How is the pope related to peter?

Question

popes come from different countries rite, how is a Roman or German pope related to peter? i hear of this laying of hands thing, were in the bible is that?. also can this special prayer be done for a person like me which would then make a relative of peter??

Answer 1

No relation. The first pope did not exist until 600 years after Christ. Peter was not the first pope and the church was not built upon Peter but upon the confession Peter made. The church is built upon the confession that Christ is the Son of God. The Christian church is not a building but the people. The faithful.

BB

Answer 2

Read the book of Acts, which describes the earliest days of the Church. All apostolic and episcopal authority is transferred by the laying on of hands. The bishops lay hands on a candidate and the candidate becomes a bishop.



In the early days a pope could be elected by acclamation of the people and some were. But even then, for his elevation to be official and sanctioned the bishops had to lay hands upon him. And so it went, generation to generation, gathering more

pomp and circumstance through the centuries, but the foundation remains the same. The cardinal bishops and archbishops lay hands upon the newly elected pope and THAT is what makes him pope. It's an unbroken line that does have four burps, but when the majority of the bishops settled down and did it right, they did it right and the burps quit trying to pass themselves off as legitimately elected popes. It takes a two-thirds + one majority to elect a pope and all those who voted for him have to lay hands upon him to make it official.



BTW< all Church of England bishops and archbishops also have this Apostolic election and it is valid in the eyes of Rome. If you go back to Henry VIII, those bishops, duly ordained and approved by Rome, who then went over to Henry's side, retained that legitimate ordination and those they in turn ordained are legally so even unto today. Even though some of them are now no more Christian than Golda Meir.

Answer 3

Out of respect for the Apostle St Peter, no Pope has ever adopted the name Peter II. According to Roman Catholic tradition, St Peter was installed as the first Pope by Jesus Christ. Though the adoption of that name is not canonically barred, it is considered unlikely that any future Pope would ever choose such a name.



The likelihood of such a choice may be further diminished by a passage in the controversial Prophecy of the Popes, that mention a "Peter the Roman" (Petrus Romanus) as the final Pope, who would "feed his sheep in many tribulations" and "final persecution". This note invests the name of Peter II with an apocalyptic connotation. The Prophecy of the Popes has no formal standing and is given little weight by most scholars.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Peter_II

Answer 4

Each pope is called a successor of Saint Peter, who was the first pope, in much the same way that each President of the United States is the successor of George Washington, our country's first president. The American people elect our president, but the cardinals (bishops) elect the pope.



So just as George Washington was a native of Virginia, but our other Presidents have been from Ohio, Kentucky, and California, so, too, the cardinals may choose a pope who is a native of any land.



Pope Benedict mentions the laying on of hands and its biblical basis in a paper called " Stephen the Protomartyr", where he explains that," The act of the laying on of hands can have various meanings. In the Old Testament, this gesture meant above all the transmission of an important office, just as Moses laid his hands on Joshua (cf. Nm 27:18-23), thereby designating his successor. Along the same lines, the Church of Antioch would also use this gesture in sending out Paul and Barnabas on their mission to the peoples of the world (cf. Acts 13:3).



The two Pauline Letters addressed to Timothy (cf. I Tm 4:14; II Tm 1:6) refer to a similar imposition of hands on Timothy, to confer upon him an official responsibility. From what we read in the First Letter to Timothy, we can deduce that this was an important action to be carried out after discernment: "Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, nor participate in another man's sins" (5:22).



Thus, we see that the act of the laying on of hands developed along the lines of a sacramental sign. In the case of Stephen and his companions, it was certainly an official conferral of an office by the Apostles, but at the same time an entreaty for the grace to carry it out."



As to becoming a relative of Peter, all of us who love and follow Jesus Christ belong to Him, and are His brothers and sisters. And Peter gave his life to follow Christ, so he certainly became Christ's spiritual brother. If you are following Christ, therefore, you are also Peter's spiritual brother or sister.



God bless you!

Answer 5

Catholics believe in apostolic succession. That the apostles of Jesus basically passed on their office and power to their successors. They state that there is a line of popes existing back to Peter that all have this apostolic succession.

Answer 6

Sounds like you have worked out who the antichrist who wants the whole world to be forced into sunday worship so they may recevie his mark



many cathloics trefuse to beleive this, even when confornted with the evidence



Roman religeons have always been about worshipping men as god, Ceasar and Augustus were 2 examples.

The pope is no different.

Answer 7

Through Adam and Eve, right?

Answer 8

I'm an Evangelical Christian and we dont beleive the Pope to be our leader

Answer 9

WTF!!!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAhAHAHAHA XD

peter was the first pope!!!!!!!!! lmfaooooooo





sory but thats hilarious

Answer 10

um, watch south park or read a good book.

