Why Most Christians Don't Get Healed (Pt. 1)Fred HandschumacherDear Brother, Thank you for writing to me on such an important subject. I'm always encouraged to hear from those who visit my website--whether they agree or not. You're not the only believer that struggles with questions about healing. It's been a hotly debated topic for nearly 100 years. When the healing revivals began in the United States and Canada during the 1940's—it turned into all out war with all kinds of strange doctrines being introduced. There's an incredible amount of misinformation about healing in the church. Sometimes, those of us who believe in it from a Scriptural standpoint tend to have the hardest time experiencing the truth of it. The old phrase "Physician, heal thyself" certainly applies here. I've had my own battles over the years. I will attempt to answer your questions—but some of my answers may surprise you. I'm addressing this topic from both personal study of the Scriptures and from listening to the popular teachings that come from church leaders. Right now, we have a serious condition in the church where believers are assaulted with "doctrines of men" that come from all different directions (Matt. 15:9). I've been exposed to religious teaching like this most of my life. The problems extend far beyond just false teaching. In Luke 8:18 Jesus warns his audience "take heed therefore how ye hear". Other Scriptures like Romans 10:17 tells us that "faith cometh by hearing the Word of God". It's important to know that faith doesn't come from hearing what religious leaders say is the Word of God--but it comes from the Word itself. It's very hard today to discern the difference and sometimes they are the same. Yet, those positions are typically miles apart. As you know, there's a lot of popular religious teaching that uses Scripture as its foundation--yet it's false--its not God's Word--it only sounds like it is. This teaching is professionally prepared by theologians using the psychology of persuasive speech. Psychology is used because it works 90% of the time. Persuading your audience to agree with your doctrine becomes the primary goal--and truth, especially if it contradicts your position and the teaching of your denomination--or offends your audience, takes a back seat. Few church-goers fully understand the "religious-political" forces that operate behind the ministry they've placed their trust in. The Scripture teaches that we are "3 part beings". We’re made up of spirit, soul and body. False teaching acts on the spirit of man the same way vaccines act in the human body against disease. If you get enough false religious teaching (over many years) it will inoculate you against truth. Don't think this is a mental thing. This "inoculation" happens at the spiritual level. We can easily change our minds (soul) about what we intellectually believe. But, changing the "faith condition" of our spirit takes time--sometimes years, depending on how much unbelief we've received. To retrain your spirit you must first separate from the false and immerse yourself in the truth. This may demand some painful lifestyle changes that religious family members may not understand. Without that kind of repentance no change will take place. It's at the spiritual level of man where divine healing is either received, or not. It's not an intellectual process at all--even though it begins in the intellect (soul). If your denomination teaches that God sends sickness to test--or to mature you--and you're praying for healing, there's a good chance you won't get healed because you've been pre-programmed "spiritually" to believe that God sometimes uses sickness and disease to mature his children. It places doubt that God really wants to heal you--and this kind of doubt is all that's needed to block healing. The seed has been sowed deep in your spirit--so you can mentally make a decision that goes against your spirit because you want to be healed. Yet, healing is received at the spiritual level--and the spirit always dominates in this situation. This is one primary reason many Christians will never experience healing. It has nothing to do with God's willingness to grant healing (I'll talk about this later)--it's a spiritual paralysis that keeps us from receiving. Yet, popular teachers continue to spread poison throughout the body of Christ that experiences, like the one you cited about the girl who lost her leg, proves that God doesn't always heal. I admire Dr. Dobson--I've listened to hours of his radio program and I agree with many of his efforts to move our society away from its depravity and back to God. James Dobson is a sincere and committed believer in Christ. But, I've also detected other things in Dobson's theology that sow unbelief into this area of healing. I can't cover it here--but it was no surprise to me that this girl didn't get healed. God does answer prayer--but only prayer that is aligned with his Word. It's not the religious practice of prayer that somehow moves God to do what we want--just praying in and of itself doesn't guarantee that God will answer. If our prayers, our faith and our doctrine run contrary to divine truth--God generally doesn't answer such requests. Many times innocent people (including children) who need someone to stand for them and pray according to the Word of God either get hurt or end up dying because of false teaching. I've seen my share of this kind of destruction, which is why I have little tolerance for people who spread such toxic beliefs. I think we both agree--we're tired of it. Most churches encourage people to pray all the time--but offer little truth about how to pray in alignment with God's Word and according to the will of God. And, many times what they claim to