Why Most Christians Don't Get Healed (Pt. 1)
A Rock of Offence Special Commentary
Note: The following information represents our
response to questions from one of our readers.
To Access Part 2 Of This Commentary
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Dear Brother,
Thank you for writing to me on such an important subject. I'm always encouraged to hear from those who visit our website. You're not the only person that struggles with questions about healing. It's been a hotly debated topic since the turn of the century. When the healing revivals began in the United States and Canada during the 1940's--it started an internal spiritual war, where all kinds of confusing doctrines were taught. There's much misinformation about the subject of healing in the church, especially among the critics. Sometimes, those of us who believe in divine healing from a Scriptural standpoint tend to have the hardest time experiencing its truths. The old phrase "Physician, heal thyself" certainly applies here. I've had my own struggles over the years. I will attempt to answer your questions. 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 various spiritual leaders. Right now, we have a serious condition existing inside the church where believers are assaulted with "doctrines of men" (masquerading as God's Word) that come at us from all different directions (Matt. 15:9). I've watch this unfortunate situation most of my life. The problems create eternal consequences that few believers can discern. In Luke 8:18 Jesus warns his audience "take heed therefore how ye hear". Jesus was warning that we need to be careful what we let into our mind and spirit because it may have destructive consequences, as we will see. Other Scriptures like Romans 10:17 teaches that "faith cometh by hearing the Word of God". It's important to know that faith doesn't come from hearing what religious leaders claim is the Word of God. Faith comes only from the Word itself. Yet, those positions are typically miles apart and its difficult to discern the difference. As you know, there's a lot of popular religious teaching that uses Scripture as its foundation and defense. Yet, many times, it's Scripture improperly lifted from its context. On the surface, it sounds like God's Word--but it isn't. These teachings are professionally prepared by theologians using the psychology of persuasive speech. Psychology is used because it works. Persuading your audience to agree with your doctrine becomes the primary goal. Biblical truth, especially if it contradicts your position and the teaching of your denomination (or offends your tithe-paying audience), usually takes a back seat. Few church-goers fully understand the "religious-political" pressures that operate behind the ministry they trust.
The Scriptures teach that God created humans as "3 part beings". These three parts are referred to as, "spirit, soul and body". Wrong out-of-context Bible teaching acts on the "spirit" part of us the same way vaccines act against disease. If you get enough false religious teaching (over many years) it will inoculate you against truth. You shouldn't think that this is a "mental thing". This "inoculation" happens at "the spiritual level". For the Christian, this unrealized spiritual inoculation is very dangerous. It is the reason Jesus warned us "to be careful how we hear". Certain things that we listen to over and over can begin to reprogram our spirits, which is why some types of programming on television is so toxic. We can easily change our minds (the "soul" part of us) about what we intellectually believe. But, changing the "faith condition" of our spirit once its been corrupted takes much time and effort. It may take years, depending on how much unbelief our spirit has been exposed to. To retrain your spirit you must first separate from the false and immerse yourself in the truth. This may require some painful lifestyle changes that other religious family members may not understand. It might even mean finding another church. Without that kind of sacrifice little change will take place. It's at the spiritual level where divine healing is either received, or blocked. It's not an intellectual process--even though it begins with the intellect (the "soul" part of us). If you're seeking physical healing and your church or denomination teaches that God sends sickness to test, mature or develop your character--there's a good chance you won't get healed in that environment. You've subtly been pre-programmed "spiritually" to believe that God uses sickness and disease to mature his children. It causes you to doubt that God really wants to heal you. This kind of doubt (the Bible calls it "unbelief") is all that's needed to block healing. The seed of unbelief has been planted deep in your spirit over many years. You can mentally make a decision that goes against your spirit because you want to be healed. Yet, healing initially happens at the spiritual level--and your spirit always dominates in this situation. I know that all of this seems complicated and confusing. But, it's the 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 involves a spiritual paralysis that keeps us from receiving. Yet, popular preachers continue to spread doubt throughout the body of Christ claiming that God doesn't always heal (or that God doesn't heal at all anymore). They use experiences, like the one you cited about the girl who lost her leg, to illustrate their point. Yet, the failure to receive healing does not originate with God. The problem lies with our compromised faith that blocks this benefit.
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 depravity and back to God. He's doing a tremendous work for God in the area of the cultural war for family values. Dr. Dobson is a sincere and committed believer in Christ. But, I've also discerned other things in his theology that subtly injects unbelief into this subject of healing. I know this is not his intention. He teaches this way because he's convinced it's right. I can't cover all the details in this commentary. But, I will say that it was no surprise to me that the girl he mentions didn't get healed. God does answer prayer--but our prayers must be aligned with the faith principles of His Word. It's not the religious practice of prayer that somehow moves God to do what we want. Just going through the sacrificial practice of praying, in and of itself, doesn't guarantee that God will answer. If our prayers, our faith and our doctrine are established on popular, yet false "religious tradition" (the Bible calls it "unbelief") rather than the divine principles of Scripture--God generally can't honor such requests. To gain more understanding on the disastrous and often ignored subject of "Unbelief" CLICK HERE.
