HEALING QUESTIONS:

Q. What does it mean to pray in the name of Jesus?
A. In our legal system we have what is called the grant of a power of attorney. This means that an individual who owns property, or an estate, or some right, gives control over it to someone else. Jesus Christ said, "...All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth." He also said, "...whatever you ask in My name, that I will do..."

So when we come to the Father, we have a grant of power of attorney in Jesus' name. When we say, "I am asking in Jesus' name," we are, in a sense, becoming a substitute for the power that rules the whole universe. In that name there is absolutely awesome power.

Q. Are healings caused by power of suggestion?
A. It is possible that some people are healed of psychosomatic illnesses by suggestion. I do not question that this occurs. But this is not always the case.

We have come across many instances where people were not present when prayer was offered and yet they were healed instantly when a word of knowledge went forth. I know of one man who went to bed blind. A prayer was offered on his behalf. Whether he heard it or not, I do not know. but I do know that when he woke up, he could see.

There also have been instances where little babies have had their legs straightened out and have been healed of various diseases. Suggestion could not have been responsible for these healings.

Q. Should Christians consult with doctors and take medicine?
A. I believe that medical science is a gift from God. The skill that doctors have is, without question, a blessing that God has given us for our own good. However, we must all understand that all healing comes from God. Medicines can help, but they only speed up the natural process of healing. Abroise Pare, the 16th century father of modern surgery, often said, "I dressed his wounds: God healed him."
I believe God heals through prayer, through rest and nutrition, through medicine, and through doctors. It is God's will that those who are sick be made whole.

Q. How do I know if God isn't using my sickness for a higher purpose?
A. People often have problems with the purposes of God. They say things like, "God may be using this sickness to...teach me a lesson,...make me holy,...bring me closer to Him." The problem with this kind of thinking is: Jesus does not ever teach that. He does not model it. Scripture does not indicate that - ever. In fact, Jesus consistently treats sickness as an enemy. A good book on this topic is God at War, by Gregory Boyd.
People say, "Well, what about the sufferings of Job?" Two things about the sufferings of Job.

1. God did not make Job sick
2. At the end of the story, God made him well.

The problem we encounter when considering God's purpose is complex thinking and complex theology. Complex theology says that if God is allowing something, He must want it. This is a fallacy. God is allowing people to die without Christ, but Scripture says, "God is not willing that any shall perish." God does not people to go to hell. The truth is, someone or something is thwarting God's will. Abortion, abuse, torture, orphans, these are not God's will.

Q. Is it God's will to heal me? Is it always God's will to heal?
A. The ministry of Christ does not reveal that God wills some people to be sick. Seventeen different times in the New Testament, it says that Jesus heals all, even when there were multitudes of people gathered. This indicates no partiality and no favoritism. Healing is not just a thing God does. It is His nature. Scripture calls Him Jehovah Rapha. This means God our Healer. If He is God our Healer, He is not God our sickener, or the god who makes us sick. I cannot have faith in a God Who won't do what He said He will do. God is faithful and will always do what He said He will do. Hebrews, chapter 1:1 tells us that in these last days God has spoken with completeness and finality in His son Jesus. This means that if you want to know anything about healing, look at Jesus. Was there ever a time when Jesus declined to heal anyone? No. In fact, if anyone came to Jesus with even a question about healing, they not only did they have their question answered but they had their bodies healed as well. Jesus consistently treated sickness as an enemy.

Q. Can healings and other miracles be lost after they are received?
A. It is possible to lose a healing. I remember one woman who had terrible vision. She was virtually blind. After prayer, her sight improved dramatically. But as she looked around, she thought, "I can see, but I am not supposed to see!" Her healing just went away. There was no way we could get it back. It just left.

This is what happened to Peter when he saw the Lord walking on water. Peter wanted to walk on the water as he saw Jesus doing. Jesus said, "Come on out." So Peter got on the side of the boat, put his feet on the water and started walking. But then Peter began to look around and became frightened. He thought, "I am not supposed to be walking on water!" The minute he started to think that, he started to sink. Today, there are people who receive a healing and then think, "I am not supposed to have this," and then they lose it. The devil has a way of coming to people and saying, "You are not really healed. You really still have that disease, and you had better go back and take your medicine and put your braces back on."

