Chapter 7.
Healing and Salvation.
I have been talking a little about redemption and it
is to this I am going to return as a place to start this chapter.
When Adam sinned both man and his inheritance was sold
into bondage or slavery to Satan. God knew beforehand that this was going to
happen so, when he made the universe, he built into the fundamental operation
of the universe a law of redemption. Redemption is God’s answer to the sin of
man. Through redemption God is able to buy back, on man’s behalf, both man and
his inheritance, Earth.
So redemption, in the Bible, is a very important word
and it describes the whole plan of God to bring man and his inheritance back
into the eternal plan of God. As we have seen, at the heart of redemption is
the atonement. The atonement was the price paid to redeem man and his inheritance
back from Satan.
But redemption is not yet complete, we are awaiting a Day of Redemption when Christ will return again and fully complete the
transaction he has made. Until then we are in a sort of "half way house" as far
as redemption is concerned. The price has been paid, but the full release has
not yet come to pass.
Thus the Bible speaks of redemption in two different
ways, indicated by two different tenses. It says we "are redeemed" – past tense –
and this is because the price has been paid for our redemption so legally it is
done. We see redemption in this completed sense in this verse: In whom we have (past tense) redemption
through his blood, the forgiveness of sins (Eph 1:7).”
But equally Paul can talk of redemption as being
future: “And do not grieve the Holy
Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the Day of Redemption (Eph 4:30).”
In the same way, Jesus, talking to his disciples casts
redemption into the future: “When these
things begin to take place (referring to the coming of the Antichrist) stand up
and lift up your heads because your redemption is drawing near (Luke 21:28) - referring to
the Second Coming of Christ)
Paul describes this future redemption in more detail
in Romans 8: “The creation waits in eager
expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected
to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected
it (referring to the sin of Adam), in hope that the creation itself will be
liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of
the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in
the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we
ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait
eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies (ROM 8:19-23).”
Here Paul draws on Old Testament ideas concerning the
future redemption. He is using the Old Testament laws of redemption which
covered the release of slaves and property on the day of redemption in Lev 25.
These are also prophetically applied to the work of Christ is Isa 61. The “Day of Redemption” was the Day of Atonement
every 50th year and it came to speak prophetically of the day when
God and his Christ would come and redeem the world and mankind. Paul refers to
this: “…you were sealed for the day of
Redemption (Eph 4:30).”
So there is a future act of redemption when two things
happen together: First we human beings who are in Christ will receive our
resurrection bodies which Paul calls “the
redemption of our bodies”. When that happens we are fully adopted as God’s
children. There is a sense in which we are already God’s children but the full
manifestation of that waits until the Second Coming. The second thing that
happens then is that the earth is set free from its bondage. So both man and
his inheritance are set free together.
So redemption is a big word that covers both man and
his inheritance, the earth - indeed, the whole cosmos – and it indicates a process that has been underway
since the fall of man and will one day be completed at the Second Coming.
Christ has paid the price of redemption, but the process of liberation is not
yet fully complete.
SALVATION.
Moving from the big picture of cosmic redemption to the redemption of man in particular, the word the
Bible regularly uses to describe this is the word “salvation.” Thus we have a
definition: Salvation is that part of
God’s great plan of redemption that particularly applies to the redemption of
man.
The word “redemption” really deals with a legal status
– we were slaves but now we have been bought back by Christ and set free. The full meaning of being "set free" has not yet come to pass in our experience, but in principle it is legally so.
Salvation, however, is a word that deals with our
experience, not with legal niceties. It tells us that we have been set free in experience and brought
into a broad place of freedom. The Hebrew word for salvation actually means “to
be broad” – in the sense of being unconfined.
Thus the Bible talks of salvation in different
ways – three of them in fact.
First, if we are in Christ we are (past tense) saved: “He made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in
transgressions- it is by grace you have been saved…For it is by grace you have
been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God
((Eph 2:5,
8)).”