Many times innocent people (including children and the elderly) need someone to stand for them and pray according to the Word of God. They can get hurt or end up dying because of this false religious system of faith that is assumed to be correct Biblical faith, but isn't. Our good intentions will never cause God to move against His Word. I've seen my share of this kind of destruction (caused by unbelief), which is why I continue to struggle with preachers who teach these things from the pulpit. We both seem to agree. You said that you're tired of it. So am I. Most churches encourage their members to pray. Yet, they give little instruction about the necessity to pray according to God's will and the faith principles of God's Word. Many times what they claim to be the will of God, especially when discrediting divine healing--isn't God's will at all.
A powerful example is found in the story of the woman with the issue of blood and her encounter with Jesus (Mark 5:25-34). You'll notice that Jesus was surrounded by a crowd of people. Everyone was trying to touch Him. Obviously, some sick people were there HOPING TO GET HEALED if they touched him (Note: Hope is not faith). Yet, this woman with the issue of blood said (the context suggests that she was talking to herself), "If I may touch but his clothes I shall be whole". This woman was not "hoping to be healed". She touched Jesus' garments and was immediately 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 obviously not in control of this healing. The woman was not healed because Jesus "willed it to happen". The healing power went out of Him 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 to develop her character. She was dying and correctly understood that her sickness wasn’t something sent from God. She received what she needed that day, while the rest of the crowd went home empty handed. Were there needy sick people in that group? Yes. Yet, healing never operates on the basis of need--it operates at the spiritual level according to authentic Biblical faith. This confuses a lot of Christians. They think if someone is desperate enough, or needy enough, or in unbearable torment--that out of love God will move against the faith principles of his Word (principles they are not operating in) and heal them anyway. Yet, contrary to popular church teaching, God doesn't operate this way. The world of the Spirit (where God dwells) does not operate according to these common misconceptions. He wants to heal, but our request must conform to the principles that operate in the spiritual realm. 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 must follow the principles that govern electricity. You have to plug the lamp into the wall outlet to complete the circuit and have light. Whether the lamp works or not doesn't depend on how desperate or needy you are.
The Popular Theology of Legalism
Blocks God's Power
A second blockage to divine healing involves the common religious error of legalism and a wrong understanding of how righteousness is obtained after the cross. If you believe that you either deserve to be healed because you're a good obedient Christian--or, that you might not be healed because you've failed to keep "all the rules"--then the healing you seek may never occur. Both of these beliefs (that originate from the religious error of legalsim) will disqualify you. Legalism is the core doctrine of what the apostle Paul called "a different gospel of Christ". He warned the Galatian church that this counterfeit gospel, which teaches a "conditional salvation" through works, keeping the Law, religious performance and good behavior -- carries a frightening curse (Read Galatians 1:6-8). It's this curse that blocks the healing power of God.
Many Christians are taught by their church that righteousness comes from obedience to religious law and the attempt to live a holy life. A conservative estimate is that eighty per cent of the institutional church OR MORE hold to this belief. Congregations that boldly proclaim, "We're a Bible-believing church" are guilty of establishing their faith on this wrong teaching. Many sincere committed Christians within the general group of Christian fundamentalism (and also Catholicism under a different label) are taught to accept the theology of legalism as a "core truth" of the Bible. Their position is always supported by Scripture, which makes it appear to be true on the surface. Yet, the Scripture they use is lifted from its God-ordained context. It's an age-old practice (which is also known by countless other names and labels) that mixes together the religious program and principles of the Old Testament with Christ's redemptive program of the New Testament (know as The New Covenant). It's a failure to obey the apostle Paul's command to "rightly divide God's Word" given in 2 Timothy 2:15. This practice is mainstream--so it’s easy to find. You can read other commentaries on these topics on the website. I've listed them below with direct links. Since I've already addressed these issues--I won't cover them in detail here.
Imputation: How God Transfers His Benefits
Our Position In Christ
The Holy Spirit's Role In Salvaion After The Cross
The Battle For God's Grace
The Spiritual Revolution Of Christ
Divine Healing: A Blood-Bought Benefit
The Righteousness Of The Believer
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 sacrificial 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 believer under Christ's New Covenant is dependent totally on what Jesus accomplished. It's not dependent 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 unstable nature of anyone's obedience or religious performance.
