Miracles: Are they performed today?

In studying this subject, we first need to be sure we have a correct understanding of the meaning of the word miracle. It seems many people have a misunderstanding about this.  This word is often used as if miracles happen every day when the reality of this is quite different.  In other words, again, there’s some misunderstanding about the meaning of the word.  Reliable sources say a miracle is a surprising and welcomed event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a DIVINE agency. So, do we have God performing these today? Some people apparently think we do.  But what does the Bible tell us about this? Is it in agreement with this belief? Before I begin answering that please note that I already have articles on this website about the miracle of healing.  THIS article you’re reading now is more about miracles regarding anything.  Here are the links to two of these other articles—

Healing: Can we expect God to heal today?

Healing: How should we respond to physical illness?

Right before our Lord’s ascension He promised that in the time of the Tribulation leading up to His return to reign and rule over a promised earthly kingdom many miracles would occur. Of course, at the time these words of our Lord were spoken no one had any idea it would be many centuries before these things would be completely fulfilled. They got a “taste” of them then within the time frame of the book of Acts but that was all to be interrupted and even now we’re still in that period of an “interruption.” Here’s a passage about the promise concerning them that was then given.

Mark 16:17-19

¹⁷ And these signs SHALL follow them that believe; In my name SHALL they cast out devils; they SHALL speak with new tongues [foreign languages without training];

¹⁸ They SHALL take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it SHALL NOT hurt them; they SHALL lay hands on the sick, and they SHALL recover.

¹⁹ So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. [Emphasis added]

Are miracles such as these occurring today at the hands of God’s people. No! In all my life I’ve never known anyone who could miraculously do these things.  People DO NOT have the ability to do these miraculous things today. They are not occurring this way regardless of all the claims that tell us otherwise.  Such miracles were performed by believers then and will again at a time in the future.  Such miracles were also performed consistently by our Lord in the time of his earthly ministry.  In EVERY case a real miracle occurred.  Many were performed through numerous people in the time frame of the Book of Acts.  Eighteen of them are recorded in that book. 

Christ’s first of many recorded miracles in the time of His earthly ministry was that of Him turning water into wine.

John 2:5-11

⁵ His [Jesus] mother [Mary] saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he [Jesus] saith unto you, do it.

⁶ And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins [1 firkin = 10.8 gallons] apiece.

⁷ Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim.

⁸ And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it.

⁹ When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, [OINOS = wine] and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom,

This tells us there were many eyewitnesses to these things He performed, indicating that they really were miracles, contrary to the false claims of some.

¹⁰ And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine [OINOS = wine]; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine [OINOS = wine] until now.

¹¹ This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples [MATHETES – students (of His teaching)] believed on him. [Emphasis added]

That last phrase tells us of the effect these miracles had on His disciples— they believed on Him. We find in the Bible that there were even some people in “Old Testament” times who did some miraculous things.  Probably the one talked about most was the one where our Lord parted the Red Sea for Moses so the Israelites could escape the pursuing army of the Pharaoh of Egypt.

Exodus 14:13-14

¹³ And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation [or deliverance] of the Lord, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever.

¹⁴ The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace. [Emphasis added]

It was then that the people stood in awe as the waters miraculously parted to provide a dry pathway for the escape of the Israelites.

Exodus 14:26-31

²⁶ And the Lord said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand over the sea, that the waters may come again upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen.

²⁷ And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to his strength when the morning appeared; and the Egyptians fled against it; and the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea.

²⁸ And the waters returned, and covered the chariots, and the horsemen, and all the host of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them; there remained not so much as one of them.

There are chariot wheels and other remains of all this still there now on the sea bottom that can be viewed on the internet.

²⁹ But the children of Israel walked upon dry land in the midst of the sea; and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left.

³⁰ Thus the Lord saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea shore.

³¹ And Israel saw that great work which the Lord did upon the Egyptians: and the people feared the Lord, and believed the Lord, and his servant Moses. [Emphasis added]

Our Bible is filled with evidence for why people should not only believe in God but accept the Savior He provided so that anyone can be saved.

2 Corinthians 5:21

²¹ For he [God the Father] hath made him [Jesus Christ] to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. [Emphasis added]

Then we have the record of many other miracles God has provided for us at various times of history.

2 Kings 2:13-15

¹³ He [Elisha] took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and went back, and stood by the bank of Jordan;

¹⁴ And he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and smote the waters, and said, Where is the Lord God of Elijah? and when he also had smitten the waters, they parted hither and thither: and Elisha went over.

