The
Professor's Theological Home Page
"...Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved..." (Acts 16:31)
By
Prof. Mario Velez, Th.M.
Another temporary spiritual gift distracting many
professing Christians today is the temporary spiritual gift of miracles as
found in First and Second Corinthians (1 Cor. 12:28; 2 Cor. 12:12).
“And God hath set some in the church, first apostles,
secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts
of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.” (KJV 1 Cor. 12:28)
“Truly the signs of an apostle were wrought among you
in all patience, in signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds.” (KJV 2
Cor. 12:12)
In 1 Corinthians 12:28 the word “miracle” is translated
from the Greek noun dunamis
meaning, “supernatural power.” In 2
Corinthians 12:12 the same word is translated “mighty deeds.”
As with the temporal gifts of apostle
and prophet, miracles were given to confirm that these men were truly from
God. Therefore, they were given the
supernatural ability to perform these miracles at will, again to establish
their credibility during the pre-canon age.
Today, the power of God’s completed Word is the greatest
miracle to a positive believer. This is how we can overcome our problems; not
by sitting on our hands waiting for a miracle.
Of course, this does not mean God does not perform miracles in our
day. They are just not done through some
person who claims to have this gift. It
is imperative to remember that Satan does have his deceptive ways of
duplicating miracles today (Mt. 7:22-23).
“22) Many will say to
me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and
in thy name done many wonderful
works? 23) And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart
from me, ye that work iniquity.” (KJV Mt. 7:22-23)
The words “wonderful works” in verse 22 are also translated
from the Greek noun [dunamis] meaning, “supernatural
power.” The Lord calls these
individuals, whom He never knew, workers of “iniquity.” The word iniquity is a reference to
“wickedness.” It is quite obvious from
these verses that the supernatural power these individuals possessed came from
Satan and not God. All the miracles
being claimed today are designed to bring attention to man and is the
method that these individuals use to control and manipulate ignorant believers.
The greatest power available to believers
today is the ability to fulfill the Christian way of life through consistently
residing under the power of the Spirit and maximizing God’s Word and our
spiritual assets. The greatest thing in
life is not a miracle, but having God’s Word residing in our soul. This, by far, is more important than any
miracle that has ever occurred. Yet, it
is unfortunate that believers are missing out because they are being distracted
by so many apostate ministers claiming to have these temporary
gifts. Romans 10:17 tells us that faith
comes from hearing God’s Word, not by seeing a miracle!
“So then faith cometh
by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (KJV Rom.
10:17)
What truly counts is maximizing our relationship with the
Lord, which is achieved by learning His thoughts as found in our completed
Bible. It takes consistency in learning,
retaining and applying God’s Biblical principles in all areas of our
lives. A miracle is actually easy for
the Lord since it does not require cooperation or positive freewill on the part
of a believer; developing a relationship, on the other hand, does. A miracle does not carry you very far, as
seen in the example of the Exodus generation who “murmured” or grumbled only three
days after seeing the Red Sea parted and the Egyptian army destroyed. (Ex. 15:22-24).
“22) So Moses brought Israel from the
Red sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur;
and they went three days in the wilderness, and found no water. 23) And
when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the
waters of Marah, for they were bitter: therefore the name of it was called Marah. 24) And the people murmured against Moses,
saying, What shall we drink?”( KJV
Ex. 15:22-24)
The Exodus generation grumbled
after three days of these miracles because they did not have a mature
relationship with the one who had performed the miracles. As a result, they did not enter the promise
land that the Lord had for them.
A lack of a mature
relationship with the Lord will always cause us to emphasize the wrong
things. Please don’t make the same
mistake as the Exodus generation, don’t miss out on entering the promise land
of maturity. The promise land of
maturity is what the Book of Hebrews calls a confidential “rest” that we are to
“fear” not entering (Heb. 4:1).
“Let us
therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into His rest, any of
you should seem to come short of it.”( KJV Heb. 4:1)