The Theology of sickness and disease: What does God call evil?

how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. Acts 10:38 MEV

Dear Friend, I pray that in every way you may prosper and be in good health,  just as your soul is prospering. 3 John 2 Mounce 

 God is an unchanging God. He is Love. He is Faithful and True! His love for us is unmatched in this universe. God is for us and never against us. 

 Many would quickly and passionately agree. However, when it comes to health, the sad reality of a fallen world, and sickness and disease, many have adopted a different theology. Through tradition, many have embraced a theology of sickness and disease. 

 This theology, this belief system, allows for God to willingly afflict people with sickness and disease. Or this theology says God, for some mysterious purpose, allows sickness and disease to ravish the bodies of His people. This theology of sickness and disease is prevalent throughout the Body of Christ. 

 When we see sickness and disease so common in the bodies of saints and sinners alike it is a challenge not to adopt and accept the theology of sickness and disease. The alternative seems only to stick our heads in the proverbial sand and ignore what is clearly in front of us. However, there is another answer. That is the theology of Jesus.

 Jesus is perfect theology. He perfectly demonstrated the eternal Love of the Father. He perfectly revealed the Goodness of God. He perfectly showed us the power of God. He perfectly made known the will of God concerning sickness and disease. He freely healed whosoever came to Him. Jesus is perfect theology, He perfectly showed us the Father.

 We have to embrace the Father's heart on a matter, not what we see through our natural eyes. We see sin abound in these days we live. Yet God says Grace much more abounds. Though sickness and disease seem prevalent, so also is His healing power!

 What is the Father's heart concerning healing? Through Jesus' actions, and the revealed will of God through Scripture, we can rightly conclude sickness and disease are considered evil by our Good Father. Look at this powerful event recorded in the Old Covenant, 1 Kings 17. 

 What a powerful demonstration of God's Love and Goodness. In the time of famine, God sustained Elijah and the widow and her son. God provided for His own. When the child became sick and died, God raised up the child.

 and crieth unto Jehovah, and saith, `Jehovah my God, also on the widow with whom I am sojourning hast Thou done evil -- to put her son to death?' 1 Kings 17:20 YLT

 Due to limited understanding and information available under the Old Elijah assumed God brought the sickness. Of course, God healing and raising up the boy from the dead proved that He didn't cause it or "allow" it. The focal point one could miss is the words Elijah used. He called sickness and death evil.

 Even under the Old Covenant, In a Covenant that is not as good as the New, God's prophet knew sickness and death are evil. Elijah, a prophet who only had the Spirit come upon him, not even dwell within him, a man who was not even born again, had enough spiritual discernment to know sickness and death are a curse and not a blessing.

 Today, instead of the man of God commanding death to leave and trusting God for a miracle, religious leaders would just counsel the widow on how it was God's will for her son to die. That God needed a little flower and heaven so God "plucked" her son from the earth. That God had some mysterious purpose, and God is in control, that she should just trust God knows what's best. 

 The fact that God raised the widow's son up from sickness and death, confirms Elijah's words. Sickness and death are evil. The Body of Christ should stand strong against sickness and disease. We should never accept it or welcome it in anyone's life.

 God calls sickness oppression from the enemy. God calls death an enemy, the last enemy to be destroyed is death. Jesus went about doing Good and healing all who were oppressed by the enemy. The theology of Jesus says healing is God's highest and best, and sickness and disease are evil, are a curse, are what Jesus bore on that Cross purchasing our Redemption.

 In summation, let's embrace the theology of Jesus. Let's reject the theology of religious men. Let's reject the theology of sickness and disease. God is always Good, and sickness and death are always evil. Let's look to and embrace the Love of the Father, let's trust Him and receive of all His perfect Redemption. God wants us well, healed, and whole!

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Redeemed from the curse of sickness and disease.

 

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. For it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.” Galatians 3:13 BSB

 We've been in a study examining our redemption from the curse of the Law. We've seen that the curse is threefold. That though the curse covers various areas of life it can be summed up as a threefold affliction. The curse is poverty and lack, spiritual death, and sickness and disease.

 So far we've seen how poverty and lack isn't something the Lord delights in. Looking at the earthly ministry of Jesus one could never conclude God takes pleasure in poverty or scarcity. This message of abundance and prosperity must stay centered of course. Prosperity isn't "balanced" by accepting a little lack and insufficiency, nor is it "balanced" by concluding all will be millionaires, and that all God cares about is our material gain. 

 We've seen how Jesus' Finished Work of Redemption forever redeemed us from spiritual death. We are never again to be separated from our Father. We are forgiven and made eternally secure forever.

 Sickness and disease are part of the curse, see Deuteronomy 28. The good news is in His Redemptive work, Christ also redeemed us from the curse of sickness and disease. Isaiah and Matthew and Peter speaking of Jesus' work on the cross, declared He bore our sickness and pains and by His stripes, we were healed.

In fact, it was our diseases he bore, our pains from which he suffered; yet we regarded him as punished, stricken and afflicted by God. Isaiah 53:4 CJB

Surely he has borne our sickness and carried our suffering;
yet we considered him plagued, struck by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought our peace was on him; and by his wounds we are healed. Isaiah 53:4-5 WEB 

 Jesus has procured for us our healing and wholeness in His perfect Redemptive work. He bore sickness and disease so we never need to bear it. Sickness and disease aren't the handiwork of God. He is the author of Goodness, not evil. 

 Some seriously ignorant and misguided religious tradition-minded believers and ministers teach and believe healing was not in the work of the cross. They write books, preach sermons, host seminars, create videos, and flood social media doing all they can to convince the masses of this. They believe and teach that this healing only speaks of the healing of sin.

