{"id":23752,"date":"2010-06-10T21:32:00","date_gmt":"2010-06-11T02:32:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=23752"},"modified":"2020-07-07T21:35:59","modified_gmt":"2020-07-08T02:35:59","slug":"are-we-limiting-god-by-saying-miracles-dont-happen-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-we-limiting-god-by-saying-miracles-dont-happen-today\/","title":{"rendered":"Are we limiting God by saying miracles don’t happen today?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t

Question:<\/h2>\n

I have a friend who believes, like many people, that spiritual gifts still exist. He says to believe that they don’t is limiting the Holy Spirit. I told him that I see that as the opposite being true. To say that some have the gift of healing today and many many others don’t is saying that God is a respecter of persons, which we know He is not. For someone to “call” on the Holy Spirit to “perform” some act limits the Holy Spirit, as I believe that He is everywhere at once and everyone has access to Him. It’s not as if He needs to be called out of the clouds to come into our presence, but He is always present and our power is in prayer. If we pray believing that He will heal someone and knowing that His Will will be done, then we must accept that and in the fullness of His time, we will understand everything. Am I close?<\/p>\n\t

Answer:<\/h2>\n

There are two problems that need to be addressed. First, the claim that anyone can limit God’s power is facetious. “For the LORD of hosts has purposed, and who will annul it? His hand is stretched out, and who will turn it back?<\/em>” (Isaiah 14:27). The question has never been about what God\u00a0could<\/em>\u00a0do. The question has always been what God has chosen to do. God could choose to miracles today, but that isn’t what God said was His choice.<\/p>\n

Miracles were not done simply to be doing. They were gifts that helped confirm that those delivering the words of God were from God. “God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will<\/em>” (Hebrews 2:4). The gifts were no longer needed once the word was delivered and confirmed, “But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away. When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things<\/em>” (I Corinthians 13:10-11). Your friend is contending that God didn’t mean what He said.<\/p>\n

The second problem is that the definition of “miracle” is too broad. See:\u00a0Do miracles happen every day?<\/a>\u00a0The definition being used is so broad that any change in the world is being called a miracle, thus the impact of true miracles described in the Bible is being watered down. The birth of a child is a great event, but it isn’t a miracle. Despite the repeated claims, true miracles, such as those found recorded in the Bible, do not occur today.<\/p>\n

God’s answers to our prayers are not miracles. He does answer our prayers — sometimes in ways that leave us in awe at what He accomplishes. But those answers come through God’s providence — His manipulation of His world from behind the scenes to direct the course in the direction He wishes it to go.<\/p>\n\t

Response:<\/h2>\n

Thank you so much for answering my question so clearly. These are scriptures I will memorize. I appreciate your time in answering me.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Question: I have a friend who believes, like many people, that spiritual gifts still exist. He says to believe that they don’t is limiting the Holy Spirit. I told him that I see that as the opposite being true. To say that some have the gift of healing today and many many others don’t is…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[363,187],"class_list":["post-23752","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-miracles","tag-providence"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":34819,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-dont-you-believe-that-the-spirit-actively-dwells-in-the-believer-today\/","url_meta":{"origin":23752,"position":0},"title":"Why don’t you believe that the Spirit actively dwells in the believer today?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 15, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: In my seeking to find \"Christian only\" groups, I have visited several \"churches of Christ,\" which came out of the restoration movement in the 1800s. My question is, though I deeply appreciate the non-denominational and back to the Bible emphasis, why is it that many reject any direct involvement\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":18130,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/could-jesus-and-the-apostle-only-do-miracles-after-receiving-the-holy-spirit\/","url_meta":{"origin":23752,"position":1},"title":"Could Jesus and the apostle only do miracles after receiving the Holy Spirit?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 15, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Do you think that Jesus was able to perform miracles after His baptism because the Holy Spirit came to Him and that Jesus was not able to perform miracles before this because He didn't have the Holy Spirit? This was presented in class and my gut feeling is that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":39179,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-believing-in-modern-day-miracles-affect-your-salvation\/","url_meta":{"origin":23752,"position":2},"title":"Can believing in modern-day miracles affect your salvation?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 7, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am thankful that I found this site. I have someone who believes in miracles. I have addressed this subject to him in full. My question is: Do you think if someone is a born-again Christian and has put on Christ in burial baptism that if they believe in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":67295,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-providence-of-god-and-miracles\/","url_meta":{"origin":23752,"position":3},"title":"The Providence of God and Miracles","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 2, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Osamagbe Lesley Egharevba via Unmasking Sophistry, Vol. 4, No. 2, April-June 2024 It is a common teaching among the Pentecostals that miracles exist today. We often hear various claims among different churches about certain miracles that were performed. Sadly, even among some members of the churches of Christ, there\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10242,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/miracles-signs-and-wonders\/","url_meta":{"origin":23752,"position":4},"title":"Miracles, Signs, and Wonders","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 20, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jefferson David Tant Jesus\u2019 last words to his disciples are known as \u201cThe Great Commission,\u201d which is recorded in Matthew 28:18-20 and Mark 16:15-18. Verses 17-20 in Mark\u2019s record have been used by some denominations as proof that these miraculous manifestations are still in operation today. It is the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7946,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-arent-we-following-the-holy-spirit\/","url_meta":{"origin":23752,"position":5},"title":"Why aren’t we following the Holy Spirit?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 4, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I believe that the word of God is truly inspired and is the divine authority in every aspect of our lives today. The one problem I see in this answer to this question is that you seem to assume that everyone who believes that God speaks today does not\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23752","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23752"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23752\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23752"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23752"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23752"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}