11.1: Biblical Attributes of Miracle Working 1 Chapter 11.1 The Biblical Attributes of Miracle Working Table of Topics A) Introduction: Faith, Healing, & Miracle Working B) Miracle Working Gifts Always Worked with a Command, Not a Prayer: Miracles vs. Miracle Working C) Miracle Working Gifts Always Required Miracle Faith from God D) Miracle Working Gifts Always Worked Powerfully, Not Partially E) Miracle Working Gifts Always Worked Convincingly, Not Suspiciously F) A Biblical “Healing Ministry” Always Worked to Authenticate a Divine “Revealing Ministry” Extras & Endnotes
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11.1: Biblical Attributes of Miracle Working 1
Chapter 11.1
The Biblical Attributes of Miracle Working
Table of Topics
A) Introduction: Faith, Healing, & Miracle Working
B) Miracle Working Gifts Always Worked with a
Command, Not a Prayer: Miracles vs. Miracle Working
C) Miracle Working Gifts Always Required Miracle Faith
from God
D) Miracle Working Gifts Always Worked Powerfully, Not
Partially
E) Miracle Working Gifts Always Worked Convincingly,
Not Suspiciously
F) A Biblical “Healing Ministry” Always Worked to
Authenticate a Divine “Revealing Ministry”
Extras & Endnotes
11.1: Biblical Attributes of Miracle Working 2
Primary Points
“Gifts of healing,” and “miraculous powers” were abilities
granted to Prophets and Apostles enabling them to perform
miracles on command.
The difference between praying for a cure and commanding a
cure is the difference between the direct miracles all
Christians can request God to do today, and the human
miracle working only those with the real gift of healing could
do.
Those with gifts of healing in Scripture healed perfectly,
completely, instantly, and powerfully on command 100% of
the time. None of those claiming such gifts today can, which
is why it is fraud to do so.
Biblical miracle workers convinced their enemies of their
divine power. Modern “miracle” workers cannot even
convince most Christians.
The conspicuous absence of miracles over Nature is best
explained by the fact that “healings” of humans is much
easier to fake, or procure through natural means such as the
power of suggestion.
If modern “miracle workers” want any biblical support for
their claims today, they must admit to one of the following:
1) they are a source of new extra-biblical divine revelation
that has the authority of Scripture, or 2) they really do not
perform miracles at all, or 3) their miracles are demonically
empowered.
11.1: Biblical Attributes of Miracle Working 3
A) Introduction: Faith, Healing, & Miracle Working
The Apostle Paul mentions the miracle working gifts in 1
Corinthians 12 when he writes:
To one there is given through the Spirit . . . [miracle]
faith . . . to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to
another miraculous powers. (1 Cor 12:7, 9-10)
There are three supernatural gifts or abilities listed here that are
especially related to one another: miracle “faith,” “healing,” and
“miraculous powers.” We will briefly state our understanding of
these gifts here, and defend our perspective in the remainder of the
chapter.
“Gifts of healing,” and “miraculous powers” were
supernatural abilities granted to Prophets and Apostles enabling
them to perform miracles on command. The Apostle’s distinction
between “healing” and “miraculous powers” is best understood
as the latter referring specifically to miracles over Nature as well,
such as Christ’s multiplication of bread and fish (cf. Matt 8:24-26;
15:36-37), or Elisha’s ability to make an iron axe head float on
water (cf. 2 Kings 6:5-7). “Healing,” of course, always involved
people. 1
As noted, the Apostle Paul also mentions “faith” among these
miraculous gifts. We will demonstrate below that this is miracle
faith which is given by God to miracle workers or recipients of
miracles so that there is complete confidence a miracle will occur.
Accordingly, Jesus said if a person has just a “mustard seed”
amount of miracle faith, they can literally command a “mountain,
'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be
impossible for you” (Matt 17:20). Therefore the miracle faith is
as miraculous as the miracle working itself. It was the miracle faith
that accompanied the gifts of healing and miracle working that
enabled the miracle worker to command a miracle that
immediately, and without fail occurred. This is in contrast to the
right of all Christians to pray for healing or a miracle which may or
may not occur.
