Originally Posted By: R_H_Clark
Sorry,but I just have to disagree with you.You are simply trying to make the Bible fit your personal belief system.There are miracles and healings today,even documented cases of raising the dead.God is the same today,yesterday,and forever.Just because you don't see the same results the apostles had ,doesn't mean God's power and his willingness to use it today has passed away.It is possible you don't see it because you believe it isn't for us today and has passed away.Jesus could do no mighty work in his own country because of their unbelief Mark 6:5 and Matt 13:58.

Trying to make 1 Cor.say that God has created a new dispensation in which he is out of the Miracle and healing business is quite an extrapolation.Don't you think God would make such a thing much clearer.

There are also many counterfeit miracles just as there are also counterfeit $100 bills.It doesn't make them all fake though.

I have simply stated what I believe.I would hate to believe in a Savior who had lost his power or was simply unwilling to use it to help me just because I was born in the wrong century.I don't expect to change your mind and that makes me very sad for you.

I do wish you the best and since I don't think it's productive for Christians to argue about beliefs they are unwilling to change,I will probably not post again in this thread.Hopefully,we can agree that Jesus is Lord and the acceptance of His sacrifice for us,is the only way to salvation.If we can agree on that,you are my brother,and all else pales in comparisson.


In my posts, I laid out some ideas that you've failed to address in your answers... you simply claim I'm making 1 Corinthians 13 say something it doesn't say... and you frankly question my integrity in handling the Scriptures. It's one thing to say someone has made a mistake... it's another to accuse someone of twisting Scripture to fit a preconceived belief system. I believe what I believe not because I'm "conditioned" to... my belief system is a result of comprehensive study of the Scriptures. To clarify, I'll ask these questions.

(1) How did people after Christ's resurrection receive miraculous powers? Was it given to them directly from God when they believed or was it by the laying on of the apostle's hands?
(2) IF Scripture verifies that it was via the latter, what would occur when all of the apostles died?
(3) What were the purposes for miracles performed by believers in the New Testament after Christ's resurrection?
(4) Could those same purposes be accomplished when the books of the New Testament were collected and made available to all?

Does God perform miraculous things today? Certainly! But believers today do not have the ability to perform things which were done in New Testament times... not when one understands the nature of miracles in those days. And BTW, even people who had no faith in Jesus' day could readily see and understand when miracles were done (Pharisees/scribes acknowledged Jesus did miracles but attributed the power to Satan). So the fact that I don't "possess enough faith to see them" doesn't square with what the Bible teaches.

Last edited by BamaRich; 05/31/12 09:50 PM.