 This sounds real spiritual but we were not sick or disease-ridden with sin. The Word is quite clear. We were not sick with sins and therefore needed to be healed from sin. We were dead in sins. Because of sin, we were all spiritually dead. We didn't need healing we needed new life. Paul revealed our condition, we were dead and needed to be made new. In Christ, we are a New Creation, not a "healed" old creation.

 Healing is ours through the Redemptive Work of Jesus. When we see all the types and shadows of the Passover lamb, the sacrifices offered by the priests, none of the animals were ever scourged and tortured. Yet Jesus, the Lamb of God was shamed, humiliated, scourged, and tortured. Why? 

 Jesus took the chastisement of our peace, our wholeness, and by His wounds, we were healed. Jesus bore the pain and shame for the joy set before Him. He gladly took our place, for the joy of seeing us healed and being made whole. Our healing, our deliverance, and our protection were a joy set before Him. He willingly gave His body for us.

 Now some have said in light of what we can see around us, and the experience of others, that we don't need messages about how God wants us to avoid suffering, but how to endure suffering better. This sounds noble and I am certain those espousing this mean well, but what exactly are we to suffer? What do we need to endure?

 Are we to suffer poverty and lack? Are we to suffer sickness and disease? If we are to endure suffering better, and we are meant to suffer what Christ bore on the cross, then why are so many gainfully employed? Why are so many using medicine and seeking help from the medical field to get better? 

 These phrases are poetic in nature but we must use the Word of God as our source for truth. In a fallen and fractured world, challenges and afflictions may arise. The key to enduring better is to first and foremost understand God isn't the author of suffering, loss, or affliction. 

 The Psalmist tells us in Psalm 34 that in this world there are troubles, fears, and afflictions. Thanks be to God he doesn't stop there. Through it all, God is there with us. God is bringing us through them. God is also delivering us from these afflictions. 

 Christ has redeemed us from the curse of sickness and disease. Healing is God's highest and best for His children. Sickness and disease are the work of the enemy. God procured our healing and wholeness in the Finished Work. Freely receive it.

 Because healing is a work of Redemption, we, therefore, can't earn or merit it. Healing is a work of Grace, not our effort. We can't ever arrive at a place whereby we are good enough to receive. We can't do enough, give enough, serve enough to merit or earn healing. It is freely received by Grace through Faith alone.

 In summation, rejoice in the Good News of our Redemption. We are redeemed from poverty. We are redeemed from sickness. We are redeemed from spiritual death. For poverty, He has given us wealth, for sickness, health, for spiritual death, eternal life. Jesus has perfectly purchased and procured our redemption. We are healed and whole because of Jesus. Claim what Christ has purchased and provided freely, and walk in it. Let the Redeemed say so, we are healed because of Jesus!

Image by chiplanay from Pixabay

Jesus: Grace and Truth or Religion and Tradition?

Dear friend,  I pray that in every way you may prosper and be in good health,  just as your soul is prospering. 3 John 2 MOUNCE

how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. Acts 10:38 MEV

 As always, proclaiming the Goodness of God is at the heart of all these teachings. In studying Luke's Gospel concerning healing and God's role in it, it seemed good to conclude by focusing on the truth that Jesus alone is our qualification to receive anything from God. However, it seemed better by the Lord to revisit this passage one more time.

Through this focus on the 13th chapter of Luke's Gospel, we've seen some powerful truths expounded on. We've seen that religious tradition sees healing as some work, that it must be earned. We've seen that healing is a New Covenant right of the believer because of Jesus' Finished Work of Redemption. We've seen who the author of sickness and disease is, the enemy, satan, never God. We have seen that Jesus is our qualification to receive healing, not our behavior or anything we do.

 In concluding this study of the healing of the woman in the Synagogue, the Lord highlighted the words the religious leader spoke here;

But the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath; and he said to the crowd, “There are six days on which men ought to work; therefore come and be healed on them, and not on the Sabbath day.”  Luke 13:14 NKJV

 Take note, look closely at the words here. See the reaction of this leader. A woman with a crippling infirmity, a painful condition that had her hunched over for eighteen years was instantly healed and made whole. Was the leader's words something like this?

 "Oh God of Israel, in your hand is to make great and give strength unto all. In your hand comes blessings and wholeness. We thank Thee O' God for in your hand is healing. We thank Thee for removing this crippling condition in our midst!"

 No, they weren't. No praises to the Most High for such a miracle was offered. Instead, we see that this leader answered this healing not with thankfulness and praise but with indignation! He was highly displeased, angry and vexed. 

 Traditional religion cared more for their tradition than this woman's healing and wholeness. Religion cares not how much suffering they allow only that their rules, regulations, and statutes are seen and observed. Religion and tradition are always in opposition to God's Love, Goodness, and Grace.

  making the word of God of no effect through your tradition which you have handed down. And many such things you do.” Mark 7:13 NKJV

 There is no difference today. We still see pain and suffering, sickness and disease, and poverty and lack in this fallen world. God raises up men and women of God who reveal God's heart for Goodness and blessings and wholeness and religion raises up angrily. They call anyone who dares teach that God willingly heals, makes whole, and blesses today a heretic and false teacher. 

 Religion and tradition teach the age of miracles has ceased. They say healing and miracles were only for the beginning of the Church. Once we have the Bible we no longer need healing and miracles. What does God say?

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Hebrews 13:8 NKJV  

 Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and always for all time. Jesus has never changed. Jesus healed the sick, made the lame walk, made the blind see, made the deaf hear, and brought deliverance to any captive. Here's the Good News, Jesus is still doing this today! Jesus isn't looking for you to earn or deserve wholeness, He only asks for you to simply believe. Disregard religion and tradition, it's already yours in Christ.

