Demonic/satanic miracles

You will be hard pressed to find someone who has never heard of some
kind of religious miracle. Many Catholics are convinced of the
validity of various sightings of the Virgin Mary, stigmata, weeping or
bleeding statues, and even "incorruptible bodies." There are reported
miracles in other religions, as well—Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam all
claim to have documented miracles.

Satan has the power to perform miracles. While his power is limited,
he can and does perform miracles in order to deceive. John 8:44 says
that Satan is a liar and the father of lies. Satan can make himself
appear as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14). He does this to
draw people away from God.

When Moses and Aaron confronted Pharaoh, they performed a miraculous
sign to confirm their message from God (Exodus 7:8–10). The magi of
Egypt were able to perform the same miracle "by their secret arts"
(verse 11). God's miracle was shown to be greater (verse 12), but the
fact is that the magi were able to perform a satanic miracle in the
king's court.

During the tribulation, the Antichrist "will use all sorts of displays
of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie" (2
Thessalonians 2:9). These miracles are explicitly said to be empowered
by Satan. Jesus warned that the end times will be characterized by the
treachery of counterfeit prophets who "will appear and perform great
signs and wonders to deceive" (Matthew 24:24).

The existence of demonic miracles is one reason why we must test all
spirits: "Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the
spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets
have gone out into the world" (1 John 4:1). Any time we are in doubt,
we are to make sure that what is being taught lines up with what
Scripture says. If the miracle worker is teaching something contrary
to God's Word, then his miracles, no matter how convincing they seem,
are a demonic delusion.

Examples of convincing demonic miracles today are the apparitions of
the Virgin Mary in different countries. These appearances of Mary seem
legitimate; indeed, they are believed by millions of people. But when
we compare what the apparitions say to what Scripture teaches, it is
not even close. Over the course of several Marian apparitions, we are
told that God wants to establish worldwide devotion to Mary's
immaculate heart, that souls will be saved if devotions to her
immaculate heart are established, that she is the mediatrix between
man and God, that praying the rosary is required to enter heaven, that
she receives and answers prayer, that taking communion makes
reparation for sins committed against her, and that blessed objects
should be worn and placed in homes.

None of these messages are of God. Jesus is the only way to God (John
14:6). Mary does not have an "immaculate" (sinless) heart. Devotion to
Mary is not necessary, and the Bible never instructs us to pray to
anyone but God. Jesus is the only mediator between man and God
(Hebrews 7:25; 1 Timothy 2:5; 1 John 2:1).

The message of the Marian apparitions clearly contradicts Scripture.
Did the people who claim to have seen Mary experience a real miracle?
Yes, possibly. However, the entity calling itself "Mary" is not
working for God's glory or pointing people to Jesus Christ. Rather,
Mary is being glorified, and people are being told to earn their own
salvation by works.

Demonic miracles are real and they do occur. It is our responsibility
to make sure that we do not give in to them. We must keep our Bibles
open and put God's revealed truth ahead of any miracle we see.

How can we discern counterfeit miracles?

In Matthew 24:24, Jesus warns, "For false christs and false prophets
will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the
elect-if that were possible." Similarly, 2 Thessalonians 2:9 says,
"The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of
Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and
wonders."

When God sent Moses to deliver the Israelites from slavery in Egypt,
He performed miraculous signs through Moses to prove that Moses was
indeed His messenger. However, Exodus 7:22 states, "But the Egyptian
magicians did the same things by their secret arts, and Pharaoh's
heart became hard; he would not listen to Moses…" (see also Exodus
7:11 and 8:7). God later demonstrated His superiority by performing
miracles the magicians, or more accurately, the demons who were
empowering the magicians, were not able to replicate (Exodus 8:18;
9:11). But the fact remains that Pharaoh's magicians were able to
perform miracles. So, if miracles can be from either God or the
demonic world, how are we to discern the difference?

The Bible does not give specific instructions on how to recognize
counterfeit miracles. The Bible does, however, give specific
instructions on how to recognize counterfeit messengers. "You will
recognize them by their fruits" (Matthew 7:16, 20). First John 4:2-6
elaborates, "This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every
spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is
from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from
God. This is the spirit of the antichrist … They are from the world
and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world
listens to them. We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us;
but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we
recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood."

