Faith Healing - are we all fools who believe that God actually performed such miracles - or worse yet still does?Faith Healing - Why Doesn't God Heal Everybody Who Seeks Him For It? Here is the question I will tackle because numerous people in the last little while have approached me thinking that this is a loaded question that somehow single-handedly defeats all reason to believe in divine healing: If it's God's will that all should be healed, then there would be no sicknesses or diseases in the world at all, would there not? I hope respectfully to show that this is a weak and misguided argument. Merely pointing out the fact of something being God's will and pointing to the statistics of it not happening 100% of the time doesn't make God a liar when He says His arm is not to short to save, nor does it mean He is unable or unwilling to carry out His will concerning a matter. For example 2 Peter 3:9 clearly states that it is not the Father's will that any should perish. But I ask you, are all saved? Other blog entries of mine on this site cover the issue of faith healing being just as much a part of the same atonement or act of redemption on the cross of Calvary as the purchase of men's souls & forgiveness of sin, therefore time will not be given to proving that point in this entry. However, if we glean from what we know concerning God's will where salvation is concerned, then we can see that just because something is God's will doesn't guarantee that thing--be it peoples' salvation or peoples' physical healing--happens 100% of the time. So a another question poses itself out of this--why is this the case? Why not 100% of the time? Since God is not willing that any should perish and since He's not the author of sickness and disease anymore than He could be the author of sin, we need to search the Scriptures to see how come for example He doesn't overpower every single muslim, hindu, buddhist, jew, or atheist [or any other person of any thought] and make them believe in Jesus. We have one answer in texts like Matthew 28:18-20: "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." Right there lies your answer for why all have not been saved. Jesus didn't say He would do it Himself. He told his disciples in this passage to go and teach what they've been taught. They had already been instructed before that freely they have received, therefore freely give--including the authority to cast out demons and heal the sick. I see a connection in the great commission in "all authority has been given to me [Jesus]" with "THEREFORE [you] Go". This seems simple enough to me. But you may object that these instructions were given only to the apostles, and not all of the Church universal over the centuries since. If it weren't for passages like Mark 16:15-18, that would almost work: "He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well." The text does not say "these signs will accompany only the 12 disciples" and, I also would hate to mention Paul was not one of the original 12, or Stephen in Acts 7 who also performed miracles and healed people brought to him. May I submit to you for consideration that the reason we teach and believe things like "miracle or faith healing were for the original church" come from looking at our own lives, seeing we don't have what the Bible says we have, and then re-interpreting the Bible to match our circumstances, instead of changing, by faith, our circumstances to match what the Word teaches? The believer is endued with God's Spirit, whom Jesus said it was a good thing we had, because we would do the things he did and more: But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. (John 16:7) I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father.(John 14:12-13) Does the word 'anyone' mean only a certain group of individuals, or anyone? Does the statement "will do what I have been doing" mean exactly what it says, or if not, then what does it mean? It seems to me that Scripture means what Scripture says. WE will do these things. A lot of believers don't because they don't believe they can. We categorize Jesus into a class all by Himself (rightly so in some respects), but when it comes to just obeying the Word and doing things He has told us we can and should do to GLORIFY Him and His name, then we are not following Scripture when we say things like "only He heals and not us"--when He doesn't teach that in the Word. 2 Corinthians 5:20 teaches that we are Christ's ambassadors. What is an ambassador and what does one do? According to the Greek, this is a 'representative'. www.dictionary.com states the following definitions:
An ambassador represents his homeland. The believer's citizenship is in heaven (Phil 3:20), and we represent what our homeland stands for or represents. In heaven, there is no sickness, disease or sin. Notice the second definition used states we are on a 'permanent mission'. As long as we are alive on this earth, our mission is not complete. An ambassador has been granted authority to both act and speak according his headquarters' will--we carry out the will of that leader ourselves. What is God's will? The answers are represented in the Great Commission passages cited above. To get back to the question of why don't all get healed, or saved: there is great responsibility on us--God has done His part by sending His Son to die on the cross. Isaiah 53 spells out in detail both infirmities and iniquities are put on Him, and when Peter quotes this passage, he says it in the past tense: "He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed." (1 Peter 2:24). Friends, lets stop using a double standard where the will of God concerning faith healing is concerned that we don't apply to the will of God concerning salvation. The reason we see less of faith healing than we ought is because WE are doing less with the Gospel in proportion to the authority we've been given. Nations are not being touched with the Gospel because of the lack of laborers, not because of a lack of it being God's will. If you are truly open and honest about the truth that you've just read and would like to learn even more you can get trusted information right here on faith healing. Steve out Steve has been a missionary to Europe for over 2 years, and currently lives in Canada while preparing to move to Peru in early 2009. He is a contributing author on the Fire On Your Head Blog, which can be viewed at http://www.fireonyourhead.org, and also co-hosts a bi-weekly podcast with another missionary, Fire On Your Head- The Podcast, at http://www.fireonyourhead.com Both sites dwell richly in Pentecostal/Charismatic themes within Christianity. Have A Great Story About This Topic?Do you have a question or a great story about this? Please share it!
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