 Religion and tradition teach that God is the author or allower of sickness and disease and disaster and death. That He willingly afflicts for some mysterious purpose. Jesus' life and ministry disprove this unquestionably. Jesus is God manifest in flesh. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the enemy. Jesus is God's perfect will in action. God is for us not against us. He is a Good God always and at all times!

 Religion and tradition have no answer for tragedy, turmoil, and trauma. They insist God is sovereign, and controlling all things therefore He must have allowed or ordained the tragic event. 

 This world is a fallen and fractured creation. There is also an outlaw defeated devil running loose. Mankind has free will and the right to choose good or evil. This is why we see such suffering on this planet. This has never been God's best nor has it ever been His perfect will. 

 The Word gives us hope in this world;

Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the Lord delivers him out of them all. Psalm 34:19 NKJV

 This is such good news in a fallen and fractured creation. Even though affliction exists God is there bringing deliverance and restoration. We can trust God in this fallen world.

 Religion and tradition only have faith in the many afflictions of the righteous. They see it all around them. They only speak death, disease, and defeat with their mouths. They have no Faith in His deliverance. They actually fight the notion that the Lord delivers us out of these afflictions. 

 In order to overcome these traditions, we must stay grounded in the Word of God, the Word of Christ our Lord. We must feed on the Word and see Jesus and His Goodness from Genesis to Revelation. We rightly divide the Word by the Old and New Covenant and see Jesus as our anchor and guide to walk in all truth and to grow up and mature in Him.

 We must also not give attention to these religious traditions of men. This doesn't mean we separate from other believers. This doesn't mean we judge and accuse others. This doesn't mean we count other believers as our enemy.

Grace vs Nihilism 

 In not giving attention to the traditions of men, we must not come to a place where we embrace a diluted form of nihilism. What am I referring to? Let's look at the Merriam-Webster definition of nihilism;

a viewpoint that traditional values and beliefs are unfounded and that existence is senseless and useless

a doctrine that denies any objective ground of truth and especially of moral truths

summed up-the belief that traditional morals, ideas, beliefs, etc., have no worth or value

 In the circles that have embraced Grace as the Gospel there exist individuals, ministers, and laypeople alike, who because of feeding on erroneous sources have concluded all they ever heard is of no value. Going to church is of no value. Giving is of no value. Being a part of a fellowship is of no value. Listening to the Word preached or personal Bible study is of no value. Finally, living morally is of no value.

 Let's be clear embracing Grace, receiving the truth of His all the time Goodness, rejecting religious tradition, is not an embrace of a diluted nihilistic world view. Embracing Grace doesn't mean all that was ever taught us has no value. Just filter out any performance-rooted mindsets and rejoice in all the truths of the Word.

 In summation, let God be true and every man a liar. God's a Good Father and wants our best. The world is a fallen creation. There are bad things as a result. That doesn't mean God created it or ordained it. Let's stay in the center, and relinquish any lies of the world, the enemy, religious tradition, and the flesh. Stay with Grace and truth and not with religion.

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

Must we qualify for God to bless us or to receive healing?

 

Dear friend,  I pray that in every way you may prosper and be in good health,  just as your soul is prospering. 3 John 2 MOUNCE

how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. Acts 10:38 MEV

Healing is a subject with much controversy and many questions. In detailing the redemptive work of healing in Jesus' ministry Luke's Gospel reveals much concerning God's will and heart concerning healing. Jesus makes known His heart toward the afflicted and properly identifies who is responsible for the affliction.

 In Luke's Gospel the 13th chapter we see the kindness and compassion of our Father at work through Jesus. Amongst the crowd in the Synagogue, Jesus finds the one afflicted and brings His healing Grace and removes the crippling infirmity. Just like this woman here, God sees you. He sees you in your circumstance and situation and He is there ministering life, healing, and wholeness to you, simply because He loves you. 

 This passage reveals much about God's will concerning wholeness. It reveals that religious tradition sees healing as a work. Something that must be earned. It reveals Jesus declaring the woman ought to be made whole. He saw healing as a Covenant right. It also revealed Jesus identifying the one responsible for affliction and torment as satan and not God. In concluding this look at Luke 13 look once again at Jesus' words to the religious leaders; 

So ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound—think of it—for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?”  Luke 13:16 NKJV

 Jesus declared this woman ought to be healed? Why? Because she was a daughter of Abraham. Of course, there are Covenant rights at work but looking closer Jesus is also speaking of her identity. 

 By revealing her identity, Jesus also revealed her qualifications to receive. The Abrahamic Covenant is a shadow of the New Covenant. The New Covenant is a Covenant cut between Jesus and the Father. Those who simply believe become the benefactors of a beautiful Covenant that reveals just how much God our Daddy loves us. 

 Building on the concept that traditional religion espouses that healing is a work, it is even more clear that they view all of the goodness of God as received by only those who qualify. Sadly many ministries, even those who believe in God's willingness to heal or bring blessings, have also embraced this concept. So much so their teachings have become mere instructions on how to qualify and not on how to receive.

 What are the qualifications to receive healing or blessings from God? To qualify to receive one must be completely sinless, without fault or errors, perfect in all their dealings in business, and with family. One must be faithful in all things, in essence, 100% perfection, 100% of the time. Who then qualifies? Only Jesus!

 This is why this New Covenant is based solely on the work and faithfulness of Jesus. Because Jesus is the only one that qualifies, He is the only one, who based on His work and performance, could ask with complete confidence and boldly receive. Therefore, we who believe in Him should base our receiving on His performance alone.

