Dear Anonymous

I recently received a comment from an anonymous person on my post, "He Saves, He Heals."

This is their comment - "Please do more research on this topic.  Implying someone is sick simply because of sin is not Biblical.  There are examples of Jesus not healing.  John 5 is a good example. There was a crowd at the pool but Jesus chose to only heal one and slipped away unnoticed.  Nowhere does it say or even imply Jesus healed every sick individual he came into contact with.  Plus, Jesus' healing ministry was part of prophecy fulfillment as a sign of who He was.

The issue of Job also has to dealt with.  God ALLOWED him to be sick and to suffer.  It is very clearly laid out that it was not at all because of his sin.

There are several words from the original text that translate to 'heal' in English but some refer only to spiritual healing and not physical.  This is a deeply complicated topic and simply saying someone's in has made them sick is not Biblically correct and can do more harm than good."

Dear Anonymous;

I understand that this is taught in the churches. I understand that it is very painful to see people we love sick and there are many who have faith in God who have prayed and not received healing. And so we try to explain it away and say that it's just not God's will.  Please also know that I am not answering you with a desire to prove you wrong - but a desire that we might all find the truth.

We know that sickness came into the world because of sin and we know that all of us have sinned.  It is not condemning a person to say that all of our sickness is tied to our sin.  

In the passage in John 5 that you mentioned, it does not say that Jesus only healed the one man and slipped away. It tells the story of this man and then stops. It does say that there were others at this well and does not tell of their healing.  But in so many other passages of scripture it makes it clear that Jesus healed every single person who came to Him in faith. 

Their faith was the key.

Matthew 9:2  "And they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralytic, "Take courage, son; your sins are forgiven."" 

Jesus said, "Your sins are forgiven" and this healed the paralytic.  This clearly shows us a tie between our sin and sickness.  

Matthew 9:22  "But Jesus turning and seeing her said, "Daughter, take courage; your faith has made you well." At once the woman was made well." 

Matthew 9:29  "Then He touched their eyes, saying, "It shall be done to you according to your faith." 

Matthew 15:28  "Then Jesus said to her, "O woman, your faith is great; it shall be done for you as you wish." And her daughter was healed at once. "

Matthew 13:58  "He did not do many miracles there because of a lack of their faith."

And in John 20:30 we are told, "The disciples saw Jesus do many other miraculous signs which are not recorded in this book."  The Bible says over and over again that 'Jesus healed them all.'  He healed EVERY SINGLE PERSON that came to Him in faith.

Anonymous, you stated that " Jesus' healing ministry was part of prophecy fulfillment as a sign of who He was. "  Yes, it was.  

Jesus was/is God, who laid down His divinity and came to the earth as a man. He was baptized and filled with the Holy Spirit, as an example to us of how we should live after being born again and filled with the Holy Spirit. Romans Chapter 8, makes it clear that He was the first son and we are also children of God, just like He was.

Not only is it God's will that we be healed but God desires above all things that we walk in good health! "Beloved I desire above all things that you be in good health and prosper, even as your soul prospers." (III John 2) 

God not only wants us to walk in good health, He wants us to heal others, in His Name.

"And (Jesus) said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved, but he who has disbelief shall be condemned.  These signs will accompany those who believe; in My name they will cast out demons, they speak with new tongues, they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover."  Mark 16:15.

And in John 14:12, Jesus tells us, "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father."

The story of Job supports my belief.  The Bible tells us that Job was a righteous man.  He believed in God and was serving God.  His faith in God was credited to Him as righteousness.  

But in Job 3:25, Job states, "The thing I fear has come upon me."  Job's sin was fear. Sin opens the door in our lives for the enemy's attack.  God's law has to permit the enemy to attack us if there is sin in our lives. We could argue then that it is God's will for us to suffer but I think the heart of God is shown more when He restores everything to Job in double portion.  

But we now live in a more perfect covenant because of the blood of Jesus! Jesus paid the price for our sin. When He died on the cross He restored us to right relationship with Our Father God so that we might become 'sons of God.' And He bore our guilt and shame and our sickness on the cross so that we might be healed.  Salvation and healing mean the same thing.  You mentioned soul-healing.  Read III John 2 again.  Our physical healing is directly related to our soul healing.

When the enemy comes before God and wants to attack us, Jesus steps up and declares, "This one's mine! This one is covered in the Blood and MY righteousness and it is therefore illegal for you to attack them."  Once we get a revelation of this, we can fight back.  We can use our faith and the Sword of the Word to defeat the enemy.

My purpose in writing about healing is never to do "more harm than good."  My purpose is that we would realize the tie between sin and sickness and repent of sin. I have sin in my life. And the first thing I do when I become sick is seek God to find out why. Then I repent.  

I got very discouraged a couple of months ago and I got sick and could not get well. I had congestion, a sore throat and an ear ache that lasted for about 6 weeks. I knew, by the Holy Spirit, that it was tied to my discouragement but I did not know how to come out of it. I repented and cried out to God.

The next day a friend invited me to a weekend women's conference in another town. We went. Long story short, at that conference, God touched me in a mighty way and healed my discouragement. When the conference was over, I was also physically healed. And even more that that, I was completely refreshed and filled with new hope.

My sin was discouragement; a lack of faith and hope in God.  There could have been others there that did not receive the same touch of God. Our faith and need for God cause Him to act in our behalf.

Anonymous, I would encourage you to listen to the teachings at ibethel.org.  Bill Johnson's church in Redding, CA has been experiencing miracles and healings for many years now. Their sister ministry, IRIS Global, experiences miracles on a regular basis and when I found out about them about 10 years ago, had raised over 70 people from the dead. I'm sure the number is higher now.  

I listened to a teaching of Heidi Baker, the leader of Iris Global, several years ago.  She asked the group of African pastors she was speaking to, "How many of them had raised someone from the dead?" and every one of them raised their hand.  

Here in the United States, we have put our trust in money, insurance, doctors and our own knowledge. We are not desperate for God. We have not been in the position of having nothing but our faith in God to trust in. We have become luke warm.  And God tells us in Revelation that He will spit us out.

We get to choose. 

My hope is that you will seek GOD.  Not church.  Not someone else.  But GOD. My hope is that you will cry out to God for truth and earnestly seek Him.  He is a rewarder to those who seek Him.

love and blessings~

photo credit jonasclark.com