Does God Still Work Today?

God in the Present

As we continue this week looking into the works of God and how the creation reveals the creator, we are going take our study one step further. As discussed earlier this week, God’s work shows how He is good, as everything He makes is beautiful, right, and worthy. Just because certain aspects, like all of mankind itself, have decided to turn away from God, doesn’t mean that God created them that way, this is just the free will of human nature deciding to turn from the holy and worthy lives that God has called us to live. This is how God shows He is still perfect even while evil is still a part of our everyday lives. Therefore, it is evident that through the creation of the universe, mankind, and even the miracles that God Himself displayed, He is a good God, who is just and right in all of His attributes. Today, however, we are going to take a more practical and broader look at the work of our Lord and ask, ‘Does God still work today?’. This question is a vital one because much hangs on its outcome. If God does still work today, does He work in the same manner that He did all throughout scripture? And does this work show the same aspects and characteristics that His former work showed us? What about if He doesn’t still work today, how many teachings and churches must we avoid that claim He does?! Believe it or not, this is a huge debate that still goes on to this day that many are still confused about and at the center of it all we see one common passage. And that passage just so happens to be the exact one we are going to look at today. It is Hebrews 1:1-2 “1 God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, 2 in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom He also made the world.” 

The Great Debate

To start, let’s look into what the debate over this passage is, and then we’ll break it down ourselves to see what we can decipher. This scripture is used to claim that in the days of the Bible being written, God used to speak through what is called the ‘apostolic gifts’. These gifts are the ones that are specifically given to the apostles to do the ministry of spreading the gospel and not the ones that are given by the Holy Spirit for the building up of the church. That would mean these people believe that gifts like discernment, serving, pastoring, giving, encouraging, ruling, and mercy are all gifts that are still active today, according to Romans 12. While on the other hand, these people believe that gifts like prophecy, healing, and speaking in tongues are no longer active. These people are called ‘cessationists’ as they believe that the apostolic gifts have ‘ceased’. 

Those on the other side, however, believe that Hebrews 1:1-2 is not talking about the gifts to the apostles, and therefore believe that every gift that is mentioned in scripture is still active today. These people are called ‘continuationist’ as they believe that the gifts of the apostles have ‘continued’. This debate is so wide and active, that many pastors whom I love and respect are even divided on this issue. As a matter of fact, I’ve used many of their resources for this blog alone. Dr. Wayne Grudem has a been huge blessing to me and this blog, and he is a big advocate for continuationism. Dr. John MacArthur on the other hand, who’s preaching and love for the Word of God I hope to emulate every time I write a post, is a big advocate for cessationism. Both of these men I love and respect, and yet they disagree on this fundamental issue all because of Hebrews 1:1-2. 

The Common Ground

However, this blog post is not to debate cessationism vs. continuationism (which may come later when I really want to start a war), this post is to answer the question, ‘Does God still work today?’, and I believe that whichever view you take in this debate, we can still come to a solid answer. I believe it is clear, that regardless of who you ask, whether cessationist or continuationist, both will claim that God still works today, the difference in opinion is simply to what extent He still works. Hebrews 1:1-2 doesn’t say that in the former days, God spoke through the apostles, and in the latter days He doesn’t speak at all, it mentions He does so ‘through His Son’. Right away, despite which view you take, you can at least see that there is a difference between the ‘former’ ways in which God accomplished His work and the ‘latter’ ways in which God will accomplish His work. The huge difference being that Christ has come and fulfilled His work on the cross. No matter what you believe about the gifts discussed in scripture, it is undeniable that God still works today by leading fallen, broken, and sinful hearts to repentance and faith in His Son. 

This is undeniably a miraculous, incredible, and merciful work of our God. Not only that, but it is one that both sides of this camp can agree on. Dr. Grudem even says, “In the work of regeneration we play no active role at all. It is instead totally a work of God.” Or as Dr. MacArthur so beautifully puts it, “God devised an eternal plan in which man’s salvation would be accomplished by the redemptive work of God the Son and in which the saving benefits secured by the redemptive work would be applied by God the Spirit. The second member of the Trinity would take on all the weakness and infirmity of human nature and would secure for his people the righteousness, forgiveness, and cleansing that they could never obtain for themselves.” Despite what side you may find yourself on in this debate or even if you’re still in the middle, I believe one thing we can all agree on is that God still works today and that the evidence for this is that lost souls are still coming to Christ. While I certainly would encourage any believer to study this topic and grow in their knowledge of the Word of God, I hope and pray that this debate never becomes so big, that we miss out on the amazing work that God is doing when a lost sheep finally comes home. This work indeed shows us the same, good God that we have seen all throughout scripture because a sinful heart that repents and believes the gospel is a work that is unquestionably beautiful, right, and worthy.

---

Sources

[1] “Access Your Bible from Anywhere.” BibleGateway.Com: A Searchable Online Bible in over 150 Versions and 50 Languages., www.biblegateway.com/. Accessed 2023.

[2] Grudem, W. (1994). Systematic Theology : An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine. https://ci.nii.ac.jp/ncid/BA79455700

[3] MacArthur, John & Mayhue, Richard. A Systemic Summary of Bible Truth: Biblical Doctrine. Wheaton, Crossway, 2017