 Traditional-minded ministers and believers, and those still convinced that they play some part in their receiving of blessings, look to, and lean on Old Covenant qualifiers to receive from God; 

 “Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today...Deuteronomy 28:1a NKJV

 and said, “If you diligently heed the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes...Exodus 15:26a NKJV

I have heard whole messages based upon the beginning qualifiers of these passages. Note the qualifications. If you do, if you observe, if you heed. These are all based upon your obedience, your performance, your behavior.

 Can you imagine a gospel message that began this way? You will be saved eternally only if you diligently obey. You will be eternally saved only if you do what is right in God's sight. Who then would be saved?

 The Old Covenant was a covenant made between God and man. Its fault was found in man's inability to keep it. That was the whole point of it, to reveal man's need for a Savior. To show us we can't ever earn or achieve His blessings or His healing. 

 Yet in light of His Grace, His Finished Work of Redemption, and the Father's great Love, ministers still insist we play a part in receiving the blessings and Goodness of God. They stand by these Old Covenant qualifiers and put them on New Covenant children of God. 

 They claim we need to do more to receive. We need to do it exactly right and it must be done long enough to achieve healing, wholeness, and blessings. It's no longer about Jesus alone, but our added works, performance, faithfulness, and behavior. 

 Think of it. How much do we need to do to qualify to receive His Goodness, His Love, His blessings, His benefits, and the Healing He procured for us? Is it spending enough time in personal Bible study? Is it spending hours a day in prayer? Is it abstaining from all sinful habits and deeds? Just how much is enough? How will we know when we've done enough to qualify? 

 The fact we pray in Jesus' name eliminates all these erroneous concepts about trying to qualify to receive. When we ask in Jesus' name we are coming to the Father and basing our receiving on Jesus' Goodness, faithfulness, and performance alone not our own. We come to God based solely on Jesus' track record never ours.

 We need to abide in the New Covenant and stop trying to live under the illusion of dual covenants. God didn't institute the New, ratified by Jesus' blood, only to require us to still observe the statutes, regulations, and requirements of the Old. Jesus has triumphantly given us a new and living way in relating to our Father and how we receive from Him. 

 Jesus has made the Old obsolete and it, therefore, has passed away. Behold the New has come. We must stop resurrecting it so we can keep giving believers qualifiers to receive. 

In summation, let's cease from placing believers under the Law and Old Covenant every time they come to God in prayer to receive from Him. Jesus is our qualification to receive all God has for us. Jesus alone is why we can receive healing and wholeness and blessing. Let's put our Faith and complete trust in Jesus' Faith and Finished Work and receive all God has procured for us based upon Jesus' faithfulness and performance and not our own. 

Who is the author of sickness and disease?

 

Dear friend,  I pray that in every way you may prosper and be in good health,  just as your soul is prospering. 3 John 2 MOUNCE

how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. Acts 10:38 MEV

Healing and health in this life can be a controversial issue, especially when it comes to God's role and will concerning health. Ask the average Christian about healing and the answers will differ greatly. Some regulate healing to only the "Bible days." Other Christians and even ministers believe prayer for healing is generally acceptable but to believe God will actually answer that prayer with tangible results is fanaticism and extremism.

 What is God's view of healing? One need look no further than the life and ministry and redemptive work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Healing was always part and parcel of Jesus' work on earth. 

 The religious tradition of man only sees Jesus' healing power as a means to attest to and prove His identity as the promised Messiah. They relegate His healing ministry to only the time of His earthly walk. They fail to see His true motive behind healing. Jesus healed to reveal His Father's, endless Love. Throughout the Gospels, we see it recorded Jesus was moved with compassion and healed the sick. What's changed? Is Jesus any less compassionate? Jesus is the same yesterday today and forever, Jesus is still moved with compassion to heal you!

 Let's look again at  Luke's Gospel, the 13th chapter. We see a powerful truth concerning healing and a revealing answer as to where sickness comes from. Look again at Jesus' words;

 So ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound—think of it—for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?” Luke 13:16 NKJV

 Where do sickness and disease come from? Who is its author? Jesus gives us the complete answer but its application is two-fold.

 Jesus reveals to us the author of sickness and disease is satan himself. Jesus didn't mince words. He didn't hesitate to uncover the work of the enemy. 

 Notice here in Luke 13, Jesus didn't assign this crippling condition as the handiwork of God. He didn't declare this ailment was God's design to lead this woman into a place of humility, deeper trust, becoming a better witness for the Lord, to develop her character, and bring her to a better place of piety. Jesus identified the ailment as incapacitating bondage and the culprit as the devil. 

 The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance [to the full, till it overflows]. John 10:10 AMP

 Jesus came to heal and make whole. The enemy, the thief, came to steal and kill and destroy. Anything in your life that is stealing, that is killing, that is destroying is the work of satan and not the work of God.  

 The religious tradition of man assigns sickness to the work of God and satan. They are very disingenuous and highly crafty and deceptive when they speak of sickness being the work of God.

 One notorious proponent of mischaracterizing God in order to discredit any ministry, minister, or believer who promotes divine healing cited King Uzziah as a proof text that God makes people sick according to His sovereignty. Any honest simple check of Scripture can see how that is a subversion of Scripture. Even secular sources agree. 

 Uzziah, abiding under the Old Covenant, brought the curse upon himself by disobeying and disregarding clear instructions God had detailed about offering incense. This brings us to the second application of how satan afflicts. There exists a curse on this earth.

 If we go back to the beginning, we see when man fell, so did creation. Because of the fall, this planet is a fallen and fractured creation. When God declared the ground was cursed for Adam's sake it wasn't that God brought this curse or created it. God was revealing that because of sin, the result is a fallen and fractured creation.

