Believers Can Do These Things

MARK 16:17-18 NLT 17 These miraculous signs will accompany those who believe: They will cast out demons in my name, and they will speak in new languages. 18 They will be able to handle snakes with safety, and if they drink anything poisonous, it won’t hurt them. They will be able to place their hands on the sick, and they will be healed.”

If you were asked what humans can do, you might say humans can do things like walk, talk, sing, and even reproduce.

And you would be correct. Yet babies cannot do even one of those things, and they are human beings!

So when God says these signs will follow believers, we have been told the truth. But that does not mean it will happen automatically and instantly.

(There is no Biblical justification for anyone trying to prove they can do things like handle snakes or drink poison without harm. The context is about believers going into all the world to proclaim the Good News of Jesus. As they do, the promise of God is that nothing can stop them, not demons, dangerous animals, or dangerous food and water. Paul shaking off the snake in Acts 28:3-6 is an example of how to understand this passage correctly.)

A human parent might say "When I have children, they will be able to do what I do" and we would have no trouble believing that. It seems God has done a similar thing, saying, in effect, "This is what my children will be able to do."

Should we call God a liar just because on the first day they are born all of His children don't do everything He says His children will be able to do?

It's always a mistake to argue with God. Instead we should accept what He said and learn how to walk in it.

We are born again (spiritually) with all the capability of children of God, but we must grow, develop, and learn to walk in the authority we have been given.

JOHN 14:12 CEV 12 I tell you for certain that if you have faith in me, you will do the same things that I am doing. You will do even greater things, now that I am going back to the Father.

Jesus even said we would do the same things He did! But it takes faith. So until we believe, it won't happen.

1 JOHN 5:4 CEV 4 Every child of God can defeat the world, and our faith is what gives us this victory.

SAY THIS: I am a believer in Jesus Christ, so I can do what the Bible says I can do.