by Dave Root, VividChristianity.com, last modified on 07/16/2024.

As you read this section, keep in mind that the New Testament is not merely a history book, it's meant to change us to become more and more like Jesus. When we read any passages in the New Testament, our goal should be to discern what God wants us to believe and do so that we can be obedient to Him.


None of the gifts of the Spirit or activities of the Spirit have ever ceased or died out (see my article called All Gifts of the Spirit Are Available Today).

The apostles did miracles to confirm their ministry (meaning that God did miracles through them), but non-apostles also did miracles (God working through them) to confirm their ministry. For example, Stephen was not an apostle but he was "known to be full of the Spirit" (Acts 6:1-6), and he "did great wonders and signs among the people" (Acts 6:8, below). Philip was not an apostle but he was "known to be full of the Spirit" (Acts 6:1-6), and he performed "great signs and miracles" (Acts 8:4-13, below).

In the same way, if someone's message is what God wants to be taught and we have faith for miracles, we can do miracles to confirm the message (the Lord working with us and confirming His Word by the signs that accompany it):

Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it. (Mark 16:20)

Fellow Israelites, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. (Acts 2:22)

And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and signs among the people. (Acts 6:8 NKJV)

Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah there. When the crowds heard Philip and saw the signs he performed, they all paid close attention to what he said. For with shrieks, impure spirits came out of many, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed...Simon himself believed and was baptized. And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw. (Acts 8:4-13)

Therefore they stayed there a long time, speaking boldly in the Lord, who was bearing witness to the word of His grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands. (Acts 14:3 NKJV)

How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him, God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will? (Hebrews 2:3-4 NKJV)

We're told to test and carefully weigh a message delivered through the gifts of the Spirit to ensure that it properly agrees with Scripture. We're also told to test the person who delivers a message to us or does miracles, and only believe them if they acknowledge that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, who came in the flesh:

Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said. (1 Corinthians 14:29)

Do not quench the Spirit. Do not treat prophecies with contempt but test them all; hold on to what is good (1 Thessalonians 5:19-21)

Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist - denying the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also. (1 John 2:22-23)

Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world...If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. (1 John 4:1-3, 15)

And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love. I say this because many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist. (2 John 1:6-7)

To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands. I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. (Revelation 2:1-2)

The ancient Jews believed that when the Messiah arrives He will be able to do things that no other person can do. For example, there were Jews who went around casting out demons (see Matthew 12:27 and Acts 19:13), but their method was to demand the name of the demon and then use that name to cast the demon out (for example, see The Footsteps of the Messiah, Dr. Arnold Fruchtenbaum, p.205). Jesus possibly used this method in Luke 8:30. However, this method didn't work on "mute" demons who prevented the demonized person from speaking, but certainly the Messiah would be able to cast out this kind of demon. Therefore, when Jesus cast out a "mute" demon, people were astonished and they began to ask if He might actually be "the Son of David" (the Messiah - Matthew 22:42):

"Then they brought him a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute, and Jesus healed him, so that he could both talk and see. All the people were astonished and said, "Could this be the Son of David?"" (Matthew 12:22-23)

The people understood that only the Messiah will be able to do what Jesus did, so they said, "Could this be the Son of David?" (i.e., the Messiah). The Pharisees were faced with having to decide whether to accept Jesus as the Messiah, or whether to reject Him. But if they rejected Him as the Messiah, then how could they explain what He did?

They made their choice, and they committed "the unpardonable sin":

"But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, "It is only by Beelzebub, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons."" (Matthew 12:24)

"And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, "He is possessed by Beelzebul! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons...He has an impure spirit."" (Mark 3:22-30)

The Pharisees officially rejected Jesus as the long-awaited Messiah, and this is how Jesus responded:

"Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? And if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. Or again, how can anyone enter a strong man's house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can rob his house. He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters. And so I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come."" (Matthew 12:25-32)

