Category: Christian Life and Gospel Leadership

July 7 2020

The Armor of God

A. Scott Ingram Armor of God, Christian Life, Christian Life and Gospel Leadership, Gospel Leadership armor of God, deliverance, Gospel 0

In the last post I sought to explain that spiritual warfare does not begin with demonic manifestations and professional exorcists. Instead, the battle with the enemy begins in the mind. The Apostle Paul tells us that the weapons of our warfare are not fleshly, and he charges us to “take every thought captive to obey Christ” (see 2 Corinthians 10:6). In his letter to the Ephesians, he picks up this same theme when he tells them:

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.”
Ephesians 6:10-13

A Spiritual Enemy

In both of these passages Paul tells us that our enemy is not flesh, and therefore we cannot successfully do battle with weapons of the flesh. This is a call to grow in discernment (see Hebrews 5:14)!

In the modern world of news media and with videos recorded and distributed on every smart phone, it is the fleshly input filling our mind day-by-day that keeps us in a worldly mindset. Since we live in the flesh, we allow ourselves to be guided by the flesh rather than the Spirit, and that is disastrous.

The Lord’s command is to be in the world, but to understand that we are not of this world (see John 17:15-17 and James 4:4). We are not limited by the physical boundaries of this world, because we are united with the Lord, (1 Corinthians 6:17). We are spiritual beings, and we must learn to live from a higher place, in Christ, if we are to have success in this battle (see Ephesians 2:6, Colossians 3:1-4).

The Armor is Real

As we come to understand the spiritual reality of our own lives and that our enemy is not fighting us in the flesh, we will see that the “armor of God” which Paul speaks of is not just a symbolic metaphor or inspirational picture to guide our lives. It is, in fact, a spiritual reality which we must learn to step into each day!

I saw this explained, recently, in the book, “Deliverance and Inner Healing“, which states this fact better than I can. In the book Mark Sanford tells the story of a man called “Steve,” who:

“asked me why, for him, the armor of Ephesians 6 seemed so ineffective. Morning by morning he had asked God to outfit him with each piece, yet his tormentors’ arrows had not been extinguished.”
_{Sandford, John L, and Mark Sandford. Deliverance and Inner Healing. Chosen Books, 2008. Page 100}

Sanford goes on to explain that at the core of Steve’s issue was a “warped understanding of God’s grace” as he “was steeped in a doctrine that minimizes or eliminates the need for sanctification beyond the born-again experience. To him, therefore, the armor was no more than a magic wand to dispense with evil.” Sanford says that he had to explain to Steve that

“the armor is a literal reality and not just a metaphor… The one wearing the breastplate of righteousness, for example, is saying, ‘I don’t have to trust in my own goodness. I trust Jesus to be righteous for me.’ To wear the helmet of salvation is to say, ‘I don’t have to worry about what others think. I know who I am in Christ.”
_{Sandford, John L, and Mark Sandford. Deliverance and Inner Healing. Chosen Books, 2008. Page 101}

Stand Firm

The command, given to believer’s by Paul, is to put on the armor of God so that we can “stand firm” against every attack of the enemy. In Steve’s story, salvation was primarily about the next life. This mindset kept him in the flesh, and he didn’t see the armor of God as a literal covering for his spirit-man, which left him exposed to every “flaming dart” of the enemy in the present.

When we come to understand that right now we are living in a spiritual reality, and that every single day is a battle — that our enemy is bombarding us at every opportunity — we will finally understand the call to guard ourselves with God’s armor.

As believers living in the fallen world, we must understand that every thought that enters our head from the outside has the potential to be either empowered by the Holy Spirit or poisoned by the devil’s lies. When we listen to the Lord, “praying at all times in the Spirit,” He will guide us through life (Eph. 6:18). However, the culture has yet to be redeemed, and is still under the control of the ruling spiritual authorities. This allows “society” to be manipulated into willing evangelists for the enemy.

The Schemes of the Enemy

The world around us hits us, every day, with messages saying “God is dead;” “faith in the Bible is ignorant superstition;” “people are inherently good” and “it can’t be sin if you follow your heart.” The devil wants us to believe that mankind is the highest being in existence, and is therefore the sole determiner of morality and justice. The end result is to believe “only the strong survive” leading to the oppression of others, or to be guided by the philosophy, “just do what feels good” (see 1 Corinthians 15:32).

If we do not put on the armor of God, we will be knocked down by these subtle (and not-so-subtle) messages coming at us. That is why the armor of God, as we will come to see, is primarily a protection from the lies and condemnations of the devil.