 Who tempted Adam? It wasn't God. It was the enemy. So in essence the enemy indirectly is the author of the fall. Why do we see disasters, droughts, desolation, or devastation on earth? Why do we see dejection, despair, depression, discouragement, distress, or downheartedness among us? We see all these terrible things because we live in a cursed, fallen creation. 

 Be it satan's work indirectly through a fallen creation, or his demonic hand of oppression, sickness, and disease all have their origins with satan. This doesn't mean we are proverbial sitting ducks living on this earth. It doesn't mean we can do nothing but sit and suffer.

 Jesus wore the crown of thorns for us in His Finished Work. Thorns are representative of the curse. Jesus bore the curse for us. Because of this, we can resist the work of the enemy in our life. 

 We don't have to earn our redemption. We don't have to struggle and strive to get our Father's attention. We don't have to perform well enough to receive His Goodness and Love. It is by Grace through Faith we receive redemption. 

 If sickness and disease strike, know it's not the work or will of God for you. Stand strong in the Finished Work of Christ and your perfect right standing with God. Because of the blood you are accepted and approved by God. Trust Him knowing all your sins are forgiven and cleansed once for all time. 

 In your Righteousness, put a demand on the supply of healing that Redemption procured for you. Feed on God's Word concerning healing. Speak out His promises, speak to that mountain of sickness to be removed, speak to the enemy and order him to flee, speak forth, commanding that sickness to leave your body. Partake of holy communion and remember Jesus' perfect work, it's the meal that heals. 

 In summation, know who God is, always good and always for you. Know God's will for you, healing and wholeness. Know who the author of evil and sickness and disease is, the enemy satan, never our Father. Put your complete trust in Him. God is a Good God and the enemy, who is defeated, is a bad devil. 

Image by FotoRieth from Pixabay 

Healing: Your New Covenant Right

Dear friend,  I pray that in every way you may prosper and be in good health,  just as your soul is prospering. 3 John 2 MOUNCE

how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. Acts 10:38 MEV

In studying the Grace whereby healing is received my eyes were drawn to even more truths of healing that Jesus touched on in Luke's Gospel. When Jesus speaks He doesn't waste words. He is the person of Grace and Truth. 

 In Luke's Gospel, the 13th chapter Jesus heals a woman from a crippling ailment. In His discourse with the religious traditional leaders, He lets us in on some great truths concerning divine healing and health. Let's explore these great truths to gain more understanding and insight into God's will concerning healing.

 When Jesus responds to the religious leaders He makes a powerful statement. 

 So ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound—think of it—for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?” Luke 13:16 NKJV

 Jesus made it a point to reveal who she was. She was a recipient or benefactor of a Covenant God had made with Abraham. He saw her as an heir to Abraham's blessing. 

 Take notice of this Grace-based statement. Jesus didn't state she was a daughter of Moses and Mount Sinai. He was not pointing them to their current Covenant, the Old Covenant of Mosaic Law. He pointed them to the Abrahamic Covenant. Why?

 He was revealing that as He took care of Abraham's needs He would also do the same for a daughter of Abraham. Jesus used the language of Covenant here. He is giving us some insight into divine healing and His Father's will. 

 In Christ, we are blessed with faithful Abraham. 

 So then those who are of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. Galatians 3:9 MEV

Jesus said ought not this woman be loosed from her infirmity. He didn't teach that this infirmity was for her best. He didn't teach that her best life couldn't be here on earth, for it's idolatrous to believe that we can have happiness, wholeness, health, and blessing this side of Heaven. He didn't teach that this sickness was given to her by God. He didn't teach that this infirmity was God's best to instruct her, perfect her character, or humble her. Jesus said it is good and right that she be healed and whole, and He is saying that to you too!

 Think of your own children. Think of a healthy parent and child relationship. Do your children need to ask permission to enter your home? Must they ask to be fed daily? Must they ask for clothes to wear each day? Of course not. They are your children. You already freely provide for them. 

 In a Covenant relationship, there are rights and privileges afforded to the benefactors. This New Covenant was cut between the Father and the Son. We who believed are the benefactors of that Covenant.

 In this New Covenant, Jesus purchased and procured our total healing at Calvary. Healing is not just an accomplished truth. Healing is not just a provision of the Finished Work. Healing is our New Covenant right because of Jesus. Healing belongs to us now because of all Jesus provided in His perfect Redemptive work.

 When symptoms or circumstances arise, we can resist them with all of Heaven's backing and guarantee. When the enemy rears up attacking with sickness or disease dare to take your place as a New Covenant Righteous believer. Take authority, tell the enemy I demand my rights. Don't let go, and don't quit resisting, until the enemy's defeat has been totally enforced.

 Look in the natural realm. In America, the Constitution lays out our rights as US Citizens. If any entity tries to curtail those rights citizens have a just cause to demand their rights. Citizens have the backing of the Law and the Gov't to demand their rights. 

 We who have believed are citizens of Heaven. We have the backing of the Finished Work, Jesus' victorious resurrection, God's Word, and His amazing Grace. We can lay claim boldly on what's ours by Covenant right. Healing is ours and we can freely and fearlessly, boldly receive what's ours in Christ.

 In summation, we who believed are in Christ. We are the benefactors of a Covenant cut between the Father and the Son. We are made Righteous and approved of God. We are Loved by God and brought into His Family. We can boldly take our place at the King's table and freely receive all He provided. This sonship affords us rights and privileges. We therefore can take what's ours by right. Healing is ours because Jesus purchased it. Healing and wholeness are our New Covenant Right, let's not allow anything Christ provided to be unclaimed by us.