In the above passage, Jesus made it very clear that when a miracle is done through the Holy Spirit, it is very dangerous for us to claim that it was a demonic miracle. As my article called The Second Coming describes, the Jewish leaders' "unpardonable sin" was a national sin and therefore many modern Bible scholars believe that the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is not an individual sin that people can make today. It was a national sin which only applied to that generation of Jews who rejected Jesus as a nation. But Bible commentaries point out that by saying that a miracle of God was done by the devil or a demon, this is a direct insult against the Holy Spirit who did the miracle (e.g., Hebrews 10:29), and is a sin against the Spirit because "anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven" (Matthew 12:30-32). Therefore, when God does a miracle then Christians who accuse the miracle of being demonic are speaking against the Holy Spirit and will not be forgiven (Matthew 12:30-32, above). This doesn't mean that they will lose their salvation; it means that they will be disciplined (perhaps severely) both in this life and in heaven (see my articles called Cheat Sheet #11, Cheat Sheet #12, and Cheat Sheet #13).

It's also very dangerous to speak against those who are actively serving God. For example, Moses' sister and brother began talking against Moses, and God punished them by giving Miriam leprosy. Also, a man named Elymas opposed Barnabas and Paul (also known as Saul - Acts 13:9), so the Lord struck him blind:

Miriam and Aaron began to talk against Moses because of his Cushite wife, for he had married a Cushite...And the LORD heard this...At once the LORD said to Moses, Aaron and Miriam, "Come out to the tent of meeting, all three of you." So the three of them went out. Then the LORD came down in a pillar of cloud; he stood at the entrance to the tent and summoned Aaron and Miriam...The anger of the LORD burned against them, and he left them. When the cloud lifted from above the tent, Miriam's skin was leprous - it became as white as snow. Aaron turned toward her and saw that she had a defiling skin disease, and he said to Moses, "Please, my lord, I ask you not to hold against us the sin we have so foolishly committed." (Numbers 12:1-11)

The proconsul, an intelligent man, sent for Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear the word of God. But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is what his name means) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith. Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas and said, "You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord? Now the hand of the Lord is against you. You are going to be blind for a time, not even able to see the light of the sun." Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand. (Acts 13:7-11)

In addition to doing miracles to confirm a message (the Lord working with us and confirming His Word by the signs that accompany it), we're also meant to be using miracles for evangelism, just as we see the apostles and others doing in the New Testament (see chapter 1 in the free PDF of my book called Divine Healing Absolutely Is for Today).


Notice what Jesus said and what He modeled for us:

"Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, "Why could we not cast it [a demon] out?" So Jesus said to them, "Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you."" (Matthew 17:19-20 NKJV)

"The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!" He replied, "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you."" (Luke 17:5-6)

"Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, "May you never bear fruit again!" Immediately the tree withered. When the disciples saw this, they were amazed. "How did the fig tree wither so quickly?" they asked. Jesus replied, "Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."" (Matthew 21:19-22)

In the first two passages above, notice that Jesus described telling a mountain to move and telling a mulberry tree to be planted in the sea. In Matthew 21:19-22 (above), Jesus modeled telling a fig tree not to bear fruit and described telling a mountain to throw itself into the sea. He was teaching us that with the proper faith, any Christian can see miracles. With that in mind, here are several more actions that Jesus modeled for us:

"Now it happened, on a certain day, that He got into a boat with His disciples. And He said to them, "Let us cross over to the other side of the lake." And they launched out. But as they sailed He fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water, and were in jeopardy. And they came to Him and awoke Him, saying, "Master, Master, we are perishing!" Then He arose and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water. And they ceased, and there was a calm. But He said to them, "Where is your faith?"" (Luke 8:22-25 NKJV)

"Jesus left the synagogue and went to the home of Simon. Now Simon's mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked Jesus to help her. So he bent over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her." (Luke 4:38-39)

"And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him; and the child was cured from that very hour." (Matthew 17:18 NKJV)

"When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face." (John 11:43-44)

In the above passages, we see that Jesus rebuked the wind and the water, He rebuked a fever, He rebuked a demon, and He resurrected Lazarus by speaking to him. He treated all of these incidents the same way, speaking to them rather than asking God to do anything. Jesus was God while He was on the earth (He always has been, and always will be, God), but we need to understand that He never used His divine power before the cross. Not even once (see my article called Understanding Jesus - Part Three). On earth before the cross, He was the perfect human and our perfect role model because He said we can do the same things He did (by the power of the Holy Spirit) (see chapter 1 in the free PDF of my book called Divine Healing Absolutely Is for Today).