These two passages present two methods for recognizing a false
teacher. First, examine his/her fruit. Does he/she display the
Christlikeness that is a qualification for a messenger from God (1
Timothy 3:1-13)? Second, examine his/her teaching. Is what he/she
teaches in agreement with God's Word (2 Timothy 2:15; 3:16-17; 4:2;
Hebrews 4:12)? If the teacher fails either of these tests, he/she is
not from God. It does not matter how many miracles are present. If a
person does not walk the truth or teach the truth, we can discount any
miracles he/she performs. Miracles performed by a false teacher are
not from God.

In the New Testament, miracles were performed almost exclusively by
the apostles and their close associates. The miracles served to
validate the gospel message and the ministry of the apostles (Acts
2:43; 5:12; 2 Corinthians 12:12; Hebrews 2:4). While we should never
doubt God's ability to perform miracles, the biblical purpose of
miracles should give us a degree of skepticism concerning reports of
modern-day miracles. While it is not biblical to say that God never
performs miracles, the Bible is clear that we are to seek after truth,
not miracles (Matthew 12:39).

It is an interesting conundrum that miracles in the Bible validated
the messenger, and yet today, miracles are not necessarily an
indicator for a true messenger of God. The difference is God's Word.
Today we have the complete canon of Scripture, and it is an infallible
guide. We have a more sure Word (2 Peter 1:19) we can use to discern
whether a messenger and a message is from God. Miracles can be
counterfeited. That is why God points us to His Word. Signs and
wonders can lead us astray. God's Word will always light the true path
(Psalm 119:105).

Does God still perform miracles?

Many people desire miracles from God. They want God to perform
miracles to "prove" Himself to them. "If only God would perform a
miracle, sign, or wonder, then I would believe!" This idea, though, is
contradicted by Scripture. When God performed amazing and powerful
miracles for the Israelites, did that cause them to obey Him? No, the
Israelites constantly disobeyed and rebelled against God even though
they saw all the miracles. The same people who saw God part the Red
Sea later doubted whether God was able to conquer the inhabitants of
the Promised Land. This truth is explained in Luke 16:19-31. In the
story, a man in hell asks Abraham to send Lazarus back from the dead
to warn his brothers. Abraham informed the man, "If they do not listen
to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone
rises from the dead" (Luke 16:31).

Jesus performed countless miracles, yet the vast majority of people
did not believe in Him. If God performed miracles today as He did in
the past, the result would be the same. People would be amazed and
would believe in God for a short time. That faith would be shallow and
would disappear the moment something unexpected or frightening
occurred. A faith based on miracles is not a mature faith. God
performed the greatest "God miracle" of all time in coming to earth as
the Man Jesus Christ to die on the cross for our sins (Romans 5:8) so
that we could be saved (John 3:16). God does still perform
miracles—many of them simply go unnoticed or are denied. However, we
do not need more miracles. What we need is to believe in the miracle
of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.

The purpose of miracles was to authenticate the performer of the
miracles. Acts 2:22 declares, "Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of
Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and
signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know."
The same is said of the apostles, "The things that mark an
apostle—signs, wonders and miracles—were done among you with great
perseverance" (2 Corinthians 12:12). Speaking of the gospel, Hebrews
2:4 proclaims, "God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various
miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to His
will." We now have the truth of Jesus recorded in Scripture. We now
have the writings of the apostles recorded in Scripture. Jesus and His
apostles, as recorded in Scripture, are the cornerstone and foundation
of our faith (Ephesians 2:20). In this sense, miracles are no longer
necessary, as the message of Jesus and His apostles has already been
attested to and accurately recorded in the Scriptures. Yes, God still
performs miracles. At the same time, we should not necessarily expect
miracles to occur today just as they did in Bible times.

If a couple gets pregnant before marriage do they have to get married?

Sex before marriage has become so commonplace in our society, even to
the point of being expected, that many professing Christians don't
even consider it to be a sin. Our culture assumes that people do not
possess the amount of self-control necessary for abstaining until
marriage, so the idea has become unrealistic. God's Word does not
change, however, and the Bible tells us that sex outside of marriage
is immoral (Matthew 15:19; 1 Corinthians 6:9, 6:13, 7:2; 2 Corinthians
12:21; Galatians 5:19; Ephesians 5:3).