We will see that as we wrap ourselves with the belt of truth, our armor will be held firmly in place when a false reality claims our attention. We will understand that as we put on the breastplate of righteousness, our heart is protected from the sinful desires and passions being promoted around us. We will learn that wearing the shoes of the gospel of peace will help us stand firm in a world of uncertainty, stress, and anxiety.

You are a spiritual being, and you are in a spiritual war. As you come to understand this reality, I hope you will be equipped to withstand the evil days ahead, and follow Jesus in a life of triumph over the devil and his tactics. You were set free when you were saved. Let us not return to the yoke of slavery in the kingdom of darkness. We will begin to actively arm ourselves with the “Belt of Truth” in the next post.

Let’s Connect

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Photo by Henry Hustava on Unsplash

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version^®, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.”

July 3 2020

Spiritual Warfare

A. Scott Ingram Armor of God, Christian Life, Christian Life and Gospel Leadership, Gospel Leadership armor of God, deliverance, exorcism, helmet of salvation, spiritual warfare 1

For many Christians around the world, this current season of COVID19 lockdowns, political uprisings, race riots, natural disasters, religious persecution and more has led to struggles with stress, anxiety, loneliness, shame, depression, and hopelessness. These external causes are leading to major internal effects. I do not believe this demonstrates a lack of faith, in believers, as stress is a normal part of life. I do see, however, a lack of understanding among many, that we are in a season of mass spiritual warfare! By looking at these issues only from the human perspective, too many of us are not realizing the stakes, and losing the battle.

Mindset Matters

Often in our ministry in East Africa, we are called to do ministry in the realm of deliverance and exorcism. Thanks to Hollywood portrayals, it is pictures of extreme demonic possessions that many people think of when they hear “spiritual warfare.” However realistic (or not) those portrayals may be, that is actually only a small part of spiritual warfare. The battle starts well before someone gets “possessed” and manifests those extreme displays. The most basic level of spiritual warfare begins in the mind.

We should realize that the Bible has a lot to say about our mindset, and the outworking thereof. Just notice the simple commands given to believers in the New Testament:

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
Romans 12:2

“…put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”
Ephesians 4:22-24

“(You) have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.”
Colossians 3:10

More could be listed, but I believe you get the point. The way we live out our new identity in Christ and become conformed to His image is directly tied to the continual renewing of our minds.

What You Behold You Become

There is a principle in scripture which teaches that “what you behold, you become.” This is true whether we are looking at holy things or at worldly things. As something continually grabs our attention, eventually it captures our hearts, informs our desires, and then becomes our pursuit. This is why the Bible tells us to think on Holy things, and to fix our eyes on Jesus!

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”
Philippians 4:8

“…let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith…”
Hebrews 12:1-2

“And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”
2 Corinthians 3:18

This is the starting place for believers to win the spiritual war. The devil’s attacks come against every person with one goal in mind: to steal, kill, and destroy us (John 10:10). So we shouldn’t be thinking of spiritual warfare only in terms of demonic manifestations, curses, and witchcraft. His schemes are much broader and much more crafty than that. If the enemy can capture our minds with false idols, fear and anxieties, or ungodly pursuits, he knows he can get a foothold in our lives.

Spiritual Warfare Begins in the Mind

The devil’s first front of attack is your mind. He wants to put thoughts in your head which lead to stress, anxiety, fear, etc. Just as he led Adam and Eve to doubt what God had spoken and led them in temptation to eat the fruit, He ultimately wants to take your eyes off of Jesus and all the promises of God over your life, and lead you into a place of distrust. Just look at every message coming your way from the world on any given day. The avenue doesn’t matter: news media, social networks, community gossip, political messaging, television and movie themes. The world system is designed to lead you to doubt the Word of the Lord, and turn your faith away from Him. As I have said many times, fear is faith in the devil rather than God. The same is true of anxiety, depression, hopelessness, etc.

The good news is that the Lord has given us the ability to withstand every one of these mental attacks which comes from the enemy! The better news is that it doesn’t require us to engage in facebook arguments or march and counter-march in major social movements. It simply requires us to bring every thought into submission to Him.

“For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.”
2 Corinthians 10:3-6

Once our minds are free from the devil’s mental and emotional attacks, we are free to step into the battle ourselves by intercession and prayer, and then acting on whatever the Holy Spirit speaks to us to do.

We Must Prepare Ourselves for Battle

When the Apostle Paul was giving his final charge to the church at Ephesus, he wanted them to be equipped for every form of spiritual warfare that would come their way. He warned them that this battle was going to come against them all, and that they must be prepared for battle.

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.”
Ephesians 6:10-13

Just like the Ephesian believers, I believe the greatest thing we can do as Christians today is to wake up every morning and make sure we are clothed in the full armor of God.

