Is being born again a miracle? It is totally of God by His supernatural power and not anything of us but does that qualify it as a miracle? Is there special revelation given to our hearts that make us repent of our sin and give us new birth? Why might God want to speak to us today if not for special revelation? Some might say comfort, peace, or to call us home. I am not equating this to a charismatic experience. Harry --- Jen Epstein <jlepstein@...> wrote: > Harry: > > We need the miracle of the new > > birth! We need God to quicken our dead hearts make > us > > alive in Him! > > But what is our definition of miracle again? If we > define these as > miracles, then we can state that miracles exist > today, but in doing > so, are we then watering down the use of miracles to > prove that God > was speaking special revelation? > > > But are you asking does divine guidance need a > miracle > > for us to recognize it? Sometimes! Just like > Peter > > stepping out on the water sometimes we have the > idea > > but our faith is weak and we hesitate. > > > > Yes, this is just an example of Jesus using miracles > during His > ministry. > > > Now does God still speak to us today? Through His > > Word, of course! Through the Holy Spirit applying > the > > Word to our hearts? Again I would say yes. > > Agreed. Notice the emphasis on His Word and God > Himself. > > > > Will I ever > > hear the audible voice of my Lord and Savior > speaking > > to me this side of heaven? To add to Scripture, of > > course not. But can God still speak to us if He > > chooses to or is He muted now? > > If we don't need to add anything to Scripture, why > does God need to > speak audibly to us today? CAN He choose to do so? > Certainly. God > can do whatever He wants. But He is consistent and > for Him to do so > now, after the canon has been closed, would probably > cause a great > deal of confusion. > > Now that I have said that our experience should not > drive our > doctrine, I will just briefly relate my experience! > I attended > Assembly of God churches for about 7 years, although > I never had their > beliefs. Every service, someone would say that they > had a "word from > the Lord." Often, it was nothing more than > restating something > already in Scripture. Sometimes, it was something > that didn't clearly > line up with Scripture, especially when they took a > promise to someone > in Scripture and applied it to someone today. Other > times, there were > false "messages," words that later turned out to be > false. After > hearing hundreds and hundreds of these, I concluded, > based upon my > experience :-) that God was not the One speaking > here! > > The Bible says that we are to test everything we > hear. I highly > recommend we test every "experience" someone claims > to have. > > BTW, not only are you bordering on cessationism > here, but the will of > God as well, which is another great topic! > > > Blessings, > Jen Epstein > http://jensgems.wordpress.com > > Every saint has a past and every sinner has a > future. > > > -- > Read the Sound of Grace pages at > http://www.soundofgrace.com > > To unsubscribe, send ANY message to: > soundofgrace-unsubscribe@... > > To view our online archive go to our web page at > http://www.associate.com/groups/soundofgrace > > > ____________________________________________________________________________________ Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