Signs to confirm the Word of God

Signs Confirming … Confirming What?

 

In Mark 16:17-20, Jesus speaks of signs such as tongue-speaking and casting out demons, accompanying the believers and confirming the gospel message.

 

If one were following how Jesus' command, in Mark 16:16, is carried out in the book of Acts, one would notice that these signs did indeed accompany those who not only believed but who were also being baptized. Signs accompanying are mentioned in Acts 2, in Acts 10, in Acts 16, and in Acts 19 - all four contexts also showing that believers were baptized. Hebrews 2:3-4 speaks of not neglecting so great a salvation, with signs of the Holy Spirit also confirming the salvation. It's also found in Galatians 3 where we read of receiving the Spirit and working miracles associated with faith and not the Law. And at the end of the chapter faith and baptism are seen together.

 

If I were a betting man, and this is all I knew of the New Testament, I would bet that the signs confirmed that believing and being baptized were what brought salvation through the power of the gospel!!

 

When I shared this thought with my brother, Brad, from Goshen, Indiana, Brad said this:

 

“A teacher once spoke of a Bible verse which allegedly says God foresaw every religious error and refuted it in His Word.  Somehow that verse never made its way into my notes.  I am pretty much persuaded God did do this and He generally did it, as you indicated, in more than one way.  My wife was not convinced about the essentiality of baptism by any of the references presented her until someone pointed to Gal. 3:27.  The multiple ways God has used to teach the same truths is surely one more argument for a divinely inspired book.”

 

Well … if you put together 1 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Thessalonians 2:8-15 and Acts 17:11-13, you get the point, don’t you. Respect for the Bible as the word of God and not the word of men, a love of the truth, and a willingness to check what even the most knowledgeable believers may teach, should always lead you to the truth and away from false teaching, wouldn’t you say? That area around Thessalonica and Beraea  must have been “a pillar and buttress of truth” (1 Timothy 3:15) – don’t you think? The Thessalonians had even found their way out of idolatry and into the truth of God and salvation!! And the Bereans  were even “more noble-minded”! No wonder Satan stirred up the unbelievers there to persecute them!! Nothing like a bit of opposition to solidify God’s people in the truth!!

 

Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ.” And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women. But the Jews were jealous, and taking some wicked men of the rabble, they formed a mob, set the city in an uproar, and attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to the crowd. And when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also, and Jason has received them, and they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.” And the people and the city authorities were disturbed when they heard these things. And when they had taken money as security from Jason and the rest, they let them go. The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue. Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. Many of them therefore believed, with not a few Greek women of high standing as well as men. But when the Jews from Thessalonica learned that the word of God was proclaimed by Paul at Berea also, they came there too, agitating and stirring up the crowds. Acts 17:1-13

 

For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake. And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything. For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 1 Thessalonians 1:4-9

 

For you know how, like a father with his children, we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory. And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers. 1 Thessalonians 2:11-13

 

The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter. 2 Thessalonians 2:9-15

 

David Carr