What Is CESSATIONISM and Is It Biblical?

Cessationism (seh-SAY-shun-izm) is the erroneous belief that gifts of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:4-11) ceased by the end of the 1^st Century when the last of the original apostles passed away and the biblical canon was completed. While most adherents of cessationism believe God still performs miracles, they don’t believe that the LORD works miracles through the gifts of the Spirit any longer. Nor do they believe that the ministerial offices of the apostle and prophet — with the signs & wonders thereof — are in operation today; they believe these ceased when what they call the ‘Apostolic Age’ ended, i.e. the 1^st Century. Cessationists suggest that 1 Corinthians 13:8-12 supports this theory. Let’s read the passage from two different translations:

Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. ⁹For we know in part and we prophesy in part, ¹⁰but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. ¹¹When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. ¹²For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

1 Corinthians 13:8-12 (NIV)

Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. ⁹For we know in part and we prophesy in part, ¹⁰but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. ¹¹When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. ¹²For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

1 Corinthians 13:8-12 (ESV)

Cessationists argue that this passage contrasts life before and after the biblical canon was completed, but that’s obviously not what it’s talking about. The text contrasts our life on this Earth where “we see in a mirror dimly” with life on the other side of glory being “face to face” with our Creator; now we only “know in part” whereas then we shall “know fully” even as we are now “fully known” by the LORD (verse 12).

The “mirror” Paul references is translated from the Greek word esoptron (ES-op-tron); this was not like the mirrors we have today; it was a looking-glass made of highly polished metal, which produced an indistinct image of the person viewing it. Paul relates this to our time on Earth during this “present evil age” (Galatians 1:4): Compared to life on the other side of glory where we’ll see our Creator face-to-face, life on Earth is like seeing a poor reflection in an inferior mirror of the 1^st Century. In eternity we shall “know fully” instead of “knowing in part” as we do now; spiritual gifts, like prophecy and glossolalia, will no longer be needed in the perfect eternal age to come.

Since fivefold ministers (Ephesians 4:11-13) in the 1^st Century were known to flow in the gifts of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:4-11) — particularly apostles, prophets and evangelists (2 Corinthians 12:12 & Acts 8:4-7, 8:26-40, 21:8) — cessationists suggest that the offices of apostles and prophets have ceased in the Church since the 1^st Century, but they’re okay with evangelists as long as they’re revivalists or missionaries who lack any evidence of the gifts of the Spirit. The obvious problem with this belief is that nowhere in the New Testament do we see any indication that these offices would cease to exist by the end of the 1^st Century. The evidence cessationists desperately try to amass is weak and smacks of grasping for straws.

Furthermore, cessationists seem to emphasize how true apostles walked with the Lord on Earth, i.e. Christ’s former 12 disciples, like James, Peter and John (minus Judas Iscariot, of course). But Paul is the preeminent apostle of the New Testament who wrote far more epistles than any other apostle and he didn’t walk with the Lord when Christ ministered on Earth. If the Lord can call Paul to be an apostle well after his ascension, he can certainly call other believers to such positions — to this day.

The biggest problem with the religious doctrine of cessationism is that it encourages believers to deny what the New Testament Scriptures plainly instruct us to eagerly desire: Believers are exhorted to “eagerly desire” spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12:1, 31, 14:1, 39) while cessationism encourages believers to do the precise opposite.

This of course creates a spirit of unbelief when it comes to miracles, like divine healing. The problem with this is that our New Covenant with God is a covenant (contract) of faith and we receive from the LORD based on our faith, aka belief (Hebrews 11:1,6 & Luke 8:43-48). This explains why Christ was hampered from performing miracles in his hometown when he ministered there (Matthew 13:54-58). Do you want to be hampered from receiving miracles in your life? Then, by all means, embrace the doctrine of cessationism because it will kill your faith real quick.

I should add that, while cessationism is a false doctrine, it’s not an issue of eternal salvation. If a believer or sect embraces this doctrine it doesn’t mean they’re not fellow believers, loved by the Lord. It just means their faith — their level of belief based on the false doctrine of cessationism — won’t allow them to eat everything the gospel of Christ has to offer; in this case, spiritual gifts and the blessings thereof. (Romans 14:1-6). Those of us with fuller understanding are not to look down on those with the lesser because it would be arrogant. Similarly, the one with the lesser revelation must not condemn the one with the fuller. On the contrary, we are to “accept one another… just as Christ accepted [us], in order to bring praise to God” (Romans 15:7). You could insert any non-essential doctrine or issue into this scenario and it would apply.

What perpetuates the false doctrine of cessationism? Certainly not what the New Testament teaches! Rigid sectarianism is the main reason. Believers grow-up spiritually in assemblies/sects that deny the gifts of the Spirit, as well as the offices of apostle & prophet, and the congregants who are eventually called into vocational ministry — pastors, teachers and evangelists (minus gifts of the Spirit) — will then teach/preach the same error to the believers entrusted to their care. It becomes ‘tradition’ to their sect as the decades or centuries pass.

Another factor is that people tend to prefer the mundane to the supernatural. The mundane is more reliable to them because it’s more comfortable to where they’re at spiritually and less challenging to their faith. In other words, it’s easier to be a cessationist. For instance, it’s easier for a minister to just teach/preach a sermon, counsel congregants and pray for believers before they have surgery than mess around with gifts of the Spirit or teach believers to simply pray for healing & actually believe it. I’m not condemning anyone here; I’m just sharing the way it is.

Furthermore, the deeper a minister or any believer goes in God the more reliant on the Holy Spirit & the supernatural they’ll be, like when it comes to needing a healing. This naturally results in persecution from believers who are less spiritually mature or who, for whatever reason, don’t “eat everything.” They’ll mock you as a “holy roller” and the like because the deeper things of God freaks them out. So there’s pressure in the Church, generally speaking, to keep one’s Christianity as mundane as possible. And this is why cessationism is so appealing in the body of Christ.

Lastly, continuationism is the name theologians have given for the scriptural belief that gifts of the Spirit have been available to the Church since it began and the offices of charismatic fivefold ministries never ceased, e.g. apostle and prophet. Those who embrace continuationism are “continuationists” (actually they’re simply believers who happen to believe what the Bible plainly teaches). The only thing that hinders gifts of the Spirit and charismatic fivefold offices in the body of Christ today is unbelief. And the false doctrine of cessationism feeds this unbelief.