Then there is salvation as a
present experience: We are being saved: “Therefore,
my dear friends, as you have always obeyed- not only in my presence, but now
much more in my absence- continue to work out your salvation with fear and
trembling (Phil 2:12).”
And finally Salvation is future
thing: “…who through faith are shielded
by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed
in the last time (1 Pet 1:5).”
So again salvation, like redemption, is a process
which is not yet fully complete for us. One day we will receive resurrection
bodies and the process will be complete.
There is one more word that we need to understand in
this context and that is the word “Sanctification.”
Again this is talked of in past, present and future tenses. We are sanctified,
we are being sanctified and we shall be sanctified.
We are probably better to explain this by use of a
Venn diagramme. This represents the work of Salvation which comes in three
phases.
When we receive Jesus as Saviour we are justified, our
sins are forgiven and we are born again by the Spirit of God. Spiritually we
come alive again. This is the first step of salvation for us in our experience.
We are brought into the experience of having our sins forgiven – a broad place
of being cleansed by God. This is an event in our lives – it happens once for
all time and for all eternity.
Then we enter into a process which will go on for the
rest of our lives, a process called variously sanctification or transformation.
In this process God sets us free from the effects that sin has had on
our lives. Sin has damaged us in many ways. God wants to transform us into the
image of Christ his son. He won’t fully complete this process of change in this
life. A lot of this change is inner change, but it is not limited to the inner
man.
Finally, when Christ comes our bodies will be
transformed to be like his glorious resurrection body. This is usually called
Glorification. This will be an instantaneous event. We shall be changed.
Salvation covers all of these three – the event of new
birth, the process of sanctification and the event of glorification.
Another word we could use as a synonym with the end
product of salvation, is the word wholeness.
God wants to make us whole. We are in a process of being made whole. This process
is called sanctification: “May God
himself, the God of Peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole
spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
He one who called you is faithful and he will do it (1 Thess 5:23, 24).” Sanctification
needs to occur in all three areas of our being – spirit, soul AND body.
Most Christian interpreters seem to ignore this verse
when talking about sanctification and talk about sanctification as if it was
something that occurred only in our souls or spirits. Many have the belief that
our spirits are sanctified, made perfect, at New Birth. Such is not the case –
we continue to sin and sin pollutes and damages our spirit so it needs ongoing
sanctification and healing. But this verse also teaches a sanctification, or
wholeness, of “the body.” Paul is
not saying it has already happened, rather he is praying that it would be so.
He indicates it will not be fully so until the Second Coming, but we should be
experiencing this sanctification in greater ways progressively all the time.
Paul refers to God here as “the God of Peace” and this is significant. He is clearly thinking
of the Hebrew word shalom, which means “God’s blessing and wholeness in every
area of your life – physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, financial and so
on.”
Here is another verse that indicates this concern of
God for our whole life, not just our spiritual state: “I pray that you may be in health and that you may prosper, even as
your soul prospers (3 John 2).”
I want to focus now on the meaning of the word salvation.
The Greek word used is sozo (the verb - saved) or soteria (the noun – salvation).
Let’s look at two Definitions:
(i) Strong’s
Concordance: to save, deliver or protect (Literal or figurative) heal,
preserve, save (self), do well, be (or make) whole.
Thus salvation speaks of deliverance and wholeness for
spirit, soul and body. This is the full extent of our divine commission.
(ii) Vines
Dictionary of New Testament Words: The noun soteria is used of:
(a)
Material and temporal deliverance
* from danger, suffering, etc.: Matt 8:25, Mk 13:20,
Lk 23:35, Jn 12:27, 1 Tim 2:15, 2 Tim 4:18, Jude 1:5.
* from sickness: Mt 9:22.
* made whole: Mk 5:34, Lk 8:48, Jas 5:15.
(b)
Spiritual and eternal salvation granted immediately by
God to those that believe on the Lord Jesus Christ: Acts 2:47, 16:31, Rom 8:24,
Eph 2:5,8, 1 Tim 2:4, 2 Tim 1:9, Tit 3:5.
