Carrie was very shy. For her to get up out of her seat at
the invitation of a faith healer, in front of hundreds of people, was an act of
faith at the very least. Too bad she had to go home lied to. Too bad somebody
told her she didn’t have enough faith.
Faith. That seems to be the magic word these days with most
of our Christian healers: “God will heal anybody, so long as they have faith.”
Carrie
went forward because she had asthma. I went with her for moral support. The
preacher laid hands on Carrie and I’ll never forget his words. “OK. I think the
Holy Spirit really is working. There may be a set back from Satan. I think what
you need to do is just claim it by faith.”
At the risk of sounding unspiritual: What a bunch of
whitewashed mumbo- jumbo came out of this minister's mouth! How do you
like these characters? It you don’t get
healed, you’re the problem. After all, they are promising healing to
everybody and they will look quite stupid if people come forward and don’t get
this marketed product called healing. Therefore,
the “lack of faith” clause bails them out!
If you don’t get healed it’s only because you did not have enough faith!
I have always believed that God can heal, but I never
embraced healing ministries with much enthusiasm. I was simply too turned off
to all this “name it, claim it” dribble.
This all changed when I experienced a more Biblically based
healing ministry in Thomaston, Georgia a couple years ago entitled Be In
Health. Although I owe these people
a debt of gratitude, I must confess that I did not agree entirely with all of their
theology either. But that’s OK. God can work despite our theology. The
apostles
proved this. For years they taught and believed that one must first
become
Jewish (and get circumcised if they were male) before becoming a
Christian.
That’s about as heretical as any weird theology taught today, and yet
the
Holy Spirit used the apostles to heal, perform miracles and even raise
people
from the dead! So, while in Georgia, I decided to take out the
bones and eat the fish. I decided that if I could at least agree
with their main thrust, I could always integrate it into my own
theology.
God used these people in Georgia.
He used them in a mighty way with me. As
a matter of fact, it was almost an epiphany, the fifth major paradigm shift in
my Christian thinking. It seems I had been so frustrated with faith healers who
ignored clear passages of scripture where God chose NOT to heal people, that I
drifted far too much in the opposite direction. As a theologian, I was guarding
the biblical exceptions to the rule so much, I ignored a great big rule: For
the most part, in general, God does want to heal us. But not because of faith primarily, because of obedience!
Men
and women were meant to be immortal and perfect, physically and spiritually.
They were never meant to die or have any disease. Because our ancestors turned
from God and turned toward sin, things got fouled up, big time.
In
the resurrected kingdom of Christ
we will be immortal again. However, the church is an embassy of Christ's
kingdom exhibited here and now. When people get healed, it is a foreshadowing
of a future kingdom
In John 11:25-36 Jesus,
speaking about the future resurrection, is about to demonstrate the truth of
his words, by raising Lazarus as a foreshadowing:
"I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"
In
Matt. 12, Jesus healed a blind and mute man by casting out the demon that was holding
him in bondage. "But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom
of God has come upon you." 12:28
How frequently should we expect God to heal?
It seems that scripture shows healing as a general rule but
also shows exceptions where God chooses not to heal.
Ps 103:2-3
Praise the LORD, O my
soul,
And forget not all his benefits--
who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,
Deut 7:15-16
15
The LORD will keep you free from every disease. He will not inflict on you the
horrible diseases you knew in Egypt, but he will inflict them on all who hate you.
Although he was specifically talking to ancient Israel,
this certainly says something about God’s heart. We must remember that the ancient Hebrews
used a good deal of hyperbole when they spoke.
Still, even if words like all and every are hyperbolic,
and even if the Jews knew healing would
not happen every single time, we should assume that beneath the hyperbole, God
is at least saying that He will heal most of the time. This seems to be suggested by the main idea
and spirit of the passages.
Evidently, healing is a New Testament general rule as well:
Matt 8:14-17
When Jesus came into Peter's house, he saw Peter's
mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever.
He touched her hand and the fever left her, and she got up and began to
wait on him.
When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were
brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the
sick. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah:
"He took up our infirmities
and carried our diseases."