Obviously there is a great deal of controversy on the miracle
working gifts today due to the teachings and claims of super-
supernaturalism. 2 Throughout this section of Knowing Our God
(KOG) we have made the claim that God is no longer granting the
miracle working gifts to His Church because their purpose of
authenticating messengers of new extra-biblical divine revelation
has ceased. Here we wish to support that claim by taking a closer
look at the biblical attributes of these gifts and comparing them
11.1: Biblical Attributes of Miracle Working 4
with how they operate in modern super-supernaturalism. Our
conclusion is that no one today has the right to claim these gifts
because they cannot demonstrate their biblical attributes. 3
In order to illustrate the biblical attributes of miracle working
gifts, we will use the Apostle Peter’s healing of the paralytic in Acts
chapter three as it would seem to involve all of these
characteristics. Luke writes:
Now a man crippled from birth was being carried to
the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put
every day to beg from those going into the temple
courts. When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he
asked them for money.
Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter
said, "Look at us!" So the man gave them his attention,
expecting to get something from them. Then Peter said,
"Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give
you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk."
Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and
instantly the man's feet and ankles became strong. He
jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went
with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping,
and praising God. (Acts 3:2-8)
B) Miracle Working Gifts Always Worked with a
Command, Not Merely a Prayer: Miracles vs. Miracle Working
The paralytic in Acts 3 was healed by the Apostle Peter, not a
prayer, and on his command to “walk.” This healing did not simply
involve a request to God to heal, but God worked through the gift of
healing he had given to the Apostle. This difference between
praying for a cure and commanding a cure is the difference between
what all Christians can do today and what only those with the real
gift of healing can do. The method of healing performed by Christ
and the Apostles was by command or touch, never merely prayer. 4
Some might also object to our claim that those with miracle
working gifts never healed merely by prayer by citing the example
of the Apostle Paul on the island of Malta. There Luke records that
a man “was sick in bed, suffering from fever and dysentery,”
and “Paul went in to see him and, after prayer, placed his
hands on him and healed him” (Acts 28:7-8). Obviously here
the healing involved prayer, but not merely prayer, as the Apostle
then healed with a touch. Our point here is that there is an
important difference between the ability to heal by command or
11.1: Biblical Attributes of Miracle Working 5
touch which the gift of healing invariably provided, and the kind of
healing occurring today by prayer, but rather rarely. 5
This fact reflects the important distinction between direct
miracles performed by God and delegated miracle working
performed by human miracle workers. Accordingly, the Apostle
Paul refers to the latter as workers of miracles” (1 Cor 12:28
NASB). 6 More specifically, we have written:
In general, we can say that direct miracles can occur in
response to the simple prayer of anyone, but such requests
are often not granted. On the other hand, delegated miracles
occur by the command or touch of a person and never fail, as
we have no record in Scripture of a God-appointed miracle
worker commanding or attempting to perform a miracle that
did not occur. Accordingly, direct miracles authenticate and
glorify God alone. Delegated miracle working intentionally
authenticates and unavoidably glorifies the human as well.
The distinction between direct miracles and delegated
miracle working is not merely a theological one, but important
in the modern debate regarding miracles. Super-
supernaturalism, which is the belief that divine miracles of all
kinds are quite common today and that God-ordained miracle
workers abound, often fails to make the biblical distinction
between direct miracles of God and delegated human miracle
working, with some unfortunate consequences.
For example, because many Christians deny that delegated
human miracle working is operating today according to its
biblical attributes and purposes, super-supernaturalism
routinely insinuates that they are also denying God is doing
miracles today. On the contrary, of course God is still doing
miracles! But this is far different from saying that God is still
empowering human miracle workers as super-supernaturalism
claims, but which we demonstrate elsewhere is a false claim.
We believe in miracles, not miracle workers, and by not
distinguishing between them, super-supernaturalism has
falsely accused others of believing in miracles less than they
do.
