Should Christians Expect Miracles Today? Objections and Answers from the Bible, Part 2, by Wayne A. Grudem
How does speaking in tongues edify the speaker? According to 1 Corinthians 14:2, “One who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God.” This implies that the person speaking in tongues is offering prayer or praise to God—even though his or her mind does not understand what is being said (1 Corinthians 14:14-17). Rather, the prayer or praise is coming from the speaker’s own human spirit and communicating directly to God (1 Corinthians 14:2). If this is so, then we would certainly expect edification to follow. Just as prayer and worship in general will edify us as we practice them, so this kind of prayer and worship edifies us too, according to Paul.
14. Doesn’t Jude 9 warn us not to rebuke demons? Then why is it that people today think they can speak directly to demons and cast them out?
This objection is based on the following verse in Jude: “But when the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, disputed about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a reviling judgment upon him, but said, ‘The Lord rebuke you'” (Jude 9). However, in context Jude is not talking about Christians in their encounters with demonic forces, but is pointing out the error of immoral and rebellious false teachers who “reject authority” in general and “slander celestial beings” (v. 8). On their own authority, they foolishly speak blasphemous words against heavenly beings, whether angelic or demonic.
The reference to Michael is simply to show that the greatest angelic creature, no matter how powerful, did not presume to go beyond the limits of the authority God had given him. The false teachers, however, have far overstepped their bounds and they show their foolishness when they “revile whatever they do not understand” (v. 10).
Therefore, the lesson of the verse is simply don’t try to go beyond the authority God has given you! When Jude 9 is viewed in this way the only question that arises for a Christian from this verse is, What authority has God given us over demonic forces? And the rest of the New Testament speaks clearly to this in several places. Not only Jesus, and not only His 12 disciples, but also the 70 disciples, Paul and Philip (who was not an apostle) are given authority over demons by the Lord Jesus. Jude 9, therefore, simply cannot mean it is wrong for human beings to rebuke or command demons, or that it is wrong for any but the apostles to do so. Both Peter and James encourage all Christians to “resist” the devil, and Paul encourages believers in general in general to put on spiritual armor and prepare for spiritual warfare.
Category: Pneuma Review, Spirit, Spring 2000
Followers
Fans
