Miracles and Salvation

You’ve probably heard it more than a few times, “If God shows me a miracle, I will believe in Him.” You may have even said it yourself. But such comments are at the same time both self-deceptive and disingenuous. Biblical history, from the Garden of Eden and through the resurrection of Jesus and into the Book of Acts illustrates again and again, witnessing miracles rarely, rarely brings anyone to saving faith. I don’t doubt that’s the whole point of Jesus’ story of the Rich Man and Lazarus. For your convenience, I copied the entire section of Luke’s gospel below. “Now there was a rich man, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, joyously living in splendor every day. And a poor man named Lazarus was laid at his gate, covered with sores, and longing to be fed with the crumbs which were falling from the rich man’s table; besides, even the dogs were coming and licking his sores.” "Now the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom; and the rich man also died and was buried. In Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried out and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.’” “But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you there is a great chasm fixed, so that those who wish to come over from here to you will not be able, and that none may cross over from there to us.’” “And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, that you send him to my father’s house— for I have five brothers—in order that he may warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’” “But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ But he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!’ But he said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.’” (Luke 16:19-31, NASB) Listen! God has given us His miraculous word in printed form. Anyone with an open heart will understand its simple message of sin, righteousness, eternal judgment, and eternal life. If we choose not to believe what He has given us between the covers of the Bible, we will not believe even if the resurrected Jesus Himself stands before us. Please, if you’re playing that dangerous game with yourself, stop it. You’re not fooling God, and neither are you fooling yourself in your heart of hearts. Lay off insisting you must first see before you believe. Seek instead to believe so that you WILL see. It’s a supernatural thing. Your human and very fallible brain will never grasp by itself the infinite.