Gods Word says that tongues will cease and its absence today is easy for us to see...if we are honest with ourselves.
Hello Lamar.
I asked AI to examine the N.T to establish whether the gifts ceased, after the age
of the apostles.
The question I asked AI.
Using only the N.T. Have the gifts and ministries of the Holy Spirit ceased being expressed by the Holy Spirit,
after the age of the apostles? Are the three chapters of 1 Corinthians 12,13,14, become redundant in the
later first century? Why would Paul often mention the gifts when he knew in a decade or less they would
be obsolete?
Below is the answer to these questions that AI provided.
Here is a
Scripture-only,
New-Testament-based,
context-faithful answer to your question.
No theological system—just what the text itself says and does
not say.
1. Does the New Testament teach that the gifts would cease with the apostles?
No verse in the New Testament says that the gifts or ministries of the Spirit would cease at the end of the apostolic age.
Not one.
There is
no command, no prophecy, no hint that tongues, prophecy, healing, or any other charism would stop after the apostles died.
What we
do have is the opposite emphasis:
- 1 Corinthians 1:7 — the Corinthians are “not lacking in any gift” as they “wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
- Acts 2:17–18 — the Spirit is poured out on all flesh in the “last days,” not just apostles.
- Ephesians 4:11–13 — Christ gave apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers “until we all attain to the unity of the faith… to mature manhood… to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” That has not happened yet.
Nothing suggests a first-century expiration date.
2. Do 1 Corinthians 12–14 become redundant after the first century?
The New Testament gives
no indication that Paul’s three-chapter instruction on gifts would become obsolete.
Why?
Because Paul explicitly grounds the use of gifts in the
ongoing life of the body, not in the presence of apostles.
- 1 Corinthians 12:7 — “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.”
(Not to apostles only. To each.)
- 1 Corinthians 12:11 — the Spirit “apportions to each one individually as He wills.”
- 1 Corinthians 13:8–12 — gifts cease when we see Christ “face to face,” when “the perfect comes.” Nothing in the context suggests “the perfect” = “the completed canon” or “the end of the apostles.”
- 1 Corinthians 14:1 — “Pursue love, and earnestly desire spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy.”
There is no textual signal that this chapter is temporary or transitional.
It is as instructional and authoritative as Romans 12 or Ephesians 4.
3. Why does Paul mention gifts so often if they were about to become obsolete?
Because according to the New Testament:
Paul believed they would last until Jesus returns.
Look at his eschatological language:
- 1 Corinthians 1:7 — gifts last while you wait for Jesus’ return.
- 1 Corinthians 13:10–12 — gifts cease only when the church sees Christ “face to face.”
- Romans 12:6–8 — the gifts are given according to grace; no expiration is mentioned.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:19–20 — believers are told not to quench the Spirit or despise prophecy.
(If gifts were about to vanish, why command this?)
- Ephesians 4:13 — the ministry gifts continue “until” the fullness of Christ in the church.
Paul never suggests a short runway for the Spirit’s ministries.
If anything, he normalizes them for the whole church age.
4. The strongest NT case: Ephesians 4:11–13
This is the clearest timeline text.
“He gave apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers,
to equip the saints,
for the work of ministry,
for building up the body of Christ,
until we all attain to the unity of the faith…” (Eph 4:11–13)
Key points:
- These ministries are given by the ascended Christ.
- Their purpose is the ongoing maturity of the church.
- Their duration is clearly until the whole church reaches unity and full maturity—which is not yet realized.
- The text does not say, “until the apostles die” or “until the canon closes.”
This alone makes cessationism impossible solely from NT scripture.
5. What about 1 Corinthians 13:10 — “when the perfect comes”?
Paul says:
- prophecy, tongues, knowledge “will pass away” — v. 8
- when the perfect (τὸ τέλειον) comes — v. 10
- then “we shall see face to face” — v. 12
- and “know fully, even as we have been fully known” — v. 12
This is clearly
Christ’s second coming, not the end of the apostolic era or the closing of the canon.
Paul ties cessation to
eschatological perfection, not to church history.
6. Summary: What does the NT actually teach?
1. No NT passage states that miraculous gifts cease after the apostles.
2. The gifts are presented as normal for the whole church age.
3. Paul expected gifts to remain until Christ returns (1 Cor 1:7; 13:12).
4. Instruction on gifts (1 Cor 12–14) is permanent church instruction, not temporary.
5. Ministry gifts (Eph 4) remain until full maturity of the church — still future.
**6. Any teaching that the gifts ceased must be imported from outside the NT.
The NT itself never teaches it.**
I am happy to say That list doesn't refer to me. I am not a modern day Pentecostal. 