be the will of God--isn't at all. A powerful Scriptural example is found in the story of the woman with the issue of blood and her encounter with Jesus (Mark 5:25-34). If you read the text you'll notice that Jesus was “swamped” by a crowd of people. Everyone was reaching out to touch him. No doubt, some sick people were in that crowd hoping to get healed if they touched him. Yet, this woman with the issue of blood said (the context suggests that she was talking to herself, or said this to herself), "If I may touch but his clothes I shall be whole". She touched Jesus garments and was healed. He felt the power go into her when she touched him. Notice that this power flowed out to no one else in the crowd. Jesus knew when the power left him, which is why he asked, "Who touched my clothes?" It's very important to know that Jesus was not in control of this healing. The woman was not healed because Jesus willed it or caused it to happen. It happened without his permission. Jesus said that the woman's faith made her well. The woman was totally convinced in her spirit that the healing would occur if she could just touch his clothes. She didn't see her disease as something God was using for some mysterious reason in her life. She was dying and correctly understood that her sickness wasn’t something from God. She received what she needed that day, while the rest of the crowd went home empty handed. Did needy people exist in that group--yes, I believe so. Yet, healing never operates on the basis of need--it operates at the spiritual level according to faith. This confuses a lot of Christians because they think if someone is desperate enough--or needy enough--or in unbearable torment--that out of love God will move against the principles of his Word and heal them anyway if we just pray hard enough. Yet, that's not how God operates. The world of the Spirit where God dwells does not operate under these common misconceptions. If you want to turn on a lamp and refuse to plug it in--would you be correct in saying that electricity doesn't work? You have to follow the principles that govern electric current and plug the lamp into the wall outlet to have light. That's the kind of thing we're dealing with. A second blockage to divine healing is legalism and our understanding of righteousness. If you believe that you either deserve to be healed because you're a good Christian--or that you might not be healed because you haven't "kept all the rules"--then the healing you seek may never occur. Both these extremes will disqualify you. Many believers are taught by their church that their righteousness comes from their obedience to religious law or their way of life. A conservative estimate is that three quarters of the church or more hold to this belief. Congregations that boast, "We're a Bible-believing church" are guilty of this false teaching. Many sincere committed Christians accept it as a "core" truth of the Bible. Again, the argument is always supported by Scripture--so it doesn't appear to be false on the surface. It's an age-old practice called legalism that mixes together the redemptive program of the Old Testament with the redemptive program of the New Testament. This practice is mainstream—so it’s easy to find. If you haven't already done so you can read some articles I've written on these closely related topics on my website. I've listed them below with direct links. Since I've already addressed these issues--I won't cover them in detail here. The Battle For God's Grace Our Position On Covenant Theology Divine Healing: A Blood-Bought Benefit The Stealth War Against The Truth Of The Gospel The Righteousness Of The Believer Freedom From Sin's Oppression The Blessings Of Abraham The New Testament believer's righteousness comes from only one source--Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 5:21). This righteousness is granted as a free gift (Rom. 5:15-18), which is a direct result of Christ's death, burial and resurrection on our behalf. Jesus didn't go to the cross for himself--he went there for us. The righteousness (or worthiness) of the New Testament believer is dependent totally on what Jesus did--and not on our weaknesses, failures and lack of obedience. When you see the whole picture you will understand why God's righteousness can never rest on the flimsiness of mans obedience. The third blockage to divine healing is probably the most important and the most controversial. It is a failure to know who you are. If you listen to the popular Christian apologists--they will tell you that what I'm about to say is "aberrant" Christian teaching. Remember that the religious professionals of Christ's time considered his doctrine false and accused him of being of the devil. Why should His followers be treated any different? Yet, when you. . . examine the principles of blood covenant--understand that Scripture calls the crucifixion of Christ a blood covenant--and read the New Testament in proper context--you can see that it's in total agreement with God's Word. You can decide for yourself--but I've already made up my mind. A blood covenant makes two separate individuals or groups one person. Before a blood covenant ceremony two individuals exist. After the ceremony two individuals may appear to exist, but they are now considered one person. A blood covenant is a union. In the area of salvation, Christ and all believers in him are considered one. This is the "oneness" we celebrate at the Lord's Table--and precious few church organizations teach it from a true blood covenant perspective. What does this mean for the Christian? When Christ died on the cross all future believers died in him (Gal. 2:20). Our sins (past, present and future) were judged "in Christ" on the cross and