Image by mohamed Hassan from Pixabay

Healing Grace: Divine Healing, a gift we receive or work we earn and achieve?

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,  not of works, lest anyone should boast. Ephesians 2:8-9 NKJV

Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth. 3 John 2 KJV

 God is a Good Father. The Scriptures testify to this. The life of Christ Jesus confirms this. His great Grace reveals this. 

 One of the most beautiful and loving aspects of His Goodness is His willingness to heal sickness, disease, and infirmities. He so longs to bring healing and wholeness that He doesn't just will it, He actually purchased our healing in the redemptive work of Christ Jesus. Healing is in the Finished Work of Christ. 

 Many believers and ministers would readily agree. God's will is healing. Where there exists a division is how this healing is received. 

 As we revisit a familiar passage concerning divine healing I want to point out something the Lord revealed to me about Healing, Jesus, and you. Let's look again at the 13th chapter of Luke's Gospel.

10 Now He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. 11 And behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bent over and could in no way raise herself up. 12 But when Jesus saw her, He called her to Him and said to her, “Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity.” 13 And He laid His hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God. Luke 13:10-13 NKJV

 Such Goodness and Grace. Jesus saw the woman afflicted and brought healing. This is God's perfect will in operation. God was glorified not because she was sick but because she was healed and whole and now free from her infirmity.

 Unlike the modern preachers who teach and proclaim God only desires our holiness and not happiness, Jesus demonstrated God's will was otherwise. Notice the woman with the infirmity didn't reason this was God's best for her. Notice she didn't reason God is sovereign and He must have wanted her afflicted for instruction's sake. Note she didn't reason that her best life isn't now but when she's in Heaven. No to all of man's traditions, she saw the mercy, Love, and Goodness of God in present power and demonstration and freely received, and you can too.

 Now the religious leaders here weren't angry about God's healing power. They weren't in denial of God's willingness to heal. They weren't preaching like the modern ministers who believe suffering and despair are all we can expect in this life. No none of these things upset them. What did?

 14 But the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath; and he said to the crowd, “There are six days on which men ought to work; therefore come and be healed on them, and not on the Sabbath day.”15 The Lord then answered him and said, “Hypocrite! Does not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or donkey from the stall, and lead it away to water it? 16 So ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound—think of it—for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?” Luke 13:14-16 NKJV 

 Jesus' healing on the Sabbath really upset these leaders. Why? It cut cross-grain to their understanding of the Law. They believed God could heal, but apparently, there are certain stipulations. Then these leaders said something that the Lord really highlighted to me that I had not considered much.

 These leaders respond to Jesus' healing with an admonition to heal only on non-Sabbath days. Why? Look at what they said again. There are six days when men should work, come on those days, and find healing. Never mind they couldn't tap into God's healing power for 18 years and bring help, but look closer at their words.

 They speak of six days and work. What is the significance of this? Six is the number of man. Work means to toil. The Holy Spirit was so perfect in including this discourse for it shows how some religious men see healing. 

 This is what the Spirit highlighted to me. You see it isn't enough to just believe God is Good and healing is made available. It's vital to know and understand how we receive this healing.

 These leaders relegated healing to workdays only. This means they saw healing as some form of work. If we really define work we can see how the religious tradition of man has disqualified so many from receiving healing. 

 To work means to labor to attain something. If we are laboring to attain something then that which we are working for is not a gift. We don't attain a gift, we freely receive a gift. Religion sees healing as a work to attain, Jesus sees healing as a gift, and a gift can't be attained but only received. Healing is a gift we receive not a work achieved. 

 Think of it, work is about a wage earned not a gift received. If you are basing receiving healing upon anything but what Jesus did then you are attempting to earn what is only freely received. If you're laboring, or working, or performing then you aren't freely receiving.

 Jesus became a curse for us when He hung on that tree. He bore the curse of sickness and disease. Because He became a curse we are redeemed from the curse. That's the only way we are redeemed from sickness. Not by our performance, not by our works, not by our doing, it's only by freely receiving this gift of perfect redemption will we experience healing.

 Preachers today will agree God heals willingly. Yet they still see healing as a work achieved. They will say if you're unfaithful, unloving, unforgiving, acting unrighteous then you can't be healed. They see redemption as a reward for good behavior. They see redemption as a work attained. This is simply the religious traditions of men. You can receive because Jesus was made a curse and because He bore your sickness and disease. He doesn't require your goodness or perfect performance, He just asks you to believe.

 In summation, healing is a work of Grace and redemption and has nothing to do with man's goodness or faithfulness. Healing is not a work that needs to be labored for to be attained. Healing is a gift to be received. Jesus became a curse to redeem us from the curse. We experience this redemption not by our works but by His work alone. He is worthy of all our praise and adoration. Thanks be to God for His Goodness and Grace.  

 

Image by Monika Grafik from Pixabay 

How Faith Works: Faith Receives

 

Now the just shall live by faith... Hebrews 10:38a MEV

 We've been in a series examining how Faith works. An important distinction must be made as we conclude this study. We are exploring Faith and how it works in light of the Grace of God and His Finished Work. Faith and Grace go hand in hand in order to walk in the complete victory Christ procured for whosoever will believe. 

 In studying how Faith works we've seen that Faith sees. Faith when continually fed the Word produces an image inwardly of all the promises of God. This Faith image not only inwardly illustrates the promise it also brings about an image of us actually possessing and walking in those promises of God. 

 We've seen that Faith believes. Faith believes what God has declared true concerning us. Faith believes because God said it and because His Goodness proves He is Faithful to His Word. 