In the above passages, Jesus modeled for us that healing and miracles can be accomplished by speaking to the issues.


Here are some examples of New Testament miracles (walking on water (which is likely an example of levitation rather than the water turning solid), teleportation, and blindness for punishment):

Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it. Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. "It's a ghost," they said, and cried out in fear. But Jesus immediately said to them: "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid." "Lord, if it's you," Peter replied, "tell me to come to you on the water." "Come," he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!" Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?" And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God." (Matthew 14:22-33)

When evening came, his disciples went down to the lake, where they got into a boat and set off across the lake for Capernaum. By now it was dark, and Jesus had not yet joined them. A strong wind was blowing and the waters grew rough. When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the water; and they were frightened. But he said to them, "It is I; don't be afraid." Then they were willing to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the shore where they were heading. (John 6:16-21)
["They had rowed three or three and a half miles, so they were in the middle of the lake." (The Bible Knowledge Commentary, Walvoord and Zuck, Dallas Theological Seminary, John 6:18-19).
According to this passage, immediately the boat crossed the remaining 3.5 miles and reached the shore, which is what we would call teleportation.]

On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" (John 20:19)
[Here Jesus teleported into a locked room.]

A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" (John 20:26)
[Once again Jesus teleported into a locked room.]

Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; but they were kept from recognizing him...When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. (Luke 24:13-31)
[Here Jesus teleported away from the two disciples.]

Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took [harpazo] Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing. Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and traveled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea. (Acts 8:38-40)
[Harpazo is the same Greek word used for the Rapture in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 and for a similar event in 2 Corinthians 12:2-4. Philip was teleported away from the eunuch to a town called Azotus.]

He replied, "Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." (Matthew 17:20)
[Jesus said that with the appropriate faith we could teleport a mountain.]

Jesus replied, "Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done." (Matthew 21:21)
[Once again Jesus said that with the appropriate faith we could teleport a mountain into the sea.]

He replied, "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you." (Luke 17:6)
[Jesus said that with the appropriate faith we could teleport a mulberry tree into the sea.]

If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. (1 Corinthians 13:2)
[Here the apostle Paul referred to having the appropriate faith that could teleport mountains.]

"They [Barnabas and Paul] traveled through the whole island until they came to Paphos. There they met a Jewish sorcerer and false prophet named Bar-Jesus, who was an attendant of the proconsul, Sergius Paulus. The proconsul, an intelligent man, sent for Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear the word of God. But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is what his name means) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith. Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas and said, "You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord? Now the hand of the Lord is against you. You are going to be blind for a time, not even able to see the light of the sun." Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand. When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord." (Acts 13:6-12)

Chapter 1 in the free PDF of my book called Divine Healing Absolutely Is for Today shows that Jesus used miracles to confirm His ministry and convince people to believe in Him, and He specifically told the Church body to do the same things that He did. This is why we see the apostles and other Christians doing miracles to confirm their ministry (in some of the above passages) and why we are meant to use miracles to confirm our ministries. For example, John the Baptist never did any miraculous signs, and Jesus said that His testimony was a greater witness than John's because of His miracles:

"Then Jesus went back across the Jordan to the place where John [the Baptist] had been baptizing in the early days. There he stayed, and many people came to him. They said, "Though John never performed a sign, all that John said about this man was true."" (John 10:40-41)

[Jesus is speaking:] "You have sent to John [the Baptist], and he has borne witness to the truth. Yet I do not receive testimony from man, but I say these things that you may be saved. He was the burning and shining lamp, and you were willing for a time to rejoice in his light. But I have a greater witness than John's; for the works which the Father has given Me to finish - the very works that I do - bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me." (John 5:33-36 NKJV)

Jesus referred to miracles as His "works" in John 10:24-38 (search for "miracles" in these Bible commentaries ) and John 14:11-15 (search for "miracles" in these Bible commentaries ). Similarly, Jesus referred to miracles as His "works" in John 5:33-36 (above) (search for "miracles" in these Bible commentaries ).

Therefore, according to Jesus, a message that's confirmed by miracles is a greater witness than a message that's not confirmed by miracles.


Are you certain that you believe what God wants you to believe, and do you have faith for miracles? Is God confirming your views with miracles?