Answer 11

They claim that the line of popes has come down all the way to today from Peter uninterrupted. Big lie.



***Was Peter in Rome?



Rome is referred to in nine verses of the Holy Scriptures; none of these say that Peter was there. First Peter 5:13 shows that he was in Babylon. Was this a cryptic reference to Rome? His being in Babylon was consistent with his assignment to preach to the Jews (as indicated at Galatians 2:9), since there was a large Jewish population in Babylon. The Encyclopaedia Judaica (Jerusalem, 1971, Vol. 15, col. 755), when discussing production of the Babylonian Talmud, refers to Judaism’s “great academies of Babylon” during the Common Era.



Has an unbroken line of successors been traced from Peter to modern-day popes?



Jesuit John McKenzie, when professor of theology at Notre Dame, wrote: “Historical evidence does not exist for the entire chain of succession of church authority.”—The Roman Catholic Church (New York, 1969), p. 4.



The New Catholic Encyclopedia admits: “ . . . the scarcity of documents leaves much that is obscure about the early development of the episcopate . . . ”—(1967), Vol. I, p. 696.



Claims of divine appointment mean nothing if those who make them are not obedient to God and Christ



Matt. 7:21-23, JB: “It is not those who say to me, ‘Lord, Lord’, who will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the person who does the will of my Father in heaven. When the day comes many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, cast out demons in your name, work many miracles in your name?’ Then I shall tell them to their faces: I have never known you; away from me, you evil men!”



See also Jeremiah 7:9-15.



Have the claimed successors to the apostles adhered to the teachings and practices of Jesus Christ and his apostles?



A Catholic Dictionary states: “The Roman Church is Apostolic, because her doctrine is the faith once revealed to the Apostles, which faith she guards and explains, without adding to it or taking from it.” (London, 1957, W. E. Addis and T. Arnold, p. 176) Do the facts agree?



Identity of God



“The Trinity is the term employed to signify the central doctrine of the Christian religion.”—The Catholic Encyclopedia (1912), Vol. XV, p. 47.



“Neither the word Trinity, nor the explicit doctrine as such, appears in the New Testament . . . The doctrine developed gradually over several centuries and through many controversies.”—The New Encyclopædia Britannica (1976), Micropædia, Vol. X, p. 126.



“There is the recognition on the part of exegetes and Biblical theologians, including a constantly growing number of Roman Catholics, that one should not speak of Trinitarianism in the New Testament without serious qualification. There is also the closely parallel recognition on the part of historians of dogma and systematic theologians that when one does speak of an unqualified Trinitarianism, one has moved from the period of Christian origins to, say, the last quadrant of the 4th century.”—New Catholic Encyclopedia (1967), Vol. XIV, p. 295.



Celibacy of the clergy



Pope Paul VI, in his encyclical Sacerdotalis Caelibatus (Priestly Celibacy, 1967), endorsed celibacy as a requirement for the clergy, but he admitted that “the New Testament which preserves the teaching of Christ and the Apostles . . . does not openly demand celibacy of sacred ministers . . . Jesus Himself did not make it a prerequisite in His choice of the Twelve, nor did the Apostles for those who presided over the first Christian communities.”—The Papal Encyclicals 1958-1981 (Falls Church, Va.; 1981), p. 204.



1 Cor. 9:5, NAB: “Do we not have the right to marry a believing woman like the rest of the apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas?” (“Cephas” is an Aramaic name given to Peter; see John 1:42. See also Mark 1:29-31, where reference is made to the mother-in-law of Simon, or Peter.)



1 Tim. 3:2, Dy: “It behoveth, therefore, a bishop to be . . . the husband of one wife [“married only once,” NAB].”



Before the Christian era, Buddhism required its priests and monks to be celibate. (History of Sacerdotal Celibacy in the Christian Church, London, 1932, fourth ed., revised, Henry C. Lea, p. 6) Even earlier, the higher orders of the Babylonian priesthood were required to practice celibacy, according to The Two Babylons by A. Hislop.—(New York, 1943), p. 219.



1 Tim. 4:1-3, JB: “The Spirit has explicitly said that during the last times there will be some who will desert the faith and choose to listen to deceitful spirits and doctrines that come from the devils; . . . they will say marriage is forbidden.”



Separateness from the world



Pope Paul VI, when addressing the United Nations in 1965, said: “The peoples of the earth turn to the United Nations as the last hope of concord and peace; We presume to present here, together with Our own, their tribute of honor and of hope.”—The Pope’s Visit (New York, 1965), Time-Life Special Report, p. 26.



