Does miraculous healing still happen today?
This subject is one of the most highly debated among the controversial subjects I’ve been writing on as of late. First of all, who of us has not heard a story of miraculous healing or have actually been healed? And who of us does not believe they have some ailment about them? I could name ten or so things I think are wrong with myself right now. To be clear I don’t have the flu, I’m not deathly ill or bed-ridden, but there are things about my body physically I’m not happy with. In any of our cases these are things like allergies, memory, poor eyesight, varicose veins, obesity, scoliosis, vitamin D deficiency and possibly the occasional webbed-toe.
There is no doubt that God heals throughout the Bible. From Genesis to Revelation this is one of the many ways God has displayed his power and providence in Scripture (Genesis 20:17, Exodus 15:26, Deuteronomy 32:39, Hebrews 13:8). This is something the Church universally believes and rightly so.
Where things tend to get controversial is with the gift of healing and the miraculous healings themselves performed in the New Testament by Jesus and the apostles shortly before and during the apostolic age, and if those gifts are still given and performed today.
Healing in the New Testament
When Jesus healed it was nothing short of miraculous. He healed leprosy, a paralytic, withered limbs, the blind, the mute, the deaf, edema, reattached severed organs and literally brought the deceased back to life (see the gospels).
The gift of healing in the New Testament (both by Jesus and the apostles) was an on-demand gift. In other words, if Jesus said you would be healed you were healed. It wasn’t a healing were the illness subsided and then happened to return – the illness was gone and never to return. It wasn’t a healing where you may or may not be healed. It wasn’t a healing that took time. There was no room for error. It was an instantaneous, supernatural and miraculous display of God’s power.
The purpose in these miracles for Jesus was many-fold. They authenticated that the prophecies of the Tanakh were true and that this man was indeed the Son of God, they represented the sheer power of God to a sick and unbelieving people, and they marked the power that was to speak for God by the apostles and some others in the apostolic age.
For the apostles and some others within the apostolic age, they were blessed with the same gift of healing (among other gifts) in order to authenticate the power of God and authority in them to usher in the beginning of the Church as we know it today. It was because of this that the people at that time would listen to the apostles and leaders recognizing them as the real deal.
This true biblical gift of healing was not controversial. Many unbelievers witnessed the effects of this powerful gift, believed, fell to their knees and confessed the name of Jesus because of it. And because of this God-given miraculous gift and others like it the Church exists today.
Healing today
I can’t speak for any of you, but I’ve been a Christian since about twelve years old and I have never experienced or been witness to anything like the healing throughout the New Testament. You’d be surprised to know I grew up and was taught in a Pentecostal church – the poster-child church for all things faith-driven and charismatic. If there were ever a place to witness something intense it would have been there, yet still I experienced or witnessed nothing like what was described in Scripture.
In addition there are no professional reports or medically-certified cases in existence of this type of healing in history to this day other than the Word of God. The majority of what we hear about today are secondary accounts; meaning that the x-ray doesn’t show something that should be there or the culture came back negative when all other signs said positive. I don’t want to downplay these situations, they are miraculous, but they certainly do not share the characteristics of the healings we read in Scripture. No doctor has ever gone on record saying that person A died, they were cooling in the morgue when person B walked in, raised person A from the dead and they both walked out together. No doctor has ever gone on record saying that a withered hand had been fully restored right in front of them. And no doctor has ever gone on record saying that leprosy had instantaneously vanished leaving a persons body completely restored without medical treatment.
Let’s pretend for a second that these things had happened. It would spark worldwide attention at the least! A toaster allegedly toasts the face of Jesus into the side of a piece of bread and media outlets around the globe lost their minds. Don’t you think that if only one dead person was brought back to life we would know about it? A burnt piece of toast or a professional report of a medically-certified zombie – if I were a reporter it wouldn’t be very hard for me to figure out which story would get more readers or network ratings.