In addition, super-supernaturalism bolsters its claims to
miracle working gifts by suggesting that miracles or healings
occurring in response to prayer are examples of these gifts
operating. On the contrary, as we demonstrate elsewhere, no
biblical character with miracle working gifts ever healed people
with merely a prayer. Biblical Prophets and Apostles, and
Christ healed without fail through their command and/or touch
of a person.
This is the important difference between the direct divine
11.1: Biblical Attributes of Miracle Working 6
miracles God may, but not always do in response to the
prayers of any Christian, and the delegated human miracle
working through miraculous sign gifts that, in Scripture, were
only given to those who were also sources of new divine
revelation from God. 7
We distinguish human miracle working through God-given gifts
from the direct kind in that the former occurred in the context of a
man commanding a miracle that occurred immediately. This is
significantly different from miracles we may pray for and ask God to
do directly. “Be healed!” is the common language of a biblical
miracle worker, and may or may not include any request to God for
the miracle.
Such is illustrated when we read of Philip: “The crowds with
one accord were giving attention to what was said by Philip,
as they heard and saw the signs which he was performing”
(Acts 8:6). Likewise, we note that those truly with such gifts could
even pronounce miraculous judgment and have it immediately
immediate statement that he “should have been commended”
by the Corinthians has much more to do with how the Corinthians
viewed his authority than his superiority over false Apostles. It is
obvious that Paul’s miracle working ability might distinguish him
from false Apostles, but this fact does nothing to disprove the fact
that the early Church recognized miracle working as a unique
authentication of true Apostles.
Additionally, Dr. Grudem claims that the “signs of a true
Apostle” have nothing to do with the “signs and wonders and
miracles” that Paul mentions, but rather are merely nonmiraculous
things such as “suffering and hardship endured for Christ.” 57 Jack
Deere presents the same argument, 58 and it is one that is fairly
popular in particularly liberal Christian literature. Indeed, we have
argued elsewhere that supernatural virtue is the ultimate divine
authentication of a divine messenger. 59 However, Christ and the
Apostles also pointed to their physical miracle working as an
additional essential authentication of their ministries.
Nonetheless, super-supernaturalists ignore the plain meaning of
the text in 2 Corinthians 12:11-12 simply to justify their claim that
miracle workers were abundant then, and are today. Let’s look at it
again:
Actually I should have been commended by you
[Christians as an Apostle of Jesus Christ], for in no respect
was I inferior to the most eminent Apostles, even
11.1: Biblical Attributes of Miracle Working 31
though I am a nobody. The signs [sēmeia] of a true
Apostle were performed among you with all
perseverance, by signs [sēmeiois] and wonders [terasin]
and miracles [dynamesin].
The apparent desperation to find biblical support for their
doctrine and practices is evidenced when Dr. Grudem claims that
while the word “signs” in the latter part of the sentence “must refer
to miracles,” Paul’s reference to “signs” in the first part of the
sentence refers to “suffering and hardship.” 60 All of this to deny
the obvious biblical fact that the gifts of miracle working were
unique enough to the first century Apostles, that Paul could refer to
them as “the signs of a true Apostle,” which again, makes the
super-supernaturalists claim to the ordinary nature of these gifts
then and today an absurd and unbiblical one.
Finally, the writer to the Hebrews summarizes our point in this
section when we read:
This salvation [the revelation of the New Covenant], which
was first announced by the Lord, was [miraculously]
confirmed to us by those who heard Him. God also
testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles,
and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to His
will. (Heb 2:3-4).
The need for miraculous authentication for new divine revelation
was precisely the reason the King told the Apostles to wait in
Jerusalem “for the gift [of] “the Holy Spirit” so they could
“receive [miracle working] power” in order to be His messengers
of new divine revelation (Acts 1:4-5, 8). They already had the
revelation they needed after Christ had, “appeared to them over
a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God”
(v. 3). But new divine revelation is not enough, these messengers
needed divine authentication as well which came with the ability to
miraculously speak in tongues (cf. Acts 2:1-12) and perform
miracles (cf. Acts 2:43).