John 15:19, JB: “[Jesus Christ said:] If you belonged to the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you do not belong to the world, because my choice withdrew you from the world, therefore the world hates you.”



Jas. 4:4, JB: “Don’t you realise that making the world your friend is making God your enemy?”



Resorting to weapons of war



Catholic historian E. I. Watkin writes: “Painful as the admission must be, we cannot in the interest of a false edification or dishonest loyalty deny or ignore the historical fact that Bishops have consistently supported all wars waged by the government of their country. I do not know in fact of a single instance in which a national hierarchy has condemned as unjust any war . . . Whatever the official theory, in practice ‘my country always right’ has been the maxim followed in wartime by Catholic Bishops.”—Morals and Missiles (London, 1959), edited by Charles S. Thompson, pp. 57, 58.



Matt. 26:52, JB: “Jesus then said, ‘Put your sword back, for all who draw the sword will die by the sword.’”



1 John 3:10-12, JB: “In this way we distinguish the children of God from the children of the devil: anybody . . . not loving his brother is no child of God’s. . . . We are to love one another; not to be like Cain, who belonged to the Evil One and cut his brother’s throat.”



In the light of the foregoing, have those who claim to be successors to the apostles really taught and practiced what Christ and his apostles did?

Answer 12

A. & E. is as "close" as they can claim!!! It's All Mumbo-Jumbo with the catholics trying to Justify themselves to "Dominate" the people through Ignorance. Here's the Doctrine on "Hands" & All Spiritual Gifts. Enjoy! John



DOCTRINE OF SPIRITUAL GIFTS

SPIRITUAL GIFTS

A. The Source of Spiritual Gifts.œ

1. All three members of the Trinity are the source of spiritual gifts.

2. God the Father as the source is documented in Heb 2:4. "God

[Father] also bearing witness with them, both by signs and wonders, and by

various works of power, and by various distributions [of spiritual gifts]

from the Holy Spirit in accordance with His will."

a. God the Father uses the ministry of God the Holy Spirit for

giving spiritual gifts.

b. Distribution of spiritual gifts are made as a witness to the

strategic victory of our Lord Jesus Christ during the dispensation of the

Hypostatic Union.

c. God the Father is also the author of our portfolio of

invisible assets. The primary assets include escrow and computer (election

and predestination) assets. The secondary assets include volition,

production, Christian service, undeserved suffering, and the invisible

impact of the invisible hero. The personal assets include both temporary

and permanent spiritual gifts.

2. God the Son as the source of spiritual gifts is documented in Eph

4:7. "To each one of us, this grace has been given according to the measure

of the spiritual gift from Christ. Therefore, it [Old Testament Scriptures]

says, `When He ascended into heaven, He led a host of captives in a

triumphal procession from a state of captivity, and He gave spiritual gifts

to men.'"

a. There were two results of our Lord's ascension.

(1) The transfer of Old Testament saints from Paradise in

Hades to heaven.

(2) Spiritual gifts were distributed.

b. God the Son is involved in the initial distribution of

spiritual gifts which were temporary gifts, no longer extant. Today, it is

God the Holy Spirit who gives permanent spiritual gifts to us at salvation.

3. God the Holy Spirit gives to each of us at salvation a spiritual

gift as He wills, 1 Cor 12:11.



B. Definition and Description.

1. The Greek noun CHARISMA for spiritual gifts is based on the word

CHARIS, or grace. All spiritual gifts are a matter of grace! No gift is

given based on God's foreknown merit of the believer. CHARISMA is primarily

a Pauline expression, though it occurs once in 1 Pet 4:10.

2. Spiritual gifts are sovereignly given by the Holy Spirit to each

believer at the point of salvation. Therefore, a spiritual gift is never

earned, deserved, or developed through any form of emotional experience.

3. The gift given represents the wisdom of the Holy Spirit; remember

that when you object to your own or to someone else's. Your spirituality

has nothing to do with your spiritual life as such; i.e., you're not given a

more spectacular or visible gift if it's anticipated that you'll be more

spiritual, and you're not given a more "invisible" gift if it's anticipated

that you won't turn out to be much anyhow.

4. The initial distribution of spiritual gifts, from the day of

Pentecost for about twenty years, came from the Lord Jesus Christ and God

the Holy Spirit. He made the first distribution on the day of Pentecost,

ten days after His ascension, according to Eph 4:7-8. But since that time,

the Holy Spirit makes the distribution of all spiritual gifts, according to

Heb 2:4 and 1 Cor 12:11. In several passages, spiritual gifts are ascribed

to God without distinguishing which member of the Holy Trinity is the giver.