We see here that according to Jesus, His death on the cross,
as prophesied in Isaiah 53, was somehow associated with physical healing as
well as deliverance from sin. This is probably because of the cross’ tie to the
resurrection. As we noticed in the case
of Lazarus, healing foreshadows the day when we will be completely delivered
from all sin, evil, and demonic activity, a time when we will live in the
paradise of Christ’s kingdom.
Because demons can influence our mind and because the mind
affects the body, demons are often (but not every time) connected to our
diseases. This is why Jesus often cast out demons while he healed people (Matt
12). There is an important lesson here:
If we spent more time helping people repent of their sins (inspired by demons)
instead of merely talking about faith, we might see more genuine healing.
On my radio show, I interviewed an impressive young man
named, Darrell. Darrell had leukemia and came to realize, after certain
Christian friends prayed over him, that this disease had been brought on due to
bitterness. Darrell had a horrible relationship with his Dad and never received
the love and nurture that a child needs. Although this was not Darrell’s fault,
the bitterness was eating away at him. When he was able to ask God for
emotional healing as well as physical, and when he was able to forgive his dad,
the leukemia was chased away. I do not merely mean that it went into remission.
I mean Darrell was completely healed! I
interviewed him years after the fact!
At the same time, there are others who were
traumatized as youth, who have offered forgiveness but are still
plagued with depression, low self image, fear etc. In this case, they
do not need an extra guilt trip, because we are not talking about their
sins. We are talking about horrible things that happened to them. They
still need deliverence, but of a different nature.
As
evangelicals, we tend to stress only part
of the gospel, that Jesus died to deliver us from sin we commit. But Jesus also
died to deliver us from sin commited against us.
It may be helpful to review the
original Jewish concept of Messiah. Although some messianic prophecies speak of a
savior who forgives sin, the popular expectation of the Messiah was that of a
warrior who would completely deliver the people of Israel
from her enemies and from all infirmities. Jesus claimed to be this very
Messiah after reading one such prophecy in a public temple service.
"The Spirit of the Lord is
on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom
for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the
blind,
to release the oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord's
favor."
(Luke 4:18-19 From Isaiah 61:1-2)
Notice the phrase “preach good
news to the poor.” This is what the very word gospel means, good news. Typically, we take that to mean, “the good
news that we can be forgiven of our sins.”
True enough, but only partly true.
Think. If forgiveness from sin is all of the good news, in what way is
our message a gospel for the poor?
Apparently Jesus is also talking about the good news of being delivered
from the effects
of sin.
In the case of the poor, the
specific sin they are being delivered from is the greed and apathy of a society
who cast them aside.But social injustice is not the only evil chain Jesus came
to break. He also mentions
blindness. Although such physical
conditions can be blamed on no man (John 9) we would nevertheless agree that
back in paradise nobody was blind. And
so, all physical infirmities from blindness to deafness to death itself are
ultimately the result of a sin cursed world.
Jesus will someday overcome the entire biological curse of the earth
(Romans 8:22-25). Meanwhile, as a sample and foreshadowing of
this blessed day some will actually receive healing ahead of time.
As we
continue to study the New Testament, we see that the deliverance is even more
thorough. Jesus not only healed people
physically, he healed them mentally.
Sometimes He did both at the same time.
Jesus went throughout Galilee,
teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and
healing every disease and sickness among the people. News about him spread all
over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases,
those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, the epilectics, and the
paralyzed, and he healed them (Matt 4:23-24).
The term epileptic
is translated more accurately as lunatic
in the King James.
-The actual Greek word is selanuiazomenos, meaning moonstruck or crazy.
Evidently, there is
sometimes a relationship between mental/emotional problems and demonic
affliction.
As we can see, the New Testament
defines gospel as the good news
that we will be completely free from sin across the board. This includes the
sin we commit and the sin committed against us, be it the evil of men, the evil
of demons or the consequences of sin in nature.
Christ means to free us physically, mentally and spiritually from all
sin.
“If the cross is about atonement and forgiveness,
how does the cross deliver us from the effects of sin committed against us?”
It is the cross’ connection to
the resurrection which delivers us from sin committed against us.