More importantly though, if these things had happened I can all but guarantee the doctor and the reporter would be forced to confess the name of Jesus right then and there. I highly doubt that anyone would be able to disregard miracles of that magnitude happening before their very eyes.
One of the most sickening attempts to replicate or give authenticity to the New Testament gift of healing functioning today is the Word of Faith theology (or name-it-and-claim-it) which states that since we are indwelt with the Holy Spirit that we have ourselves become little gods, able to do anything and even more than God has done in Scripture. Just typing this raises my blood pressure. This type of belief couldn’t be farther from the truth as their is nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing, in Scripture to suggest this is true. It’s a complete heresy and I fear for the men that preach it from a holy and sacred pulpit.
It typically looks like what you see on cheesy Christian television where if you send in a monetary faith-gift then God will bless you twice what that money is worth in the form of healing for your particular ailment. Or if you speak to the illness you can tell it to be gone. Some of these Word of Faith teachers have even gone on record discouraging talking to God or Jesus about a sickness, but rather saying that since we are gods that we have the authority to speak directly to the illness. It’s ridiculous and unbiblical at best.
And remember when you were flipping through the channels that one time and you saw that one preacher asking someone about their sickness, close his eyes, thrust the person’s forehead backward while exclaiming a praise, pushing the person to the ground and then immediately thank God for the healing without ever checking with the person they allegedly healed? It’s false and not the true biblical gift of healing. It’s heresy.
It makes me sick, but honestly it’s very sad. Please be very careful who you allow to put their hands on you. Though I’m sure they have good intentions we’re not Christians for good intention, we’re Christians because we submit ourselves fully to Christ. These types of practices cannot be found anywhere in Scripture, they submit to our emotions and our hearts which the Bible tells us are deceitful above all things (Jeremiah 17:9). A lot Christians will encourage you to follow your heart. No, don’t follow your heart, but instead follow Scripture.
Where does that leave us? Does God heal at all?
Yes, God heals today and will always (see Scripture in second paragraph); however, I do not believe it comes in the form of faith-healing, prosperity, Word of Faith theology or the true biblical gift of healing functioning today through certain gifted people. I believe those gifts were to start the Church in the apostolic age and have since ceased to exist (read why here). Instead I believe it comes in the form of God’s providence where through prayer and blessing we are healed. I believe in the true biblical gift of healing from God alone. It’s not something that’s on-demand and it’s completely in the will of God as to whether or not he will heal. Even though God knows the desires of our hearts he owes us nothing. How do we name and claim that which is not ours to name or claim?
We should redefine or at least reexamine what healing means to us. I think the majority of American Christians have allowed misguided television evangelists and charismatic pastors with poor theology to set the bar. The real bar was set 2000 years ago with the Bible. How did we get away from that?
Medicine has come a long way in 2000 years, is that not a healing miracle? Chemotherapy, the cure for baby jaundice and even small things like corrective eye surgery; all of this knowledge is miraculous compared to what we’ve come from. I’m not saying that we rely solely on medicine. We do serve a supernatural God. We should pray for one another, for God’s providence for each other, but we shouldn’t foolishly expect that we’ll be healed as a definite or that we can actually name and claim anything. In my experience people who do this become very unstable often questioning their faith when their prayers seemingly go unanswered. It puts Christians in a roller-coaster relationship with Jesus. It did for me. The mentality distracts from the real point which is God to be glorified in our suffering, healed or not.
What about our faith to be healed? We have faith to be healed. If you put your trust in Christ, that’s the faith to be healed. Praying for and receiving or not receiving a miracle from God is not a measuring stick for our faith. That’s some charismatic nonsense that’s been dreamed up in the last century and not even commonly accepted by the Church. In America you can’t throw a rock without hitting five charismatic churches and that’s why it’s being perceived as a measuring stick. The truth is there’s a Bible and 2000 years of Church history that say different.
