Should Christians Expect Miracles Today? Objections and Answers from the Bible, Part 1, by Wayne A. Grudem
20. Some interpreters assume that the false apostles were working miracles and claiming revelations from God so that Paul would have to claim greater miracles and revelations. But this is an assumption unsupported by evidence in the text. Nothing in 2 Corinthians says that the false apostles claimed miracles or revelations.
21. It is as if today a former pastor wrote to a church that had been taken over by an unbelieving pastor. He might say, “The signs of a true pastor were done among you.” In such a case, he would point to his own character and conduct—not because these distinguished him from other Christians in the congregation, but because they distinguished him from the self-seeking manner of an impostor.
22. The following verse also confirms this interpretation. Paul says, “For in what were you less favored than the rest of the churches?” (2 Corinthians 12:13). Here Paul refers to his personal care for them. The fact that they were not lacking in any of Paul’s care and attention would prove to them that the “signs of a true apostle” were performed among them only if these “signs” included all of Paul’s ministry to them. But Paul’s care for them would not prove his point if the “signs of the apostle” were just miracles.
Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible. ©Copyright 1946, 1952, and 1971 by the Division of Christian Education of National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA. Used by permission.
Quotations from the KJV—King James Version are public domain.
This four-part series is taken from Gary S. Greig and Kevin N. Springer, eds., The Kingdom and the Power: Are Healing and the Spiritual Gifts Used by Jesus and the Early Church Meant for the Church Today? A Biblical Look at How to Bring the Gospel to the World with Power (Ventura, CA: Regal Books, 1993). Used with permission.
Category: Pneuma Review, Spirit, Winter 2000
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