There are some who put the actions of God into time categories called dispensations. What happens in each time period is often restricted to that era only. For instance, the miracles done by the apostles don’t happen now that all of them are dead. In other words, these gifts were restricted to only a certain group. The reasoning varies. One writer says:
In Acts 8:5–18 we read of the apostles coming to Samaria to communicate the gift of the Holy Spirit to the believers there. Philip, though he possessed those gifts, could not communicate them, because Philip was not an apostle. If the gifts could only be communicated by an apostle, they must have ceased when the last of the apostles died. There is no need for such gifts today.This assumes that ‘those gifts’ meaning miracles, healing, and speaking in tongues, were only done by the apostles, and because they are not emphasized in later NT books, they must have stopped happening. It also assumes they are not needed today, yet fail to explain why they still happen.
I’ve heard said that any instance of such things is fake or from human or demonic sources. Since the enemy “disguises himself as an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:14) as do false teachers, this can happen. Cults also do their best to seem like genuine believers, so imitation is not a shock.
However, what about genuine healings? What about those who have visions of Jesus and are saved without a preacher? What about those who speak in tongues and seem to follow all the NT rules for it? We see the fakes with often bizarre behavior and tend to lump them together, but is that reason to say there is no need for these gifts? One writer says:
We have the complete inspired revelation of God in Holy Scripture (2 Peter 1:9–21). Since there are no forthcoming revelations from God, there is no need for miraculous signs to confirm such revelations. The Word of God is complete, final and sufficient.I agree, but is it possible that these and other gifts of the Holy Spirit are still given but for a different reason? Instead of using them to confirm the Word of God (or to confirm personal theories) perhaps God heals people because they ask Him to heal them? Because He loves to bless them? To the sick He says:
Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. (James 5:16)Perhaps God still does miracles so that He will be glorified? When Jesus was asked who sinned to cause a man to be born blind, He replied, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.” (John 9:3) Who are we to limit what God will do to bring glory to Himself? Medical explanations for healings still wind up being “We don’t know” and “Only God could do this.”
As for tongues, I know people who have deeply struggled with problems that put them in that “I don’t know how to pray” mode that the Bible says can happen. “For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” (Romans 8:26–27) These people testify that they wound up praying in tongues, not forced or even sought, yet this was a comfort that God was praying for them.
That God can do whatever He wants to do is a comfort to me. I cannot limit Him. He could create another world if He wanted to, or even grant me the ability to understand what and why He does anything. He can speak through a donkey, make the sun move backwards, and rule the universe. Who am I to say He no longer heals, does miracles, or any other marvel?
PRAY: Jesus, there are false teachers on both sides of this issue. Enable me to trust You and keep reading Your Word, asking for what I need to know and do that You are glorified. Grant me also discernment so I will not make assumptions or put any limits on Your power or Your choices.
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