 We've seen that Faith speaks. Faith agrees with God. Faith speaks out what the Grace of God and Finished Work have made available. Faith speaks out and agrees with what God has spoken. God said we are Righteous when we believed. Faith agrees and speaks declaring I am the Righteousness of God in Christ. God said the believer is forgiven of all their sins forever. Faith agrees and speaks forth saying I am forgiven. God said by Jesus' stripes we are healed. Faith agrees and declares boldly I am healed. God said we are blessed and provided for. Faith agrees and speaks out saying I am blessed.

 Today, we want to conclude by looking at the last aspect of how Faith works. Faith receives. Faith is not passive or nonparticipative. Faith reaches out and lays hold on what Christ made available.

 Not to bring shame or make light of someone but simply ask an average person what it means to receive. Many will conclude receiving simply means having a positive expectation of something good coming their way. That sounds nice but as we saw last week this is only hope in operation. This isn't how Faith functions. 

 Faith isn't passive or unresponsive. Faith is active and assertive. Faith lays hold of the purchased promises and provision the Finished Work of Grace and Redemption purchased for us. Faith receives it as its own. Faith lays claim to what Grace provided and refuses to be denied.

 What does it mean to receive? To receive means one can't be passive or uncommitted. To receive means to lay hold of, to take, to seize, to make your own. Going deeper, to receive means to take possession of, to claim for one's self. To receive also means of that which is taken, none is let go, it means to not refuse what's been offered. 

 Name it and Claim it?

This phrase was created by detractors of Faith and propagators of unbelief and a powerless Christian experience as some sort of pejorative. It's used to describe anyone who believes Faith can change circumstances. That Faith can create a better life in the here and now and not just in the afterlife.

 Thus said Jehovah, The Holy One of Israel, and his Former: Ask Me of the things coming concerning My sons, Yea, concerning the work of My hands, ye command Me.' Isaiah 45:11 YLT

 God invites us to partake and freely receive from His kingdom. God welcomes us to take our place at the King's table. To freely partake of the King's feast and pull up a chair next to the King at His banqueting table. 

 Name it and claim it? The truth is God "named it" through His Finished Work. He already "named it" by His Grace and His Word agrees with and confirms it. We who walk by Faith are simply claiming what His Grace has already purchased, procured, and provided.

 God purchased our Righteousness. We lay claim to that Righteousness by receiving it. God purchased our forgiveness and freedom from guilt, shame, and condemnation. We lay claim to that by receiving it freely. We don't reject it whenever we miss it or blow it. We receive it as ours now and forever. God provided for our every need. We lay claim to this by fully receiving it and not being moved by contradictory circumstances. God's Grace named it and we who believed claim it!

 In summation, Faith works. Faith sees. Faith believes. Faith speaks. Faith receives. Take God at His Word. Believe Him and trust Him. He is a Good Father who loves us unconditionally. Lay claim freely to all that's yours because of Him. 

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

How Faith Works: Faith Speaks

  For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith. As it is written, “The just shall live by faith.” Romans 1:17 MEV

 We've begun a new study examining how Faith works. Faith is not something that is so complex, so difficult, so hard to muster up and walk-in. No, Faith is simple. The New Covenant is a Covenant established by Grace and its currency is Faith. The New Covenant is better, so Jesus didn't bring us something that's impossible to possess, to grow in, and to walk by. 

 So far we have seen that Faith sees. Faith when fed the truth of Grace, Jesus' Finished Work of Redemption, and the promises of God through His Word creates a positive image of good inwardly. Faith sees the promises as our own before we can see them in the natural. 

 We also saw that Faith believes. Faith believes with the heart. How do we believe? We believe by listening to and feeding on the words of Christ. We believe boldly because of the character of the one promising. God is a Good Father, so we can take Him at His Word. 

 At the same time, What we feed upon determines what we believe. If we are feeding on the traditions of men, the way of this world system, and the lying words of the enemy, we won't walk victoriously. Let's continue then examining how Faith works.

 Faith sees, Faith believes, and Faith speaks. Faith is in our hearts but released with our mouths. Our words agree with the reality Grace made in order to create that reality in our own life. 

 Words are powerful. Words can be one of the most powerful forces in the universe. Our words can build up or tear down. Our words contain either life and blessing or cursing and death. 

 Words are containers. They contain Faith, life, love, and joy, or they contain doubt, unbelief, loss, and depression. Faith can create the reality Grace made available in our life by agreeing with God. Or we can take the world, the lying enemy, or religious tradition at their word and create the reality of death, defeat, disorder, disease, and disaster in our life. We can choose either life or death, blessing, or cursing by the words we speak.

Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit. Proverbs 18:21 NKJV

 Let's once again look at Paul's words;

 for with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Romans 10:10 MEV

We have the same spirit of faith. As it is written, “I believed, and therefore I have spoken.”So we also believe and therefore speak,                                       2 Corinthians 4:13 MEV 

 Take note that these passages also align with and agree with the words of our Lord Jesus in Mark's Gospel. Faith is in our hearts but must be spoken out to be released. As essential as it is to believe by Faith we must also see the vitalness of speaking out what we believe by Faith.

 So what are you saying? Do your words agree with God's? They can. If anyone feeds upon the words of Christ, trusting in His great Love and goodness they will build an image within that the enemy, religion, the world, or contradictory circumstances cannot shake or withstand. You'll see how quickly your words agree with God then.

 Now don't misled to only speak words of hope and not Faith. For you won't walk in the manifest promise. Hope is the divine blueprint. Faith gives substance to hope. Hope is like the contractor with the plans. The plans may be good and right but there is no building to walk in yet. Again Faith gives substance to hope. So Faith is like said contractor getting workers to construct that building. 