And such miraculous gifts for authentication were not just
granted to Apostles, but to anyone given the responsibility of
communicating new divine revelation. Accordingly, we read of
Philip: “When the crowds heard Philip and saw the miraculous
signs he did, they all paid close attention to what he said”
(Acts 8:6) which was the new divine revelation of the New
Covenant.
With this in mind, it is alarming that the vast majority of modern
“miracle workers” in the Church will not even dare to claim that
they are sources of divine extra-biblical revelation that all must
11.1: Biblical Attributes of Miracle Working 32
believe and obey. Yet that is precisely what every God-sent miracle
worker in the Bible was and there are no exceptions. In other
words, such “miracle workers” in the Church today do not have a
single biblical example or teaching of Scripture that they can point
to in order to support their “ministries” unless it is Simon the
Sorcerer. 61 There simply were no miracle workers or faith healers
who did not also receive direct, divine revelation from God that
needed to be believed and obeyed by all.
It is true that some “miracle workers” today may claim a “gift of
knowledge” or “prophecy” which grants them extra-biblical and
divinely authoritative direction for another individual. Accordingly,
a self-proclaimed “prophet” may claim God has told them it is
“God’s will” for a particular person seeking their counsel, to move to
a particular place, take a particular job, or other extra-biblical
matters. But none of this fits the pattern of Scripture. The kind of
divine revelation that biblical miracle workers received was not the
kind that would primarily apply to just an individual, but was
applicable to all Christians, in the same way Scripture is. 62
Contrary then to super-supernaturalism, God has always
granted sign and Scripture gifts together, because their purposes
are interdependent. 63 Perhaps, then, we can be forgiven one verse
out of context when we say, “Therefore what God has joined
together, let man not separate” (Matt 19:6). Modern “miracle
workers” will simply find no biblical support for their claims to God-
sent miracle working unless they are willing to also claim that they
speak with the God-given and conscience-binding authority of a
Moses, Elijah, Jesus, Peter, or Paul. It is the God-like
authentication of the Prophets and Apostles that grants their
writings in the Scriptures God-like authority. We are not expected
to give such authority to documents written merely by good men. 64
One reason that modern “miracle workers” do not claim to
possess extra-biblical revelation that is to be believed and obeyed
by all Christians is that they know their ministries would come
under greater scrutiny and be exposed as the frauds they are. As
long as they are just being nice “miracle workers” supposedly doing
people good, they are unfortunately left alone.
However, the habitual severing of the God-ordained relationship
between Scripture and sign gifts is serious business because it has
undermined the foundation of what the authority of Scripture is
based upon. Contrary to beliefs in super-supernaturalism, the
miracle-working abilities of God’s Prophets and Apostles were not
meant to be imitated, but were meant to be His unique signature on
such men as His messengers. Their exclusive possession of gifts of
healing and miracle working is the foundation of our confidence that
11.1: Biblical Attributes of Miracle Working 33
what these men wrote was divine revelation instead of human
invention.
Accordingly, the reason we believe that Moses, Jesus, Paul, and
Peter were unique sources of divinely authoritative revelation is that
they uniquely performed miracles. If modern so-called “Prophets”
and “miracle workers” possess the same gifts as those who
supernaturally revealed and authenticated the covenants recorded
in Scripture, then what authoritative superiority do Moses, Christ,
and Paul have over them? None, if the modern claims to the same
gifts are true. To whatever degree you dilute the superiority of
their miracle working, as the doctrine and practice of super-
supernaturalism does, you dilute the divine authority of their
writings.
