The Healing Promise, A Charismatic Response

It seems that the book wants to portray miraculous healing as a rarity in order to protect its perceived purpose. The following quote reflects a common understanding amongst cessationists:

God used signs, miracles, and wonders to authenticate the apostles and their ministry (Romans 15:18-19; 2 Corinthians 12:12; Hebrews 2:4). Whether the apostles themselves (or, on rare occasion, those they ministered with) did the signs, those signs were to attest the authority of the apostles as revealers of truth (see Acts 2:42-43)… If non-apostolic Christians through the centuries were supposed to perform such deeds, then they could not have served as the signs of apostleship (see 2 Corinthians 12:12).²¹

Let us look at the references listed and then examine the logic of this argument. Romans 15:18-19 tells us that “signs and wonders” accompanied Paul’s preaching of the gospel. This is exactly what we might have expected from Mark 16:17, yet nothing is said about the signs authenticating Paul. We are merely told that they accompanied his preaching. Hebrews 2:4 tells us that God testified to “this salvation, which was first announced by the Lord’ with signs, wonders and various miracles. It is the gospel—the good news of Jesus—that is authenticated, not the messengers.²² Acts 2:42-43 simply tells us that the Apostles did many wonders and miraculous signs. So, none of these commonly used verses actually tell us that the purpose of the “sign-gifts” was to “attest the authority of the apostles as revealers of truth.” It is the message preached that is authenticated. Just as they did in the ministry of Jesus, the signs point to the truth of the gospel and the presence of the kingdom. They do that not by authenticating the messenger, but by demonstrating the reality of the message.²³ That being the case, there’s no reason why we should not expect God to continue to confirm the preaching of the gospel with signs and wonders. If anything, these verses actually encourage such a conclusion.

Mayhue implies that the “signs of an apostle” in 2 Corinthians 12:12 are miraculous deeds, thus authenticating the apostles.²⁴ However, this is an impossible reading. Here is the text as it appears in the Revised Standard Version: “The signs of a true apostle were performed among you in all patience, with signs and wonders and mighty works.” The Greek grammar insists that the signs of an apostle are distinct from the “signs and wonders and mighty works.”²⁵ That is, rather than being the signs of an apostle, they accompanied the signs of an apostle. In fact, to insist that signs and wonders are the sign of an apostle completely misses Paul’s point in 2 Corinthians 11-13. Paul is not distinguishing himself from other Christians and suggesting that it is his miracles that prove he’s really an apostle. Rather, he is making a contrast between himself and the false apostles. As the false apostles were known to perform signs and wonders (however genuine they may be perceived to be),²⁶ such deeds can not be the sign of a true Apostle.

The signs of a true apostle are: care for the churches (11:1-6), genuine knowledge of Jesus and the gospel (11:6), selfless self-support (11:7-11), not taking advantage of the church (11:20-21), enduring suffering for Christ (11:23-29), God’s strength seen in weakness (12:7-10). Ralph Martin correctly observes:

Paul is insisting in 12:12a that such signs are not the primary criterion for deciding whether or not a person is an apostle. Instead, he is suggesting that the true signs of apostleship—his life and ministry—are the signs that matter most.²⁷

Here we can begin to see the logical problem with this argument. If false apostles worked miracles and if non-apostles worked miracles, then miracles cannot be seen to authenticate who is and is not an apostle! If the primary purpose of the sign gifts was to authenticate the apostles there is no reason why Philip and Barnabas should have performed miracles. Even if they did so through their close association with the apostles, the fact that they performed miracles negates the apostolic purpose of miracles as authentication. As Deere writes, “permitting anyone other than apostles to do signs and wonders actually weakens the value of signs and wonders as an authenticating tool of the apostles’ ministry.”²⁸

Tags: charismatic, featured, healing, promise, response

Category: Spirit, Winter 2005