As I said in the beginning of this post this subject is highly controversial. This is true even among our Church elders. Great men such as Mark Driscoll, Dr. Wayne Grudem, and Dr. John Piper would say the gift has not ceased and great men such as Dr. Tim Keller, John Calvin, John Owen, J.I. Packer and John MacArthur would. It’s important to note though that the majority of our our historical Church elders and fathers were in agreement that miraculous gifts had ceased after the apostolic age (this covers about 1900 years). It’s only been within the last 100 years that we’ve seen a change in that.
It can be frustrating when something like this is currently so widely debated. A lot of times you’ll want to throw your arms up and ask why this even matters. It matters. If it’s important enough for God to deem worthy of note in the Bible it’s important enough for believers to be able to give an account for (I believe it was Dr. Michael Rogers that said something to this affect on the issue of baptism).
Whatever stance you take on this issue every one of us has been born with imputed sin as a result of the fall in Genesis 3. The effects of this are that we grow old and eventually die. We all suffer. We ought to spend our time praying for and seeking God’s glory in our suffering instead of only God’s glory in ending our suffering.
Great piece. Well reasoned and written. I recently listened to a missionary describe !repeated! instances of resurrection performed by his group in Chiappas. Instead of a serious approach followed by a discussion of the spiritual gift, it was thrown in amongst the discussion of distributing tracts, persecution and the like. I wonder how many in the audience were willing to examine this critically and scripturally.
Hey thanks, Doulos. I completely understand. It’s so heart-wrenching when preachers make these claims because if we criticize we fear saying anything against God. Not saying something shows the zealous no boundaries and saying something puts us in the dog-house! Unfortunately, often times it’s a no-win situation – the preacher could care less what we’d think and we’re not going to believe their account without sufficient evidence anyway.
Great post Justin!!! I whole heartedly agree with this blog. I believe God certainly can heal, i believe he does, but i agree that it is not by our own doing. It is by his grace. We need to learn (as you say) to worship, suffering or not, and the name it-claim it faith is a result of misunderstanding God’s desire for us to be faithful people. The measuring stick example, was a great point!!! thats it, well said
I will say this. Benny Hinn definitely heals. He healed me of Charismania. Once I heard a lot of the chaz people I hung out with digging on him, I knew it was time to get the hell out of there!
Thank you Benny Hinn for healing me.
Hey man, thanks. Desiree and I were just talking this morning about faith. I was telling her the way the church I grew up in taught me faith was wrong; they taught it to me with supreme emphasis on quantity. I was always being told that I needed a certain amount of faith to be able to do anything in the Lord where quantity has nothing to do with it.
I like how John Piper put it in his article called How Jesus Helped His Disciples Increase Their Faith:
“By referring to the tiny mustard seed after being asked about increased faith, he [Jesus] deflects attention away from the quantity of faith to the object of faith.”
The entirety of what some Christians believe about faith comes from a wrong interpretation of the mustard seed verses. That’s a huge testament to just how fragile we can be emotionally. It leads me back to how important it is where we go to church and who we are putting our families under the authority of.
“It leads me back to how important it is where we go to church and who we are putting our families under the authority of.”
Yup.
YO…RESPEK!!!!!!! – Ali G
Dat word aint even in the dick-tionary no more.
“You will find dat, there is so little respek left in the world, that if you look up the word respek in the dictionary, it has been taken out” hahahaha
Alright, this conversation started a LONG thread (not as long as Justin’s last blog…..yet….) on my facebook page, in the future, if i post on facebook, a link to a new blog from this or any website, just go read the blog post, and comment there, to get involved, to avoid airing it all on FB, etc…
I have made the announcement on my fb, to move this long winded conversation over here in this comment section.
If anyone of my fb friends want to go and get caught up, and meet back here, that would be great!!!
There are still a ton of great comments being posted…so…
to be continued…..
That’s a good idea to keep the discussion going here. On Facebook you can only write so much without being cut off. I’ll respond to a few things here from the discussion that had happened over there:
Keith, Stephen’s right, I’ve basically been writing lately (this post included) about the theology of cessationism which is the viewpoint that suggests the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit (tongues, foretelling prophecy and healing) ceased being gifted to believers by God after the apostolic era. That’s how this ties into foretelling prophecy and tongues.