I know of one instance involving a man who was healed of multiple sclerosis. The doctors said he had a remission, but he knew it was a healing in answer to prayer. For a year, he had no evidence of the disease. Then one weekend, the entire force of mulitple sclerosis began to come upon him. All the symptoms started to come back, and for an entire weekend he wrestled against it, saying, "Satan I will not accept this." In the name of Jesus, he continually proclaimed that he was well. When that weekend of struggle was over, the symptoms left him. He has not been troubled since. But if he had given in to those symptoms, he would have once again had multiple sclerosis, and probably would have died from it.

Q. Does Paul teach in 1 Corinthians, chapter 13, that the spiritual gifts   would pass away?

A. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13:8 that "If there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away." All of this refers to the future life when we see the Lord "face to face" (verse 12). Any thought of a temporary nature of prophecy, tongues, and knowledge in this life is totally foreign to Paul's teaching. We should therefore rejoice in all these and other gifts available until the face to face beholding of Christ.

Q. Is it possible to have the gifts of the Holy Spirit without the fruits?

A. It is important to bear in mind that every true believer should be a channel for the exercise of the spiritual gifts for ministry (1 Corinthians 12:8-10) as well as the fruit of the Spirit for growth in Christian character (Galatians 5:22-23).

So it is not a matter of either/or but of both/and.

Q. How are we to view the words attributed to Jesus in Mark 16:18: "They will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it shall not hurt them"?

A. Reference to picking up serpents and drinking deadly poison should best be understood as protectional statements. Paul, for example, was protected from harm when he accidentally picked up a deadly viper, and it "fastened on his hand" (Acts 28:3). The New Testament records no example of a person protected from the effects of drinking poison; however, Eusebius (The History of the Church, page 151) states that this happened to Joseph Barsabbas (named in Acts 1:23). In any event, the deliberate picking up of snakes or the drinking of poison should not be understood as the demonstration of a miracle. Either would be testing God, and Jesus spoke against this kind of evil when He was tempted by Satan to throw Himself down from the pinnacle of the temple: "Do not put the Lord your God to the test" (Matthew 4:7; Luke 4:12). Thus the activities of snake-handling cults today should be viewed as presumptuous rather than miraculous.

Q. I have heard it said that Satan and demons cannot understand speaking in tongues. I do not know of any scripture to support that thought, but I thought that you might be able to give some insight on if it is true and if it matters one way or the other.

A. Paul writes: "The unspiritual man does not receive the gifts of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned" (1 Corinthians 2:14 RSV). This lack of understanding and discernment would apply all the more to Satan and his demons. Speech in tongues must cause utter confusion to them!

Q. Do you have something through the Internet about "speaking in tongues"? We have a friend, she is a "Baptist," and she has raised many questions about this, but I want a good explanation to show her.

A. Perhaps you would find my article entitled "The Power of Spiritual Language?" a helpful study and personal witness.

Q. Did tongues cease with the completion of the New Testament?

A. The answer is No. There has been no time in the history of the Church when tongues have not been spoken. Paul writes: ":Love never fails, but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away" (1 Corinthians 13:8). Prophecy, tongues, knowledge all pass away when "the perfect" comes; that is when we see Christ face to face. (see verses 9 through 12). Until then, it is a joy to know that the gifts of the Holy Spirit will function upon the earth.

Q. Bob: I beg to differ with your statement that God did not create evil ... He said He created good and evil in Isaiah 45:7. Please expound further on this.

A. I stand by my statement that God did not create evil. The verse you quoted in Isaiah 45:7 is best rendered, "I am the light and create darkness" (as in the NIV translation of the Bible). God from the beginning has created darkness. Recall Genesis 1 where darkness has no connection with evil.

Thanks for the opportunity to clarify this.

Q. My unbelieving husband tells me that one of the reasons that my Christian faith doesn't make sense to him or any other "SANE & SENSIBLE NON-BELIEVER" is: WHY DID GOD CREATE SATAN? He must have known that he would be 'EVIL' so therefore it follows that "GOD ALSO CREATED EVIL." I must admit that my theology is somewhat lacking because I just don't know how to answer that one.

