John MacArthur on Continuation of spiritual gifts
No, they ceased with the apostolic age
"Speaking in tongues and the working of sign miracles in the beginning days of the church have now ceased... having fulfilled their purpose of pointing to and authenticating the apostles as revealers of divine truth."
THE POSITION
Hard cessationism, stated as official church doctrine rather than only argued at book length in Strange Fire (still the fuller popular treatment, but not the primary source used here). Tongues and sign miracles authenticated the apostles and ceased once that purpose was fulfilled; healing is not a gift anyone possesses today, though God still answers prayer for healing according to his will.
8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be restrained; where there is knowledge, it will be dismissed. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial passes away.
7 OTHERS HOLD THIS
ABOUT THIS FIGURE
Pastor of Grace Community Church, Sun Valley, from 1969 until his death in July 2025. Expositional preaching, hard cessationism, dispensational premillennialism. Researched from the church's own Doctrinal Statement, covering all 15 loci in one document.
Cite this page
"John MacArthur on Continuation of spiritual gifts", Examined Doctrine, July 2026 edition, https://examineddoctrine.com/position/macarthur/spiritual-gifts (archived at https://examineddoctrine.com/editions/2026-07/position/macarthur/spiritual-gifts).