Manifestations of Spiritual Gifts
I have recently been involved in a "study" (it seemed more a debate and I withdrew for the moment) regarding the gifts/sign-gifts of the Apostles and how they may or may not be valid today. Since withdrawing from that study, I have found much support in scripture to the validity of "miracles" today. Just this morning in 1 Cor where Paul discussed his "thorn" spoke of God's will to heal or not. My understanding has been that healing, along with other signs and gifts is still valid today, but, as with anything of God, is according to his will, and not only of our faith. Paul had faith, to the degree that God took him to the third heaven. Some have tried to pursuade me that all signs, miracles, etc., ended with the apostles.
My request to any who read this is, how are we to respond to those who have been taught and attempt to adhere to these teachings? I say attempt because of the double-speak I experienced, while putting forth scripture to validate that God can, will, and does desire to give healing (other than spiritual via salvation) to some for the purpose of demonstrating his power to the end of the age. I know He has healed today because He has healed or "delivered" me from many affictions, as well as others who have testified. It is on that basis that I stand firm.
Miracles
Deal all,
No doubt, this is a difficult subject and the following is my 2 cents.
In regard to the miracles and signs performed by Christ, and His selected disciples esp. those that are related to physical and mental/spiritual healing, they should be understood in the context of "being the supernatural acts of Jesus Christ, revealing and confirming his Messianic credentials, and the coming of God's kingdom". Thus the miracles of Christ are to be seen as an integral part of his ministry.
In short these miraculous signs are performed as a means to demonstrate His divine identity - the Messiah as prophesied in the OT. In this specific context, such miraculous signs longer exist.
On the other hand, we are still witnessing “miracles” in our lives, either someone we know or we don’t. In such cases, “miracles need to be understood in the context of "those events that are totally out of the ordinary and that cannot be adequately explained on the basis of natural occurrences". Thus they are seen as evidence of the presence and power of God in the world or as demonstrating authority on the part of one of his children.
In the latter cases, we would never know what would be sufficient conditions that may constitute the occurrence of a miracle, and at best we could only know, after the fact, what would be the necessary condition for an occurrence. This is why it’s always dangerous to extrapolate such findings and assume its “universal applicability”. The only benchmark is the Biblical Teaching.
In short this kind of miracles is the manifestation of “us being His creatures, subjecting ourselves to the bounds and character of our Creator – our God the Lord".