One of the major issues of controversy in Christianity today is the role of miracles in the life of a believer. First, let me say that believers do not perform miracles and they never have. God is the one who does that. All the Old Testament Prophets attest to this fact; Moses, Elijah and Elisha. The New Testament Apostles always credit the miraculous events recorded in the Bible as having their source in God and Jesus Christ also. The miraculous has never been the purview of man. Those through whom God chose to act were mere instruments in the hand s of an omnipotent God.

Second, I still believe miracles happen today. I could give numerous examples of unexplainable healings that have happened and often as a result of prayer. God has not changed. He is still omnipotent and still acts in the lives of His people. We all marvel and give God the Glory when we see this happen. I also believe that every conversion, in and of itself, is a miracle. When a person is born again through the agency of the Holy Spirit, that is one of God’s greatest miracles. Further, there are events that happen in our lives that are such a “coincidental” nature that we find them hard to explain. I believe they may also be times when God intervenes in our lives to protect us, keep us from sin and guide us into His ways. These miracles are all subjective experiences that God bless His people with that are miraculous to the recipients, but do not serve as evidence to others of God’s existence and presence in the world.

However, there is a difference, in my opinion, between the miracles of the Bible and the miracles God performs for us personally today. The biblical miracles are acts of God that suspend or override the natural laws of the universe in order to demonstrate his character and person in an undeniable way to many witnesses – rather than a subjective experience, they are objective realities. Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead is a perfect example. God has chosen not to perform those miracles in our day because the reality of Lazarus’ resurrection should be sufficient evidence for us today. Please notice that miracles were not happening all the time in the bible. In a period of 3000+ years there were only four periods in biblical history where God performed miracles like this: The period of the Exodus at the hands of Moses, The period of Elijah & Elisha, the time of Daniel & his three friends in Babylon, and the time of Jesus and His apostles. If miracles were common acts in biblical times and in our times they would no longer be miraculous.

Chuck
“LORD, I will praise you with all my heart. I will tell about all of the miracles you have done.” Psalm 9:1