How Christians Do Miracles

This is the fourth article and video in a series. Here is a brief summary of the main points so far.

1. Jesus is God, and shares all the attributes and qualities and abilities that God the Father and God the Holy Spirit have.
2. Jesus chose to come to earth as a human being and subjected himself to human limitations
3. While in a human body with human limitations, Jesus cooperated with the Holy Spirit to perform all of his miracles, signs, and healings. The Holy Spirit empowered Jesus to heal the sick, cast out demons, and perform miracles.

In this article and video, we will briefly explore the fact that Jesus expects all of his followers to do the same kinds of miracles that he did.

In John 14:12, Jesus makes this very interesting statement:

I tell you the solemn truth, the person who believes in me will perform the miraculous deeds that I am doing, and will perform greater deeds than these, because I am going to the Father.

This verse brings up three questions that we will now briefly explore:

1. According to Jesus, who will perform the miraculous deeds?
2. What are the miraculous deeds that these people will perform?
3. How is this possible?

Question One: According to Jesus, who will perform the miraculous deeds he is referring to?

Jesus says that this applies to the person who believes in him. This matches the surrounding context of John 14. Jesus said that this applies to each individual who believes in him. Jesus is saying that each believer will perform the same miraculous deeds that he performed, and even greater.

Note that Jesus does not say that all Christians combined as a group will do greater works. He does not say that if we combine all the deeds of all believers over the centuries, it will add up to greater works. Rather, Jesus said each individual believer will do the same works he did, and greater.

According to Jesus, if you believe in him, then you will do the same miraculous deeds that he did.

Question Two: What are the miraculous deeds that believers will perform?

Jesus says that each believer will perform the same miraculous deeds that he did. And we saw in the previous video in this series that he did all of his miracles by cooperating with the Holy Spirit.

So, what miraculous deeds did he do?

In Acts 10:38, Peter summarizes the ministry of Jesus as follows:

“God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.”

Healing people and setting people free from demonic influence were two of the miraculous deeds that Jesus did repeatedly.

Jesus also did things like multiply food and stop a storm by speaking to it. Sometimes he knew things that he had no way of knowing by natural means. Sometimes he even raised the dead.

In the gospels, we repeatedly see summaries of Jesus’s activities that tells us the main things Jesus did with his public ministry. He would heal the sick, cast out demons, and tell people about the kingdom of God.

In Luke 9:1-2, Luke 10:1-19, and Mark 16:15-18, we see that every time Jesus sent people out to represent him, he always empowered them and commanded them to heal sick people, cast out demons, and tell me people about the Kingdom of God. (See here for more information on this amazing truth)

Jesus expects all believers to heal the sick, cast out demons, and tell people about the kingdom of God. Those activities are a big part of the works that Jesus said believers will do. And as amazing as that sounds, that is not the full list. The miraculous deeds of Jesus also include things like multiplying food, calming a storm, and raising the dead. Jesus performed a wide variety of miracles, and Jesus expects his believers to perform a wide variety of miracles.

Question Three: How is any of this possible?

How are we supposed to do these things?

To answer that, we can look again to our verse:

John 14:12 I tell you the solemn truth, the person who believes in me will perform the miraculous deeds that I am doing, and will perform greater deeds than these, because I am going to the Father.

Jesus said all believers will do miracles because he is going to the Father. But how does Jesus’s going to the Father result in believers being empowered to perform miracles?

Peter tells us the answer to this when he spoke to the crowds on the day of Pentecost. He told us what happened when Jesus ascended to heaven after rising from the dead.

Act 2:33 – So then, exalted to the right hand of God, and having received the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father, he has poured out what you both see and hear.

When Jesus went to the Father, he poured out the Holy Spirit on the believers. The believers received the Holy Spirit.

There is only one Holy Spirit. Believers receive the same Holy Spirit that Jesus received when he was baptized in the Jordan. It is the same Holy Spirit that enabled and empowered Jesus to do all the miracles that he did.

All of Jesus’s miracles were done by working with the Holy Spirit. The same Holy Spirit lives in each and every believer, and he is ready to work with us the same way that he did with Jesus. The Holy Spirit makes it possible for all believers to do the same miraculous deeds that Jesus did, and even greater.

Each individual believer that receives the Holy Spirit will be empowered to do the same works that Jesus did, and even greater.

Conclusion:

How do Christians perform miracles?

We cooperate with the Holy Spirit in the same way that Jesus did. Jesus told us in John 14:12 that this was his desire. It is God’s will and God’s plan that all believers continue doing the same miraculous works that Jesus did. And the Holy Spirit is here to work in us and through us in order to make this happen.

If you believe in Jesus, Jesus says you can do the same miracles that he did, and even greater because the Holy Spirit is with you and in you.