Faith, Miracles, and the Gospel: What Does the Bible Really Teach?

By Franklin Twumasi

Faith, Miracles, and the Gospel, is a review of the biblical understanding of faith and how it is related to the experience of miracles in the life of a believer. It seeks to debunk the subtle notion that one ought to have a certain “amount” or “level” of faith before God can or would perform a miracle. Using some miracles in the Gospel of John and other related passages Mr. Twumasi demonstrates that God chooses to perform miracles by His Sovereign will, and not because the recipient or beneficiary has adequate faith or not.

Also the message of the Gospel is discussed and how it differs or does not conform to the prosperity doctrine popularly being preached today in some Charismatic circles. It is presented in three separate but interrelated sections, “Faith and Miracles”, “The Gospel of Jesus Christ”, and “Guarding against False Doctrine”.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Aug 4, 2014
• ISBN: 9789988198978

Book preview

Thoughts

Preface

In 2 Peter 1:12-15 and in 3:1-2, the Apostle Peter teaches that we are always to be reminded of the truths of our faith so that we remain steadfast to time-honoured biblical teaching that would cause us to bear fruit as Christians. Doctrinal error and deception are the greatest enemies of the Christian faith today and we need to be conversant with the word of God what it says and exactly what it means – much more than ever before. False doctrine (or teaching) not only deceives us but also distracts us from Biblical truths that we need to study, understand and practise in our lives on a daily basis.

It is in this regard that I have tried to put together the plain teaching of the Bible about faith in relation to miracles; and also about the message of the gospel. As the adage goes the plain things are the main things and the main things are the plain things. What is faith, and how much faith do we need in order to experience a miracle? Does no faith on our part result in no miracle from God? In other words, does God perform a miracle only when the recipient has enough faith? Also, what is the message of the gospel? Is it about wealth, health, and prosperity, and a comfortable life here on earth for everyone who believes? Or rather, is it about something quite different and transcendent from just being materially and socially satisfied here on earth?

These issues -faith, miracles and the gospel -are all interrelated. If the gospel is about wealth, health, prosperity and a life of miracles, it would all be realised through faith, supposedly, by believing. Well, what does the Bible really teach about these things? This book is my attempt to address these issues by looking at the plain and simple sense of what the Bible really teaches about them. It is my humble submission that the Bible teaches something quite different from what is popularly taught within some Christian circles today.

All Christian doctrine is essentially, and ultimately, based on the authority of Scripture. If it is not based or rooted in Scripture, it needs to be questioned and discarded. Moreover, the Bible is, by and large, is its own interpreter. Therefore I hope and pray that by the time you finish reading this book you will be challenged to do some further bible study of your own regarding the issues discussed -just like the noble believers of the Church in Berea who searched the scriptures to verify all the things that Paul and Silas talked about (Acts 17:11).

Franklin Twumasi

Accra, July 2012

In some contemporary Christian ministries today, one of the key concepts being taught is the wealth, health and prosperity gospel, which suggests that a Christian ought to be prosperous and experience a life of wealth and good health through God’s miraculous interventions in his or her life. As such Christians must earnestly anticipate, and expect miracles for a variety of needs or wants including of course good health, prosperity, success, a job, a spouse, etc. A related teaching that usually goes hand in hand with prosperity is that of faith. The phrase, you must have faith…, or, you need more faith… is heard very often and has well been quite over-used in some Christian circles today.

The biblical basis for such teaching has been questioned in several instances by notable conservative bible scholars such as John MacArthur and R.C. Sproul. However, even if we grant that in spite of such concerns, God may desire us to be prosperous and be in good health -which I believe may not be the case as we shall see later on -exactly how much faith does one need to experience or receive a miracle? What does the bible mean when it says Christ did not perform many miracles in certain places because of their unbelief?

Could a lack of faith in someone who yearns to be healed result in no healing? In other words, if a person’s sickness or burden persists after several hours of prayer, several visits to prayer camps and churches, or healing crusades, as exists today in several Charismatic and even some orthodox ministries, does it mean he or she lacks faith? Is the display of divine power, miracles or healing dependent on the recipient’s faith? If the answer to these questions is ‘yes’, then how much faith does one need in order to receive healing, deliverance, etc.? What exact measure of faith must a person have in order to receive a miracle from God?

What is being taught in mostly Charismatic circles today, either consciously or inadvertently, is that yes, your miracle depends on your faith and that if you do not get healed or delivered then you probably don’t have enough" faith, or you need more faith". The biblical text, however, seems to tell a different story.

Don’t get me wrong though. We all need some measure of faith if we are to relate to God in any meaningful way. The book of Hebrews puts it this way,

…without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. ¹

Without faith, the Bible says, it is impossible to please God, …for he who comes to God must believe that He is…, that He exists and He is who He is. So every Christian (if you are in fact born again) begins with some basic measure of faith (also called saving faith) and even much more, a measure of faith to live the Christian life or continue trusting in God after your conversion (Habakkuk 2:4b). A careful study of the biblical text does reveal that a recipient’s faith is in fact relevant because it demonstrates belief and trust in the person, promises and power of God. Notwithstanding this relevance though, experiencing or receiving the miracle itself does not necessarily depend on the recipient’s faith but primarily on the purposes and intents of God for His glory. In other words, God is able to perform a miracle with or without your faith.

Unfortunately, a misunderstanding of this, I believe, has caused well meaning people and believers to lose hope. They do not understand God’s will for their lives because the basis for the doctrine which affirms their faith is erroneous, especially when they are going through a difficult period in their lives. They feel guilty that they lack the faith they need, which they have been made to believe is confirmed by the persistence in their painful circumstance even after endless hours of prayer. Nothing can be more frustrating! How much faith should one really have for a loving, gracious, all-powerful, all-knowing sovereign God to hear a cry for deliverance? If I don’t get healing, a husband, a wife, prosperity, etc., does God still love me, or worse still, does He even care or exist? What must one really do to get His attention? Honestly, the disillusionment of such a circumstance would easily dampen anyone’s resolve and cause one to lose hope.

In an attempt to address an apparent lack of faith, some churches have established what they call faith schools to teach faith. The interesting thing is that it appears to produce some results! Some people, reportedly, get healed after attending the faith school. What is not reported, however, is the story of several others who expend a great deal of resources, hopping from one faith school or counselling session to the other, searching for their healing or so-called breakthrough, yet never receive it. Worse still, they never commit their lives to following Jesus Christ.

The occurrence of