But today the Holy Spirit is the giver. 1 Cor 12:11, "But one and the same

Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as

He wills. This is one of the few New Testament references to the

sovereignty of the Holy Spirit.

5. Spiritual gifts are not earned, not deserved, not developed, and

not acquired through emotional experience. Your spiritual gift becomes

operational through normal spiritual growth.

6. From the standpoint of the Word of God, all believers have equal

privilege and equal opportunity from their computer assets. This means that

the distinction between believers in the eyes of God is never related to

appearance, personality, or any form of human or alleged spiritual

achievement.

7. The only distinction between believers can be categorized under two

concepts.

a. Spiritual growth. Some believers use their equal privilege

and equal opportunity and achieve phenomenal growth. Distinction among

believers on the basis of their spiritual growth is a result of their

motivation, volition, and priorities.

b. Spiritual gifts. The distinction among believers in spiritual

gifts has its source in the sovereign wisdom of the Holy Spirit.

8. God the Holy Spirit in His sovereign wisdom has provided different

spiritual gifts, so that some difference in modus operandi exists in the

body of Christ, just as different functions are assigned to different parts

of the human body.

9. The effectiveness of the spiritual gift depends upon two factors.

a. The filling of the Holy Spirit is the absolute concept of

experiential Christianity.

b. The degree of spiritual growth is the relative concept of

experiential Christianity. If you are growing spiritually, your gift will

function. Communication gifts can function to some degree even when a

believer is out of fellowship, because God honors the gift. But this only

applies to communication gifts, and is not a desireable situation.

10. Therefore, spiritual gifts only function inside the divine

dynasphere under the enabling power of the Holy Spirit and momentum from

metabolized doctrine, totally apart from emotion. Emotion neither

characterizes the filling of the Spirit nor the function of spiritual gifts.

As you have momentum from doctrine, your spiritual gift will function, even

without your cognition. But you will find yourself becoming involved in

things where your spiritual gift is functioning.

11. Spiritual gifts are the Father's witness to the saving work of

Christ, and to the strategic victory of our Lord in the angelic conflict.

They are distributed today by God the Holy Spirit under that concept

according to Heb 2:4 and Eph 4:8, though they were initially distributed by

the Lord Jesus Christ as a result of His ascension.

12. There are four prerequisites before we receive our spiritual gift.

a. We must have the imputed righteousness of God.

b. We must have the same life as Christ, eternal life.

c. We must have all of our pre©salvation sins forgiven.

d. We must be entered into union with Christ.

13. We do not know what our spiritual gift is until we reach the point

of spiritual self©esteem. Therefore, we have to advance in our spiritual

life before we recognize what our spiritual gift is. Those who do not

advance in their spiritual life never know what their spiritual gift is.

But when we reach spiritual self-esteem our spiritual gift will function

whether we know it or not.

C. There are two categories of spiritual gifts.œ

1. Temporary spiritual gifts were operational during the pre©canon

period of the Church Age, i.e., from circa A.D. 30, the day of Pentecost

when the Church Age began, to A.D. 96, the pre-canon period of the Church

Age. These spiritual gifts were sensational spiritual gifts like apostles,

prophets, teaching, miracles, healing, tongues, interpretation of tongues.

2. Permanent spiritual gifts function from the completion of the New

Testament in 96 A.D. until the Rapture of the Church, whenever that occurs.

3. Temporary spiritual gifts only functioned during the pre-canon

period. On the day the Church Age began, there was no New Testament. So

temporary spiritual gifts were designed to take up the slack in the Church

Age until the New Testament Canon was completed and circulated, and the

mystery doctrine of the Church Age was reduced to writing.

a. Not one principle of the Christian way of life was ever taught

in the Old Testament. All mystery doctrine was taught in the New Testament;

none of it was ever taught in the Old Testament.

b. So the temporary spiritual gifts were designed to function in

place of the New Testament, and many of them were spectacular in nature.

4. On the other hand, permanent spiritual gifts function throughout

the Church Age, but are emphasized from the time of the completion of the

Canon.



D. Distinctions and Spiritual Gifts

1. The temporary gifts of the apostolic age became the source of abuse

under two concepts.

a. While operative, there were some abuses.

b. Since they have been discontinued, people still claim to have

them. This is an abuse since they no longer exist. The Corinthian Church

was involved in some of these abuses.

c. The Corinthians emphasized and exalted spectacular gifts, and

related them to spirituality. Spectacular gifts are not spirituality, any

more than less spectacular gifts. Spirituality is not based upon spiritual

gifts; spirituality is based on the filling of the Holy Spirit.

2. Every believer has a spiritual gift in his portfolio of invisible

assets; this gift is given to him at salvation.

