Why There Are No Genuine Miracles Today
by Roger D. Campbell
In the New Testament, a “miracle” refers to a supernatural act of power that had observable and immediate results or effects. We should not expect God Himself to perform miracles or bestow miraculous powers upon humans today. Why not?
God's Will
It is not God’s will that there be miracles today. In God’s plan, signs, including all spiritual, miraculous gifts, were temporary. “Whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away” (I Corinthians 13:8). Notice three declarations about these signs (miracles):
- They will fail,
- They will cease,
- They will vanish away.
It is clear that the Lord never intended for spiritual gifts (miracles) to last indefinitely.
“Prophecies,” “tongues,” and “knowledge,” are three spiritual gifts which the apostle Paul mentions, both when he lists the miraculous gifts in I Corinthians 12:8-10 and when he declares the temporary status of the gifts (I Corinthians 13:8). We must not think these three gifts (prophecies, tongues, knowledge -- I Corinthians 13:8) are more important or somehow superior to other spiritual gifts. Instead, we should view them as representing all nine gifts listed in I Corinthians 12:8-10. That is, what is true about these three gifts (prophecies, tongues, knowledge) is true, in fact, about all nine of the gifts.
Specifically, what Paul says about the duration of prophecies, tongues, and knowledge is also true of the duration of all the spiritual gifts supplied by the Holy Spirit in the first century. Here is the conclusion: just as those three gifts were a temporary aspect of God’s plan, so each of the other spiritual gifts was also temporary.
Looking further in I Corinthians 13:9-10, we see a contrast — a contrast between the partial (incomplete) and the perfect (complete). “For we know in part and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away” (I Corinthians 13:9-10). Taking into account the context, Paul is speaking about the temporary nature of the spiritual gifts (in revealing God’s word). He contrasts them to the permanent nature of God’s word (the completed New Testament). Note that the three gifts which Paul mentions in I Corinthians 13:8 (prophecies, tongues, miraculous knowledge) are all related to receiving revelation from God — revelation that was for the benefit of both the church and those who were still lost outside of Christ. Those three spiritual gifts (prophecies, tongues, miraculous knowledge) represented a temporary aspect of God’s revealing His will to mankind. In contrast to the “in part” (partial revelation of God, I Corinthians 13:9), the expression “that which is perfect” (I Corinthians 13:10) refers to the perfect or complete revelation of the word of God, not to Jesus himself as a person.
The Lack of Need
We do not need miracles today. Why? Because we have “that which is perfect” — the completed word of God (the New Testament). The role of miraculous activity has been fulfilled. Tongues were for a sign (I Corinthians 14:22). Signs were used to confirm the word of God that Jesus’ disciples preached, as it is written, “And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following” (Mark 16:20). “Signs following” were the miracles performed that validated (proved) the words they were teaching. Miracles came after the preaching of God's word. Once that word was confirmed (in the first century), there was (and is) no need to confirm it again.
Jesus’ promise to His apostles was that, “when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth...” (John 16:13). That promise was fulfilled — “all truth” came from the Holy Spirit during the lifetime of the apostles (cf. I Peter 1:3). Since the Spirit revealed all truth in the first century during the days of the apostles, there is no new revelation from God being given today. Because there are no new revelations from the Lord that need to be confirmed, there are no new signs/miracles.
Spiritual gifts were for the edification of the church (I Corinthians 14:12, 26, 31). However, today, the word of God is sufficient for the edification of the church, as it can build us up and give us an inheritance among the saved (Acts 20:32). Therefore, spiritual gifts and miracles are not needed today.
The Source Is No Longer Made Available
God is no longer making the power to do miracles available. Holy Spirit baptism was a first-century-only phenomenon, so it is not taking place today. Miracles are no longer needed. Additionally, there are no true apostles alive who can lay hands on other Christians to pass on miraculous powers to them, as demonstrated in Acts 8:14-20.
No genuine miracles are taking place today. God is still all-powerful, but the age of miracles has passed. They are not needed. We have the New Testament.