 How can you distinguish words of hope and words of Faith? Hope is positive expectation of what God has said and done through Christ. Faith is the title deed, the confirmation that what God said is in fact ours. Hope says I will be healed, I will be forgiven, I will have what He promised. Faith on the other hand says I am healed, I am forgiven, I have what God said now! Faith says it's mine, I have it now, not someday, now!

 Once again look at Abraham. See Paul's words of him in Romans 4. God literally changed Abram's name in order for him to speak forth the promise. Abram who had no promised son yet had his name changed to literally father of multitudes. 

 When Abraham introduced himself from then on he was speaking and agreeing with God. If anyone called his name they too were inadvertanly agreeing with God. Did you know you can agree with God in the same manner? 

 We can call those things that be not as though they were. When we miss it, blow it, or just plain sin we can call ourselves Righteous and forgiven. If sickness and disease rear up with symptoms we can call ourselves healed because Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law. Part of that curse was sickness and disease. If lack appears we can agree with God and call ourselves blessed because Jesus bore our poverty so we could have His riches. When we agree with God and His Finished Work of Redemption, speaking it forth we will see things changed in our lives for the better.

 We can agree with Grace. If we feel unworthy or unloved we can speak forth what His Grace says about us. He made us worthy, we aren't unloved we are accepted. We aren't lonely we are not only accepted we are accepted in the beloved. We are in the Family of God. We can agree with Grace, we are loved, cherished, forgiven, and a beloved member of God's Family.

 In summation, we understand how Faith works more and more. Faith sees, Faith believes, and Faith speaks. We can speak and agree with all God has said about us and done for us in the Finished Work of Redemption. Beloved, agree with God with your heart and your words. 

Image by mcmurryjulie from Pixabay 

Faith: Having a Good opinion of God

 By faith Sarah herself also received the ability to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised. Hebrews 11:11 MEV

 What is Faith? Why is it important to study and understand Faith? What role does Faith play in our everyday life practically speaking?

 To answer these questions let's revisit the Word and gain insight and wisdom and truth for our life. The Word of God tells us without Faith we can't please God. This alone shows us the vitalness of Faith.

But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Hebrews 11:6 NKJV

 If we desire the fullness of all that God has for us, it appears Faith plays a major role in receiving it. Because of this, we need to know and understand what Faith is and how it works in our life. What is Faith then?

Now faith is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of the things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses]. Hebrews 11:1 AMPC

 What a powerful definition of Faith. Many of us have owned a car or even a home. We know when we had the title deed of that property, we didn't need to use our physical senses to confirm ownership. That title deed proved we owned that car or home. Faith is the title deed that what God said to us is in fact ours.

 Now as powerful, truthful, and thorough as this passage is let's go deeper in understanding what Faith is. How so? By asking why is Faith the assurance? Why is it the proof of what we hoped for? 

 A title deed is only good as the company or person giving it. To be clearer, I could give you the title deed to the Brooklyn Bridge. Does that mean you own it? Of course not. I have no right, no authority, and no ability to give it to you or even sell it. It's not mine to give. 

 So it is with Faith. The nature and character of God are why we have the assurance, the confirmation, and the title deed. So what is Faith?

 Faith is resting in a Good opinion of God. To rest is to put all your trust in something knowing that it is fully accomplished. We rest by trusting in Him and His Goodness and Love alone. Faith is not a struggle, Faith rests in His Goodness. We are trusting in Him and His Love and Goodness not our own.

 Understanding this, we now can see how there exist Faith failures and why some fail to receive all God has for them. Faith's greatest enemy is unbelief. What then is that unbelief rooted in? Or where does it derive its power from? Not the enemy alone, but in us having a negative opinion of God. 

 Where there exists a negative opinion or belief about God Faith cannot operate fully. Faith is trusting in God. If we have a negative opinion of God in some area we aren't fully trusting in God in that area. If we aren't fully trusting God, then we are not fully in Faith and therefore we won't receive all He has purchased for us in redemption. 

 Concerning provision and prosperity, if we have a negative opinion of God concerning finances and our needs being supplied how can we say we are trusting in Him to provide? If we look at the experiences of others saying, they gave, they prayed and they are still struggling, provision must not be God's will, how can we say we trust God to provide for us? We are holding on to a negative opinion of God concerning provision. 

 Let's look at the woman with the issue of blood in Mark 5. She had a Good opinion of Jesus. She didn't even ask Him to heal her. She just trusted and believed in His Goodness and Love. Faith, having a Good opinion of God, gave her the assurance and confirmation that what she desired was in fact hers. She reached out and took it and received all God had for her. Jesus commended her Faith.

 So how do we get a Good opinion of God? We go to His Word. We study, we meditate, we feed on the Word concerning His Goodness and Lovingkindness. 

 We see in the Word how He delivered the children of Israel time after time. We see how the Cross has forgiven us of all our sins forever. How we are made irrevocably Righteous by the Blood. We see how He bore all our sickness and disease and pain on the Cross purchasing and providing our healing. We see how He redeemed us from the curse of the Law, procuring new life, provision, and prosperity for us. We look at Jesus and see the heart and will of the Father.

 In summation, Faith is having a Good opinion of God. We trust in His Faithfulness and Love for us. We can rest knowing our needs are met and supplied in full because Christ loves us and provides for His own. We can rest knowing He is our healer because He took all our sickness. We can rest knowing we are loved, accepted, and approved of God because of Jesus. This is walking by Faith. Faith in His all the time Goodness and Love. 

 

Image by Thanks for your 👍 • Feel free to leave a comment. from Pixabay