Are spiritual gifts miraculous or non-miraculous?
It is better to define miracle in a narrower sense, as we did in chapter 17, above: A miracle is a “less common activity of God in which he arouses people’s awe and wonder and bears witness to himself.”19 In terms of this definition, only some gifts are “miraculous”: namely, those gifts that people think to be miraculous because they are amazed at the activity of God operating in them.
Certainly we would include in this category prophecy (note the amazement of the unbeliever in 1 Cor. 14:24–25), healing (similarly, note the response of people in Acts 3:10 et al.), casting out of demons (see Acts 19:11–13, 17), or speaking in tongues when it is an actual foreign language and understood by others (see the description of Pentecost in Acts 2:7). Probably other remarkable phenomena would be included in the gift of miracles (1 Cor. 12:10) as well.
On the other hand, in this definition, some gifts would be thought of as nonmiraculous. Gifts of serving, teaching, encouraging, contributing, and doing acts of mercy (in Rom. 12:7–8) would fall in this category, as would the gifts of those who act as helpers and administrators (1 Cor. 12:28). But it is still the same Holy Spirit who gives them and works through them.
The point of this analysis is to caution us against making a supernatural - natural distinction in our minds whereby we think that some gifts are “supernatural” and some gifts are simply “natural.” The Bible makes no such distinction, and the danger of doing this is that we may tend to think that some gifts (which we think to be “supernatural”) are more important or more clearly from the Lord, and we may tend to devalue or deemphasize the gifts which we think to be “natural.” If we do this we will fail to see God’s hand in the working of all the gifts and fail to thank him for all of them.
On the other hand, the misleading supernatural/natural distinction could also cause us to be very suspicious about those which we think to be “supernatural,” or could lead us to think that they are very unlikely to happen in our own experience. In that case, we would tend to emphasize the gifts we thought to be “natural” and have a very low degree of expectation or faith regarding anything which we thought to be “supernatural.”
In contrast to this perspective, Scripture says that “all” the gifts are worked in us by the same Holy Spirit, the same Lord, and the same God (1 Cor. 12:4–6). The worldview of Scripture is one of continuity and continual interaction between the visible world that we can see and touch and the invisible world that Scripture tells us is there and is real. God works in both, and we do ourselves and the church a great disservice by separating these aspects of creation into “supernatural” and “natural.”
Finally, should we seek the more unusual or miraculous gifts, or should we seek the more ordinary gifts? Once again, Scripture does not make this kind of distinction when it tells us what kind of gifts to seek. Paul says to the Corinthians, “Since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church” (1 Cor. 14:12). This means that we should learn which gifts are most needed in the church we attend, and then pray that God would give those gifts to ourselves or to others. Whether those gifts are thought to be miraculous or non-miraculous really is not the important point at all.
Grudem, W. A. (2004). Systematic theology: an introduction to biblical doctrine (pp. 1027–1028). Leicester, England; Grand Rapids, MI: Inter-Varsity Press; Zondervan Pub. House.
On the other hand, in this definition, some gifts would be thought of as nonmiraculous. Gifts of serving, teaching, encouraging, contributing, and doing acts of mercy (in Rom. 12:7–8) would fall in this category, as would the gifts of those who act as helpers and administrators (1 Cor. 12:28). But it is still the same Holy Spirit who gives them and works through them.
The point of this analysis is to caution us against making a supernatural - natural distinction in our minds whereby we think that some gifts are “supernatural” and some gifts are simply “natural.” The Bible makes no such distinction, and the danger of doing this is that we may tend to think that some gifts (which we think to be “supernatural”) are more important or more clearly from the Lord, and we may tend to devalue or deemphasize the gifts which we think to be “natural.” If we do this we will fail to see God’s hand in the working of all the gifts and fail to thank him for all of them.
On the other hand, the misleading supernatural/natural distinction could also cause us to be very suspicious about those which we think to be “supernatural,” or could lead us to think that they are very unlikely to happen in our own experience. In that case, we would tend to emphasize the gifts we thought to be “natural” and have a very low degree of expectation or faith regarding anything which we thought to be “supernatural.”
In contrast to this perspective, Scripture says that “all” the gifts are worked in us by the same Holy Spirit, the same Lord, and the same God (1 Cor. 12:4–6). The worldview of Scripture is one of continuity and continual interaction between the visible world that we can see and touch and the invisible world that Scripture tells us is there and is real. God works in both, and we do ourselves and the church a great disservice by separating these aspects of creation into “supernatural” and “natural.”
Finally, should we seek the more unusual or miraculous gifts, or should we seek the more ordinary gifts? Once again, Scripture does not make this kind of distinction when it tells us what kind of gifts to seek. Paul says to the Corinthians, “Since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church” (1 Cor. 14:12). This means that we should learn which gifts are most needed in the church we attend, and then pray that God would give those gifts to ourselves or to others. Whether those gifts are thought to be miraculous or non-miraculous really is not the important point at all.
Grudem, W. A. (2004). Systematic theology: an introduction to biblical doctrine (pp. 1027–1028). Leicester, England; Grand Rapids, MI: Inter-Varsity Press; Zondervan Pub. House.