eternally destroyed. False religion always tries to resurrect our sins and use them to control us. God does not. From God's perspective all believers in Christ have already died once for their sins. He cannot legally punish us a second time. God's character as a just judge prevents him from this kind of injustice. We were punished once for all in Christ. Through Christ's sacrifice all believers have only one identity--and that is Christ. Jesus is the head of his covenant, which is cut in his own blood--that's one reason we take on his identity and die to our own. We are no longer known by our old self, which was nailed to the cross and destroyed. The believer is now Christ. This is why Saint Paul calls all believers everywhere on earth, "the Body of Christ". Folks never stop to think that we're called the "body of Christ" because we are one with Christ as the “Lord” of the covenant. If someone sees my body walking down the road they would properly say--there's Fred. So it is with Christ. You can't separate Christ (the head) from his body--they are inseparably one. What does this have to do with healing? Simple. It is unthinkable that God would place or allow sickness and disease on His Son, Jesus. Through the blood covenant--Jesus is who you are (Phil. 1:21). You are his body on the earth (1 Cor. 12:27). For this reason, sickness and disease is never God's will for you--because it's not God's will for Jesus. This is an unalterable legal point with our heavenly Father. It's sealed in the blood of the covenant--something God takes very serious. When you start to know who you are "in Christ" a lot of popular religious teaching will be exposed as false. When you look at the whole picture, divine healing is not something where God is sitting in heaven trying to decide whether he should give it, or not. It doesn't work that way. God has declared through the blood covenant of Christ that healing is for everyone who believes. All questions about our healing were settled at the cross. The decision was made at the cross that healing belongs to you--so Jesus bought and paid for it ahead of time using his own blood. The question has been eternally settled. Yet, everyone won't get healed because they've cut themselves off--either willfully or passively through listening to unbelief and false religious teaching. If you find yourself in this position, the road to healing can be a difficult one because you need to retrain your spirit to think the way God thinks (Rom. 12:2). Be prepared: You will be in a minority among other believers if you choose this path. The fourth blockage to divine healing is failing to recognize the source and legal grounds for sickness and disease. Sickness never originates with God. Heaven does not have any sickness or disease to hand out. It's declared as a curse that comes on a person for breaking God's law (read Deut. chapter 28). Curses fall under Satan's domain--not God's. "And the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because that Jesus had healed on the sabbath day, and said unto the people, There are six days in which men ought to work: in them therefore come and be healed, and not on the sabbath day. The Lord then answered him, and said, Thou hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering? And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day?" (Luke 13:14-16 KJV)At this point, you might say. . ."Sickness can come on anyone for breaking God's law--that means God won't heal anyone if they've been disobedient."This is a classic argument from fundamentalists and legalists. Yet, it's not a New Testament truth. Yes, the curse of the law is the result of breaking God's statutes and ordinances under the Old Testament. Yet, the New Testament believer was crucified (executed) in Christ for their sins (the broken law). Old Testament law (also known as the Ten Commandments and the Mosaic Law) has been satisfied by the sacrifice of Christ--and the curse of that law, if applied to a modern day believer, is illegal. Once again, it's illegal because it's impossible for sickness to be placed on Christ's body. And, it's illegal to apply the law to someone who's already dead. This is why all sickness and disease is an illegal act committed by Satan against a child of God. This is why Jesus spent nearly half his earthly ministry undoing Satan's works by healing the masses everywhere he traveled (1 John 3:8). In most places he healed them all--he didn't allow some to stay sick to teach them something or to make them more holy. Yet, in one place he couldn't do any mighty work because of unbelief (Mark 6:1-6). Unbelief remains the primary reason divine healing fails to manifest--and not an unwillingness on God's part. The reason Satan gets away with this lie is because false teachers in the church convince everyone that God is the one doing the cursing (of course—they don’t call it cursing)--and he's cursing you for your benefit--so you should joyfully receive it. This teaching literally permeates the body of Christ today. And, we wonder why nobody gets healed? Unbelief has been sowed like tares in a wheat field. No mystery here.
"Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse
for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:
That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus
Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith."
(Gal 3:13-14 KJV)
Jesus did not shed his blood and bare our sicknesses only to turn around
and put them back on us. If that's true, what's keeping him from putting
our sins back on us as well? A blood covenant does not operate by these
perverted rules. If Jesus shed his blood to get rid of these things, why
would he then reverse himself and undo what he greatly suffered to provide? |
