I came from a Baptist church where divine healing is hardly talk about. The pastor and church leaders were sceptical about supernatural healing. But the Bible is unequivocally clear that God's will is for His people to be healed - And by His (Jesus Christ) stripes, we are healed (Isaiah 53:5; 1 Peter 2:24). The Apostle John affirmed this truth in 3 John 2, ' Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.' In many accounts recorded in the four Gospel, Christ go about healing the sick and diseased- Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people (Matt 9:35). It is worthy to note that the healing is accompanied by the preaching of the Gospel of the kingdom of God!
Healing and forgiveness of sins go hand-in-hand, and since no man can forgive sin, no physician can heal any person. What he or she does is only prescribing medicine which often deals with the symptoms rather than getting into the root cause of the sickness or disease. Since only God can forgive sin, God is the One who can truly heals. Most Christians will go see a doctor at the first sign that something is amiss physically. But God should be our first and last line of defense against sickness and diseases. The correct approach is to come before the Heavenly Father for healing the root cause of our sickness and diseases.
However, divine healing in this church age is meant primarily for the true believers who have the faith of Christ (James 5:14-15). While it takes human faith at the outset to believe that Christ came to die for his/her sin to receive salvation, the believer must move from human faith to the faith of Jesus - from faith to faith (Rom 1:17) - in order to appropriate the promises of God. But what is faith? Hebrews 11:1 states that faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hence, real faith is something hoped for, and when you hope for something, that thing has yet to be received. The evidence of which is not seen means that there is no physical evidence to substantiate it, unlike in a human court of law. This implies that a true Christian will believe the word of Christ and take the promises of God at face value that it will come to pass. The belief itself is the evidence.
Human faith is unstable and tends to waver when confronted with challenges (Js 1:6-8). But the faith of Jesus is steady and the true disciples who exercise it will develop patience and await the promises of God (Rev 14:12). Many are drawn to believe that all they need to do is to believe that Jesus died for their sins and all is well, quoting Romans 10:9. But that is quoting Scriptures out of context. Further down in the same chapter verse 17, it states But they have not all obeyed the gospel - for not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified (Rom 2:13). The promises of God come with conditions - obedience - and if the laws of God are nullified, then there is no longer any sin for sin is lawlessness (1 John 3:4a). One who turns away his ear from hearing the law (of God), even his prayer is an abomination - strong words - Proverbs 28:9.
Christ's ministry is dual - preaching the Gospel of the kingdom of God and healing the sick (Luke 4:18; 7:22). His disciples are commissioned to do likewise - Matt 10:7-8. But many public healing services are conducted in the name of Christ with people falling backward. Scriptures show that all believers who confront the divine will tend to fall face forward - Gen 17:3,17; 2 Chron 20:18. Those who are demon possessed tend to fall backward - John 18:6. This goes to show that divine healing is meant for disciples who have the faith to believe God for his promises and obey his laws. For there must be repentance of sin and forgiveness from God before healing takes place. When Christ walks the earth and healed the unconverted, human faith was exercised. But in the church age, God expects His church to exercise the faith of Christ.
Sickness and disease come about because of sin and also due to the law of cause and effect. Wrong choice of food and drink, lack of exercise, rest and a poor mental state of mind will result in bad effect - sickness and diseases. But in the world to come (Heb 2:5), the Lord will reign as Judge and Lawgiver to forgive all iniquities - sickness and diseases will be a thing of the past (Isaiah 33: 22-24) when people obey God's law. Modern medicine and drugs as we know it will largely be unnecessary when Christ returns to reign with His saints. What a wonderful world that will be - the hope of mankind!
Healing and forgiveness of sins go hand-in-hand, and since no man can forgive sin, no physician can heal any person. What he or she does is only prescribing medicine which often deals with the symptoms rather than getting into the root cause of the sickness or disease. Since only God can forgive sin, God is the One who can truly heals. Most Christians will go see a doctor at the first sign that something is amiss physically. But God should be our first and last line of defense against sickness and diseases. The correct approach is to come before the Heavenly Father for healing the root cause of our sickness and diseases.
However, divine healing in this church age is meant primarily for the true believers who have the faith of Christ (James 5:14-15). While it takes human faith at the outset to believe that Christ came to die for his/her sin to receive salvation, the believer must move from human faith to the faith of Jesus - from faith to faith (Rom 1:17) - in order to appropriate the promises of God. But what is faith? Hebrews 11:1 states that faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hence, real faith is something hoped for, and when you hope for something, that thing has yet to be received. The evidence of which is not seen means that there is no physical evidence to substantiate it, unlike in a human court of law. This implies that a true Christian will believe the word of Christ and take the promises of God at face value that it will come to pass. The belief itself is the evidence.
Human faith is unstable and tends to waver when confronted with challenges (Js 1:6-8). But the faith of Jesus is steady and the true disciples who exercise it will develop patience and await the promises of God (Rev 14:12). Many are drawn to believe that all they need to do is to believe that Jesus died for their sins and all is well, quoting Romans 10:9. But that is quoting Scriptures out of context. Further down in the same chapter verse 17, it states But they have not all obeyed the gospel - for not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified (Rom 2:13). The promises of God come with conditions - obedience - and if the laws of God are nullified, then there is no longer any sin for sin is lawlessness (1 John 3:4a). One who turns away his ear from hearing the law (of God), even his prayer is an abomination - strong words - Proverbs 28:9.
Christ's ministry is dual - preaching the Gospel of the kingdom of God and healing the sick (Luke 4:18; 7:22). His disciples are commissioned to do likewise - Matt 10:7-8. But many public healing services are conducted in the name of Christ with people falling backward. Scriptures show that all believers who confront the divine will tend to fall face forward - Gen 17:3,17; 2 Chron 20:18. Those who are demon possessed tend to fall backward - John 18:6. This goes to show that divine healing is meant for disciples who have the faith to believe God for his promises and obey his laws. For there must be repentance of sin and forgiveness from God before healing takes place. When Christ walks the earth and healed the unconverted, human faith was exercised. But in the church age, God expects His church to exercise the faith of Christ.
Sickness and disease come about because of sin and also due to the law of cause and effect. Wrong choice of food and drink, lack of exercise, rest and a poor mental state of mind will result in bad effect - sickness and diseases. But in the world to come (Heb 2:5), the Lord will reign as Judge and Lawgiver to forgive all iniquities - sickness and diseases will be a thing of the past (Isaiah 33: 22-24) when people obey God's law. Modern medicine and drugs as we know it will largely be unnecessary when Christ returns to reign with His saints. What a wonderful world that will be - the hope of mankind!
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