Weapons for the Believer 5.3
– The Gifts of the Holy Spirit – Working of Miracles
According to Paul, there are
weapons of warfare.
2
Corinthians 10:3-4 (ESV)
For
though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For
the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to
destroy strongholds.
We are considering ten
weapons that the Believer has at their disposal. We looked at the first four in
previous posts. If you haven’t read them I encourage you to do so.
The next weapons are
referred to as The Gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Word of Wisdom, Word of
Knowledge, Faith, Gifts of Healing, Working of Miracles, Prophecy, Discerning
of Spirits,
Different Kinds of Tongues,
and Interpretation of Tongues.
When our faith intersects
with the Spirit’s power, there is nothing that cannot be accomplished in those
moments. I do not believe these are given permanently as some teach. I do not
believe that some “posses” these gifts, but instead are given in the moment
when needed. Consequently any or all of these may manifest in each Believer as
the Spirit chooses.
There are nine gifts list by
Paul in 1 Corinthians 12. Traditionally these have been divided into three
groups: The Power Gifts, The Revelation Gifts, and The Speaking Gifts.
The Power Gifts: Faith
(or special faith, as some have described it)
Gifts of
Healing (the only plural gift)
Working
of Miracles
The Revelation Gifts: Word
of Wisdom
Word of
Knowledge
Discerning
of Spirits
The Speaking Gifts: Prophecy
Tongues
Interpretation
of Tongues
Today we will look at the third
of these in more detail: Working of Miracles. There is certainly a fine line
between some of these gifts mentioned. For instance, a healing can be seen as a
miracle. Something that manifests by the exercise of special faith could be
seen as a miracle. Apparently the Holy Spirit differentiates between these, but
our human minds may have difficulty seeing that line. Personally, I don’t
believe it matters what we call an event as long as it is accomplished through
our response to the leading of the Holy Spirit. Whatever He wants to do, we
should be willing agents to work in concert with His leading.
The best working definition
I’ve ever heard for “miracle” is this: something that defies the natural laws
in operation on earth. When God created our world He set in place certain laws
to govern our existence; things like gravity, thermodynamics, biology, etc. A
miracle is something that occurs outside of these laws. One Old Testament
example is when Joshua prayed for more time in the day to fight an enemy.
Joshua
10:12-13 (ESV) At that time Joshua spoke to the LORD in the day when the LORD
gave the Amorites over to the sons of Israel, and he said in the sight of
Israel, “Sun, stand still at Gibeon, and moon, in the Valley of Aijalon.” And
the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, until the nation took vengeance on
their enemies.
A New Testament example is
when Jesus turned water into wine. The molecular structure of the liquid in the
barrels changed from H2O to that of fermented grapes. That is a miracle!
John
2:7-9 (ESV) Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they
filled them up to the brim. And he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it
to the master of the feast.” So they took it. When the master of the feast
tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though
the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the
bridegroom
Some in the Church assert
that the Believer’s life should be one filled with the miraculous. I do not
believe this is what Paul was attempting to communicate. He stated later in 1
Corinthians 12, after giving the list of the Gifts of the Spirit, a series of
rhetorical questions:
1
Corinthians 12:29-31 (ESV) Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all
teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak
with tongues? Do all interpret? But earnestly desire the higher gifts.
The answer to each question
is, “No.” “Do all work miracles?” The Believer lives a life guided and
empowered by the Holy Spirit. Miracles are available when needed, but are not
part of our normal existence. When we follow the Spirit’s leading He will keep
us out of many situations that would require miraculous intervention. In
essence the Believer does live what the world might view as miraculous, but it
is the result of the Spirit’s presence.
Our life after being born
again is a process of learning how to respond to the prompting of God’s Spirit
coming to live in us. As we spend time learning the character and nature of
God, and allow His nature to change us into the image of Jesus, our actions
will also begin to reflect that of Jesus; showing the love of God to those we
encounter, being used as an agent of the Holy Spirit to manifest the Fruit of
the Spirit, and also manifest the Gifts of the Spirit when needed, including
the Working of Miracles.
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