Some extremely bizarre and radical behaviors accompany some of today’s so-called exorcisms. A fifty-one-year-old Chicago woman called the police after she had been severely bruised and beaten by her husband and by a Presbyterian minister.
Why had they abused her? They said they were trying to rid the woman of evil spirits. In the Los Angeles area an even more horrifying experience occurred, purportedly in the name of Christianity. A group of preachers allegedly stomped a woman to death as they tried to remove demons from her (Robert Lightner, Angels, Satan, and Demons, page 148).
Casting out of demons in the life of Christ was part of the temporary sign gift of healing (Mt. 15:21-28; Lk. 9:42; Acts 10:38). Because the temporary sign gifts are ceased, the gift of exorcism is not for today.
Spiritual gifts fall into two areas: Temporary sign gifts and permanent service gifts. 1 Cor. 1:22 states that the Jews require a sign.
There have been three periods in the history of Israel when there have been sign gifts performed because Israel refused to believe God’s messengers and their God given message:
1. Moses and Joshua (Exodus 4:1-9; 12:12; Numbers 27:18; Deuteronomy 34:9)
2. Elijah and Elisah (1Kings 17:17-24; 2 Kings 4:18-37)
3. Christ and the Apostles (Matthew 8:1-18; 10:8; 12:22-32; 2 Corinthians 12:12)
Just as sign gifts did not follow Moses and Joshua and Elijah and Elisha eras, sign gifts did not follow Christ and the Apostles because in the last era the canon of Scripture was completed.
The phrase “that which is perfect is come” in 1 Cor. 13:10 is a reference to the completion of the canon of Scripture. The context proves that “perfect” means the completion of the canon and not the return of Christ. In verse nine Paul said that the sign gifts through which God revealed knowledge were still in effect because revelation was incomplete: “for we know in part and we prophesy in part.” But in verse 10, Paul referred to the completed canon when revelation would no longer be incomplete: “but when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.” Also the word “perfect” (Greek teleiov) is a neuter noun. If perfect were referring to Christ the noun would have been masculine. Teleiov has a wide semantic range in meaning. One of the common meanings of teleiov which fits this context well is “complete” as in Hebrew 5:9. Christ was made complete in His incarnation in order to be our High Priest after the order of Melchisedec. When the canon was complete, the sign gifts were no longer necessary as a means of revelation.
Now for the explanation of specific sign gifts not operative today
1. The gift of apostleship was a foundational gift for the early church (Eph. 2:20; 2 Cor. 12:12) not needed today. Through the preaching and writing of the apostles we have the Scriptures. To be an apostle one had to have seen the resurrected Christ (Acts 1:22; 1 Cor. 9:1) which is no longer possible after the ascension of Christ.
2. The gift of prophecy was a gift of the first century when God was giving revelation which included the mystery of the Church (Eph. 3:5). In 1 Cor. 13:10 this gift cease with the canonization of Scripture as explained before.
3. The gift of miracles was performed by the official apostles who witnessed Christ in His resurrection body and that office is no longer in existence as argued earlier. An example of the gift of miracles is in Acts 13:1-12 on the Church’s first missionary journey. Paul, instead of healing the Jewish false prophet’s blindness, judged him with blindness.
In Mark 16:17-20, after the ascension, the apostles “went forth and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with miraculous signs following.” But in Hebrew 2:3-4 the author stated the confirmation of the apostles with the gift of miracles was past.
4. The gift of healing is no longer operative today because this gift also was an apostolic sign gift which has ceased like the other apostolic sign gifts. The apostolic gift of healing included the ability to raise the dead (Acts 9:36-43; 20:6-12). The dead are not being raised today by faith healers who claim to possess the gift of healing.
5. The gift of tongues. Paul declared that “whether there be tongues, they shall cease.” As argued before the Jews required a sign. God is no longer dealing with the Jews as a nation according to Romans 13:11-18 and therefore signs are not necessary today. In 1 Corinthians 14, Paul was only regulating the legitimate gift of tongues until that gift ceased with the passing of the official apostles and the canonization of Scripture. Church history confirms cessation.
Other reasons the gift of exorcism is not for today?
Christ could cast out demons because it was a sign of His messiahship which Matthew recorded in Matthew 8-11 as credentials of the messiah. Christ proved His messiahship by exercising power over physical maladies (Mt. 8:1-18), over nature (Mt. 8:23) and casting out demons (Mt. 8:28-34).
The apostles could also cast out demons as a sign of their apostleship to the nation of Israel because the Jews require a sign (Mt. 10:6-8). Peter and Paul could also cast out demons because they were apostles (Acts 5:16 and 19:11-12) and the sign gifts had not yet ceased (1 Cor. 13:10). But this sign gift like all sign gifts ceased with the close of the canon.
No one has the gift of exorcism today because nowhere in the Epistles are believers commanded to exorcise demons. Casting out of demons was part of the apostolic commission in Mark 16:17-20 which also included speaking in tongues, taking up serpents, drinking deadly poisons, and healing the sick. All of these must be practiced not just one or two of them if a person is an apostle with this apostolic gift. Also as discussed before the writer of Hebrews 2:2-3 considered these confirming signs as past.
When Paul explained how believers could stand against the wiles of the devil in Ephesians 6:10-18, he did not mention exorcism as part of the whole armor of God so we can stand. Demons are cast out by the gospel not a gift. Paul informed the Colossian believers that because they had experienced the gospel (1:6) they had been delivered from the power of darkness and translated into the kingdom of the Son of His love (1:12-14).