* of human agency in this: Rom 11:14, 1 Cor 7:16,
9:22.
(c) Of the present experiences of God’s power to
deliver from the bondage of sin: Matt 1:21, Rom 5:10, 1 Cor 15:2, Heb 7:25, Jas
1:21, 1 Pet 3:21.
* Of human agency in this: 1 Tim 4:16.
(d)
Of the future deliverance of believers at the Second
Coming: Rom 5:9.
(e)
Of the deliverance of Israel at the Second Coming: Rom
11:26.
(f)
Inclusively for all the blessings bestowed by God on
men in Christ: Luke 19:10, John 10:9, 1 Cor 10:33, I Tim 1:15.
(g)
Of those who endure to the end of the great
tribulation: Matt 10:22, Mark 13:13.
(h)
Of the individual believer who, though losing his
reward at the judgment seat of Christ, will not lose his salvation: 1 Cor 3:15,
5:5.
(i)
Of the deliverance of the nations at the Millennium:
Rev 21:24 (in some mss).
It means deliverance from every evil that obstructs or
hinders – salvation from sin, healing and deliverance. Sozo encompasses all
three areas – salvation for the complete human being. It means “to make whole.” Many people in church
today think of sozo only in terms of spiritual salvation. God offered the same
remedy for spiritual redemption, deliverance and physical healing, the remedy
is salvation.
The verb form Sozo is used in several ways in the New Testament:
(i). Rom 10:9 saved. – refers primarily, but not
exclusively, to forgiveness of sins, as do also: Matt 1:21, Acts 2:47.
(ii) Deliverance from demons: Luke 8:36.
(iii) Physical Healing: Mark 5:34, Jas 5:15, Mark 6:56
- “made whole” - includes restoration
of missing limbs.
(iv)
“Saved” (Rom 10:9) – same Greek word as “made whole” (Mark 6:56) – sozo.
It is used in the sense of “healed” – Mark 5:23, Acts 14:9
Or “made whole” – Mark 5:24, 28, Luke 17:19, Acts 4:9,
Mark 6:56. These include a physical healing.
Saved – Mark 16:16, Acts 2:21, 4:12.
Thus to
say “healed” and to say “saved” means the same thing. Jesus
demonstrated this identity in the story of him healing the paralytic: Some men came carrying
a paralytic on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before
Jesus. When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they
went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the
middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus.
When Jesus saw their faith, he
said, "Friend, your sins are forgiven."
The Pharisees and the teachers of
the law began thinking to themselves, "Who is this fellow who speaks
blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?"
Jesus knew what they were
thinking and asked, "Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? Which is easier: to say, `Your sins are
forgiven,' or to say, `Get up and walk'? But that you may know that the
Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins. . . ." He said to the
paralyzed man, "I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home."
Immediately he stood up in front
of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God (Luke 5:18-25).”
John G Lake put it
this way: “There are three kinds of sickness – sickness in body, sickness in
soul and sickness in spirit. If every person could be healed in their spirits they
would be healed in their body. The problem is cleaning up man’s spirit.”
Even in the Old Testament God revealed his heart for
complete wholeness for the entire person – Spirit, Soul & Body. The following
story demonstrates this double concern: “Then
the LORD sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many
Israelites died.
The people came to Moses and
said, "We sinned when we spoke against the LORD and against you. Pray that
the LORD will take the snakes away from us." So Moses prayed for the
people.
The LORD said to Moses,
"Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it
and live."
So Moses made a bronze snake and
put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the
bronze snake, he lived (Num 21:6-9).”
It was the serpents that brought
the sickness not the Lord – the Lord only permitted it.
The serpent on the pole is a type of Christ – we just
need to look and live: “Just as Moses
lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that
everyone who believes in him may have eternal life (JOHN 3:14, 15).”
“So Jesus said, "When you
have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am [the one I claim to
be] and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught
me (JOHN 8:28).”
This story is a picture of Calvary.
They were healed by looking at the serpent on the pole, not by looking at Moses
or the man with the healing gift.
