From: Richardleeevange@aol.com

Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 17:10:49

To: WalterMartin@mail.serve.com

Subject: Re: WM: Mark 16:15-18

Gerald,

As far as signs being valid for today, I have mentioned that miracles were evidence that the Kingdom of God had arrived from eternity and intervened in time. They are the first fruits of the Kingdom arriving to earth, but obviously not the full consummation, because Christ isn't reigning yet, and people still suffer sickness, death, etc. The New Testament nowhere teaches that signs will vanish when the canon is complete, which is a popular fundamentalist argument since the authors of the NT didn't think that they were writing Scripture. I hold to the view that any possibilty of miracles or divine intervention is under the sovereignty of God, and far be it from me to say God doesn't work miracles today. However, the results of the miraculous are temporary until the Second coming or eschaton. The purpose of miracles was to show that God's kingdom had arrived, but "is not yet." See George Eldon Ladd's "Jesus and the Kingdom."

Sincerely,

Richard Lee