Salvation: The Greatest Miracle

Discipleship Devotional, February 16th, 2025

“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.”
– Ezekiel 36:26-27 (NIV)

The miracle that takes place within a human being (salvation) is much more powerful than any miracle of signs and wonders. When a person believes in Christ, there is the glorious miracle of a transformed heart. This is why we often say that the miracle of salvation is the greatest. Signs and wonders are indeed powerful tools for confirming the message of the resurrected Christ; however, this does not mean that everyone who witnesses a miraculous sign will believe in Christ.

The Bible is filled with several examples of people who simply refused to believe, no matter the miracle He performed. The Pharisees, for example, continually sought ways to discredit Him even when there were undeniable signs. Even many of the multitudes who followed Jesus didn’t believe in Him. He said on one occasion that they only followed Him because they expected Him to multiply bread. When He asked them to believe in Him, they turned away from Him (John 6:25-70).

A similar thing happened to Paul and Barnabas while they were at Lystra. Paul healed a lame man, and the city erupted. They began to worship them as their Greek gods, bringing sacrifices to them. But when Paul and Barnabas rent their clothes, showing them that they were only humans who came to preach about Jesus, the people ended up stoning them (Acts 14:8-20). So we see that they didn’t care to know Christ. They wanted to believe that those miracles were a confirmation of their idols, and since it turned out not to be, they tried to kill them.

So, as much as we must desire the supernatural in our midst, we must prioritize the preaching of Christ above all else, knowing that multitudes can gather for miracles and yet not want Christ.

Prayer:

Help me to see the critical importance of the miracle of salvation.