Prophecy is Always in the Mode of Promise Not Prediction

Christian Prophecy is Simply Christ Speaking to Those who Gather in His Name

This Sunday’s lectionary epistle is from Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, in which the apostle addresses the charisms bestowed upon the body by the Holy Spirit:

“To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of power deeds, to another prophecy.”

Firstly—

It’s critical to notice that the object of the Spirit’s gifting is Christ’s body not individual believers.

That is, after Pentecost prophet is no longer an office occupied by individuals.

To Jews, the sure surprise of Luke’s account of Shavuot in the Book of Acts is that the Spirit, who heretofore had descended only upon individual leaders of Israel (e.g., Moses, Jeremiah, David) fell upon the whole body of believers. Just so, the church herself now holds the office of prophet because the Spirit who lavished herself so gratuitously at Pentecost persists in pouring herself out on all believers in word, water, wine and bread. Post-Pentecost, prophecy in the spirit is a communal work rather than the endeavor of anointed individuals. Pentecost alone is enough to disqualify many pretenders to prophecy.

Here are two scriptural criterions for discerning true prophecy in the power of the Holy Spirit.