Why Miracle Working Today Won’t Work

The Pentecostal and charismatic movement is growing rapidly. Here are some problems with the claim to do miracles today.

• Where is the proof? A genuine miracle in Bible times was so evident that even the enemies of God admitted them. The hostile Jewish council knew that Peter and John had healed a crippled man. They confessed “that a notable miracle has been done through them is evident to all who dwell in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it” (Acts 4:16). Where is that kind of evidence today? We hear claims of miracles, but where is the proof?

• Why do these preachers contradict the Bible if they have the Holy Spirit? For example, they often allow women to preach. But the Bible forbids this (I Tim. 2:11-12; I Cor. 14:34-35).

• Why do these preachers contradict each other if they have the Spirit? Some believe in speaking in tongues today and others do not. Some believe in a post-tribulation rapture and others deny it.

• What is the difference between these preachers who say God speaks through them and Mormons who say He speaks through them or Muslims, Seventh-Day Adventists, or any other group that makes this claim?

• There are no apostles today. True apostles did the “signs of an apostle” (II Cor. 12:12). Miraculous gifts of the Spirit were given “through laying on of the apostles’ hands” (Acts 8:18).

• It is not true that “If God did these miracles in Bible times, He will do them today.” God parted the sea in Moses’ day but Jesus didn’t do that. According to the Jewish writing I Maccabees, there were no prophets and thus no miracles in the 400-year  period between the Old Testament and the New Testament (I Macc. 9:27). Just because God worked miracles in one age doesn’t mean He will in others.

• Miracles confirmed that the word spoken by men of God was from heaven (Mark 16:20; Heb. 2:1-4). That was the primary purpose of miracles. When prophets ceased in Israel, there were no Bible books written and no miracles given for 400 years. Likewise, when the New Testament was completed, the miracles that confirmed them had served their purpose and ended.

• The Bible says miracles ended (I Cor. 13:8-10). Paul said tongue speaking would “cease” (v. 8) and other miraculous gifts would be “done away” when “that which is perfect has come” (v. 10). The word perfect means complete. When the New Testament was completed, these gifts passed away.

• Pentecostals claim the gift of tongues but violate the rules Paul gave about using this gift. Tongue speakers were to be silent in the assembly if no interpreter was present (I Cor. 14:27-28). Yet today people who claim to speak in tongues utter sounds no one understands.

• God does not have to work miracles to work in the world. He put Pharaoh on the throne without speaking to him or sending him a miracle (Exod. 9:16). God’s hand is in human affairs, especially the lives of Christians, behind the scenes through His providence.

Kerry

West End church of Christ • August 25, 2024