No orthodox Christian holds to the position that a believer is validated as such by their ability to perform miraculous signs. B.B. Warfield in his book Counterfeit Miracles says, “I should not like to have the genuineness of my faith made dependent upon my ability to speak with new tongues, to drink poison innocuously, and to heal the sick with a touch.” I believe many Christians would be sympathetic with his position.
There are, however, some Christians, namely of the charismatic sort, who take Mark 16:17-18 to support this very idea. On the surface it’s easy to see how this passage can be interpreted this way, but to do so causes some serious issues, not only for those who aren’t charismatic, but for those who are as well.
First of all, if all believers are to have these signs following them, what then can be said for the vast majority of Christians who haven’t manifested these signs? Subsequent to the Apostolic age no era in church history, including our own, has seen the manifestation of spiritual phenomena like that recorded in the early church. In fact, if you ask any Christian today if they’ve cast out a demon, healed a sick person, or drank something poisonous innocuously, most of them will tell you no.
Second, why is it that those who claim to be performing these signs today are generally of the charismatic variety? Why aren’t they being performed among Baptist, Methodist, and Presbyterian believers? After all, the text says “These signs will accompany those who believe.” Are we to assume that those who fall under these denominations aren’t truly believers since they lack these signs?
And third, why is it that the sign of tongues is manifested almost exclusively among those who believe these signs are for today? After all, Jesus listed five signs, not just one. If one claims his faith is genuine on the basis of his ability to speak in tongues, he ought to be able to perform the rest of the signs as well. Jesus said “these signs” (plural) will accompany those who believe”.
These are a few issues that arise from a cursory level reading and understanding of the text. The biggest questions we must answer, however, are these:
- Were these signs given by Jesus as the means by which the church could distinguish between true believers and false ones?
- Is this the litmus test that all potential believers must pass in order to be considered a genuine Christian?
This is what we’re going to discuss in today’s blog post.
The Bigger Picture
In light of the questions posed, we should start by identifying the context of the passage. In this case, it’s the Great Commission.
The signs Jesus speaks of are given in light of the apostles being sent out to preach the gospel. That being said, it is not reasonable to conclude that Jesus is laying out these signs for the purpose of providing marks of distinction between true believers and false ones. The context simply doesn’t support this theory.
Rather, Jesus speaks of these signs in order to reaffirm the apostles, and to tell them of what to expect when they begin to preach the Gospel. They are told in Luke’s Gospel to “stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high” (Luke 24:49). What would this power look like? And what would be the result of obtaining this power in connection to their proclamation of the Gospel? “These signs will accompany those who believe.”
The “those who believe” in this passage is not referring to the apostles specifically or believers individually, but rather Christians collectively.
Evidence for this is seen in text itself.
Who are “Those who believe”?
Starting in verse 16 Jesus says, “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe.”
In verse 16 the “whoever believes” is singular. In the Greek, as well as in other English translations such as the NASB, the text is rendered as “The one who has believed”, or, “The one having believed.” In this part of the passage Jesus is speaking of individual people. Any individual who believes the gospel will be saved but if an individual does not believe the gospel he will be condemned.
With regards to the “those who believe” of verse 17, we see that the pronouns used are different. Jesus switches from singular to plural. He is no longer speaking of an individual but of “those who believe”, that is, believers collectively. “They” will cast out demons. “They” will speak with new tongues. “They” will pick up serpents and so on.
The “they” of this passage refers not to individual believers but believers collectively. Meaning that Jesus was not saying that every individual believer would have these signs accompany them, but the body of Christ as a whole would be characterized by these signs.
The Meaning of the Word “Accompany”
Furthermore the Greek word translated as “follow” or “accompany” does not have the connotation of manifestation. Some have taken Jesus’ words to mean that any true believer can manifest these signs if they simply believe for them. However, parakoloutheó in verb form simply means to follow, to accompany, to be at one’s side, or to be present with.
This being the case the signs Jesus speaks of are not manifested by the believer but rather the signs accompany the believer, that is, believers collectively. It’s not that the individual Christian has the ability to perform these signs at will, but that the body of Christ as a whole would be set apart by these signs which would be present with them.
What Does the Rest of Scripture Say?
Furthermore, we have to also consider what the rest of the New Testament says in regards to the “marks” or “signs” of a true Christian. If Jesus gave these signs as a means of distinguishing true Christians from false ones, then perhaps we should expect to see this test being employed in the New Testament. If not, then at the very least we should hope to find some corroborating verses that base the genuineness of one’s faith on these same signs. However, we have neither.
Nowhere else in the New Testament is it said or implied that the sincerity of one’s faith is based on their ability to perform these signs. In fact, many people who are said to be believers in the New Testament have no signs attached to them at all, at least none that are recorded.
For instance we have the 3000 converts on the day of Pentecost, the Ethiopian eunuch, the “great number” who believed and turned to the Lord in Antioch, the proconsul Sergius Paulus, Lydia and her household, the Philippian jailer, and many more who are said to have turned to Lord who didn’t have any signs accompany them, at least not that we’re made aware of (See Acts 2:41, 8:26-40, 11:19-26, 13:12, 16:11-15, 16:25-34).
If these signs were to accompany every individual believer as the way of validating their status as such, why don’t we see evidence of this in the New Testament. If such signs among believers were to be the pattern for the church until the end of time, why doesn’t the New Testament establish it for us?
Signs of a True Believer
What then are the signs of a true believer if not these listed by Jesus? What is the evidence whereby it can be definitively stated that a person’s faith is genuine or not? Is it not in the fact that they’re life has been changed by Christ? Is it not the fact that they’ve been made into a new creature (2 Corinthians 5:17) and now have the Spirit of Christ dwelling within them?
The signs which point to the genuineness of one’s faith are not supernatural manifestations of the Spirit, but rather outward manifestations of God’s Spirit working within us. Meaning that it’s not by what we’re able to perform that validates our faith as genuine, but what God has performed in our hearts. If our lives show evidence of God’s Spirit at work within us, then that’s the only sign we need to know that our faith is genuine and our salvation secure.
In Galatians 5:22-23 Paul lists the fruit of the Spirit. Fruit, in this instance, refers to the evidence of the Spirit at work in one’s life. He says, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”
If the fruit of the Spirit is growing in your life, then it’s a sure sign that you’ve been filled with the Holy Spirit and this is all the evidence you need.
In Conclusion
From our analysis of Mark 16:17-18, we’ve discovered that Jesus wasn’t speaking about individual believers but believers collectively and that the signs he listed were not given as a litmus test, so to speak. He didn’t give those signs as the means whereby we could judge the validity of another person’s faith but rather as a means of reaffirming the apostles who were being sent into the world to preach the gospel. When these signs were seen by the apostles it would be evidence that Christ was indeed working with them and “confirming the message” which they were preaching (Mark 16:20).
Because the New Testament doesn’t bear witness to the fact that believers were judged as true or not based on their ability to perform these signs, we cannot rightly conclude that this is the Biblical method we must use to determine such a thing. And because the New Testament doesn’t demonstrate to us that literally all believers performed the signs on the list, we are not to conclude that we should either.
Since the Bible doesn’t set this pattern for us, we are not to assume that it’s the pattern set in stone by God for the church throughout every age, but rather that these signs were part of God’s plan for the early church and for the establishment of Christianity.
As Albert Barnes said, “Miracles were necessary for the establishment of religion in the world; they are not necessary for its continuance now.”
So no, believers are not validated as such by their ability to perform miraculous signs.