3. No matter how insignificant a spiritual gift may appear to you or

to others, it is essential for the function of the body of Christ; just as

every position on a team is important for the function of that team.

4. One principle has always been true: spiritual gifts, like any

other human activity, function under authority. No divine institution can

function without authority. Authority doesn't always exist in the person

who is most capable, or who is the best leader. Nothing in life is

effective without authority. Orientation to authority is the beginning of

virtue.

5. Spiritual gifts have their highest function in spiritual adulthood.

When a person has mastered the functions of virtue-love at gates #5 and #6

of the divine dynasphere, then his gift will function to the maximum.

Virtue©love includes personal love for God the Father at gate #5, impersonal

love for all mankind at gate #6, and occupation with the person of Jesus

Christ. Your spiritual gift will not function to the maximum before you

reach spiritual maturity, for its maximum function comes in spiritual

adulthood.

6. Spiritual gifts are said to differ in value, as we'll note in 1 Cor

12:28. While we have equal privilege and equal opportunity under our

computer assets, there are differences of modus operandi among believers in

the utilization of their spiritual gifts.

7. Spectacular spiritual gifts do not imply spiritual growth, superior

Christian experience, or Christian greatness. Greatness comes by advancing

to spiritual maturity and becoming an invisible hero. You can be an

invisible hero with a relatively unknown or apparently insignificant gift

and be just as great as a mature believer with a more visible gift.



E. Temporary Spiritual Gifts.œ The temporary gifts were operational during

the pre-canon period of the Church Age, circa A.D. 30 - A.D. 96. Temporary

gifts were designed to take up the slack for the beginning of the Church Age

until the New Testament was completed and circulated, and until the mystery

doctrine was reduced to writing. A list of the temporary spiritual gifts

follows in order of merit.

1. The gift of apostleship. (See the Doctrine of Apostleship.)

2. The gift of prophecy was not a national leader like that of the Old

Testament prophets. This gift was second in order of merit, and is so

listed in 1 Cor 12:28. It is also mentioned in Rom 12:6; 1 Cor 12:10, and

14:1-40 where it is presented in contrast to the gift of tongues.

a. Old Testament prophets were national leaders, especially in

times of crisis. In times of prosperity, he was the final authority on

Bible doctrine. However, this gift is not related to national leadership.

Many of the Old Testament prophets were great national leaders, e.g.,

Elijah. Isaiah dictated the correct foreign policy that saved Israel. But

those with the gift of prophecy in the Church Age were not national leaders;

they only functioned within the realm of the Church.

b. The gift of prophecy included a message of divine guidance or

a warning of judgment, or a prediction about the immediate future. In Acts

11, Agabus the prophet predicted the famine and depression to come. In Acts

21:10-11, he warned Paul not to go back to Jerusalem.

c. Prophets had a limited teaching ministry related to

contemporary events; that's why they are called "prophets and teachers" in

Acts 13:1.

d. Males with the gift of prophecy recorded in Scripture.

(1) Agabus, Acts 11:27-28, 21:10-11.

(2) Others included Barnabas, Simeon, Lucius, Manaen, and

even Paul, according to Acts 13:1. Judas and Silas had the gift, Acts

13:32.

e. Acts 21:19 presents a problem, because the four daughters of

Philip the evangelist are said to "be prophesying" in the present active

participle. However, they did not have a spiritual gift. So we must

distinguish between people permitted by God to prophesy, and those who had

the spiritual gift of prophecy. No record of their prophecies is ever

given, and obviously they did not have the spiritual gift of prophecy.

f. In exercising the temporary spiritual gift of prophecy, the

prophet must receive his message from God, or he must declare God's will to

someone in terms of prophecy, i.e., in terms of future events. The prophecy

must be doctrinally accurate.

g. Because of the tremendous amount of eschatology in the New

Testament epistles, it is quite obvious that the writers who were apostles

also had the gift of prophecy.

h. The gift of prophecy warned about judgment on sin, indicated

the will of God regarding current events, and predicted future events during

the apostolic age. But the gift did not extend into the postcanon period

because of the doctrine of historical trends. Every function of the gift of

prophecy during the pre-canon period is fulfilled by the doctrine of

historical trends during the postcanon period. By metabolizing doctrine,

you become your own prophet.

i. With the completion of the canon of Scripture in A.D. 96 and

its gradual circulation, temporary gifts of communication ceased to exist;

they were replaced by the permanent communication gifts of evangelism and

pastor©teacher.