A. It is important to say that God did not create evil. The foreseeing of it, which God surely did, is one thing; the actual doing of it is another. Satan is the author of sin followed by Adam. Both used their free will, God-given and created, to act against God and His command. No, God did not create evil.

 Q. Are we predestined ... chosen by God ... to become believers?

A. There is a proper way to put it. Rather than to say that we are predestined to become believers, we should say that we are predestined as believers. There are always two sides interchangeable: God and faith, God's sovereign action and our choice.

 Q. What do you think about a devotion to St. Michael the Archangel? I frequently call on him when I am faced with a situation where I must hold firm in my beliefs. Some Christians think it is wrong to pray to anyone but God, even as an intercessor. I was raised to believe that St. Michael is there to defend us in the battle against evil. Do you believe it is right to call on his help when we are faced with it?

A. Since the Christian worships the triune God---God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit---all of whom are available to our intercession, what need we more? Indeed, though Michael is an angel of the highest order, he is still a finite creature. He ought not to be worshiped or invoked in prayer.

 Q. If we have free will and choice, how can we be predestined and chosen (Romans 8:29 and Ephesians 1:4)?

A. While predestination and free will seem logically contradictory to each other, from God's perspective they are not. They are actually complementary. God predestines through the free choice of people. This is a part of the mystery of how God works with man. For example, if God predestines my salvation, my freedom of choice comes into play. God is sovereign and therein human choices are confirmed.

Q. Many times the Bible says that God has chosen certain individuals ahead of time to be His flock (sheep versus goats). Does it explain why He's done this in the Bible? What happens to the people who were never drawn to Him?

A. The words of Jesus in Matthew 22:14 are quite relevant, "For many are called, but few are chosen." This does not mean an arbitrary choice in regard to those chosen; rather the call is unlimited, and those who say "yes" are the chosen ones. Thus they are "God's chosen" by their own decision in answer to God's call. God's desire is to draw all people to Himself.

Q.  I am a Christian and believe in God's love for mankind. But I have for a long time now been bothered by this question: why did God create mankind? The Bible tells us that God is perfect and complete unto Himself, so God couldn't have needed mankind, either as partners in love or as worshippers. Can you please explain why God created mankind?

A. You are right. God did not create mankind to satisfy Himself---as if God were a lonely God and therefore needed fellowship with some created being. God being love desired human creatures to share that love in fellowship with Himself and with one another.

Q.  If God is perfect, if heaven is perfect, then why did so many angels rebel against God?

A. Among the highest perfections of all God's creatures is the freedom of the will. This applies to angels as well as human beings. Freedom of the will also includes the possibility of rebelling against God. Actually, if there were no freedom of the will the situation would be less than perfect.

Q.  When dinosaurs lived, were humans there?

My nine-year-old son asked me this. If God made Adam and Eve and the earth, how come when the dinosaurs lived no humans were alive? I didn't have an answer. Is this something you could help me answer? Will I find this information in the Bible?

A. According to Genesis 1, all the animals were made before Adam and Eve. Verse 25 reads, "And God made the beasts of the earth after their kind, and the cattle after their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind; and God saw that it was good. The beasts of the earth surely included dinosaurs alongside other creatures. The next verse speaks of God making man, "Let us make man in our image." Thus dinosaurs existed before man was created. It was a good world that God made.

Q.   If God has a plan for everyone and knows what is best for us, why do we pray? Certainly it is not for Him to change His mind. Should we just pray to be strong enough to handle whatever is in God's plan then? Is it possible for us to sway God's plans?

A. We need to pray so that we might know what His will is and to receive strength and direction to carry it out. This applies to God's overall purpose and our daily activities. It is not a matter of seeking to sway God's plans, but to give glad and grateful obedience to whatever His will may be.

Q.   Are certain people (like Adolph Hitler) damned to hell from birth? If life is predetermined from birth, then could it be that certain people (like Adolph Hitler) are born damned to hell from birth?

A. God, to be sure, is in sovereign control over every human life, but He does not thereby determine our actions. Freedom to decide is an essential element in human nature "Man is that Entity Made to be Free"). Hitler (like Judas in Acts 1:25) was condemned by his own evil actions.