I believe that the miraculous gifts were given to the apostles to validate the power and authenticity of God in order to start the Church. After God had been validated and the Church had been officially started the gifts then ceased being given.
There’s not really one verse I can give you to biblically support my beliefs on this, but rather an entire biblical study on why and how in Scripture these gifts are not operating today. But if I were to try and throw out a nutshell exegesis I would point you to Ephesians 2:20-22 where the Church is being described in structure as complete, 1 Corinthians 13:8 talks about the miraculous gifts ceasing and Revelation 22:18-19 talks about Scripture being complete which suggests that God is done speaking revelation – that Scripture (2 Timothy 3:16-17) is sufficient until the end of time. It goes deeper, but that’s the gist.
For a good nutshell explanation of the major viewpoints on cessationism check out a Q&A called Have the Gifts of the Spirit Ceased?
I want to be sure and not discourage anyone from laying their hands on another believer and praying for them. This is a very kind and reverent gesture because prayer is so powerful and after all we do serve a supernatural God. What I’m warning of is the laying on of hands by someone who believes they are a foretelling prophet, has the (counterfeit) gift of glossolalia or has the supernatural gift of healing.
Hopefully this helps!
I don’t think there is an argument between what you and I are saying here, for the most part, and what I have written as far as healing…I believe that there are a LOT(way too many) of quacks out there that give Christianity a very bad name, and have misled/scared/drop-kicked away thousands if not tens of thousands of people.
What do you guys think about Romans 8?
From what perspective? I believe that concerning election, its one of the most clear statements of God’s sovereignty in Election, and Romans 9 goes even further with it.
Andrew – I am referring to a comment on Stephen’s FB post…about discernment and being “lead” by the Spirit.
Romans 8:14
“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. ”
Justin – you say, “I believe that the miraculous gifts were given to the apostles to validate the power and authenticity of God in order to start the Church”…are you saying that they were given the power to heal people by themselves?
As far as miraculous healing, wouldn’t any healing, big (arms growing back) or small (headaches being healed…), be miraculous?
Do you believe that God is on a hiatus, now, like He was between the old and new testament?
Justin – absolutely, laying hands, and praying, is NOT to suggest we are connecting Gods battery juice into our arms, and into someone else, but the importance of it all, shows our desiring to communicate with the Lord, and i mean, that is what prayer is, right? Making ourselves holier, actually talking with our saviour? At the end of the day though, thats all we are doing, God brings the miracles!!! Both are important though!!!
Keith – Romans 8, i would consider what Paul is saying in Romans, as a whole, and to whom he is speaking to, and for what reason, etc. I am, of course, not accusing you of doing this, but a lot of people can, and will take just about any verse of the bible, and can somehow find use for it, in devastating ways, not realizing that just because of its wording, we should assume that what it sounds like, is what it means! Just to give my opinion of your question that is.
I dont believe God is on a hiatus either!!
I think its a fairly big stretch to take that verse and apply it to discernment, particularly because of what Romans 8 is talking about. That chapter is not addressing discernment at all. Its about being freed from the weight of the law, about our adoptions as sons of God, ect.
Andrew -You are right. However, it seems like the writer talks a lot about being led by the spirit. Why does the writer refer to the Spirit so many times in this passage…if this is off the subject hit me up on FB.
thanks
Keith, yes, just as Jesus performed supernatural gifts the apostles did as well. They were gifted with God’s supernatural power to heal on demand like we’ve never seen before. Yes, they were given the power by God to heal. I’m saying that does not happen today – that the purpose for that was to start the Church and today there is no need for it as the Church has already been started.
Today, a lot of people mistakenly think God still grants that supernatural gift (e.g. the power to grow limbs back and raise the dead). We see this in many churches across the world that have healing tents, healing days, power hour and stuff like that. Typically these churches have a wrong view of the Holy Spirit and faith – you’d see people being slain in the Spirit and such. There’s nothing in the Bible to suggest God works in that way – that our faith is a measure of how much God is present in one place. It’s sort of a culture, an entire abuse of the Holy Spirit in my opinion.