When Israel
came out of Egypt
they came into God’s blessings and provision. In the same way when we accept
Jesus we enter into all the blessings of Christ paid for us at Calvary.
Sozo was prophesied for the new age in Joel: “And everyone who calls on the name of the LORD
will be saved; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem
there will be deliverance, as the LORD has said, among the survivors whom the
LORD calls (JOEL 2:32).”
Then we see this full salvation depicted in the
ministry of Jesus, he ministered into all three areas all the time – forgiveness
of sins, deliverance from demons and healing from sickness: “Jesus went throughout Galilee,
teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and
healing every disease and sickness among the people. News about him spread all
over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases,
those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and
the paralyzed, and he healed them (MATT 4:23, 24).”
And again: “Jesus went through
all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good
news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness (MATT 9:35).” This verse is written in the context of a
controversial deliverance Jesus administered. The summary
nature of these two texts, the repetition ,shows it is probably a quote from an
early catechism compiled by the apostles themselves to describe the work of the
master. His mission was thus to the whole man – mind (teaching), spirit
(preaching) and body (healing).
Finally, “…how God anointed
Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing
good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was
with him (ACTS 10:38).”
This was the normal method of his ministry – to preach
the kingdom, forgive sins, heal the sick and cast out demons. And he sent his
disciples out to do the same.
Sin and sickness…are both the result of the
disobedience of Adam and Eve. The two redemptive blessings Christ brought to
the world are salvation and healing – deliverance from sin and
sickness…provided by one sacrifice and by one substitute.
We do not need to tolerate sin in our lives because
Jesus bore our sins. Neither do we need to tolerate sickness in our bodies
because Jesus bore our sicknesses.
Salvation
(in the sense of forgiveness from sins) and Healing parallel.
Both involve a similar work of the Spirit and are
governed by nearly, if not exactly, identical laws.
We appropriate healing in the same way we appropriate
salvation, by faith in God’s word.
Only when you accept the finished work of redemption
can you be saved. If you wait until you feel saved you will never be saved.
This belief in the finished work of Christ did not come as part of the
inheritance of the Christian church without a struggle. It is a fruit of the
Reformation.
It is a mistake to attempt to bring a person to Christ
before there is clear knowledge of God’s promise of salvation. There is a
preliminary work of the Spirit that has to take place in the heart.
Instructions must be received.
It is the same for healing. Faith comes by hearing the
word of God.
It only takes a minute for a person to be saved once
the heart is prepared to receive Christ but it may take years to get there.
No one accuses a Christian of using deceit if the
repentant soul is urged to take God at his word and believe that salvation is
presently an accomplished fact. Yet in the matter of divine healing just such a
charge is made by Christians who are sincere, but untaught about this truth.
Two fateful errors:
- Though it is generally accepted that teaching has to take place before salvation. Often this is denied when it comes to healing. Too often the sick are prayed for without any teaching and it is resented if the minister suggests teaching is required first.
- Although people are encouraged to believe in the finished work of salvation (without evidence) they are reproached if it is suggested healing should be accepted in the same way.
Some receive with Joy and then fall away (Matt 13).
This is true of salvation – it is also true of healing.
It would be impossible to get the sinner to believe
unto righteousness before you had fully convinced him it was God’s will to save
them. Faith begins when the will of God
is known. Faith must rest on the
known will of God alone. Appropriating faith is not believing that God can,
but that he will.
Bosworth: Since faith comes by hearing the word of
God, then, if we expect the people to have faith to receive God’s divine
blessing of physical healing, we must teach them these scriptural truths which
alone can build faith for this blessing.
How many would be saved if they never heard a message
on salvation? Or, if when salvation is addressed, the main points expounded
were:
(i)
Maybe it isn’t God’s will to save you.
(ii)
Perhaps your sin is for God’s glory.
(iii)
Perhaps God is using this sin to chastise you.
(iv)
Be patient in your sin until God wills to save you.
(v)
The day of miracles (i.e. conversion) is past.
