This is a guest post by Micael Grenholm. He is a Charismatic activist who lives in Uppsala, Sweden. He studies development studies and belongs to an organic church plant called Mosaik. He blogs at Holy Spirit Activism about combining signs and wonders with peace and justice, and he is also a contributing author at Grace Ground.
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Editor’s Note: As with all of the Guest Posts written on this blog, the view expressed below on signs and wonders is not the view of the blog owner, but is published here to encourage dialogue and discussion on this topic. So leave a comment below!
We are to preach the Gospel not just with words, but also with power. Paul wrote: “Our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction” (1 Thess 1:5). God’s message is not dependent on the rhetoric skills of men, He empowers it with His Spirit.
And what does that power mean? It means signs and wonders:
I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done— by the power of signs and wonders, through the power of the Spirit of God. So fromJerusalemall the way around toIllyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ (Rom 15:18-19).
The evangelistic strategy of Paul thus is to lead people to Christ through 1) What he says; 2) What he does; 3) The miraculous power of the Holy Spirit.
All three aspects of evangelism are needed. We need to preach the Gospel clearly with our tongues, we need to express the love of God in good deeds, and we need to let God confirm His Word through signs and wonders.
In this blog post, I will express the Biblical foundation of the third aspect. It is inspired by John Wimber’s teaching on “Power Evangelism” (see video below), but includes my own Bible study as well.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mx16hkqpwlM
To make sure that people understand that the Gospel is not like any other message but a message from Heaven, God confirms it through miracles. Hebrews 2:3-4 says: “This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.”
God thus uses miracles to testify about salvation. Besides having an intrinsic value, for example abolishing pain when it comes to healing or offering guidance when it come to prophecy, miracles are tools for evangelism.
The same can be seen in the last chapter of Mark. After Jesus has declared that miraculous signs like healing and tongues will follow those who believe Him, “the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.” (16:20). Thus, the Lord confirms His Word with these signs, signs that are meant to accompany the Word.
I know that the end of Mark is a disputed text though, but the same line of thought occurs in Acts 14:3: “Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to perform signs and wonders.” Again, signs and wonders confirm God’s message.
Jesus performed so many miracles that John complains about not managing to write about them all, but he states that the signs he has reported “are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” Thus, the purpose of writing down Jesus’ miracles was to lead people to faith in Him.
In fact, miracles are so important for evangelism that when the apostles needed boldness for evangelism, they prayed: “Enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus” (Acts 4:28-29).
The Lord immediately answered their prayer and filled them with the Spirit so violently that the building shook (!), and then they preached the Word of God boldly (vv. 30-31). After all, Jesus had said to them that they would receive power when the Spirit comes upon them so that they will be His witnesses (Acts 1:8).
To sum up: my point is that signs and wonders do not belong to the margins, and they are not opposed to evangelism; on the contrary Christians actively need to pray for them – like in Acts 4:28-29 – if they want to lead more people to Christ.
I’m not saying that all people who see signs and wonders become Christians, just as not all people who hear the Gospel become Christians. I’m not saying that signs and wonders save. And I’m not saying that signs and wonders are more important than salvation. I’m only saying what the Bible says: the Gospel should be confirmed by signs and wonders.
Now let’s pray, “Come Holy Spirit!” and get going.
Very sound teaching on signs and wonders. God bless you
Signs and wonders are monamental works that stirs men’s spirit
Signs and wonders were primarily for the Jew (1 Corinthians 1:22). As a matter of fact as you look through the Bible you will see most signs and wonders were given at specific times; given to the nation of Israel and given when Israel was in a backslidden state.
– Moses and Joshua
– Elijah and Elisha
– Jesus and the apostles
We as Christians do not require signs and wonders. We have a completed Bible and we walk by faith and not by sight.
You see, the problem is, is that it just…..doesn’t say that in the text. If someone who knew nothing about the Lord heard the Gospel and was saved, they would read Acts and they would do exactly what it says Paul ,and the rest of the Apostles, did. You cessationists (based on the language you used I’m assuming that’s the position you hold) love to talk about a “completed Bible”, but here’s the irony, if you profess to have such a strong faith in this Bible, you must walk it out. I don’t get how you read something like Acts or Romans or Galatians where it’s the norm for this type of stuff and then you invent a million doctrines to give yourself an excuse for not having the faith to step out and do these things. Cessasionists love to talk about doctrine. You can hear the Word perfectly and you are great debaters (1 Corinthians 1) but you must be DOERS of the Word. The power of God has been given to the unlearned and the little children who simply believe so that He may shame the wise and learned.
To Craig Gidden: Those it mean that the Bible also is only for the Jew ?or Jesus came only for the Jews and not for the whole world? As you said signs and wonders is for the Jews alone. I believe it is an error for Craig Gidden to said Christians does not need signs and wonders. The proof of Believers is the power of God that works wonders in us, and through us. Mark 16:15-18. God work through it, Jesus work through it, the appostles work through it, Oral robbort work thruogh it, Benny Hynm is working through it now, Pst Enock Adeboye of Rccg is also working thruogh it etc. I believed strongly that without signs and wonders their is no Christianity. i.e Without an engine in a car, or an aeroplane their body look beautiful with no value for use.
One thing is a sign, and another completely different is the show. If you need to play statistics to get a couple of miracles in a big crowd, you are not confirming the Word. Just pushing it.
In the gospels we see the account of Jesus coming to the nation of Israel and presenting Himself to them as their Messiah. He came unto His own and His own received Him not (John 1:11). Yet on the cross He asked the Father to forgive them. After His resurrection and ascension God still gave Israel a chance. Read those first seven chapters and note that in all of the sermons they are directed to the Jews and pertains to their rejecting and killing their Messiah. After Stephen is martyred God sets the nation of Israel aside and the gospel goes primarily to the Gentiles with individual Jews still getting saved. Early in the book of Acts as in the Gospels there are many signs and wonders because God is still dealing with the Jews and the Jews require a sign (1 Corinthians 1:22). As you proceed through the book of Acts and the church becomes more of a Gentile church the signs and wonders decrease. Early on in the book of Acts Peter is the chief spokesman, but after he presents the gospel to the Gentiles Paul then becomes the chief spokesman to the church. God’s doctrinal instructions to the church are through Paul. Spiritual gifts are still relevant today, but not the sign gifts. Paul tells us to walk by faith and not by sight. As a matter of fact Paul warns that many will be deceived by Satan’s power and signs and lying wonders (2 Thessalonians 2:3-12). Note these people who are deceived “received not the love of the truth” and “believed not the truth”. Whether a person is learned or unlearned has nothing to do with the power of God. God is not impressed with the wisdom and intellect of this world, but neither does He put a premium on ignorance. That’s why He inspired Paul to tell us to “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15). He then tells us “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works (2 Timothy 3:16-17) and to “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears” (2 Timothy 4:2-3).
I was blessed by this piece. God bless you immensely.