Accordingly, Peter Jensen, Anglican Archbishop of Sydney
writes, “The constant recourse to claims for miracles today
diminishes the revelatory significance of those recorded in the New
Testament.” 65 Likewise, in this context, Christian apologist Norman
Geisler warns:
The issue has significance for apologetics. First, existence of
apostolic, sign gift-type miracles today raises the issue of
whether the New Testament miracles uniquely confirmed the
truth claims of Christ and the Apostles, as recorded in
Scripture. Second, if miracles that confirm divine truth claims
exist today, are truth claims they accompany to be accepted
on par with those of Scripture? 66
The fact that super-supernaturalism separates miracle working
from its biblical purpose not only undermines the authority of
Scripture, but makes the source of any real miracles in their midst
suspect. The reason God sends miracle workers is to authenticate a
new covenant or a messenger of extra-biblical divine revelation that
God’s people must believe and obey. If this is not God’s plan today,
then who might send miracle workers? satan, who sends them to
deceive. 67
Therefore, if modern “miracle workers” want any biblical support
for their claims today, they must admit to one of the following: 1)
they are a source of new extra-biblical divine revelation that has the
authority of Scripture, or 2) they really do not perform miracles at
all, or 3) their miracles are demonically empowered. These are the
only options the Bible will offer someone who claims to be a miracle
worker. And if number 1 is not true, then they had best flee to the
humbling but forgivable concession of number 2, if they do not wish
to be accused of number 3.
11.1: Biblical Attributes of Miracle Working 34
Extras & Endnotes
A Devotion to Dad
Our Father, we thank you that the greatest miracle working
occurring today is the supernatural regeneration of the Holy Spirit
which resurrects the spiritually dead to spiritual life! Forgive the
Church for any misplaced emphasis on physical miracle working
that has distracted from the real miracles occurring today. We pray
that your Church would love and see You more than the mere
healing of the body.
Gauging Your Grasp
1) How do we define the essence and purpose of “gifts of
healing,” and “miraculous powers” (1 Cor 12:9-10).
2) What is the essential difference between the direct miracles all
Christians can request God to do today, and the human miracle
working only those with the real gift of healing could do?
3) What are the biblical attributes of those with the real gift of
healing? Do you agree or disagree that modern “faith healers”
match these attributes?
4) What is the significance of the fact that biblical miracle workers
even convinced their enemies of their divine power?
5) What is our explanation for the conspicuous absence of miracles
over Nature in modern super-supernaturalism?
6) Do you agree or disagree with the conclusion of this study: If
modern “miracle workers” want any biblical support for their
claims today, they must admit to one of the following: 1) they
are a source of new extra-biblical divine revelation that has the
authority of Scripture, or 2) they really do not perform miracles
at all, or 3) their miracles are demonically empowered.
11.1: Biblical Attributes of Miracle Working 35
Recommended Reading
Books 10 and 11 of Knowing Our God: Diving Miracles and
Human Miracle Working.
Publications & Particulars
1 NT scholar Anthony Thiselton offers supporting evidence for our
distinction between the gifts of healing and miracle working when he writes:
On these matters patristic evidence and arguments deserve serious attention. Chrysostom [c. 347-407] perceives both overlap and
contrast with healings: "He who had a gift of healing used only to do cures; but he who possessed [miracle working] used to punish also . . . even as Paul imposed blindness and Peter brought death" (Acts 13:11; 5:1-11) [I Cor. Homily 29:5]. So miracle working includes healing, but also whatever human healing does not include. Thomas Aquinas [1225-1274] also referred the latter to miracles over nature like Moses’ dividing the Red Sea and Joshua stopping the sun. (The
First Epistle to the Corinthians [Eerdmans, 2000], 954) We also believe it is a mistake to confuse the gifts of healing and
miracle working with exorcism, as we discuss in section 11.10.B
2 For an introduction to super-supernaturalism see chapters 10.13-16.
3 According to Nave’s Topical Bible, all of the healings in the NT are described in the following references: Mt. chs. 8-9; 12:9-13, 22; 15:22-28; 17:14-21; 20:29-34; Mk. 7:31-37; Lk. 7:11-16; 13:10-13, 14:1-6;
17:12-14; 22:49-51 Jn. 4:46-53; 5:2-9; 9:1-7; 11:1-46; Acts 3:2-10; 5:15-16; 9:34; 9:40; 14:8-10; 19:11-12; 20:9-12; 28:8-9 (John R. Kohlenberger, ed., [Zondervan, 1992], 414, 684). Reading them will
help a person understand how miraculously superior these healings were compared to those claimed today. They will also confirm, without exception, the biblical characteristics of the gifts of miracle working that
are presented here.