Any person who has become a born-again Christian by putting his or her
faith and trust in Christ no longer belongs to himself. First
Corinthians 6:18-20 (NLT) says, "Run away from sexual sin! No other
sin so clearly affects the body as this one does. For sexual
immorality is a sin against your own body. Or don't you know that your
body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given
to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with
a high price. So you must honor God with your body."

Disregarding God's plan for marriage, sex, and family always results
in these kinds of spiritual or physical consequences: grieving the
Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:30), guilt, shame, regret, loss of respect
for self and others, division in families and between believers, poor
role modeling, pain for future spouses, unwanted pregnancies,
abortion, and sexually transmitted diseases. God intends for sex to be
an intimate expression of love and commitment, to be shared only
between a husband and wife. Sex just for the physical pleasure of it
damages our spirituality and pulls us away from fellowship with God.

Anyone who has made the mistake of having sex outside of marriage can
be forgiven, even if the mistake results in an unplanned pregnancy.
First John 1:9 says, "But if we confess our sins to him, he is
faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from every wrong." This
does not mean that He will erase the consequences of our actions, but
we can be restored spiritually by confessing and repenting from our
sins. This means turning away from our sins and making the commitment
to love and serve Christ.

There are some cases in which getting married before the baby is born
would be wise. If a committed couple who was already planning to get
married commits fornication which results in pregnancy, it would
probably make it easier for the family and the child to marry before
he or she is born. But if an uncommitted couple commits the same sin,
getting married will not make them right in God's eyes. In such a
situation, getting married will only set them up for marital failure.
The Bible does not instruct people as to whether or not to marry under
these circumstances, although both parents are still obligated to
support the child emotionally, spiritually and financially.

None of us are made right with God through works. We are saved by
faith alone, trusting in Jesus Christ to save us from our sins, which
lead to death. The Bible says, "For the wages of sin is death, but the
free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord"
(Romans 6:23). God does not want us to try to right our wrongs, but He
wants us to give Him our hearts. By laying down our own will and
submitting to the sovereignty of God, we can be assured of not only a
fulfilling life on earth, but also a place in heaven for eternity.

What does the Bible say about sex addiction?

The concept of sex addiction being a psychological disorder similar to
other obsessive-compulsive disorders, or similar to other addictions,
such as alcoholism or illicit drug use, is a recent development.
Previously, a man (or woman) who was promiscuous was said to be
immoral and filled with lust. The issue now is that something the
Bible says is a sin, promiscuous sex outside of marriage, is being
labeled as a psychological disorder. For some, this is an excuse, an
explaining away of a clear sin. So, is there such a thing as sex
addiction, and if so, what does the Bible say about it?

First, let it be said that sex outside of marriage is always a sin
(Acts 15:20; 1 Corinthians 5:1; 6:13, 18; 10:8; 2 Corinthians 12:21;
Galatians 5:19; Ephesians 5:3; Colossians 3:5; 1 Thessalonians 4:3;
Jude 7). There is never a time when it is right to have sex outside of
marriage. With that said, it is important to note that sex is indeed
addicting. A person who engages in sexual intercourse regularly will
almost always become psychologically and physiologically addicted to
it. Sex between a husband and his wife in marriage is "pure" (Hebrews
13:4) and is the God-ordained way of releasing the tension of a "sex
addiction." Should a married couple allow themselves to become
addicted to the point that sex becomes an obsession, a hindrance to
other aspects of life? Of course not. Is it wrong for a husband and
wife to desire regular sex with each other? Absolutely not. Sex in
marriage is not sinful. A husband and his wife are biblically allowed
to have sex as often as they want, in the spirit of mutual consent (1
Corinthians 7:5).

Sin itself is addicting. Most, if not all, sins are addicting if
engaged in regularly. Lying, drinking in excess, smoking, gluttony,
rage, pornography, etc., can all become habitual. Ultimately, all of
us, in our fallen bodies, have a sin addiction. Immoral sex, just as
other sins, can lead to "ever-increasing wickedness" (Romans 6:19).
Just as illicit drug use leads to increasingly potent amounts of the
drug being needed to achieve the same "high," so can immoral sex lead
to increasingly frequent and "wild" intercourse in order to receive
the same satisfaction. Yes, there is such a thing as sex addiction. A
person truly can become psychologically and physiologically addicted
to frequent, wild, experimental, and even obscenely immoral sex.

