CNN ran a recently article titled “Are there dangers in being ‘spiritual but not religious’?”. You can read it here.
The interesting thing about the in the article is that, almost to a person, these people made up their own god. It seems that the act of being “spiritual” is more important than who or what they are being spiritual to. They all seemed to pick and choose from various religions what they wanted to believe. How does find truth in that?
Photo Credit: Maulleigh
The daily Bible reading plan that I am following recently had me reading a chapter out of Romans and one out of Acts. While I wasn’t reading it for parallel passages, something caught my eye in Romans chapter 15 that I thought that I saw elsewhere in Acts.
Romans 15:19 (NLT)
They were convinced by the power of miraculous signs and wonders and by the power of God’s Spirit. In this way, I have fully presented the Good News of Christ from Jerusalem all the way to Illyricum.
The part that caught my attention was “They were convinced by the power of miraculous signs and wonders…”. There was a passage in Acts chapter 14 that I read the day earlier that said almost exactly the same thing.
Acts 14:3 (NLT)
But the apostles stayed there a long time, preaching boldly about the grace of the Lord. And the Lord proved their message was true by giving them power to do miraculous signs and wonders.
Even the daily reading in Acts for that day corresponded to what was said in Romans 15.
Acts 15:12 (NLT)
Everyone listened quietly as Barnabas and Paul told about the miraculous signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles.
Each of the verses highlighted the same thing, that God proved the message of the Apostles to be true by the performing of miraculous signs and wonders.
This got me to thinking about why we don’t see this happen more today in the developed nations. After all, many are skeptical that the Word of God is true. Wouldn’t miraculous signs and wonders help to prove that the message is true? I’m not saying that many would come to believe. The New Testament is littered with skeptics who heard the message, saw the signs, and yet still refused to believe. But what I am thinking is that the signs would help to prove that the message is real and true in this skeptical age.
Some say that miraculous signs and wonders ended at the death of the last original Apostle, or maybe with the close of the canon of scripture. The thinking is that we have the scripture, so there isn’t a need for the miraculous signs and wonders or for the gifts of the Holy Spirit to continue to operate. But there are many people groups in the world who do not have access to the Bible in their own language, or have heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ. To say that these people have access to the truth of scripture because we have Hebrew and Greek manuscripts, or because we have Bibles written in the English language, to me, seems to be arrogant and disingenuous to what the those passages say.
I would think that the purpose of the miraculous signs and wonders would have the same effect today as they did over 2000 years ago – “They were convinced by the power of miraculous signs and wonders…”.
Why don’t we see more miraculous signs and wonders performed today?
There is a new meme going around via email and Facebook that asks the question “What would it be like if we treated the Bible like our cell phones?”. It looks something like this:
This will definitely make one think!
Ever wonder what would happen if we treated our Bible like we treat our cell phone?
What if we carried it around in our purses or pockets?
What if we flipped through it several times a day?
What if we turned back to go get it if we forgot it?
What if we used it to receive messages from the text?
What if we treated it like we couldn’t live without it?
What if we gave it to Kids as gifts?
What if we used it when we traveled?
What if we used it in case of emergency?
This is something to make you go….hmm…where is my Bible?
Oh, and one more thing.
Unlike our cell phone, we don’t have to worry about our Bible being
disconnected because Jesus already paid the bill.Makes you stop and think ‘where are my priorities? And no dropped calls!
When Jesus died on the cross, he was thinking of you!
My question would be, what if you had your Bible on your cell phone? Most of the items would still be true if you never called up the Bible app on your phone and used it.
In the Book of Romans, the Apostle Paul does a masterful job of presenting the Gospel.
All People Are Sinners
9 Well then, should we conclude that we Jews are better than others? No, not at all, for we have already shown that all people, whether Jews or Gentiles,s are under the power of sin.10 As the Scriptures say,
“No one is righteous—
not even one.
11 No one is truly wise;
no one is seeking God.
12 All have turned away;
all have become useless.
No one does good,
not a single one.”s
13 “Their talk is foul, like the stench from an open grave.
Their tongues are filled with lies.”
“Snake venom drips from their lips.”s
14 “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”s
15 “They rush to commit murder.
16 Destruction and misery always follow them.
17 They don’t know where to find peace.”s
18 “They have no fear of God at all.”s19 Obviously, the law applies to those to whom it was given, for its purpose is to keep people from having excuses, and to show that the entire world is guilty before God.20 For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are.
Christ Took Our Punishment
21 But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Mosess and the prophets long ago.22 We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.
23 For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.24 Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.25 For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past,26 for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he declares sinners to be right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.
27 Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law. It is based on faith.28 So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law.
29 After all, is God the God of the Jews only? Isn’t he also the God of the Gentiles? Of course he is.30 There is only one God, and he makes people right with himself only by faith, whether they are Jews or Gentiles.s31 Well then, if we emphasize faith, does this mean that we can forget about the law? Of course not! In fact, only when we have faith do we truly fulfill the law.
Earlier in the Book of Romans, Paul says that all people have the Law of God written on their hearts, so that they are without excuse before God. In chapter 3, verses 19 and 20, he tells us why the Law was given – To show people that they are sinners. Thankfully, and mercifully, the rest of the chapter presents another way, the Good News, the Gospel. We can stand righteously before God by placing our faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ.