Divine Healing - Part 3 - People’s Precepts
[original text in italics]
Rules and traditions of men is a major cause of the unbelief and doubt that believers experience:
MARK 7:6-8 Jesus answered them, “Isaiah prophesied correctly about you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. They worship Me in vain; they teach as doctrine the precepts [rules, thought] of men. ’You have disregarded the commandment of God to keep the tradition of men.”
Here are a few precepts that are contrary to God’s word on healing:
1) “It’s not always God’s will” is a lie because the desire, nature, and character of God is to heal everyone:
MATTHEW 8:2-3 And behold, a leper came to him and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will [I desire it based on my nature, I will it]; be clean.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.
2) “Jesus could not do any mighty works in His hometown” is a lie because he did do some mighty works there. The reason he did not do many mighty works in his hometown is that people took offense and did not show up for healing. In fact, he healed all those he laid his hands on in his hometown. Also, everywhere else Jesus went, the crowds came to him and he healed them all there too:
MATTHEW 13:57 And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household.” And he did not do many mighty works there, because of their unbelief [distrust, unwilling to believe].
MARK 6:4-5 And Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household.” And he could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them.
MATTHEW 9:35 And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction.
3) “Paul’s thorn in the flesh was a sickness from God and God’s grace was enough for Paul to endure it” is another lie and a complete distortion of the scriptures. Upon careful observation, one will find that the thorn in the flesh was a spirit sent from Satan that energized people to stir up trouble wherever Paul preached. This was to strike down Paul’s ministry and the exalted revelations of Christ. It would be nonsensical for God to give Paul revelations and then hinder him from preaching them. Also, we see that God's grace was sufficient for Paul to take responsibility in resisting the messenger of Satan. Paul would bring deliverance to the situation and overcome, just as the scriptures also command us to do in our own lives:
II CORINTHIANS 12:7-9 And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness [a problem that deprives strength].”
In addition, the word "weakness" above is not used in any of the words we see for illness of body in MATTHEW 4:23-24 (see Devine Healing: It’s God’s Will). The word refers to a problem that deprives strength. When the context is health, then the problem that deprives strength is illness. When the context is opposition, then the problem that deprives strength is that oppression. The word has a connotation of something that makes weak. Therefore, the people stirring up trouble for Paul were there to weaken the preaching of the revelations of God. Remember that before this passage, Paul is rebuking the Corinthians for their pride and boasting. Paul then boasts about his sufferings, his problems that deprive strength, to show God's deliverance in all these situations. For more on this topic, see BLOG: Paul's Hardships Were Not Sicknesses.
4) Some believers who minister healing without success will shift the problem from their lack of faith to the recipients’ issues. To avoid humiliation, these ministers will blame sick people’s faith, sins, and generational curses, among other things. However, Jesus only scolded the disciples, the ministers, for failure rather than the sick (see MATTHEW 17:16-20). Additionally, by our faith in the name of Jesus, generational curses and people’s sins cannot hold them in bondage. The root of sickness is the devil and so is the root of anything that does not represent our God. In the end, Jesus heals all:
GALATIANS 3:13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us - for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”
JOHN 9:2-3 his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.
Therefore, we first set people free by the authority of Christ Jesus and the miraculous power of the Holy Spirit at work in and through us. Then, we disciple people to continue to walk in freedom. Unlike much of the church world, we do not disciple people into freedom first. The problem is not the person, but the devil. Therefore, we release power and command the devil and his works to depart from the person first. Then, we help them grow up into Christ Jesus. Essentially, what people call counselling needs to be 1) setting people free and 2) discipling them.
When it’s all said and done, healing will happen if at least one person has faith. It can be either the minister or the recipient as long as one of them believes without doubting.
Next we will look at various ways of releasing healing.