And you’re right, I would consider all healing to be miraculous. I should watch my terminology here. But it’s important to consider why all the alleged healing you hear of today is for the most part internal (headaches, emotions, pain, etc.) and nothing we see today is external (limbs growing back, deformity made right, raising people from the dead). It doesn’t take a long investigation to figure out these healings have a heavy bias for ailments that cannot be verified except by personal opinion.
There are people that will suggest our part of the world (America) doesn’t experience the same magnitude of healing as seen in other third-world countries – they say America doesn’t have the same type of faith that’s seen in third-world countries. This is ridiculous. In saying this they suggest that God withdraws from a people who do not have enough faith. That’s wrong. And it also suggests that they have access to knowing the barometer on the faith of the American Church. That’s wrong too. When tested against Scripture, the spirit of this type of statement is the farthest from the Truth.
I wouldn’t say God has gone on hiatus from his power, but I would say God has ceased to do certain things today like he did them in times of the Old and New Testaments. Take Pentecost for example, there’s nothing to suggest that type of event was for today and yet we see people chasing after that experience all the time. Just as the canon of Scripture has been closed, meaning that God is done writing the Bible, the supernatural gifts of the Spirit have ceased being gifted, the Church has started and God is done there.
You’ll hear people say, “God wants us to be healed.” It depends on the context. In the beginning the plan was Eden so in a sense, yes, God wanted perfection for us; however, we fell in Genesis 3. There are Christians with cancer who pray continually for their illness to be taken, yet God allows them to be taken by their illness. We can’t for sure say that God wants us to be healed. But we can for sure say that God wants to be glorified in our suffering. And that’s what I’m trying to say here, that instead of chasing the power to perform miracles we should be focusing more on God being glorified in our suffering.
I agree with the healing thing. I think we are on the same page on it for the most part. Like you said when we discussed this topic, in brief, a few weeks ago, “If people where where being healed and growing arms/legs back, it would be on CNN”.
As far as the apostles having the power to heal, my question is-what was that power, and where did it come from? I was reading about this last night, but couldn’t find where they received this power, just that they went out with it. But, it was never the apostles that did the healing it was the power.
If it is the spirit, isn’t it the spirit that they are talking about in Romans 8? I am not trying to stretch anything, but to me it seems like a parallel…please feel free to fill me in if I am wrong.
The power came from God in Mathew 10:1: “And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction.”
Paul, speaking to the Corinthian church reiterated this fact in 2 Corinthians 12:12: “The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with utmost patience, with signs and wonders and mighty works.”
And then later in Ephesians 2:19-21, the author described the Church as complete in saying this: “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. (emphasis added)”
It’s true that this is the same Holy Spirit that is being talked about not only in Romans 8, but the rest of the entire Bible. But nowhere does the Bible suggest that today we have access to the same type of power (through the Spirit) that was specifically bestowed to the apostles in Mathew 10:1 to start the Church.
And Andy’s right, the work of the Spirit in Romans 8 is different from the work being done in Mathew 10:1 (same Spirit though). Romans 8 is all about how the Spirit works in the elect saying that their minds are concerned with the things of the Spirit instead of the flesh. Regenration!
right on, that is very interesting, so…where does this leave us today?
I think it leaves Christians with the challenge to unteach themselves what most churches have taught them in our lifetime. There’s 2000 years of Church history that was in unity over these Truths and it’s only been within the last century that we’ve seen the waters getting cloudy over this. I’m willing to bet the smaller our churches’ doctrines get the more we’ll see mud in our water.
We have a world full of churches that are trying to replicate Mathew 10:1 for themselves today. And no one challenges the idea because the idea inherently sounds and feels good, but it’s not.