3. The gift of miracles is found in 1 Cor 12:28; 2 Cor 12:12.

a. This temporary spiritual gift was designed to authenticate and

certify communication gifts during the apostolic age. This gift was used by

an apostle, a prophet, a pastor-teacher, or an evangelist as a credit card

to certify that he had that communication gift. The person who had a

communication gift could perform a miracle at will. This was the sign that

he was from God.

b. Today, no one has the gift of miracles, since the completion

of the canon of Scripture. The greatest miracle in all of history is the

power of Bible doctrine in the life of the positive believer who makes

doctrine his #1 priority.

c. People tended to lean on miracles during the apostolic age,

resulting in terrible apostasy. Whenever someone had a problem, instead of

using and applying Bible doctrine, they just waited around for a miracle.

So that miracles became the basis for leading many into apostasy, even

though it was legitimate at that time.

d. While no believer today has the gift of miracles, God still

performs miracles if He chooses to do so. But they are not performed by any

human through a spiritual gift.

e. Of course, Satan has a clever system for duplicating miracles.

But there is no such thing as an intermediary between you and God for the

performance of miracles. There is no ceremony; there is no system of prayer

for miracles. Believers who practice this today insult God, regarding Him

as a genie.

f. The easiest thing God can do for a human being is to perform a

miracle. This is because it does not require any cooperation or positive

volition from a person; it only requires a decision from the sovereignty of

God and the use of His omnipotence.

g. The greatest demonstration of God's power toward mankind today

is the fulfillment of His protocol plan through the believer's consistent

residence inside the divine dynasphere, under the enabling power of the

Spirit, and momentum from metabolized doctrine, utilizing his very own

portfolio of invisible assets.

h. God never designed miracles to alleviate suffering.

Otherwise, our Lord would have been remiss in not healing everyone when He

was on earth. Miracles were designed to focus attention on the power of God

and the Word of God, to focus attention on the man (or Messiah) with the

message. The fact that miracles often alleviate suffering is incidental to

the point; it is an after-the-fact result. The greatest thing in life is

not a miracle, but Bible doctrine resident in your soul.

i. Miracles are sovereign and personal, never in the hands of a

human being during the postcanon period of the Church Age.

j. Paul performed miracles, indicating that he had the gift of

apostleship; therefore he was given a hearing. Whenever our Lord performed

a miracle, it was always in relationship to His message. The message of

doctrine is infinitely more important than any miracle that has ever

occurred.

k. All the hocus-pocus in the false function of miracles today is

designed to call attention to man. It's an ego trip. It is an arrogant

person trying to control and influence a lot of dumb sheep. Miracles are

not the issue today. The very fact that people want, ask, and pray for

miracles means they do not begin to understand the true greatness of God's

power, the greatness of His plan and the portfolio of invisible assets. No

one in the Church Age has the power to heal you via a miracle.

4. The gift of healing is mentioned in 1 Cor 12:9, 28, 30.

a. Just as miracles was designed to authenticate the person, so

healing was designed to focus attention on the message of apostles,

prophets, pastors, and evangelists before the New Testament was completed

and circulated.

b. Miracles authenticated the person; healing certified the

message. So they were different, though they both had the same connotation

in that they dealt with supernatural phenomena. A man with the gift of

miracles could perform a miracle at will, anytime he chose to do so, and he

could heal as well. In fact, people could just touch Paul and they were

instantly healed.

c. Healing as a spiritual gift does not exist today, for it

ceased with the completion of the Canon. Any healing today must come

directly from God, and not through any delegated human authority or

intermediary. Normally, healing is performed through medicine or even a

tranquil mental attitude so that the body can heal itself.

d. Healing is not a question of God's power. Healing is not even

a matter of someone's faith. It is the wisdom of God's sovereign will in

individual situations. God heals today only in special cases in which He

has a special purpose, such as extending your life so that you can learn

doctrine. But no person has the right to take any credit, should such

healing occur. The credit lies with the wisdom and sovereignty of God.

e. Paul had the gift of healing. It was used as a credit card to

establish his apostleship, since he murdered more Christians in the first

century than anyone else before the great persecutions began. Acts 19:11-12

tells of the spectacular nature of his healing gift, for a person only had

to touch Paul to be healed instantly.

f. But once Paul's apostleship and message was established and

generally accepted, God withdrew the gift of healing from him since it was

no longer needed. We know this because Paul could not heal two of his

closest friends. He solicited prayer on their behalf, but he could not heal

them. One was Epaphroditus in Phil 2:27, the other was Trophemus in 2 Tim

4:20; Paul had to leave Trophemus behind because he could not heal him.

g. There is true healing that occurs when a demon possessed

person experiences the demon leaving his body; such a person is then

"cured." This method is used by Satan to establish false teachers.

