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Commentary on "Spiritual Gifts and Prophecy"
Day 1: Sabbath Afternoon, January 10, 2009
This introduction to the week’s lesson states that Seventh-day Adventists believe in spiritual gifts. It then goes on to compare that belief to “many charismatic and Pentecostal churches” and their manifestations that include people making animal noises as well as the utterances of prognostications and prophecies such as the space shuttle being blown up because there was a public school teacher on board.
The lesson concludes with the statement that the Adventist’s belief in the gifts of the Spirit includes a belief that “everything should be tested by the Word of God.”
Problems
First, the statement that Seventh-day Adventists believe in spiritual gifts is not entirely true. By not allowing the speaking of tongues in an unknown language to be a true manifestation of a spiritual gift, they are denying a gift of the Spirit. “If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels…” (I Corinthians 13:1a) allows the speaking of an angelic tongue, which no human would know or understand.
Second, the lesson sets up a false comparison between the Adventist church and other churches. By only citing charismatic and Pentecostal examples, the writer leaves out the vast majority of Christians who believe in and use their spiritual gifts to build up the body of Christ. “And he gave them apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ…” Ephesians 4:11,12. Furthermore, people speaking in tongues do not generally exhibit the non-biblical behaviors of making animal noises.
Third, the concluding statement that “we believe everything should be tested by the Bible…” has an unspoken implication that other churches don’t believe that everything should be tested in this way. The normal Christian practice is to use the Word of God to test all things.
Summary
- Seventh-day Adventists do not believe in the use of all the spiritual gifts as presented in the Bible, especially the gift of tongues.
- Christians who don’t exhibit non-biblical behaviors do believe in and use their spiritual gifts for the building up of the body of Christ.
- The normal Christian practice is to use the Word of God to test all things.
Copyright 2009 BibleStudiesForAdventists.com. All rights reserved. Revised January 10, 2009. This website is published by Life Assurance Ministries, Glendale, Arizona, USA, the publisher of Proclamation! Magazine. Contact email: BibleStudiesForAdventists@gmail.com.
The Sabbath School Bible Study Guide and the corresponding E.G. White Notes are published by Pacific Press Publishing Association, which is owned and operated by the Seventh-day Adventist church. The current quarter's editions are pictured above.
Official Adventist Resources
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Teacher's Edition Study Guide Week 3
Easy Reading Edition Study Guide Week 3
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