Q.   What is predestination taught by Calvinism and by Arminianism? And what does it have to do with salvation?

A. Both Calvinism and Arminianism affirm predestination in relation to salvation: those who believe do so as a result of God's prior decision and action. Both agree with the words of Paul, "Whom He predestined, these He also called; and whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified" (Romans 8:30). However, Calvinism holds that since predestination precedes salvation (that is, calling, justification, and glorification), only those whom God has predestined, or predetermined, can be saved. Arminianism goes back to Romans 8:29 that begins, "Whom He foreknew, He also predestined," and holds that God's act of predestination depends on His foreknowledge of those who will believe. On that basis, He predestines them to salvation. Calvinism stresses that salvation is the result of God's decision prior to our faith; it is in no way based on our believing. Arminianism, to the contrary, holds that only those who believe are predestined to salvation.

Q.   Why did God, who is Love, create us all knowing that many would go to hell?

A. I think and believe that God (the only Creator) sent us His Son to be Christ our Savior. I also believe that He knew how every individual person would end up in the End. Why then did He go ahead and create us all knowing that most people were going to hell with Satan and his angels. I say that on the basis of the Scripture that says that God is love. I don't believe I would do so with that knowledge and power of those I love. Maybe I just don't understand what love is.

God in creating us foreknew that sin, death, and hell would eventuate. Where then is God's love? It lies in the marvelous fact that He determined in Christ to pay the cost. Christ on the cross accordingly suffered the eternal punishment that is mankind's due, with the terrible darkness, its fiery pain, and total abandonment by God. With the cry of agony, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" (Mark 15:24), Christ bore the full weight of sin, death, and hell. In the words of Calvin, "Christ bore in His soul the tortures of condemned and ruined man." Thus hell is no reality foreign to God in that He has already experienced the worst that any person will have to endure. This truly is love beyond all comprehension.

Q.   How do we reconcile that God has His will for us, but He also says to ask anything in Jesus' name and it will be done for us?

A. To pray "in Jesus' name" is not a magical formula for answered prayers. It really means to pray in the same spirit as Jesus prayed who always did the Father's will. We should only ask for those things that God Himself wills for us. Jesus sometimes struggled to know the Father's will-how much more we-but He always discovered it. Praying in Jesus' name is a challenging and exciting adventure!

Q.    How are we to understand the "six days" of creation?

A. According to Genesis 1:1-2:4, the process of creation occurred over a six-day period.

The most obvious understanding of the days would be that of six or seven 24-hour periods, in other words, what we know as the 24-hour calendar day. Such a reading is possible but, upon careful scrutiny, rather unlikely. The word "day" itself is used in several different ways in the Genesis 1:1-2:4 passage. First, it refers to the light that was separated from darkness: "God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night" (1:5). Second, it refers to light and darkness together: "And there was evening and there was morning, one day" (also 1:5). Third, it refers to all the days together: "These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens" (2:4 KJV). This last statement is a summary of the "generations" (literally, "begettings"), which seems to refer to all that has preceded over the six days, hence the word "day" in this case covers the whole process of creation. That the word "day" does not refer to a 24-hour calendar day also seems apparent from the account of the sun and moon not being made until the fourth day. How could there be calendar days which equal solar days, when the sun is not yet present to mark them out? Finally, attention may be called to the New Testament statement that "with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day" (2 Peter 3:8).

From the evidence above it seems quite likely that "day" represents a period of time, however short or long, in which God was accomplishing something. This seems to accord best also with reflection upon the content of many of the six "days." Although God, of course, could accomplish such acts as making all the plants and trees in one calendar day, all the luminaries in the heavens on another, all the fish and birds on another, all the beasts and man on still another, it hardly seems likely, nor even like God, who often works slowly over long periods of time. Hence, in light of the internal evidence the preferable interpretation is to view the six days of creation as periods of time, even ages, in which God was bringing the process of creation to its climax in man.