How many would be saved through
such messages? Yet this is the staple diet when healing is preached.
The real
problem is this: My people
are destroyed by lack of knowledge (Hos 4:6).” Because
we have not understood God’s word on the cause of sickness and the promise of
God to heal we put up with sicknesses
we don’t have to have.
The Apostle Paul tells us that
there are two possible ways we can live (Rom 8:1, 2). WE can live under the Law
of sin and death, in which sickness, sin, poverty and death work together.
Sickness is a manifestation of physical death and sin is the manifestation of
spiritual death. Those who live in sin will live under this severe law and will
live in the realm of sickness and death, poverty, oppression and bondage.
But there is a new law – a law of life. We Christians
are expected to live in the law of life. Paul doesn’t say we have a choice, in
the sense that we can choose to continue to live in the law of sin and death if
we like. As Christians we should live in the law of life, the Holy Spirit. But
we do need to choose to live in the new law or the old law will continue to
dominate. Only we can choose to leave the old law and live in the new law. It
takes a choice and it takes actions. If we don’t make the choice then it is
doubtful that our Christian stand was real at all: “You, however, are controlled not
by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And
if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ (ROM
8:9).” If
we continue to live dominated by sin and its effects then we are not controlled
by the Spirit of God. If this is the case we are not Christ’s at all!
In this context Paul talks about physical healing: “And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the
dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies
through his Spirit, who lives in you (ROM 8:11).” What does
it mean to be given “life to our mortal bodies.” If it doesn’t mean healing and
extension of our life into old age then it really doesn’t mean anything. It is
not talking about life in the next life – because our bodies will not be mortal
then.
Our problem is that our bodies are under a law of sin
and death and sickness is the result. Our bodies don’t need life unless they
are sick. Ease is health. Dis-ease is sickness. Flesh in the body is the sin of
a broken law in your body.
The Key: Rom 10:9 – confess with your mouth and
believe in your heart and you shall be saved.
Our confession will determine
which law we live in.
The devil will still test you to
see if you are an enforcer of your covenant rights. If you will enforce the law
of life in faith through prayer and declaration all the angels in heaven will
back it up. The enemy must bow to this law if we enforce it. Stand on God’s
word. God doesn’t just talk about freedom from sickness and poverty and
oppression – he calls it a law.
If I am a brother of the Lord then I am a bone of his
bone and flesh of his flesh and substance of his substance just like my elder
brother. The source of life in me is the same as was in him. Can you imagine
Jesus being sick? The same purpose revealed for him is also for us. When the
life of Jesus comes into you the death of your soul ends. When the Spirit of
God comes in your dead nerves come alive. God takes possession of the blood and
the brain and the bone. His quickening life regenerates you.
Salvation always has two aspects: We are saved FROM
and saved TO. We are saved from sin and the consequence of sin, which is death.
We are saved to his life.
There are four Greek words for life:
* Manner of life.
* Human life
* behaviour.
* Zoe – eternal life. The life of God.
The way to be full of faith is to be full of the life
of God.
When received in full measure zoe can do anything as
it is God’s life. God wants this life to manifest through us. It can transform
us.
Rom 5:10 – we are saved by his life (zoe).
We
always “carry around in our body the
death of Jesus, so that the life (zoe) of Jesus may also be revealed in our
body (2 Cor 4:10).”
Christ overcame death by the Spirit of God (Rom 1:4).
The last Adam, Jesus, became a quickening (zoopoizo) spirit
(1 Cor 15:45). (Greek zoopoizo - to give or preserve life.)
We have been given the same life (zoe) (Rom 6:23).
The law of the Spirit of Life (zoe) has set me free
from the law of sin and death (Rom 8:2).
Christ in us is life (Rom 8:10).
This brings life to our mortal bodies (Rom 8:11).
Rom 4:17 who quickeneth (NIV gives life to) the dead –
speaking of Abraham receiving back ability to have children.
1 Cor
6:20
“glorify God in your body and in your spirit” – both
are bought with a price.
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