Are modern miracles and spiritual gifts real?

Most Christians worldwide believe that God still heals and that the spiritual gifts described in the New Testament continue today. A significant minority hold that certain gifts ceased after the apostolic age. The disagreement is not about whether God is able to act, but about whether He still does so through these particular gifts.

What does the Bible say about spiritual gifts?Share the passage: What does the Bible say about spiritual gifts?

Spiritual gifts are abilities the New Testament describes the Holy Spirit giving to believers for the benefit of the church rather than for personal status. Paul lists them in several places, and healing appears among them:

Two features of Paul's treatment are often missed. The gifts are distributed at the Spirit's discretion, not claimed at will — he says the Spirit divides them as he will (1 Corinthians 12:11). And the chapter that follows immediately places love above every gift, which is Paul's way of saying that spectacular ability without love is worth nothing (1 Corinthians 13:1–2).

Did the gifts stop after the apostles?Share the passage: Did the gifts stop after the apostles?

This is the actual point of disagreement, and Christians answer it in two ways.

The cessationist position holds that miraculous gifts served to confirm the message of the apostles and ceased once Scripture was complete. It usually appeals to 1 Corinthians 13:10, where Paul says that when that which is perfect is come, the partial will be done away.

The continuationist position holds that no passage announces such an ending, that Paul's own instruction was to desire spiritual gifts rather than restrict them (1 Corinthians 14:1), and that the gifts continue wherever the Spirit gives them.

What does the Bible say about divine healing?Share the passage: What does the Bible say about divine healing?

Healing runs throughout both Testaments, and the New Testament gives the church a specific instruction about it:

Notice the shape of it. Prayer for the sick is treated as ordinary church practice, carried out by elders, not by a single celebrated individual.

Scripture is also candid that healing does not always come. Paul asked three times for a physical affliction to be removed and was refused (2 Corinthians 12:8–9). He left a co-worker sick at Miletum (2 Timothy 4:20). Any honest account of healing must hold both realities: Scripture records healings, and Scripture records faithful people who were not healed.

A reported healing: Kakamega, 2012Share the passage: A reported healing: Kakamega, 2012

One testimony widely shared in Kenya concerns a young child, known in ministry accounts as Baby Shalin Chepkirui, who was brought to a large gathering at Bukhungu Stadium in Kakamega in 2012, at a meeting led by Prophet Dr. David Owuor.

According to accounts published by the Ministry of Repentance and Holiness and shared by those present, the child had suffered from severe leprosy affecting her skin and causing visible wounds, and had endured both physical pain and social isolation. The ministry's account states that after prayer at the meeting, her condition changed rapidly and her wounds healed. Ministry members have since reported that she grew up in good health and did well in her schooling.

How should Christians weigh healing claims?Share the passage: How should Christians weigh healing claims?

Scripture expects claims to be tested rather than accepted automatically, and the instruction is unusually direct:

Paul says the same in shorter form: prove all things, hold fast that which is good (1 Thessalonians 5:21). Testing is presented as an act of faithfulness, not of doubt. Several biblical measures apply:

• Does it point to Christ, or to a person? Signs in Scripture direct attention to God rather than to the one praying.
• Is money involved? Peter's rebuke of Simon, who tried to purchase spiritual power, is the sharpest passage in the New Testament on this (Acts 8:18–20).
• What is the fruit? Jesus warned that miracles alone are not proof of divine approval, and said that on the last day some who performed wonders in His name would not be known by Him (Matthew 7:22–23).
• Does it hold up over time? A healing that endures is stronger evidence than one described only in the moment.

Does believing in healing mean refusing medical treatment?Share the passage: Does believing in healing mean refusing medical treatment?

No. Scripture nowhere sets prayer against treatment, and the assumption that it does has caused real harm.

Luke, who wrote a Gospel and the book of Acts, is described by Paul as a physician (Colossians 4:14). Paul advised Timothy to take wine for a recurring stomach problem — practical medical counsel (1 Timothy 5:23). Isaiah applied a fig poultice to Hezekiah's boil in a healing God had already promised (Isaiah 38:21). Treatment and prayer sit side by side in the text.

If you are being treated for an illness, continue your treatment. Leprosy in particular is curable, and multidrug therapy is provided free of charge through health facilities in Kenya — but stopping treatment early can cause permanent nerve damage and disability that cannot be reversed. The same applies to tuberculosis, HIV, diabetes, epilepsy and high blood pressure. Pray, and keep taking your medicine. If you believe you have been healed, ask your clinician to confirm it before changing anything.

What miracles are forShare the passage: What miracles are for

In Scripture, miracles are signs — they point beyond themselves. John consistently calls them signs rather than wonders, and says they were written so that readers would believe (John 20:31). They are not offered as a mechanism for proving God on demand; Jesus refused several such requests (Matthew 12:39).

This shapes how healing should be held. A person who is healed has received mercy, not a certificate of superior faith. A person who is not healed has not failed a test. And the central Christian claim does not rest on any healing at all — it rests on the resurrection of Christ, which is why Paul staked everything on that one event rather than on the miracles he himself performed (1 Corinthians 15:14).

SourcesShare the passage: Sources

Scripture quotations are from the King James Version, which is in the public domain. The account of the 2012 Kakamega meeting is drawn from material published by the Ministry of Repentance and Holiness and from reports by those present; it is testimony rather than independently documented medical record.