Re: Healing the Sick

E: So i have a question for you. If you believe in modern day healings of God (that God Himself has the gift of healing) and that God will heal people directly, but not in God healing through daughters and sons to whom He has given a gift of healing (and/or anointing or authority), why do you expect imperfect people who are not all powerful - who have gift of healing - to heal 100% of the time while not expecting God Himself, the Almighty Creator of all, who has the ultimate gift of healing to heal every time? i see astounding inconsistency in this thinking but i invite you to please explain to me how this makes an ounce of sense :). Please chew on it and let me know what you come up with :).


V: God doesn't have the gift of healing, he is the Healer! And he is sovereign over his healing, meaning he chooses when, where, and how he will heal according to his purposes. So that is why I do not expect God to heal every time because I know he has purposes for healing or not healing. He can heal when someone has faith, and he can heal when someone doesn't have an ounce of faith and we see examples of both of these situations in the scriptures. And yes, he is all powerful, and nothing can stop him from accomplishing his purposes, and so if he purposes to heal, that is exactly what will be done. He's not waiting on anyone to come to enough faith to do what he desires to do, even though in some examples in the scripture, he says he healed people because of their faith. But how did those that were healed because of their faith get that faith to begin with? Is Jesus not the author and finisher of our faith? (Hebrews 12:2)

E: why do you expect imperfect people who are not all powerful - who have gift of healing - to heal 100% of the time while not expecting God Himself, the Almighty Creator of all, who has the ultimate gift of healing to heal every time?

V: Because while God did give the gift of healing to the apostles and disciples who were imperfect people, he was still the one sovereign over that gift and the power behind that gift, and so even though they were imperfect, the gift wasn't. When the disciples could not heal that one boy with the demon, it wasn't because the gift of healing was faulty, it was because in that instance, Jesus told them they lacked faith, and he wanted to make a point about that, that they need to be looking to him instead of the power of the gift. This was also before Jesus had died and been resurrected I believe, and we know the faith of the disciples grew greatly after they saw Jesus resurrected. But in that same story about the boy with the demon, Jesus also tells the disciples that if they just have the faith of a mustard seed, which we know is super tiny, then they can move mountains, so it's not about having some great faith that God can work through people to do miracoulous things. But apparently in this instance the disciples lack of faith was still the reason they couldn't cast out this demon and again, I think that's because Jesus was driving home the point to be looking to Him, and not the gift.

But with the exception of this boy with the demon, we see the disciples and apostles healing people without fail and completely, not partially, and it did not matter one iota how difficult the case was.

Where can we see the true gift of healing like this? And I don't mean hearing about it, but really seeing it. I want to see this:

Acts 5:12
12Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles. And they were all together in Solomon’s Portico. 13None of the rest dared join them, but the people held them in high esteem. 14And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, 15so that they even carried out the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, that as Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on some of them. 16The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all healed.

They were all healed! Not just some. And it didn't matter if some cases were more difficult.

E:Paul also while walking obviously in this gift failed to heal on multiple occasions including Timothy and trophemus as well as Himself. To me all of this speaks very clearly of a gifting that was not 100% effective in every instance for the disciples 2000 years ago and only a double standard would lead someone to expect the gift to be 100% effective for us today. In all honesty, what might you be saying to Paul today if He prayed for Timothy,Trophemus and Himself and none got healed, but he prayed for dozens of others who did? Would it be "Why why why Paul is there always stuff like this? Why Paul is your gift not 100%?". If Paul were here in 2015 with a healing gift that was effective 80% of the time, would you be thankful for this and excited about it (as i would be and am) or would you be cursing him for the 20% of the failures and demanding an explanation? My question to you is "why don't you accept the way God does things and believe?... including the way He Has always chosen to use His imperfect servants to share in His work and has never changed?" I believe that a correct shift in your thinking in this way would be truly transformational in the way you live out your walk with Him.

V: When Paul couldn't heal himself or Timothy or Trophemus he obviously did not have the gift of healing anymore. God's purpose for the gift of healing had been accomplished and now people were to pray and ask God for healing the same way they did before the gift of healing came. So I would have no charge against Paul. I understand completely why he could not heal Timothy or Trophimus or himself.

E: My question to you is "why don't you accept the way God does things and believe?

V: I do accept the way God does things. I accept that he had a time and purpose for the gift of healing, and that that purpose was fulfilled and now we are to pray to him for healing and accept when the answer is no as the apostle Paul did. Instead of following after false healers, we are to trust God alone with our healing, or lack thereof.

E: I believe that a correct shift in your thinking in this way would be truly transformational in the way you live out your walk with Him.

V: I say the same back to you. :)
Tweet