Spiritual Gifts Prophecy Romans 12:6-8 Part Two
Romans 12:6-8 6 Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith; 7 if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching; 8 or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.
There s quite a bit of disagreement in the modern-day church about the gift of prophecy. Is prophecy the gift of being able to see future events, is it the ability to be able to say, Thus says the Lord, is it a Godgiven ability to say something that is edifying for a particular situation, or is it a special giftedness in proclaiming God s written Word?
The New Testament doesn t give us a specific definition of this particular gift. Some scholars believe that prophecy was a special revelatory gift that belonged to a very select group of individuals in the firstcentury church.
On the other end of the spectrum, there are those scholars who say that the gift of prophecy is exercised anytime there is a public proclamation of God s truth, whether that truth is new revelation or truth that has already been revealed. There is no new revelation from God. There is absolutely no need or place for prophecy in the sense of adding to the revelation of God.
Paul Enns said, There are many clear examples showing prophesy means foretelling the future. There is no clear reference showing prophesy is used as a synonym for teaching, i.e., forthtelling God's truth.
Some people make the distinction between two types of prophecy, the foretelling of future events and the forthtelling (or proclamation) of God s previously revealed truth.
Prior to the completion of the canon the gift of prophecy was important for the edification of the church Because the foundation of the church has been laid and the canon of Scripture is complete there is no need for the gift of prophecy. Paul Enns
Some interpreters believe this was a special revelatory gift that belonged only to the apostles, and, like the sign gifts, ceased after those men died. While it certainly had a revelatory aspect during Old Testament and apostolic times, it was not limited to revelation. It was exercised when there was public proclamation of divine truth, old or new. John MacArthur
The gift of prophecy does not pertain to the content but rather to the means of proclamation. In our day, it is active enablement to proclaim God s Word already written in Scripture. John MacArthur
In New Testament terms the prophet functioned as an interpreter of the Word of God. We like to think of the Old Testament prophets as those who predicted the future, what we call foretelling, yet their primary task was not predicting the future; it was forthtelling, communicating the word of God to the people. R.C. Sproul
In like manner, the New Testament prophet was one gifted in interpreting or expositing the word of God. In contemporary terms, such a prophet is a preacher. Today it is the preacher who fulfills the task of interpreting and expositing the Word of God. What continues to this day from the role of the first-century prophet is interpreting the Word of God and expounding it to the people. Those are the primary tasks of the preacher. R.C. Sproul
Although several definitions have been given for the gift of prophecy, a fresh examination of the New Testament teaching on this gift will show that it should be defined not as predicting the future, nor as proclaiming a word from the Lord, nor as powerful preaching but rather as telling something that God has spontaneously brought to mind. Wayne Grudem
If conservative evangelical scholars don t agree on a subject, it s generally because we don t have a perfectly clear answer in the Word. The clearer something is stated in the Word, the greater the consensus usually is.
There was obviously an element of foretelling in both Old and New Testament prophecy. However, that wasn t always the case. There were plenty of times when prophets spoke on behalf of God, without foretelling future events.
Prophēteia (pro-fā-tā'-ä) can mean to foretell something in the future. It can also mean to speak a divinely inspired word. It can mean to be led by God to teach, refute, reprove, admonish, and comfort others. Prophēteia literally means to stand in front of another person and speak for him.
Prophēteia (pro-fā-tā'-ä) can mean to foretell something in the future. It can also mean to speak a divinely inspired word. It can mean to be led by God to teach, refute, reprove, admonish, and comfort others.
In some cases, prophecy is used to describe how God gave us His written Word. 2 Peter 1:20-21 20 But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation, 21 for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.
This gift of prophecy is obviously a gift that a very select group of men ever had. We shouldn t assume that the gift of prophecy always results in the inspired Word of God. There are other types of prophecy in the New Testament.
Acts 13:1 Now there were at Antioch, in the church that was there, prophets and teachers: Barnabas, and Simeon who was called Niger, and Lucius (of Cyrene, and Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. There were individuals in the church who were called prophets whose words were not included in the Scriptures.
Barnabas and Saul were sent out to preach the word of God, not to foretell future events. Acts 21:8-9 8 On the next day we left and came to Caesarea, and entering the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven, we stayed with him. 9 Now this man had four virgin daughters who were prophetesses.
1 Corinthians 14:1-3 1 Pursue love, yet desire earnestly spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy. 2 For one who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God; for no one understands, but in his spirit he speaks mysteries. 3 But one who prophesies speaks to men for edification and exhortation and consolation.
Paul encouraged the believers in Corinth to seek the gift of prophecy. What we see in the Bible is that there are two different ways to understand the gift of prophecy; there is a broad sense and a narrow sense. So, there seems to be a couple different levels of the gift of prophecy.
In the narrowest sense it would have included individuals who were gifted by God to see future events and those who were given divine inspiration that was recorded for us in God s Word. That giftedness would have disappeared with the completion of the canon.
In a broader sense, it seems that prophecy can include those who speak forth God s truth, without there being any new revelation.