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According to theologian Dan Story, a biblical miracle is “a willful act of God, explainable only by His existence and power, and it has three specific ingredients.” [These three elements are]: (1) it is perceivable by both believers and unbelievers; (2) it appears to [disrupt] the normal sequence of natural laws; and (3) it is done for the purpose of executing a divine act, validating a religious truth, or illustrating a religious principle. Lives changed from the inside are truly miracles that meet those three criteria.
Liberal theologians have attempted to remove biblical miracles from Christian theology, but in doing so they have sacrificed the supernatural power of Christianity. Jesus without miracles becomes a mere man; the Bible without miracles, only the words of men; and Christianity without miracles, only a religion. Just like liberal theologians, many times we do not look and wait for the miraculous. Rather, we adapt a morality-based Christian religion.
Let me give you an example from my own life. For the first 32 years of my life, I defined myself by my sexual and emotional attractions to men. This was not just a behavioral issue; it was a soul and identity issue. The burning desire in my soul was like having athlete’s foot of the mind. It led me into dark places that I wasn’t able to escape. By the time I was in college, I had left the denominational church I grew up in and abandoned myself to a gay identity and the dark underbelly of promiscuity and perversion.
When God in His Grace drew me back to a Bible-believing church, I realized I needed to change. It wasn’t just my fear of AIDS, but it was my desire break free from the shame and bondage. I started to pray, read my Bible and regularly attend church services. I strove to align my behavior to Christian standards and even learned to speak "Christianese". Jesus broke the hardness of heart and I received His gift of salvation.
Here’s where many people expect to hear of the miraculous change and how Christ instantly delivered me from the sin of homosexuality. I did seek a pastor who prayed for my deliverance, but God was working His miracle differently. Because I was disappointed that God didn’t deliver me my way, I sought to change through moral striving. I went to “Christian counseling,” Sexaholics Anonymous, and just tried to stop my behavior.
Here is where the true miracle began.
God graciously showed me the nature of my heart. I wasn’t seeking Him and His kingdom. My desire for heaven wasn’t to spend eternity with Him, but to experience freedom from pain and the shame of my homosexuality. He changed my heart and I exchanged my goal of changing for a goal to be intimate with Him.
This new direction allowed me to cooperate with God as He used His people, His Spirit, and His Word to work changes within my soul. His provisions such as a home Bible study, a mentor, and a good church resulted in changes in my attractions, my identity, and my behavior – things that weren’t happening as I sought change through my own efforts. My cooperation did require some moral effort, but intimacy with Jesus was my focus. His intervention and changes in my life are truly miraculous.
The miracles of the incarnation and the resurrection of Jesus Christ encompass the entire fabric of Christianity. Because those miracles happened, God continues to reveal His power and character through the ongoing miracles of changed lives. We don’t need to compromise God’s Word through adding man-made methods or settling for outward conformance to His standards to see His miraculous power.