4 The only clear exception is the record of people being healed by “handkerchiefs and aprons that [Paul] had touched” (Acts 19:12). But even here we would point to the fact that such healings involved the touch of the one having the gift, not a simple prayer. Luke also reports that, “people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some
of them as he passed by,” and while they might have received healing, the text does not say this.
5 The proper interpretation of James 5:14-16 will be taken up at section 11.5.E
6 It is true that “workers” is not in the Greek text of 1 Corinthians 12:28,
11.1: Biblical Attributes of Miracle Working 36
which simply has dynameis (“miracles”). The idea of workers of miracles as opposed to direct divine miracles seems demanded by the text. For example, the literal translation of verse 29 would be “all are not miracles?” Because it appears in a list of gifts attached to people, even
the rather literal NASB renders this, “workers of miracles.”
7 Excerpted from section 10.5.A.1.
8 David Garland, Reading Matthew: A Literary and Theological Commentary on the First Gospel (Crossroad, 1993), 94-97.
9 E. J. Carnell, An Introduction to Christian Apologetics (Eerdmans, 1956),
273. Yet, just a page earlier, Dr. Carnell himself would seem to confuse
direct miracles with delegated miracle working when he writes: The doctrine that miracles no longer occur is one of those fundamental canons which separate Protestantism from Roman Catholicism. . . . Miracles are a seal and sign of special, covenantal revelation; but revelation has ceased. There cannot, therefore, be new miracles. (Ibid., 272)
It is, of course, just this kind of inaccuracy that super-supernaturalists
take advantage of in order to accuse historicists of not believing in modern miracles
10 Regarding our first characteristic, that the gift worked through the command or touch of a person, rather than simply an answer to prayer, it might be objected that Peter’s raising Tabitha from the dead is an exception (Acts 9:36-41). Luke records that before he commanded Tabitha to “get up,” he had gotten “down on his knees and prayed.”
Still, Peter’s command to “get up” was certainly involved in the healing. Our point here is to distinguish between the ability of any Christian to ask God to heal someone, and the miraculous ability for a person to command a healing. Tabitha is no exception
11 A study of the OT prophets reveals a similar pattern. However, unlike
the NT, Moses and Aaron performed their miracles with the raising of a
rod (cf. Exod 7:19; 8:5; 8:16; etc.), and Elijah divided the Jordan river by striking it with a cloak (cf. 2 Kgs 2:14).
12 We would suggest, for example, that D. M. Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981) ignores this distinction when he writes:
We must never use the word 'claim' [in regards to miracles]. It is incompatible with sovereignty. People say, 'Claim this gift claim healing.' You cannot claim healing. The Apostle himself claimed
healing three times and did not get it. Never claim; never even use the word. We are to submit ourselves -it is the Spirit who gives. The claiming of gifts is clearly incompatible with the whole of the New
Testament emphasis. No, no, he is Lord, he controls and he gives. You can supplicate but you must never claim. Never! (The Sovereign Spirit: Discerning the Gifts [Harold Shaw, 1985], 48-9
On the contrary, if someone has been given the gift of miracle working
and the accompanying miracle faith to command or claim a miracle, they certainly can do so. Lloyd-Jones’ thoughts, however, apply very well to
11.1: Biblical Attributes of Miracle Working 37
situations where the gift of miracle faith is absent and people are still “claiming” a miracle instead of asking for one.
13 Jack Deere, Surprised by the Power of the Spirit Power (Zondervan, 1993), 18.
14 Ibid.
15 For a discussion of James 5:15-16 see section 11.5.E
16 Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology (Zondervan, 1994), 1063-1069.
17 Ibid., 1067 (italics in the original).
18 For further discussion of the proper expectation of miracles as illustrated in China’s underground Church see section 10.3.C.3-5.
19 Brother Yun and Paul Hattaway, The Heavenly Man: The Remarkable True Story of Chinese Christian Brother Yun (Monarch Books, 2002), 247.