5. The gift of tongues. (See the doctrine of Tongues.)

a. The gift of tongues was designed to warn the Jews of the

coming of the fifth cycle of discipline by evangelizing them in Gentile

languages, cf. Isa 28.

b. Tongues was the first of the temporary gifts to be removed

70 A.D.

6. The interpretation of tongues is in 1 Cor 12:10, 30, 14:26-28.

a. When anyone stood up in a church and spoke in tongues,

presenting the Gospel to Jewish unbelievers who were present (Jews whose

native tongue was a Gentile language), the rest of the congregation could

not understand what was said. They thought the man speaking in tongues had

gone off his rocker; he didn't even know what he was saying.

b. So the one with the gift of interpretation of tongues stood up

and explained what was said by the one who had just spoken in tongues. This

gift was designed for the rest of the congregation so they would know the

one with the gift of tongues was not crazy.

c. The gift of tongues never functioned without the gift of

interpretation of tongues also functioning. The gift of interpretation of

tongues was the ability to translate the message of the one speaking in

tongues.

d. Today any alleged speaking in tongues or interpretation of

tongues is either a psychological malady of an emotional reject or demon

activity. The EGGASTRAMUTHOS demon who possesses an unbeliever controls

that person's vocal cords, causing him to "speak in tongues."

7. The gift of knowledge is found in 1 Cor 12:8, 13:8. With this

gift, you had instant cognition of mystery doctrine. This was a spiritual

gift whereby you knew a Church Age doctrine without studying it, for there

was as yet no New Testament canon in writing to study. This knowledge was

provided directly by God the Holy Spirit who inserted previously unknown

doctrinal information into a person's right lobe as epignosis. In other

words, the gift of knowledge functioned totally apart from the function of

operation Z.

8. The gift of wisdom is found in 1 Cor 12:8. This gift accompanied

the gift of knowledge, as the ability to explain and apply the mystery

doctrine taught by the gift of knowledge. So some taught the mystery

doctrine; others taught the application of that doctrine. Today, wisdom

comes with spiritual adulthood only. No believer before reaching spiritual

self©esteem has wisdom.

9. The gift of exhortation is found in Rom 12:8.

a. Before the canon of Scripture was completed and circulated,

the spiritual gift of exhortation was necessary. This was the temporary

gift of counseling, comforting, warning, and advising.

b. The Greek word used for this gift was PARAKLESIS which means

comforter. But today, the Holy Spirit is the PARAKLESIS. We have the

permanent indwelling of the Spirit, the filling of the Spirit, the ministry

of the Spirit in teaching, metabolizing, and applying doctrine. Hence, with

the completion of the New Testament, this temporary gift was no longer

necessary.

c. Today you can do these things for yourself in spiritual

adulthood. Beginning with spiritual self©esteem, you counsel yourself; you

comfort yourself; you warn yourself; you advise yourself. However, there is

still a place for these things in the ministry of the pastor-teacher.

d. Of course, we can always learn from people. Anyone who is

honest with you is your friend.

10. The gift of discerning spirits is found in 1 Cor 12:10. This was

the spiritual gift for the detection of false doctrine. With the completion

of the canon of Scripture, this gift was no longer necessary, since the New

Testament contains true doctrine and thereby exposes false doctrine.

11. The gift of faith is found in 1 Cor 12:9. This must be

šdistinguished from the faith-rest drill.

a. This was a special spiritual gift before the New Testament was

completed, whereby a believer demonstrated faith in a group which was being

persecuted or was under some special pressure. Everyone would be moaning

and groaning and complaining about some circumstance, and this believer

would exercise great faith in deliverance or in confidence in God, and

encourage that group to depend upon the Lord.

b. This person would exercise his gift of faith on behalf of the

group, either to comfort them with promises and doctrine, or to announce

that a deliverance was about to come. If a group of believers were about to

go to the lions, and one of them stood up with the gift of faith and said,

"I'm trusting the Lord that we'll all be delivered," they would all be

delivered and none of them would go to the lions.

c. The New Testament didn't exist, so there were no promises to

claim and no doctrine to apply. This gift was provided in lieu of having

New Testament promises and doctrines, so that the faith-rest drill could

function.

12. 1 Cor 13:8-10 explains the temporary function of certain spiritual

gifts, "Virtue-love is never phased out; but if prophecies, they will be

discontinued; if tongues, they will be terminated; if the gift of knowledge,

it will be discontinued. For we know in part [gift of knowledge], and we

prophesy in part [gift of prophecy], but when the perfect comes [New

Testament Canon], then the partial [the temporary spiritual gifts] will be

discontinued [abolished, phased out, withdrawn]."



