Page 54 - Pneumatology - A Study of the Holy Spirit

In John 10:37-38, Jesus was responding to the Jews who wanted to stone Him for blasphemy, and He said, “If
I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; but if I do them, even though you do not
believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the
Father." Just as in the Old Testament, the purpose of Jesus' miracles was to confirm God's hand on His
Messenger; to authenticate Christ as the Messiah.

When the Pharisees asked Jesus to show them a sign, Jesus said, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks a
sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For just as Jonah was three days and
three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of
the earth. The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they
repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here” (Matthew 12:39-41).
Jesus was very clear that the purpose of a sign was so people would acknowledge God's message and
respond accordingly. Likewise, in John 4:48, He told the nobleman, “Unless you see signs and wonders, you
will not believe.” The signs were a help to those who struggled to believe, but the message of salvation in
Christ was the focus.

This message of salvation was outlined by Paul in 1 Corinthians 1:21-23: “It pleased God through the folly of
what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach
Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles.” Signs have their purpose, but they are a
means to a greater end—the salvation of souls through the preaching of the gospel. In 1 Corinthians 14:22,
Paul states clearly that “tongues are a sign not for believers but for unbelievers.” God used miraculous signs
like speaking in tongues to convince unbelievers that the message of Christ was true, but as the rest of the
context shows, the more important thing was the clear declaration of the gospel message.

One thing that is often overlooked in discussions about signs and miracles is the timing and placement of
them in the Scriptures. Contrary to popular belief, people in Bible times did not see miracles all the time. In
fact, the miracles of the Bible are generally grouped around special events in God's dealings with mankind.
Israel's deliverance from Egypt and entrance into the Promised Land were accompanied by many miracles,
but the miracles faded away soon afterward. During the late kingdom years, when God was about to place
the people in exile, He allowed some of His prophets to do miracles. When Jesus came to live among us, He
did miracles, and in the early ministry of the apostles, they did miracles, but outside of those times, we see
very few miracles or signs in the Bible. The vast majority of people who lived in Bible times never saw signs
and wonders with their own eyes. They had to live by faith in what God had already revealed to them.

In the early church, the signs and wonders were primarily centered on the first presentation of the gospel
among various people groups. On the day of Pentecost, we read that there were “Jews, devout men, out of
every nation under heaven” gathered in Jerusalem (Acts 2:5). It was to these Jews, who had been raised in
other lands and spoke those foreign languages (v. 6-11), that the sign of tongues was first given. They
acknowledged that they were hearing in their native tongues about the wonderful works of God, and Peter
told them that the only appropriate response was to repent of their sins (v. 38). When the gospel was first
presented among the Samaritans, Philip did signs and wonders (Acts 8:13).

Again, when Peter was sent to Cornelius, a Gentile, God gave a miraculous sign to confirm His work. “And the
believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy
Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles. For they were hearing them speaking in tongues and extolling
God” (Acts 10:45-46). When Peter was questioned by the other apostles, he gave this as evidence of God's
leading, and the others “glorified God, saying, ‘Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that
leads to life’” (Acts 11:18).

In every instance, the sign gifts were a confirmation of God's message and messenger, so that people might

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