I would encourage you to get your Bible out and read this story for yourself. All ten lepers were healed, but only one of them, a Samaritan, returned and gave thanks to God. Only this one had his sins forgiven (v.19). The other nine did not. They asked for and received physical healing from God Himself. Yet their sins remained unforgiven.

Many are content to use God as a problem solver. But after the problem passes, they never return to give Him thanks or acknowledge Him as Saviour of their soul. Sort of like a vaccination, they get just enough religion to protect them from the “disease.”

Read through the Old Testament and it won’t take you long to find God giving great and miraculous victories to heathen nations. The answer to our question is no, godly intervention in your life does not necessarily mean that you are a child of God.

Not only can unsaved people experience miracles from God, but unsaved people can actually work miracles, signs and wonders. In fact, the Word of God exhorts us to watch out for these false prophets (Matt 7:21-23 cf. also Matt 23:13-16; 1 Samuel 8:3) They will be after money and notoriety and will use miracles and signs to dupe both saved and unsaved alike.

The Word of God gives two “tests” to the nation of Israel in order to determine if a man claiming to be a prophet was truly sent from God or if in fact he was a false prophet. One was the ability to foretell the future accurately. We call it prophecy. If a man said that something would happen and it did not then he was a false prophet and was to be taken out of town and stoned (Deut 18:20-22). But there was another test that had to be performed before the test of prophecy because satanic power can appear to be from God when it isn’t. This first test is found in Deuteronomy chapter 13. And the question concerns the man’s doctrine. What did he believe in his heart and teach with his ministry? Did his prophecies agree with the written Word of God? If they did not, he was to be rejected outright – regardless of his miracles – and stoned to death (Deut 13:1-5). That is why it is essential for you to know the Word of God, what you believe and why you believe it. God holds us personally accountable.

When I was nine or ten years old my uncle saved me from drowning. I was a good swimmer and literally only a couple of feet away from a diving platform – but I just couldn’t reach it. I had been swimming all day and was more tired than I thought. I panicked and he jumped in (from shore) and saved my life. I was “saved” physically, but not spiritually. I have talked to many people about salvation. Some go back to an experience that might have been life threatening from which they were “saved.” But this isn’t the salvation and “born again” experience that the Word of God is talking about (John 3:7).

Has your life been transformed as caterpillar to butterfly by the Word of God? Do you know the blessed assurance of sins forgiven and a home in Heaven?