The fact that sex is addicting, and the biblical truth that sin is
addicting, combined, lead to the conclusion that sex addiction does
indeed exist. The fact that sex addiction exists, though, does not
change the fact that it is sin. It is very important to recognize sex
addiction as a sin, not to excuse it away as a psychological disorder.
At the same time, we should not minimize the powerful hold sex
addiction can have on a person. As with all sin addictions, the only
true cure for sex addiction is Jesus Christ. We have all sinned and
fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). Because of our sin, we
all deserve the judgment of eternal death (Romans 6:23). Jesus, who
was God in human form, paid the eternal/infinite penalty for us (2
Corinthians 5:21). If we fully trust His sacrifice on our behalf as
the full payment for our sin, receiving Him as Savior in faith, He
promises that all of our sins are forgiven. Then, God makes us a new
creation (2 Corinthians 5:17) and begins the process of conforming us
to His will (Romans 12:1-2), including enabling us to overcome sin and
break any sin addictions we have. "Wretched man that I am! Who will
deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus
Christ our Lord" (Romans 7:24-25).

Is it wrong for a married couple to have sex just for pleasure?

Almost an entire book in the Old Testament is dedicated to the subject
of passion and sex for pleasure. Song of Solomon is so detailed in its
intention of sexual pleasure in marriage that allegories were used to
tone it down and Hebrew boys couldn't read it until they were 12, when
they became men. God clearly intended sex in marriage to be
pleasurable.

First Corinthians 7:3-5 talks about not abstaining from sex in
marriage: "But because of immoralities, each man is to have his own
wife, and each woman is to have her own husband. The husband is to
fulfill his duty to his wife, and likewise also the wife to her
husband. The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the
husband does, and likewise also the husband does not have authority
over his own body, but the wife does. Stop depriving one another,
except by agreement for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to
prayer, and come together again so that Satan will not tempt you
because of your lack of self-control."

The feelings of sexual longings and pleasure during sex were created
by God, and marriage was created to fulfill those longings. What Paul
is saying is to direct those feelings to your spouse and no other and
make sure that they are fulfilled within your marriage relationship,
not outside of it. Notice that Paul says if one of the partners is not
living up to his or her spouse's expectations, whether it be pleasure
or time, then both need to bring it before God so that one doesn't try
to find fulfillment outside of that marriage relationship. Because of
the existence of pornography and the perversion of sex over the years,
many people (especially Christians) get the idea that sex for pleasure
is wrong. We sometimes forget that God fashioned us for sex and
created the emotions to go with it; pleasure was intended. We
shouldn't let Satan and his lies keep us from enjoying our spouses or
fall into the counterfeit pleasure of sex that the world offers. God's
pleasure is real and satisfying; Satan's is counterfeit and empty.

What is the origin of Valentine’s Day, and should Christians celebrate it?

The first Valentine was posted around 1806. Almost one billion
Valentine's Day cards are sent each year on or near February 14 with
females purchasing 85% of the cards. This is second only to the number
of Christmas cards sent. The history is somewhat murky as to how
Valentine's Day has come to be what we now know and celebrate. Saint
Valentine served in third-century Rome. Emperor Claudius decided that
single men made better soldiers. Therefore, Claudius banned soldiers
from being married. One version of the story is that Valentine
continued to perform the weddings of young soldiers who were in love,
and Claudius had Valentine imprisoned. While imprisoned, Valentine
reportedly fell in love with the jailer's daughter. Valentine sent her
a card and signed it, "Love, your Valentine." Another version is that
Valentine defied Claudius by helping Christians escape the torture of
the Romans.

Valentine died in approximately A.D. 270. Others claim the church may
have decided to celebrate in mid February to "Christianize" the pagan
Roman celebration Lupercalia. The first Valentine sent in the United
States was in the 1840's by Esther Howgald. Most of us enjoy
"spoiling" a loved one on Valentine's Day. Sending gifts and cards
conveys love, affection, and friendship.

There is no biblical reason why Christians should not celebrate
Valentine's Day by giving their loved ones flowers, candy and/or
cards. As with celebrating any holiday, the decision should be between
the individual and God. Some people feel very strongly that observing
any secular holiday is wrong, while others see it as harmless. The
important thing to remember is that celebrating or not celebrating
holidays should not be a cause for pride or division among Christians.