20 Ibid., 207-8.
21 For further discussion of the powerful healing effects of spiritual conversion see section 11.10.A.
22 B. B. Warfield, Counterfeit Miracles (Banner of Truth Trust, 1972), 58.
23 John MacArthur, Charismatic Chaos (Zondervan, 1992), 256-257.
24 For an introduction to the different kinds of biblical faith see section 6.1.D-E.
25 For further discussion of miracle faith see chapters 11.4-5
26 Wayne Grudem in Are Miraculous Gifts for Today?, Wayne Grudem ed. (Zondervan, 1996), 159
27 Grudem, Theology, 366.
28 Doug Bannister, The Word and Power Church (Zondervan, 1999), 156,
193.
29 Yun, 173-4.
30 For further discussion of Bishop Irenaeus’ testimony concerning the gift of healing see section 11.7.B.2.
31 There is an important distinction between functional [psychological] disease and [physical] organic disease: A functional disease is one in
which a perfectly good organ does not function properly [because of psychological ailments]. An organic disease is one in which the organ is
diseased, maimed, physically impaired, or even defunct. “Faith healers” can affect the former, but not the latter. See section 11.9.A.
32 For further discussion regarding the rather amazing illnesses that can be caused by psychological problems, and the natural cures that can be provided through psychological means see chapter 11.9
33 For further discussion of the awe-inspiring effect of miracles see section
11.1: Biblical Attributes of Miracle Working 38
10.2.C.
34 Excerpt from 10.2.C.3
35 Max Turner, The Holy Spirit and Spiritual Gifts (Hendrickson, 1998), 332-333, 335.
36 Thomas R. Edgar, “The Cessation of the Sign Gifts” BSac 145 (1988), 378.
37 For further discussion regarding the fraud in super-supernaturalism see chapter 11.8
38 Ronald Kydd, Healing Through the Centuries: Models for Understanding (Hendrickson, 1998), xxvi.
39 J. P. Moreland, Kingdom Triangle (Zondervan, 2007), 185.
40 For other legitimate explanations for super-supernatural claims to miracles see chapters 11.8-12.
41 For further discussion regarding the rather amazing illnesses that can be caused by psychological problems, and the natural cures that can be provided through psychological means see chapter 11.9
42 Grudem, 1022-25.
43 For examples of the habit in the super-supernaturalist camp to claim the rest of us need to be more “open-minded” and “believing,” and if we were then their pathetic ministries would be recognized as more miraculous, see section 10.16.G
44 For further discussion of Simon the Sorcerer’s spiritual state see section 6.6.C. While here we suggest he may have been a mere magician, at section 11.12.A we admit that his abilities may have been demonically
empowered as well.
45 For further discussion regarding divine authentication of divine revelation see sections 3.1.D and 7.1.B.5 and 7.6.F
46 Excerpted from section 7.3.C.3.
47 Excerpted from section 7.6.F. For further discussion regarding divine authentication of divine revelation see sections 3.1.D, 7.1.B.5 and 7.6.F.
48 J. P. Moreland and Klaus Issler, In Search of a Confident Faith (Intervarsity, 2008), 18-19
49 Many Evangelicals suggest the significance of Elijah’s miracle working was that it occurred during a time of apostasy, therefore, apparently
offering biblical evidence that such circumstances could bring more Elijah’s.