"If we have been united with him like this in
his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. For
we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might
be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin- because anyone
who has died has been freed from sin.
Now if we died with Christ, we
believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was
raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over
him." (Rom 6:5-9)
On the
cross, all sin is destroyed. The
resurrection brings about new life, completely free from sin. There could be no resurrection without the
cross. It is a two step process,
destruction of the old nature and creation of the new nature. The ultimate deliverance frees us from death
and returns us to paradise.
But Christ has indeed been
raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep (1 Cor 15:20).
For as in Adam all die, so in
Christ all will be made alive (1 Cor 15:22).
Blessed are those who are
persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of
heaven… Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the
same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you ( Matt 5:10, 12a).
I will
no longer commit sin against others and others will no longer commit sin against
me. That is the nature of paradise.
Example of Exceptions: (Biblical examples of
times God does not heal)
1) Paul had the gift of healing but also a
“thorn in the flesh”.
"To
keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great
revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan to
torment me. Three times, I pleaded with
the Lord to take it away from me. But he
said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you for my power is made perfect
in your weakness. Therefore I will boast
all the more gladly about my weaknesses that Christ's power may rest on me. (II
Cor. 12:7-9)
Note:
God has other areas that he wants healed besides physical and he will
sometimes sacrifice physical qualities for character qualities. Yet Paul had faith in God and the power of God
3)
Blind man, John 9
For
a length of time, it was not God's will
to heal this man until a certain day, so that his healing could glorify
God. It is important to remember that in
this case, sin had nothing to do with the man being blind in the first place
and lack of faith had nothing to with God delaying the healing.
John
9:1-4
As
he went along, he saw a man blind from birth.
His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his
parents, that he was born blind?"
"Neither this man nor his parents
sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might
be displayed in his life.
4)
Job, also, for a length of time, received no healing.
Note: God’s answer as to why he suffered was not: “You did
not have faith,” or ,“You did not think positive.” It was:
Job 38:4-7
"Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation?
Tell me, if you understand.
Who marked off its
dimensions? Surely you know!
Who stretched a measuring line across it?
On what were its footings set,
or who laid its cornerstone-
while the morning stars sang together
and all the angels shouted for joy?
5)
The fact that we will all die some day.
Unless
God just takes us in some unusual manner, or unless we are murdered or killed
in an accident or earthquake type catastrophe, we will die by some kind of
sickness.
"The
creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to
frustration, not by its own choice but by the will of the one who subjected it
in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay
and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God (Rom 8:19-21).
"For
as in Adam all die, so in Christ, all will be made alive. But each in his own turn Christ, the first
fruits, then when he comes, those who belong to him. Then the end will come, when he hands over
the kingdom to God the Father after he had destroyed all dominion, authority
and power. For he must reign until he
has put all his enemies under his feet.
The last enemy to be destroyed is death" (I Cor. 15:22-26).
Who
can heal?
1)
Elders
James
5:14-15
"Is
any one of you sick? He should call the
elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of
the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the
Lord will raise him up. If he has
sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to each other and
pray for each other so that you may be healed.
The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective."
Context:
This was concerned with sicknesses
brought on due to sins. This is one type
of sickness and one type of healing. Oil
was cultural symbol for setting people apart for some kind of ministry or blessing.
2)
Those called to special healing ministries.
(1 Cor 12)
Can
one with the consistent gift of healing heal every time?
On
the assumption that one is using this gift in obedience to the Spirit's
leading, yes, i.e. Whenever the gift is properly used, it is properly
effective.However,
there are guidelines:
a)
The faith of both parties, the healer and the one being healed.
In
Matt. 17 Epileptic was not healed because of disciple’s lack of faith
We do not want to exaggerate the notion of faith as though our faith were some
actual guarantee like the “Name It And Claim It” kind of faith healing promises. When
God does choose to heal by
honoring faith, He honors even the weakest amount. It is not about how much
faith we have.
Luke 17:6
He replied, "If you have faith as small as a mustard
seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,'
and it will obey you.
Another
great example of Jesus accepting whatever faith we have: