter 12 recently. He was referring to supernatural gifts to people during the development of the first church and how these gifts were given to the next generation. He also mentioned that now some believe these gifts such as healing are still given to some people whereas others believe these gifts were not continued after the early church. Could you tell me your  ideas about this chapter?

Answer
Thankyou for your question Patricia

 I went back and studied 1 Corinthians Chapter 12 yesterday and my ideas about the chapter stem from all those supernatural gifts that were there at the beginning to equip (build up) the church.  It says in that chapter those those gifts (healing, speaking in tongues, prophets, etc...) would be in the church until the "end comes."  Most in the church of christ make that to mean the end or completion of God's Word.  So basically those powers existed in the first century church when the word was completed (Revalation), but when God completed his word, there was no need for further revelation, no need to further confirm the word, which was what those powers did, they confirmed God's word.  I also read Chapter 13 and Paul says that the only things that will last forever are faith, hope, and love...meaning that he was telling the church even back then not to expects all these miraculous powers to stay forever. Based on this, I don't believe we have a need for prophets, tongues or such like because God's word is finished and Paul said they would cease.  As for as healing is concered I do believe that God still heals people in miraculous ways.  Maybe some people looked to be liked like those in the Bible and when it does not happen that way, they think that God does not heal anymore.  But God has provided us with doctors, medicine, and scientific discoveries that provide people now with multiple options to heal themselves.  God still heals though, just maybe now in different methods.

God bless

Onaga