What It Means To Be "In Christ"
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 some popular fundamentalist Christian apologists they will tell you that what I'm about to say is not true. Remember that the religious leaders 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 Jesus refers to His crucifixion as a blood covenant) you can see that it's in total agreement with God's Word. 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 THROUGH THE CROSS. 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--which is Christ. Jesus is the head of his covenant, which is cut in his own blood. This is why 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 true believers everywhere on earth, "the Body of Christ". People never stop to think that we're called the "body of Christ" because we are one with Christ as the “Lord” (head) of the New covenant. If someone sees my physical body walking down the road they would properly associate that body with my name. So it is with Christ. You can't separate Christ (the head) from his body--they are inseparably one. For more information about the believer's position IN CHRIST
CLICK HERE
What does this have to do with healing? It is unthinkable that God would place or allow sickness and disease on His Son, Jesus. Through the blood covenant (also known as the New Covenant)--Jesus is the person we are identified with (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.
God is not sitting in heaven trying to decide if it's His will (or if you're worthy enough) to receive healing. It doesn't work that way. God has declared through the blood covenant of Christ (also known as the New Covenant) that healing is for everyone who believes. ALL QUESTIONS ABOUT YOUR HEALING WERE SETTLED AT THE CROSS. The decision was made at the cross that healing belongs to you. Jesus bought and paid for it ahead of time using his own blood. The question has been eternally settled AS FAR AS GOD IS CONCERNED. Yet, not everyone will get healed. Why? They've cut themselves off--either willfully or passively through receiving unbelief and false religious teaching. If you find yourself in this position, the road to healing can be difficult because you need to retrain your spirit to agree with the way God thinks (Rom. 12:2). Be prepared: You will be in a minority among other believers if you choose this path.
Sickness Doesn't Come From God
The fourth blockage to divine healing is failing to recognize the source and legal grounds for sickness and disease. Sickness does not originate 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 (fulfilled) by the sacrifice of Christ AS OUR SUBSTITUTE. It means that the curse of the 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. It's illegal to apply the law to someone who's already dead. The New Covenant teaches, "FOR YE ARE DEAD, and your life is hid WITH CHRIST in God" (Colossians 3:3). 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 -- 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. They redefine it as a blessing from God to make you more pious and holy. He's blessing you with sickness and disease for your benefit--so you should joyfully receive it. This is a popular teaching in many parts of the church today. And...we wonder why few believers get healed? Unbelief has been planted like tares in a wheat field. When we understand how the world of the spirit operates, it's no mystery Christians fail to receive the healing they seek.
"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)
"That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses." (Matt 8:17 KJV)
Pay particular attention to the quote above from Matthew 8:17. Jesus did not shed his blood and bare our infirmities and 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 religious rules. If Jesus shed his blood to get rid of these things, why would he then reverse himself and undo what he suffered and bled to provide?
When you view certain popular religious teachings under the scrutiny of God's Word, you can see the utter wickedness of it--because it invalidates the benefits gained at the cross of Christ. Yet, many believers who are programmed to oppose divine healing never see the true nature of the doctrine they blindly trust and defend.
I'll stop on this point. Satan is the one who curses with sickness and disease. God is the one who heals and blesses (John 10:10). I know it's difficult, but we need to ignore experiences like the girl who
lost her leg, presented as proof that God no longer heals. Our faith can never rest on human experience--because human experience is almost always ruled by religious unbelief. Ignoring your senses and aligning ourselves with God's ways is the core of our battle regardless of what we see with our eyes. Religion always takes us in the opposite direction away from God, while making us think we're in agreement with him. The church is full of this kind of misinformation. Faith is a fight--and many times your opponents will be members of your own household (Matt. 10:34-36).
Unfortunately, there were unseen forces at work in that girl's situation. We'll never know the real cause of the failure--but I do know it wasn't my Heavenly Father. His covenant cannot fail. Those who were involved in this tragedy arrived at the incorrect conclusion that God doesn't heal everyone. No one seemed to ask the question, "Did we pray correctly?--Did we exercise real Biblical faith, or a religious counterfeit taught by our church? Do we believe in healing according to the New Covenant in Christ's blood? Do we have legalism lurking in our spiritual foundation? Are we praying according to who we are in Christ?" It's true everyone doesn't get healed--but it's not because of some decision my Father made. If I grow weary of seeing God's character maligned--I wonder how he feels about it?
"Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with
lovingkindness and tender mercies; Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's. The LORD executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed." (Ps 103:2-6 KJV)
I'm sorry my answer is so verbose. The topic is difficult to address in just a few paragraphs. I apologize that I gave my response in the form of a teaching. My intention is not to preach at you. I probably can't give this kind of response to every question you have. But, I do care about you as my brother in Christ. We all have the responsibility to gather the facts and make a decision concerning what we believe. Since this topic is so important, I may post this response on my website without including your name. Some of this information may not be new to you. Yet, if you live in the New Covenant in Christ's blood, there can be no doubt that healing belongs to every believer. As far as God is concerned His Son's shed blood at the cross eternally settled the question.
In Christ,
Rock of Offence Ministries
To Access Part 2 Of This Commentary
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