¹⁵ And when the sons of the prophets which were to view at Jericho saw him, they said, The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha. And they came to meet him, and bowed themselves to the ground before him. [Emphasis added]

We find that our apostle Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles was for a time also able to perform miracles.  We have the record of his first of many which was to do with the blinding of Elymas [or Bar-Jesus], a Jewish magician and advisor to the Proconsul of Cyprus. Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, denounced Elymas for hindering their message and declared that he would be blinded for a time. The miracle was immediately fulfilled, and the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, believed Paul’s message when he SAW what had happened. Here, again, we have another case where a miracle was performed to bring about faith in God in the witnesses of it. But in that same time frame, as it is even now, there were false teachers doing what appeared to be miracles.

Acts 13:6-12

⁶ And when they had gone through the isle unto Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew, whose name was Barjesus:

⁷ Which was with the deputy of the country, Sergius Paulus, a prudent man; who called for Barnabas and Saul, and desired to hear the word of God.

⁸ But Elymas the sorcerer (for so is his name by interpretation) withstood them, seeking to turn away the deputy from the faith.

⁹ Then Saul, (who also is called Paul,) filled with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes on him.

¹⁰ And said, O full of all subtilty and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?

¹¹ And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season. And immediately there fell on him a mist and a darkness; and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand.

¹² Then the deputy, when he saw what was done, believed, being astonished at the doctrine of the Lord. [Emphasis added]

But do we see such miracles being performed today? It seems there are always people who say we do. But is anyone performing truly miraculous things to cause people to believe a message of truth? It is often said that seeing is believing. Again, are these things going on today? Real evidence indicates that miracles OF GOD are not. Anyone can claim anything! Did such things go on in the past? As we’ve seen the record of it, they surely did! Have you seen my article about “speaking in tongues”? Isn’t it a miracle when a person is suddenly able to speak in a foreign language with there having been no training at all in that language? Here’s the link to one of my articles about all this—

Tongues: Do people “speak in tongues” today?

There are also videos on this website about this. Here’s the link to one of them—

#33 ~ Acts 2 – What was the “tongues” speaking on that Day of Pentecost all about?

The same question that’s asked about miracles can be asked about “speaking in tongues.” Isn’t that, too, something miraculous? The answer I’ve given about that applies to this too. All such things were even done of God through members of the Body of Christ in the early days of the Book of Acts time frame. For instance, they were occurring extensively in the Corinthian church the apostle Paul had worked so hard to establish.

I Corinthians 1:7

⁷ So that ye [believers who were a part of the Corinthian church] come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ: [Emphasis added]

But didn’t the apostle Paul tell these same people that a time would come when these things would all “be done away” with?

1 Corinthians 13:10

¹⁰ But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. [Emphasis added]

But what is the context of that verse? Wasn’t he also talking about all the other miraculous abilities that were then occurring? Yes, he was! Furthermore, what exactly is this “perfect” thing that had to come before these miraculous gifts would cease? This is speaking of an object and not a person because in the Greek text it is in the neuter gender.  This means it refers to an object and not a person, as is sometimes falsely claimed. Some translations of the Bible even translate it that way. The pertinent question then that must be asked is this one— What is this object he’s speaking of that had to come into being before spiritual gifts would cease to exist? An important clue is found right there in the text—

1 Corinthians 13:11

¹¹ When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. [Emphasis added]

But what exactly is this statement telling us? Here he’s talking about the exercise of spiritual gifts, miraculous abilities provided by God the Holy Spirt in the first days of what is called the Dispensation of the Grace of God. These gifts are called “childish things” because they were provided for believers in the infancy phase of our time—this time that’s called the Dispensation of the Grace of God of which we are still a part today.

Ephesians 3:1-5

¹ For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles,

² If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me [Paul] to you-ward:

³ How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery [MUSTERION = secret]; (as I wrote afore in few words,

⁴ Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ)

⁵ Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; [Emphasis added]

The apostle Paul was provided with a body of truth that was not known until it was given to him by special revelation. That’s why it is referred to as a mystery, that is, a secret that had been held in the mind of God until it was revealed through the apostle Paul.  It was through him that this information has now been revealed to us. Those spiritual gifts functioned until that complete revelation given to the apostle Paul that is now made known to us through his writings. This “perfect” thing that had to come was this written body of truth provided in what we speak of as the thirteen Pauline epistles—Romans through Philemon. Now that this has been completed the need for the gifts to prove the authenticity of the new teaching Paul and others were communicating is no longer needed. Until then there had only been what is spoken of as the law and the prophets. From then on it would be through the expression of AGAPE love that these truths would be effectively communicated. Therefore, these special gifts would then no longer be needed. Again, there are other articles on this website that address these things in more detail—

Tongues: Do people “speak in tongues” today?