F. Permanent Spiritual Gifts.

1. Introduction and Identification.

a. Permanent spiritual gifts function in the body of Christ

throughout the entire Church Age, but they are emphasized as functioning

from the time of the completion of the New Testament until the Rapture.

Permanent spiritual gifts were operational before the completion of the

Canon in most cases, and they will continue to function until the Rapture of

the Church.

b. While temporary spiritual gifts were phased out with the

completion and circulation of the New Testament, permanent spiritual gifts

will function in the body of Christ until the end of the Church Age.

c. If you have personally believed in Jesus Christ and received

Him as your personal Savior, you have a permanent spiritual gift. The

question is: what is your spiritual gift? There are no exceptions; every

believer is given a spiritual gift at salvation.

d. The initial distribution of spiritual gifts was made by the

Lord Jesus Christ after His ascension and session, according to Eph 4:7-11.

e. Thereafter, at salvation, God the Holy Spirit sovereignly

distributes spiritual gifts according to His perfect, eternal, and infinite

wisdom. One of the forty things you received at salvation, and one of the

seven ministries of the Holy Spirit at salvation was His sovereign act in

giving you a at least one spiritual gift. This is taught in 1 Cor 12:7, 11,

18 and 28.

f. The category of spiritual gift which you possess is not a sign

of spiritual superiority, growth, or inferiority. Spiritual gifts are a

matter of the sovereign wisdom of God the Holy Spirit. You are not better

or worse than anyone else by virtue of your spiritual gift.

g. The effectiveness of your spiritual gift depends upon two

categories of experiential sanctification.

(1) The absolute concept, which is the filling of the Spirit

or life in the divine dynasphere.

(2) The relative concept, which is a matter of your

spiritual growth or lack of it.

h. A distinction must be recognized between natural abilities or

talents and spiritual gifts. Your natural abilities are related to your

physical birth and genetics; spiritual gifts are related to regeneration.

2. There are three categories of permanent spiritual gifts.

These are categorized according to the means of their identification.

a. Communication gifts must be identified because they demand

maximum preparation. There are two permanent communication gifts: the gift

of pastor-teacher and the gift of evangelism, and any combination thereof

related to missionary function. "Missionary" is not a spiritual gift; it is

a function of the body of Christ. The communication gifts used out in the

field are pastor-teacher and evangelism; non-communication gifts are used in

the field as well.

(1) The communication gifts are given to male believers

only, and they are given totally apart from human merit.

(2) From His wisdom related to His omniscience, God the Holy

Spirit always over supplies. There are always more men with the gift of

pastor-teacher than there are men who will actually use it.

(3) These two communication gifts must be recognized as soon

as possible, because it takes a tremendous amount of preparation to function

effectively under the wisdom of God. This preparation requires many

different things, e.g., military service and extensive academic training (to

include five to eight graduate years).

(4) Identification is not simple, because it demands

persistence in the perception of doctrine. It is not connected with

emotion. No feeling should lead or guide you; you have to know from

doctrine, and have confidence from that knowledge. If you identify your

gift too late for proper preparation, don't be concerned because God uses

that gift in many other ways.

(5) After the individual male recognizes his spiritual gift

and prepares for it, then the Bible demands that some local church recognize

his spiritual gift through the ritual of ordination. Eventually, some local

church will recognize him by calling him to be their pastor.

b. There are spiritual gifts that the pastor of a local church

must identify among members in his congregation, i.e., the gifts of

administrative leadership, which must be possessed by church officers and

some deacons, especially the chairmen of standing committees.

(1) Half of the responsibility of this spiritual gift is

specified in 1 Cor 12:28 by the noun KUBERNESIS, which means administration.

The ability to administer in the local church is not necessarily the same as

the ability to administer in business, in the military, or in bureaucracy.

(2) The other half of the responsibility of this spiritual

gift is found in Rom 12:8. The present middle participle of PROISTEMI,

which means leadership.

(3) The two words together, KUBERNESIS and PROISTEMI, means

administrative leadership.

(4) Although the prevalent tradition is for the congregation

to vote for deacons and church officers, it is really the job of the pastor

to identify these gifts among men in the congregation and to appoint them as

church officers. These men are responsible for the function and

administration of a local church. No local church can function without

deacons. The gifts of administrative leadership definitely carry authority.

c. There are permanent spiritual gifts which function

automatically without spiritual growth, and they can function without

identification by the possessor. In other words, you can have a spiritual

gift which will function without your cognizance of exactly what it is.

(1) Like all spiritual gifts, these are also sovereignly

bestowed by God the Holy Spirit at salvation. They depend upon the filling

of the Spirit plus spiritual growth for their function.Ü`