Understanding Spiritual Gifts Session 5 “What about Miracles and Healing?”
I. Introduction
II. The Gift of Miracles
A. Key Texts and Terms
1. Key Texts (in the context of gifts): 1 Cor 12:9–10
2. Key Terminology: “to another…gifts of healing” (all three occurrences of this phrase in the NT are in 1 Cor 12).
3. The terminology is ambiguous in this context and should be understood in a way that is consistent with its manifestation in the OT and the ministries of Jesus and the Apostles.
B. Their characteristics
1. NT miracles were spectacular and undeniable
Acts 4:16 [The Jewish court replied] “What shall we do with these men? For the fact that a noteworthy miracle has taken place through them is apparent to all who live in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it.”
2. NT miracles were “signs and wonders”
a. “Signs and wonders” is the typical way of describing great acts of divine power in relation to miracles in both testaments (e.g., Exod 7:3; Deut 6:22; Ps 135:9; Acts 2:22; 4:30; 5:12; Rom 15:19; 2 Cor 12:12; Heb 2:3–4).
b. A sign is something that points to or indicates something else related to God’s power and activity.
Exodus 5:1–2 “And afterward Moses and Aaron came and said to Pharaoh, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘Let My people go that they may celebrate a feast to Me in the wilderness.’ ” 2 But Pharaoh said, “Who is the LORD that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, and besides, I will not let Israel go.” [The Exodus miracles were meant to answer Pharaoh’s question].
Joshua 4:23–24 “For the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed, just as the LORD your God had done to the Red Sea, which He dried up before us until we had crossed; 24 that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the LORD is mighty, so that you may fear the LORD your God forever.”
1 John 10:38 “but if I do them, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father.”
3. NT miracles were amazing and authenticating signs.
a. It is an unusually powerful work of God that amazes people and authenticates God’s revelation and His revelation-bearer (see also for OT; Exod 14:31; 15:11; Josh 3:7).
Hebrews 2:4 “God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will.”
John 2:11 “This beginning of His signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him.”
John 3:2 “this man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.”’
John 5:36 “But the testimony which I have is greater than the testimony of John; for the works which the Father has given Me to accomplish—the very works that I do— testify about Me, that the Father has sent Me.”
Romans 15:18–19 “For I will not presume to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me, resulting in the obedience of the Gentiles by word and deed, 19 in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of the Spirit; so that from Jerusalem and round about as far as Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.”
2 Corinthians 12:12 “The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with all perseverance, by signs and wonders and miracles.”
b. Every instance of Jesus’ healing contributed to the authenticating of His person as the true Messiah.
4. Biblical miracles are kingdom signs
a. The establishment of Israel as a kingdom people (Exod 19:6)
b. The authenticating of the prophets to defend the kingdom against idolatry (1 Kings 18).
c. The coming of the kingdom’s Messiah (Matt 9:6; 11:2–6; 12:28; 2 Cor 12:12; Heb 2:4; 6:5)
d. The arrival of the Messiah’s future kingdom (Isa 35:5–7; cf. also Isa 29:18–19; 32:3– 4; 33:24; 42:7–16; 65:19:20, 22; Mic 4:6–7; Zeph 3:19) and eternity future (e.g., Isa 25:8; 1 Cor 15:54; Rev 21:4; 22:2)
2 III. The Gift of Healing
A. Meaning and definitions
1. Key Texts (in the context of gifts): 1 Cor 12:9–10
2. Key Terminology: “to another…activity/effecting of miracles/powers” (1 Cor 12:10)
B. Their characteristics
1. NT healing did not depend on the recipient’s faith.
a. Only one of the ten lepers expressed faith, yet all ten were healed (Luke 17:11-19)
b. The centurion’s servant received healing but only the centurion had faith (Matt 8:5– 13)
c. Lazarus (John 11), Jairus’ daughter (Matt 9), the widow’s son (Luke 7) were all dead and unable to respond in faith.
d. The demoniacs did not have faith before being healed (Matt 8:28-29; Mark 1:23–26).
e. The lame man at pool of Bethsaida did not even know who Jesus was until later (John 5:1–16).
f. Jesus healed vast multitudes and not all of them believed (e.g., Matt 9:35; 11:2–5; 12:15-21; 14:13-14, 34–36; 15:29–31; 19:2).
g. The apostles healed a lame man (Acts 3:7); delivered a girl from demons (Acts 16:18); and raised the dead (Acts 9:40; 20:10) without demanding faith.
2. NT healings were always complete, permanent, and effective.
a. E.g., those who touched the hem of Jesus’ garment were made “perfectly well” (Matt 14:36).
b. Jesus healed lepers who then had to be inspected by the priest which demanded no impurity or remaining disease (Matt 8:2–3; Mark 1:40–42; Luke 5:12–13; 17:11–21).
c. Two exceptions: the disciples were unable to cast out demons because of their lack of faith and dependence on the Lord (Mark 8:18) and the “two-stage” healing of the blind man (Mark 8:22–26) which was a real scene yet an “enacted parable” that demonstrated a particular truth about the disciples growth in faith.