Here we may look in the scientific direction, and note that geological and biological data say much the same thing. It is now generally recognized that prior to man's arrival on the scene there were lengthy periods of time. For example, vegetable life appeared long before animal life, and animal life long before human life. Each of these "days" could have been thousands or multiples of thousand years (recall 2 Peter); the exact length is unimportant. The important thing is that God completed a work during that period. Its completion therefore is the completion of a day.

Q.  I would appreciate your discussing the words of Jesus in John 14:12: "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do yet shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do."

A. In John 14:12, Jesus says two extraordinary things. First, those who believe in Him will also do the works ("works" equals miracles throughout the Gospel of John) that He did. The works/miracles that Jesus had done to this point in the Fourth Gospel include turning water into wine (John 2), the healing of an official's son by simply speaking a word (John 4), the curing of a man long crippled and helpless (John 5), the feeding of the five thousand (John 6), the giving of sight to a man born blind (John 9), and climactically the raising of Lazarus from the dead (John 11). Miracles in the believers' life accordingly would include everything from turning water into wine to raising the dead-and all in-between (as recorded not only in the Book of John but also in the Synoptics).

Now this, to say the least, is a startling promise by Christ: those who believe in Him will do (not may do or may possibly do) His works, His miracles. All miracles that Christ did in His earthly ministry will be done by those who believe in Him.

Second, and far more startling, is the further declaration that those who believe in Him will also do greater works than Christ did. This unmistakably means works beyond everything mentioned in the Gospels! Whatever miracles Jesus did on earth will be transcended by the miraculous works of those who believe in Him. How is such an astonishing thing possible? The answer is given in Jesus' own words: "because I go to the Father." Jesus in heaven will have power and authority far beyond what He had during His earthly ministry, and thereby He will enable those who believe in Him to do greater works than even the greatest that He had done within the confines of His own earthly existence.

In summary: not only will miracles continue after Jesus' earthly ministry, but they will be even greater. And they will be done not only by apostles, prophets, and the like, but also by others who believe in Him. This accords well with Mark 16:7 that begins: "And these signs [i.e., miracles] will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues…." Those who believe will do Christ's earthly works and even more through the entire age of the proclamation of the gospel.

Q.  Should we expect visitations of angels in our time?

A. On the matter of experiencing angels, it is probably wiser to speak more of their presence than of their visitation. There were indeed visitations in biblical times, and they surely may occur at any time again. But in the Scriptures the emphasis for the believer rests mainly on the continuing presence of angels. We observe this in statements about the angels encamping around and guarding believers (Psalms 91:11-12), about believers having angels who constantly behold the face of God (Matthew 18:10), about the worship experience in which angels are present in festal and joyous assembly (Hebrews 12:32), and so on. This is a matter largely of their unseen but very real presence. The emphasis is wrongly placed when the focus is on angelic visitation; indeed, expecting, looking for, or hoping for such visitors is nowhere encouraged in God's Word. We are rather to pray for and expect, especially in our day, a greater visitation of the Holy Spirit (that's where the action is!). And, as far as angels are concerned, we may rejoice in their invisible but continuing providential presence.

Q.  Do the words of Jesus in Luke 13:4-5 about the tower in Siloam have relevance to our present crisis? "Those eighteen upon whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think they were worst offenders than all the others who dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, No; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish."

A. Jesus basically makes one point: The unexpected falling of the tower is a call for repentance, not just with eighteen but all other inhabitants of Jerusalem. Those upon whom the tower fell were not worse sinners than others in Jerusalem. This is a very sobering message in relation to the need for all peoples to repent before it is too late. The eighteen represent those for whom repentance came too late. Thus they are a warning to all people to repent before it is too late.

Our present crisis calls for a renewed vigilance against the foes of freedom and a heartfelt compassion for the thousands of casualties and their families. The words of Jesus are a clarion call to deep repentance of our nation that needs to return to God. The words of 2 Chronicles 7:14 become critical now, "If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land." Billy Graham is quoted as saying, "If God does not judge America soon, He will need to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah."

