Gifts of the Holy Spirit
My wife comes from a charismatic background. Nothing unusual came out on the subject while dating, but now I am getting some "surprises." She is starting to become negative on our liturgy and wants to see more "gifts of the Holy Spirit" again in church service, like tongue speaking, prophetic prayer and stuff like that. When I say I want to concentrate on what Jesus did for me, not gifts God has not promised to us, she gets pretty defensive. She has also claimed to have miraculously healed people through prayer on mission trips and that she has driven out demons on those same trips, so those gifts are still available to any who asks for them. Suffice it to say, this has become kind of an issue. Any advice on how to handle such claims? I am under the impression that I can't rule out her claims on healing and casting out demons because God could still actively do that stuff, if he so desired, but it is a bit of tricky subject.
The best course of action, of course, is for you and your wife to examine what the Bible does and does not say about spiritual gifts. If you have not studied and discussed together these sections of Scripture—Romans 12:1-8; 1 Corinthians 12; Ephesians 4:11-13; 1 Peter 4:10-11—it would be good for both of you to do that.
When it comes to gifts of the Holy Spirit in biblical days and today, our church body makes these points in This We Believe, a statement of belief of our church body. “The Holy Spirit also equips the church with all the spiritual gifts it needs for its well-being (1 Corinthians 12:4-11). During the beginning of the New Testament era, special charismatic gifts were given to the church, such as signs, miracles, and speaking in tongues. These gifts were connected with the ministry of the apostles (2 Corinthians 12:12). There is no evidence in Scripture that we today should expect the continuation of such charismatic gifts.”
God can do anything. As you noted, if God chooses to give a person special gifts, he can do so. The key statement in the section I passed along is the last sentence: “There is no evidence in Scripture that we today should expect the continuation of such charismatic gifts.”
Our focus is best directed on the object of our faith, Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit’s greatest gift, given to all Christians, is the gift of saving faith (1 Corinthians 12:3; Ephesians 2:8; 4:5).