QUESTION: Since some in the church today are still babes, are not gifts still necessary for maturation?

ANSWER: No! Christians today become mature by partaking of the meat of the word of righteousness (Hebrews 5:11-14; 1 Peter 2:2). STATEMENT: I find it very difficult to agree that there was a time when the truth was only in part and that gifts ended when it (the New Testament) was completed. The word of God has always been perfect, since God is perfect. RESPONSE: Clearly, the New Testament was not given in it’s totality on the day of Pentecost, but rather it was given and written over a period of years during the first century. Once it was completed, it became the perfect (complete) law of liberty (James 1:25). Upon the New Testament being totally given, confirmed and written, the need for gifts (confirmation of the word) no longer existed! Certainly we agree that God is perfect in all that He is and does. We also agree that as God, through the Holy Spirit, guided (led; indicative of progression) the apostles into all truth, it was (and is) perfect (without flaw). In 1 Corinthians thirteen, however, the word “perfect” does not denote “sinlessness” or “without fault” It simply means “complete” or “mature.” In verses eight through eleven, this word (perfect/complete) is contrasted with that which is in “part;” that which is to be done away. What was it that was known in part (vs.9)? When would the part be done away (vs.10)? According to verse ten, the part would be done away when the complete (perfect) was come! With the coming of the “complete” law of liberty, Christians would no longer have to know in part, because they would now have all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who hath called us to glory and virtue (2 Peter 1:3), through all scripture which would make the man of God complete, furnished unto every good work (II Timothy 3:16-17). It cannot be successfully denied that the gifts were indicative of that which was in part and, further, that which represented childhood or spiritual immaturity/incompleteness (I Corinthians 13:8-11). To the contrary, however, some today, who falsely claim the ability to perform miracles (gifts), represent these as being indicative of spiritual maturity. They do so in opposition to God’s Word and Will!

STATEMENT: We still need the Holy Spirit to teach us today in the same way He taught the apostles. RESPONSE: This allegation is not biblically based. The apostles were guided into all truth. All truth has been recorded by inspired men once for all (Jude 3). It is only through this truth that we become complete/mature (2 Timothy 3:15), and only through it can we be saved (James 1:21). If the above allegation was true (with the Holy Spirit teaching and guiding us as He did the apostles) there would be no need for Christians to study the Bible today. In fact, what need of the Bible would we have? That this is clearly false can be seen in many scriptures, e.g., 2 Timothy 2:2; 2 Timothy 2:15; Hebrews 5:12-14; et al.