Because we believe in the doctrine of dispensationalism or rightly dividing verses to the correct people, time period, etc., Bible Believers know that visions, signs, wonders, and healings are exclusive to the Jews and are not for Christians. However, some Christians believe that the Church has those abilities as well, often quoting the following verses as prooftexts.
- 1 Corinthians 12:4,9,11,28,30,31
- Galatians 3:5
- 1 Corinthians 14:1,12
- Romans 12:6
- Ephesians 4:8
We will be debunking these verses as proof for visions, signs, wonders, and healings for Christians.
1 Corinthians 12:4: “Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.”
This verse seems to show that Christians have the sign gifts. However, the verse also says that the gifts are different from one another, so everyone in a church building will not have the same gift.
Another thing they will argue is that if you read from verse 4 to the end of the chapter, some sign gifts are mentioned here (specifically in verses 9, 11, 28, 30, and 31) as belonging to the Church. To debunk this, revisit verse 11.
“But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.”
This means that sign gifts are not for all Christians. Not only that, the context of this verse is all gifts not just sign gifts. Believing in gifts is scriptural, but those simply do not apply to us Christians when it comes to sign gifts.
Going back to verse 4, this verse simply means that as a whole, Christians have gifts from God. Verse 11 expands on this idea by saying that not every individual has every single gift.
Now, we have established that the sign gifts did not go to any Christian, but they did have other gifts such as the gift of faith, knowledge, etc.
So, who received the gift of signs if not the Christians? The Apostles did because they are connected to the Jews being Jews themselves. This makes sense when analyzing these other verses critics use as proof for non-Jews having sign gifts, such as those mentioned above. Critics don’t realize that the presence of a Jew was necessary for these non-Jews to partake in these signs and wonders. We see this in Romans 15.
Also, notice that the entirety of the verses mentioned earlier as proof that Christians have sign gifts all come from the Apostle Paul, a Jew. This is the reason why his Church members could partake in signs and wonders, Paul was the Apostolic Jew that had access to the signs.
Romans 15:18-19: “For I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ hath not wrought by me, to make the Gentiles obedient, by word and deed, Through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God; so that from Jerusalem, and round about unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.”
‘Me’ refers to Paul so this means that only because of Paul, the Apostolic Jew, were the non-Jews able to partake in signs and wonders.
*More proof against Christians having sign gifts is found in the video “How to Witness to Charismatics”.
Now, we will cover the greatest evidence against signs and wonders for Christians. If it is true that Christians have these sign gifts, it is necessary to put these gifts to the test, as God commands us to do so. Christians that believe they have the healing gift can be challenged to heal everyone in a hospital. This is necessary if they want to prove they have the Apostolic signs. Otherwise, they are liars.
Revelation 2:2: “I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:”
2 Corinthians also mentions the signs of an Apostle and that they are proof of such apostleship. Therefore, not having those signs means that you lose your proof as an Apostle.
2 Corinthians 12:12: “Truly the signs of an apostle were wrought among you in all patience, in signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds.”
Not only that, the healing sign gifts of the Apostles healed every type of disease, including death, it was immediate, and it cured them completely, not partially. If it does not incorporate each of these components, it is not a true sign gift.