Christians need to get comfortable with the fact that when you search deep for truth within Scripture and Church history that they’ll be persecuted by those around them. Most of Church history goes against what we’re being taught today about faith, gifts and the Holy Spirit. That is, if it’s even being taught at all.
The small book of Habakkuk is a great example of exactly how Christians should be acting when it comes to suffering. The are other great examples in the Bible like Job, but Habakkuk always gets me. In it we see a man suffering and begging for God to answer his prayers only to realize just who it is he’s actually praying to. When this happens Habakkuk withdraws his begging and submits fully to the greatness of God saying that whatever God wills is ultimately right for an answer to his prayers. It’s the cancer patient accepting cancer and death from it solely for the glory of God. Now, that is God being glorified in our suffering.
“It’s the cancer patient accepting cancer and death from it solely for the glory of God. Now, that is God being glorified in our suffering.”
Amen!
stephen- i am in no way shape or form trying to stretch anything. Just trying to figure things out. I don’t have all the answers, not even close. I am trying to make sense of this all because honestly, my beliefs have not been challenged like they have been by reading these posts. I am just trying to make sense of it all, dig into the word, and “report” back on my discoveries…as i have said before, these discussions have been very beneficial for me and actually have motivated me to get the dusty bible off the shelf…
All – not sure if there is another article that this would be better to post this question/topic on, maybe justin’s “controversial” article, but I hear a lot of people say “conviction of the holy spirit” or that people “felt convicted”…like maybe by having a few drinks or listening to non-christian music, lol?
Have you heard people say that? I think it goes along with the “discernment” topic…what are your thoughts on it?
Keith – First of all, i totally know you were not trying to “stretch the word” i was reminded though, to warn you (and others) about that kind of usage of the bible, but i was also saying, a generic version of what Andy said, which was that Romans was dealing with a different issue.
Ya know, not to kiss Andy’s butt here, but he also reminded us, earlier in this conversation (the fb portion) that
“People in our generation are tired of ignorant faith. We want to know WHAT we believe and WHY we believe it”
and i think you point that out as well, that you care about this, and you want to get to the bottom of it!!!! I completely respect you for it, and praise God for the chance for this conversation. It has brought, through some rough patches, some real closeness with some of my friends. Friends that i have been close to for years, but only now started to grow with them, as Christians, as family, etc.
I welcome the questions, all of them, i welcome the curious heart, the teachable inquiring minds, who have a passion for the truth, and want to know they are doing what God wants of them, etc…
thats all any of us strive to do. so, Keith, please know that we care very deeply about these chats, and totally appreciate the questions, comments, etc…because none of us are above each other, we are just Christians who cannot settle with just simple “existing in…..whatever”
Just wanted to be clear that i wasn’t boxing you in, with the other point i was making!!
@ Everyone – Bare with me while i reflect on some things im thinking about…
Good use of words, “unteach” (now you know why i called my new band Unteachers)
That is the whole thing, its time to detox the thinking we have grown attached to, that just does not belong. This is a HARD task to swallow, there is comfort in having a home, in ignorance. Sometimes i get caught up in the past, at things that feel warm to me, only because of the reminder of the safely i once felt there, and then i wake up to the reality, that even though the truth is a much narrower path to find, much harder pill to swallow, that i must seek it out!!! I have to rid myself of the hang ups of mankind. How amazing is it, that we as people so easily forget the day to day struggle of completely mentally, physically, spiritually being completely sold out for Jesus Christ. How crazy is it that we forget how HUGE it is that Jesus was fully God, as part of the trinity, and that he became man, and washed feet, like a slave, respecting fellow man? Why would God do such a thing for us? Because of how much he loves us!!!! And we forget, every day, how much he loves us!!!! We can remember such mundane stupid things, because that is all we can relate to, and connect with emotionally sometimes, and so i am CONSTANTLY being reminded, that as i get older, i am less and less, and he is more!!!!