3. NT healings were undeniable.
a. The Pharisees did not deny Jesus’ power, they distorted and disparaged its source (Matt 12:24).
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b. They were unable to discredit or deny his many signs (John 11:47–48).
John 11:47–48 “Therefore the chief priests and the Pharisees convened a council, and were saying, “What are we doing? For this man is performing many signs. 48 “If we let Him go on like this, all men will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.”
c. The owner/traffickers of the demon-possessed girl did not deny what Paul did at Philippi, rather, they dragged him before the court and had him thrown in jail (Acts 16).
4. NT healings were instantaneous.
a. E.g., “Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed” (Mark 1:42).
b. The three possible exceptions are meant to reveal particular truths in context and all were completely healed in a matter of minutes—not over days or weeks (Mark 8:22– 26; Luke 17:11-19; John 9:1–7).
5. NT healings were not prearranged, prescheduled, or tightly controlled.
a. Jesus healed Peter’s mother-in-law when he came into Peter’s house (Matt 8:14–15).
b. While walking to Jairus’ house, Jesus healed a woman who secretly touched Jesus’ garment (Matt 9:20).
c. Jesus healed two blind men who happened to be in the vicinity (Matt 9:27–29)
d. Peter healed a begger while he and John were “about to go into the temple” (Acts 3:3, 6–7).
IV. Implications: How should we think about miracles and healing today?
A. The NT gift of healing was of the same quality and kind as healings in the OT, in the Gospels, and in Acts. The “healings” of contemporary charismatics do not fit the biblical descriptions and purposes of those recorded in Scripture.
B. The biblical gifts of miracles and healing seem to focus on specific times and purposes and were never meant as regular means of sustaining the NT church (i.e., they were always revelational regarding God’s messengers, messiah, and kingdom).
C. The supposed modern presence of such “signs” are not indications of God’s work, presence, or blessing. The fruit of the Spirit and the marks of a healthy church are the NT indications of God’s blessing His people.
4 Matthew 7:22–23 “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ 23 “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’”
D. Specific passages indicate that healings declined, even during the time of the Apostles.
(Paul was ill) Galatians 4:13 “but you know that it was because of a bodily illness that I preached the gospel to you the first time”
(Trophimus was ill) 2 Timothy 4:20 “Erastus remained at Corinth, but Trophimus I left sick at Miletus.”
(Timothy was ill) 1 Timothy 5:23 “No longer drink water exclusively, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments.”
(Epaphroditus was ill) Philippians 2:26 “because he was longing for you all and was distressed because you had heard that he was sick.”
“Healing is noticeable in the OT (over 4,000 years), overwhelming in the Gospels (about three years), occasional in Acts (about thirty years), and negligible in the epistles (about forty years).”—Richard Mayhue
E. We are not commanded to seek healing but to seek the Lord in prayer.
James 5:13–20 “Is anyone among you suffering? Then he must pray. Is anyone cheerful? He is to sing praises. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; 15 and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him. 16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. 17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months. 18 Then he prayed again, and the sky poured rain and the earth produced its fruit. 19 My brethren, if any among you strays from the truth and one turns him back, 20 let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.
1. The context is not connected to miraculous gift of healing. Rather, it is in the context of prayer.
2. God’s ability to heal is, in this case, a providential answer to the prayers of His people.
3. Nothing in this passage is equated to the NT gift of healing.
5 F. Not believing in the personal gift of healing today does not mean that God no longer heals today.
1. Healings that take place today do not fit the biblical description of miraculous healings that were performed by a Spirit-endowed healer.
2. Healings today do not necessarily compel belief in unbelievers.
3. The promise of healing refers to salvation, not physical healing (1 Pet 2:24; cf. Isa 53:6).
4. Our hope while on earth is not healing but a future with Christ (Rom 8:24–25).
1 Corinthians 15:22–23 “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. 23 But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at His coming”
5. We should frequently take our physical needs before the Lord and fervently pray for one another’s health in the church for the purpose of ministry faithfulness (3 John 2).
3 John 2 “Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers.”
For further study:
Halla, James. Pain: The Plight of Fallen Man: God’s Prescription for Persevering. Stanley, NC: Timeless Texts, 2002.
Hinn, Costi W., Anthony G Wood. Defining Deception: Freeing the Church from the Mystical-Miracle Movement. Southern California Seminary Press, 2018.
Mayhue, Richard. The Healing Promise. Ross-shire, Great Britain: Mentor, 1997.
Tada, Joni Eareckson. Place of Healing: Wrestling with the Mysteries of Suffering, Pain, and God’s Sovereignty. Place of publication not identified: David C Cook, 2015.
Wolfe, Paul D. My God Is True!: Lessons Learned along Cancer’s Dark Road. Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 2009.
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