For example, the long time Professor of Systematic Theology at
Westminster, Sinclair B. Ferguson writes: Outbreaks of the miraculous sign-gifts in the Old Testament were, generally speaking, limited to those periods of redemptive history in
11.1: Biblical Attributes of Miracle Working 39
which a new stage of covenantal revelation was reached and during which the kingdom of God required special defense against the danger of annihilation by the powers of darkness: the days of the Exodus, the entry into the promised land, and the establishment of
the people there; the time of Elijah and Elisha and the establishing of the prophetic ministry; and the days of the Exile. (The Holy Spirit [Intervarsity, 1996], 224)
We sympathize with Dr. Ferguson’s attempt to demonstrate the uniqueness of the sign gifts, but when he fails to note that every God-sent miracle worker was a messenger of extra-biblical divine revelation,
and instead highlights the miracle working of Elijah and Elisha when “the kingdom of God required special defense against the danger of annihilation by the powers of darkness,” he leaves open the possibility that non-revelational miracle workers may be sent by God in such circumstances today. Such a view would not reflect the full teaching of Scripture
50 Leon Morris, The Gospel According to John (NICNT) (Eerdmans, 1995),
608
51 This episode in Acts 14 is just one occasion where an Apostle performs miracles in order to authenticate new revelation in the presence of
Gentiles. This refutes the idea that when Paul said, “Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom” (1 Cor 1:22), that such miraculous authentication was somehow confined to the Jews. The apostles elsewhere performed miracles among Gentiles (cf. Acts 15:12;
20:6-12; 28:7-10). The Jewish demand for supernatural authentication of supernatural revelation was not cultural, but creational and biblical
52 Super-supernaturalist Wayne Grudem suggests that 2 Corinthians 12:12 is not biblical evidence for the purpose of miracle working. For further discussion see section 8.4.B.2
53 Paul Barnett, The Second Epistle to the Corinthians (Eerdmans, 1997),
580. Barnett lists K. H. Rengstorf in the TDNT 7.258-60 as supportive of his view.
Nonetheless, even a respected NT scholar such as C. K. Barrett dismisses the obvious and contends:
Paul's rivals, originally standing on a Jewish-Christian platform, had no difficulty in accommodating themselves to the requirement [of working miracles] (and thus in some respects give the impression of
claiming to be 'divine men'. (The Second Epistle to the Corinthians (BNTC) [Henddrickson, 1997], 321, cf. 29).
In other words, Barrett suggests there were an abundance of bona fide miracle workers in the pagan religions, and for example lists Apollonius
of Tyana. Elsewhere we have noted the very sketchy and questionable data on Apollonius (cf. section 11.8.C) and more liberal scholars such as Barrett do not have the enough evidence for real pagan miracle
workers in the apostolic age. If an abundance of such people existed, again, Paul would not have offered the evidence of his miracle working as a defense
11.1: Biblical Attributes of Miracle Working 40
54 Gordon Fee, God’s Empowering Presence (Hendrickson, 1994), 888
55 Grudem, 364 (Underlining added for emphasis).
56 Ibid., 362.
57 Ibid., 363-364.
58 Deere attempts the same arguments, no doubt, based on Grudem’s work. (Power, 104-105). Carson disagrees with both Grudem, Deere, and, he says, Turner, and rightly points out that, “The expression signs of an apostle or the like occurs in a few crucial passages (Acts 2:43; 5:12; 2
Cor. 12:12), and it teaches us not to avoid the link [between “the miraculous gifts” and the “role of attestation”] altogether.” (Spirit, 156).
59 For our claim that virtue is the ultimate test for a divine messenger see especially sections 9.12.D and chapter 11.13.
60 Grudem, 363.
61 See section 11.12.A regarding Simon the Sorcerer.
62 Some may object that Ananias (cf. Acts 9:10-18) is a miracle worker that does not fit our claim that every God-sent miracle worker was also a source of new extra-biblical divine revelation that was to be believed and
obeyed by all. We discuss his special case in the next chapter at 11.2.B.3
63 For further discussion of the definition and purpose of Scripture and sign gifts see sections 3.1.D, 7.1.B, 7.6.F.
64 This divine method of miraculous authentication is especially important for doctrinal revelation. This is because our New Nature by virtue of the indwelling Holy Spirit through our regeneration is also a powerful source
of divine authentication regarding the moral directional revelation in Scripture (see section 3.5.A). However, how could we be assured that, for example, God the Father:
chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love He predestined us to be adopted as His sons . . . having been predestined according to the plan
of Him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will. (Eph 1:4-5, 11) While we could know we are saved through the Gospel by its
supernatural effects in our lives, we still would not know we got saved because God “chose us” and “predestined us” to be so. These are incredibly weighty truths, and the only reason we can know that they are from God is because the apostle Paul who penned them was a man of
both supernatural virtue and power to perform miracles.
65 Peter Jensen, The Revelation of God (InterVarsity, 2002), 272.
66 Norm Geisler, Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics (Baker, 1999), 468.
67 For further discussion of demonic miracle working see chapters 10.6 and