Q.   Explain to me the New Testament understanding of predestination.

A. We may well begin by quoting the words in Ephesians, "God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world. In love He predestinated us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself" (1:4-5 NASB). Hence, predestining points to the same prior action of God, with the emphasis more particularly on God's sovereign action in choosing. Predestining also points more directly to the end to which we are called. Later in Ephesians 1 Paul speaks of our "having been predestined according to His purpose…to the end that we…should be to the praise of His glory" (vv. 11-12). Having noted these things-the broader meaning of God's sovereign action and the larger meaning of direction-we now observe that the word "predestine" may serve for "choose" or "elect."

This is illustrated in Romans 8:28-30. Paul first speaks of calling: "those…who are called according to His [God's] purpose." He then proceeds to say, "For those whom he foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son…. And those whom He predestined He also called…." The end of this sequence is glorification: "Those whom He called He also justified; and those whom He justified He also glorified." Again, both God's sovereign action is stressed-quite strongly through the whole sequence of events-and the ultimate intention: glorification.

It is important (in the light of many misinterpretations) to observe that the word "predestinate" is never used in the New Testament to refer to anything other than the arena of salvation-as we have noted, adoption as sons, living to the praise of God, glorification. Accordingly, a view of "double predestination"-a predestination referring to death and damnation as well as to eternal life-has utterly no basis in Scripture. This does not mean that there is no death or damnation, but such does not belong to God's predestining action, which refers only to the general arena of salvation.

Q. What are the gifts of the Holy Spirit?

A. The gifts of the Holy Spirit are found in 1 Corinthians 12:8-10: "To one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, and to another the effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the distinguishing of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues (NASB)."

Then the Scripture adds: "But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills" (verse 11). Thus the spiritual gifts are all supernatural manifestations of the Holy Spirit through individuals whom He chooses to anoint.

Q. What is the difference between the fruit and the gifts of the Holy Spirit?

A. The fruit of the Holy Spirit -- love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23) -- represents qualities of character brought about by the Holy Spirit in a Christian's life. The gifts of the Holy Spirit -- word of wisdom, word of knowledge, faith, gifts of healing, working of miracles, prophecy, the discernings of spirits, tongues, and the interpretation of tongues (1 Corinthians 12:8-10) -- are manifestations of the Holy Spirit for ministry to others. Accordingly, both fruit and gifts are important in Christian life and ministry.

Q. You mentioned in one of your answers the ability to discern spirits-human, evil, and angelic. Please tell me more about the discernment of human spirits. Are human spirits ghosts?

A. Concerning the discernment of human spirits, I do not refer to disembodied human spirits but to the inward spirits of live individuals. The discernment of a human spirit is not the perception of a ghost at all but of what is directing that person in his or her attitude, actions, words, and the like. Only the Holy Spirit can provide such depth perception of a human spirit.

Q. Can you give me more information on spiritual gifts, especially the gift of discernment and its purposes/uses?

A. The gift of the discernings (the Greek is plural) of spirits is one of the nine gifts of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:7-11). By this gift, one is able to perceive spirits—human, evil, and angelic. This is a supernatural activity of the Holy Spirit.

Q. Could you please give me Scriptural references permitting the use of tongues as a gift for today and not just during Bible times?

A. According to Mark 16:17, in reference to all future believers, Jesus said, "And these signs will accompany those who believe: in My name they will…speak with new tongues." Also, Paul speaks several times of tongues as a gift of the Holy Spirit in the local congregation (1 Corinthians 12-14). There is no suggestion that what Paul says to the Corinthians about speaking in tongues would not continue to apply to today.

Q. Does Paul teach in 1 Corinthians, chapter 13, that the spiritual gifts would pass away?

A. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13:8 that "If there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away." All of this refers to the future life when we see the Lord "face to face" (verse 12). Any thought of a temporary nature of prophecy, tongues, and knowledge in this life is totally foreign to Paul's teaching. We should therefore rejoice in all these and other gifts available until the face to face beholding of Christ.

Q. The question of speaking in tongues has been bashed around forever it seems. Why are people so afraid of such an honor? If I can communicate with the Father in a special language He gives me, why in the world wouldn't I relish the opportunity to do so? Also, if tongues were of the devil, wouldn't more of the devil's people speak with them?

A. Well said. You are surely on target! I will let the question stand as its own answer.

Q. Some say that the gifts of the Holy Spirit are not in operation for today. I believe they are not only in operation for today but are very important for one's spiritual life. What do you say on this subject?