And i want to know more, and i want to fall in love with Jesus, and never forget what he has done for us all, and how this affects how we live, every day, every minute, and why we must trust the bible, why we must rid ourselves of foolishness, and lies, and deceit and just let God direct our wisdom!!!
At the heart of all of this is Gods grace. Without his grace, a word, i so foolishly ignored for my whole life, I cannot respect the fullness of what God has done. When grace is plugged into your thinking, and you realize what it really means, that God gives grace, you cannot help but go NUTS when people would rather cling to what they heard, or read. the doctrine (or lack there of) MATTERS, because of what God has done, and not how we distorted it, and allowed to remove aspects of it.
It breaks my heart to hear people say “You can believe in grace, or you can believe in free will, either way, your going to Heaven”
When I found out that Gods grace was the reason for my salvation, i felt like i wasted so many years, not thanking God for every day i had on this earth, sharing those days with my wife, and friends, and that i GET TO do what i do, its like making a great beer (cheap example), when you TRULY know what goes into creating it, you appreciate it so much more. Knowing how God created me and gave me the chance of being a part of his Kingdom, and it had nothing to do with me…..WOW…..
and so, wrapping this up, i GET TO learn, and i WANT TO KNOW why then, after all of this grace, God would piece this bible together for us, and we would dare argue it, or misuse it, or find comfort in ignorance!!!!
This is a great commentary. I, too went to a small Charasmatic Bible church when i was a brand new Christian. My pastor was a graduate of Rhema in Oklahoma, Kenneth Hagen’s school. There was a lot of name it and claim it going on, as well as an emphasis on faith. If you were’nt healed, folks said “where’s your faith?” which always ticked me off.
I don’t begrudge the church. I learned a lot there, but unfortunately I’ve had Rheumatoid Arthritis for over 18 years and have been praying daily for healing, often rebuking the devil and on and on. The desire for healing – as stated – is indeed powerful, causing a person to throw common sense out the window. Wanting to believe that God will heal me still drives me today and forces me to continue to pray for healing. I don’t think I’ll ever give up, but I also understand that healing can come in many forms. They have great medicines today. I’ll settle for a remission and continue to pray for others who are afflicted as well. Thanks for posting.
Personally I always prefer to see God’s will separately from individual’s motive and practice. God’s will is always to set us free from all bondage of sin. It is fact that the miraculous healing had happened during ministries of Jesus and apostles were unique in their perfection. So does this mean that the New Testament is changing over centuries in terms of its human service content? For me the answer is simple and No. What matter is the degree of our faith in revealing the power of God. Faith was even given high attention during Jesus services. There was time when Jesus could not happen miraculous healing due to problem of faith with people.
Born again nation are born to take the picture of human creation which had been existing before fall of Adam. That picture was free of any disease. Once some one is born again, s/he starts to live the New Testament life for his/her lifelong. New Testament is the real New Testament and revelation for every one who born again. This testament never changes over decades of centuries. It had an eternal purpose remains fresh and powerful yesterday today and forever. New Testament is the unchanging testament and truth of God which is full of deliverance. It is a New Testament which I belong to inherit. Even it should continue to happen throughout all seconds, minutes, hours, days….. of my lifetime. No need to analyze history to own the perfect power of God, rather to simply look Jesus on the cross in faith.
Joseph, Scripture doesn’t state faith as something that can be measured. If you have the gift of faith to believe in Christ then that is the faith sufficient to receive healing; that’s the problem of faith Jesus dealt with. He withheld God’s power from those that denied him, not those that simply lacked the correct “degree of faith”.
Also, to say that all we need is Jesus on the cross is paradox, true and false. Yes, the man on the cross next to Jesus was given faith in his last moments; however, this doesn’t give us an excuse to live a Christian life void of education. To do that would be to contradict Scripture like 2 Timothy 3:16 and Hebrews 11 among others.
We must always know what we believe and why we believe it. It must be tied to Scripture as the Bible commands.
Did Jesus say “We ought to spend our time praying for and seeking God’s glory in our suffering instead of only God’s glory in ending our suffering.”?