The Continuation of the Spirit’s Work: A Biblical and Theological Defense
This essay argues that continuationism more faithfully reflects a biblical doctrine of the Holy Spirit than cessationism. Theologian Eugene Rogers insightfully observes that in Scripture, the Spirit “rests on” bodies and is poured out on all flesh—yet in much of modern theology, the Spirit has been “disembodied” and detached from tangible human experience. He provocatively asks, “What if the Spirit had grown boring to modern people, because it no longer had anything to do with the body?” (as quoted in Beth Felker Jones, Practicing Christian Doctrine, p. 228). I resonated deeply with this reflection. During my high school years, faith felt abstract and disconnected, and I drifted from spiritual things. But awakening to the truth that the Holy Spirit interacts with us personally—resting on, speaking to, and working through us—ignited a season of renewal in my life. Raised in a cessationist context where Scripture was upheld but the Spirit's present work was downplayed, I later discovered through both experience and Scripture that this was an incomplete view. To separate the Spirit from embodied, experiential Christianity—miracles, gifts, and power—is to misunderstand biblical pneumatology. When returning to my faith as a college student, reading the Bible with fresh eyes, I saw the vibrant, active role of the Spirit throughout the biblical narrative. I am now convinced that continuationism is biblically grounded and theologically and logically consistent. In what follows, I will demonstrate this through three key affirmations: (1) Jesus is the model for Spirit-empowered life and ministry; (2) continuation aligns with the plain reading of Scripture’s teaching; and (3) cessationist claims about the gifts ending with the apostles or the completion of Scripture lack biblical support.
It is widely accepted that Jesus is the model for Christian living, yet cessationists often argue that not all aspects of His ministry apply to us, particularly the miraculous. However, the Gospels, Acts, and epistles consistently show the apostles continuing Jesus’ Spirit-empowered works: healing the sick (Matthew 8:16–17), raising the dead (John 11:43–44), casting out demons (Mark 1:34), and proclaiming the gospel with power (Luke 4:18–19). Jesus said his followers would do the same (Mark 16:17). In my early twenties, I began seeking a greater experience of God’s presence, trusting that the Spirit’s work in my life should reflect Christ’s. This pursuit bore good fruit, deepening my understanding of God’s power and my hunger for Scripture. Rather than pulling me from biblical truth, the Spirit’s activity drove me further into it. However, we must acknowledge historical misuses of spiritual gifts, such as the Montanist movement referenced by Boyd (235), and recognize that seeking the Spirit's fullness requires robust theology and discernment. It is certainly easier to avoid the risk of error by lowering our expectations of supernatural activity. However, a tidy and predictable Christianity, yet void of the Spirit’s dynamic presence, is not the model Christ gave us. Instead, we are called to embrace a vibrant, Spirit-filled life—even if it’s sometimes messy.
Secondly, it is rationally inconsistent to claim that one part of the Holy Spirit’s ministry is for today while others are not. As noted in Boyd, “Isn’t it arbitrary to suppose, for example, that the gift of teaching is still valid but the gift of speaking in tongues is not? Isn’t it arbitrary to allow for exhortation, giving, and showing mercy while excluding Spirit-inspired words of wisdom, prophecy, speaking in tongues, and healing?” (Boyd, p. 227). Instead, Scripture consistently encourages believers to anticipate and rely upon the Spirit’s empowering presence. Jesus sent out the disciples to perform miracles even before Pentecost, operating under His authority. He promised, "The works that I do, you will do also; and greater works than these" (John 14:12). He instructed the disciples to tarry in Jerusalem until they were "endued with power from on high" (Luke 24:49). As the 'continuationist' essay in Boyd references, "Paul admonished the believers in Corinth to 'earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy' (1 Corinthians 14:1)...Paul also commands believers not to 'quench the Spirit,' or 'despise the words of prophets,' or 'forbid speaking in tongues' (1 Thessalonians 5:19–22; 1 Corinthians 14:39)—the very behaviors that cessationists promote” (Boyd, p. 229). Throughout the New Testament, the Spirit’s gifts are treated not as temporary phenomena, but as essential components of the Church’s vitality and witness.
Lastly, the interpretation of “the perfect” in 1 Corinthians 13, upon which much cessationist doctrine hangs, does not align with the broader testimony of the New Testament. If a dramatic shift in the Holy Spirit's ministry were coming, Scripture would have foreshadowed it clearly, just as it did with the inclusion of the Gentiles into the family of God. This inclusion was prophetically anticipated, such as in Isaiah 49:6, where God declares His servant will be “a light to the Gentiles.” By contrast, no biblical prophecy indicates a coming cessation of the Spirit’s gifts. On the contrary, the Word of God speaks of an intensification. Joel prophesied, “I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy…” (Joel 2:28–29), a prophecy Peter affirms is inaugurated at Pentecost in Acts 2, not concluded. These passages affirm that the ministry of the Holy Spirit, including the gifts of prophecy and revelation, was not meant to diminish but to flourish until the return of Christ.
Moreover, the working of miracles and manifestations of the gifts of the Spirit were not tied to some form of apostolic succession. The cessationist claim rests on a flawed premise: “If there are no ‘true apostles’ today, then neither should there be charismatic gifts that attest to their authority” (Boyd, p. 234). Yet, scripture demonstrates that non-apostles, such as Stephen and Philip, were filled with the Holy Spirit and performed signs and wonders among the people (Acts 6:8; Acts 8:6). The New Testament records many individuals who were not apostles, nonetheless operated in the gifts of healing, miracles, prophecy, and deliverance—gifts not restricted to the Twelve. Thus, the life of the early Church reveals that spiritual gifts were intended for the entire body of believers, not merely for an apostolic elite. Continuing the Spirit’s work throughout the Church age is the natural, biblical expectation.
In conclusion, the nature of the Spirit’s ministry is not abstract or disconnected, but profoundly embodied and relational. As theologian Thomas Oden summarizes, "The Spirit indwells within the body, enlivening, leading, teaching, nurturing, and protecting the body, praying with the body…quoting Augustine’s striking analogy: ‘What the soul [the living feature] is in our body, the Holy Spirit is in the body of Christ, which is the church’” (Oden, p. 713). Thus, rejecting or minimizing the Spirit's active work today is not merely a theological oversight but a misreading of the Spirit’s embodied, life-giving role in the Church’s existence. The Spirit remains the breath and vitality of Christ’s body, leading us into deeper faithfulness, greater discernment, and vibrant participation in God's redemptive work until the return of Christ.