There are also videos—

#33 ~ Acts 2 – What was the “tongues” speaking on that Day of Pentecost all about?

1 Corinthians 13:8-13

⁸ Charity [AGAPE = love] never faileth [EKLEIPO = cease]: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail [PIPTO = fail]; whether there be tongues, they shall cease [PAUO = stop]; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away [KATARGEO = be abolished].

The “knowledge” spoken of here consists of the doctrine, the “mystery” truths that were then made known through the exercise of these special gifts.  That knowledge, that information is still with us in the writings of the apostle Paul, but the “gift” of knowledge is not because it is no longer needed. All that we need to know has been provided in the Scriptures.

⁹ For we know in part [as things were at that time], and we prophesy in part.

This makes the point that the need for these things [the spiritual gifts] continued at the time Paul was writing this but would soon vanish.

¹⁰ But when that which is perfect [TELEIOS= has reached its end or complete—the Scriptures] is come, then that [the function of the spiritual gifts] which is in part shall be done away.

Please beware of the teaching of all those who don’t believe these gifts have now been done aways with. For more information about spiritual gifts, please see my article about them—

Spiritual Gifts: Do they exist today?

¹¹ When I was a child [speaking of the infancy stage of our time], I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

¹² For now [at the time Paul was writing this] we see through a glass, darkly [at that time the revelation (of the Bible) was not yet complete]; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.

¹³ And now abideth [MENO = remains] faith, hope, charity [AGAPE = love], these three; but the greatest of these is charity [AGAPE = love]. [Emphasis added]

Yes, the LOVE mentioned here is to be ongoing. For more information about it, please see my article. Here’s the link to it—

Love: What is AGAPE love?

But the performance of miracles by believers was not going to be ongoing.  Today NO ONE has that capability! There’s a lot of fakery and deception going on but no real miracles.  None! God brought all that to an end long ago.

Again, 1 Corinthians 13:10

¹⁰ But when that which is perfect [TELEIOS= has reached its end or complete] is come, then that [the revelation given through spiritual gifts] which is in part [the completion of our Bible] shall be done away. [Emphasis added]

In addressing the subject of miracles, we must always realize that people can be empowered by Satan and his forces to do them. We even see this happening in certain prophesies about the antichrist and others who’ll live in the coming seven-year period known as The Tribulation.

Revelation 13:12-14

¹² And he exerciseth all the power [performing miraculous deeds] of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast [the man called the antichrist], whose deadly wound was healed.

¹³ And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,

¹⁴ And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. [Emphasis added]

Then again there’s more of that which will occur in that same time frame—

Revelation 20:8-10

⁸ And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog, and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.

⁹ And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city [Jerusalem]: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.

¹⁰ And the devil that deceived them [using miraculous abilities given to men] was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. [Emphasis added]

Conclusion—

Truly miraculous things will be performed by people in the coming seven-year period of what we speak of as The Tribulation. We even have the one called the antichrist and the one spoken of as his prophet performing them then.

Revelation 13:12-14

¹² And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.

¹³ And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,

¹⁴ And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. [Emphasis added]

Such was even predicted by our Lord in the time of His earthly ministry—

Mathew 24:24

²⁴ For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect [believers]. [Emphasis added]

Between now and then people need to have the discernment by which to recognize these “miracles” for what they are— Satanic! That’s true, even when “religious” people are doing these things. In this period of grace that we’re a part of today miracles of God through people are not happening. However, as I’ve said, there will be even more of this in this coming time when we’re no longer here.  This will be in that last seven-year period called The Tribulation before Christ returns to the Earth to establish His prophesied earthly kingdom.

It is knowledge of the Bible rightly divided that serves to protect God’s people from works of deception and so much more. Therefore, I hope you’ll take the time to be a serious student of Scripture ongoing.

2 Timothy 2:15-16

¹⁵ Study [SPOUDAZO = be diligent] to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

¹⁶ But shun profane and vain babblings [KENOPHONIA = discussion on useless subjects]: for they will increase unto more ungodliness. [Emphasis added]