A. The gifts of the Holy Spirit are or should be operational today among all true believers. They are very important, not so much for one's spiritual life as for one's ministry. We should distinguish between the gifts and the fruit of the Holy Spirit: fruit such as love, joy, and peace which have to do with one's spiritual life; and gifts of the Spirit such as word of wisdom, word of knowledge, and prophecy which have to do with ministry. Fruit and gifts are both essential for a full-orbed Christian life.

Q. I would like to know how to operate in the gifts of the Holy Spirit, gifts like the word of knowledge.

A. The gifts of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinithians 12:7-11) are "the manifestation of the Spirit." By His gifts, the Holy Spirit openly shows Himself in word and deed. He is in charge of the gifts and distributes them as well. At the same time, we may and indeed should ask the Holy Spirit to move through each one of us as He carries forward His work. We may, of course, ask for any one of these gifts recognizing that the Holy Spirit is sovereign.

Q. Mark 16:17-18. Do these signs spoken about in Scripture apply to Christians today, or was Jesus just addressing Jews of that day?

A. The words of Mark 16:17-18--"These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover"--are clearly addressed to believers in Christ of every day and generation.

Q. Do the gifts of the Holy Spirit (healings, prophecy, etc.) exist today for use by Christians or did they cease at the closing of the canon?

A. There is no reason to assume that the gifts of the Spirit ceased at the closing of the canon of Scripture. First Corinthians 12:8-10 gives a list of the spiritual gifts beginning with the declaration of "is given." No hint is there that they will be taken away. Incidentally, if the gifts were withdrawn at the closing of the canon, the gift of salvation could also have been taken away at the same time.

Q. Should the gifts of the Spirit be operating in the church, at most every service?

A. For Scripture on the gifts of the Holy Spirit see 1 Corinthians 12-14. Paul is writing to the whole church and expects all the gifts to be operational. For example, he says, "To each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good" (12:7). Thereafter Paul lists nine gifts, all of which relate to the regular meetings of the church in Corinth for worship and ministry. (

Q. What is the biblical basis for the spiritual gift of "the word of knowledge"? A friend of mine who does not believe in this gift says that the Bible is the only revelation of God, and that God doesn't give us anything else. What do you think?

A. The Bible is God's special and unique revelation of truth. Nothing can be added to or taken from it. However, God also gives subordinate revelation to His people. Note, for example, Ephesians 1:17 where Paul prays "that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him." Also Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 14:26, "When you assemble, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation." The word of knowledge is a gift given by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:8), and thus is a revelation from God. The Bible remains the ultimate authority in all truth. (

Q. When a person gives a message in tongues in a church, and no one interprets that message, does that mean it is not of God?

A. Although a tongues message may be of God, those who hear are not edified unless there is interpretation following. In Paul's words, "Seek to abound for the edification of the church" (1 Corinthians. 14:12).

Q. Did the gift of speaking in tongues end when the last of the Apostles died?

Being a Baptist all my life, I was taught that tongues ended. I believe that the verse that talks about tongues ending-"If there are tongues, they will cease" (1 Corinthians 13:8)-really means when He comes the second time. Am I right or wrong about this?

A. In the same verse, Paul added immediately that "knowledge will be done away." Knowledge surely did not cease when Christ came the first time, nor now by implication did tongues cease. Knowledge and tongues (as well as prophecy-same verse) belong to the whole present era until Christ returns. When we shall see Christ "face to face" (verse 13), knowledge becomes total sight and tongues become perfect praise! You are entirely correct.

Q. WHAT IS SOULISHNESS?

A.The Term Soul or Soulish in New testament Usage

MINISTRY QUESTIONS:

Q. Where are you ministering next?
A. Please refer to our Ministry schedule at:
http://www.extremehealing.ca/schedule.php

Q. What is Bob's ministry?
A. Bob has been all over the world, throughout North America, Europe and Australia ministering healing to the sick and hurting. He is a humble man who walks in an awesome healing and miracle anointing. As he ministers he models the simplicity of the ministry of healing while at the same time releasing profound faith for the miraculous. Many pastors have reported that after Bob has left their church, the miracles continue.