The Armor of God

As we enter this new blog series on spiritual warfare, this will be our aim, to dismantle the false armor the enemy wants to trick us into wearing, and to replace it, each day, with the armor God gives us to protect our mind, our emotions, and our actions in the world. Over the next few weeks we will look in detail at each piece of God’s armor and how it protects an aspect of your being:

My prayer is that by the end of this series, you will stand victorious over your fears, anxieties, depressions and hopelessness, in this current season and beyond. May God give us the grace!

You can make sure not to miss a single post by signing up for my weekly newsletter below. I would be honored to have you there. You can also connect with me on social media, to continue the discussion on living the Christian life and Gospel leadership. I am on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and now Parler! See you there.

Click here to go to part 2: The Armor of God.

Photo by Henry Hustava on Unsplash

June 19 2020

How to Pray for the Sick

A. Scott Ingram Christian Life, Christian Life and Gospel Leadership, Gospel Leadership, Physical Healing, Spiritual Gifts christian healing, Salvation 0

We have come a long way in this blog series on Christian Healing! We began with the biblical basis for healing, then discussed if healing should be expected today. We looked at the authority of all believers to heal the sick, and talked practically about “healing by command.” Shifting directions from authority to anointing, we looked at the Holy Spirit’s power for healing, and in the last post we discussed the biblical “gifts of healing.”

Now, finally, with the foundations having been laid, I hope you are ready to go after healing and begin praying for the sick, yourself! In this post, I want to share with you the most effective prayer model for healing I have ever seen. It is the one I have used when praying for the sick for almost a decade, and it is the one we teach to all of our churches and ministry partners in Sozo Ministries.

Are Prayer Models Biblical?

Before I give you the steps for praying for the sick, I first want to deal with the objection that prayer should be a spontaneous conversation with God, rather than a structured format to follow.

I do agree with that sentiment, completely. However, in the New Testament, as the disciples walked with Jesus and saw him doing public ministry, as well as observing His private life of prayer with the Father, they knew something was missing in their own prayer life. They asked Him, “teach us to pray,” at which point Jesus gave them what we now call “The Lord’s Prayer” (Luke 11:1-4).

That prayer was not intended to be used for repetitive, ritual recitations. Nor was it supposed to be a formula to get God to move on their behalf. It was simply given to them as a model to follow, as they began to pray to the Lord for themselves.

In the same way, the prayer model I will share is not a “repeat these words” kind of prayer, nor is it a “principle” to get God to do what you want. Instead, it is a method of thinking about praying for the sick, which enables a person to minister effectively.

I learned this prayer model in 2012 from Dr. Randy Clark, and it has forever changed my fruitfulness in the healing ministry.

How to Pray for the Sick

As you enter into a time of ministry to the sick, it is important to check your motivations from the outset. Although we do desire to see miracles for healing take place, our primary goal is that the person would experience the love of God working through us. It is never our goal to glorify ourselves or to “show off” with God’s power.

We must also understand that for healing to take place, we must be praying with faith that God wants to heal. We should never offer a quick prayer, saying “God, if it is your will, please heal this person.” That is not loving to the person, and it shows little faith.

Praying for the sick should be an earnest pursuit, seeking that God would touch this person and free them from the bondage of sickness and disease. These five steps will help you to do that.

Step 1: Interview

When a person was brought to Jesus for healing, He usually took time to question them, before jumping into pray. His question, often, was “what do you want me to do for you?” (see Luke 18:41).

We too must take time to interview the person needing healing, in order to find out what is going on and how they want us to pray. Begin by asking questions like:

How can I pray for you today?

What sicknesses or injuries do you have?
How long have you had this issue?
On a scale of 1-10, where is you pain level to begin with?
What is/was the cause?
What are the doctors telling you about this condition?
Do you take any medications for this?

The basic goal of this step is to try and understand what they want prayer for. We must join our prayer with their desires, and not our own.

Recently I was leading a healing crusade in a rural district in Uganda. A man came forward for prayer, who was walking with a cane, and had one foot twisted sideways by polio. A chair was brought for him, and I automatically assumed that this was what he wanted prayer for, so I knelt down to place my hands on his leg. Thankfully, I caught myself and as I knelt, I asked him, “how can I pray for you today.” He told me that he has suffered greatly with constant ringing in his ears, and was going deaf in one of them. He wanted me to pray for his hearing!

It took some time, and multiple prayers, but we did see this man’s hearing healed. Afterwards I asked if he wanted prayer for his twisted leg as well. Unfortunately, he wasn’t interested at that time. The thing I wanted to pray for was not his priority.

Listening to the person, rather than jumping to conclusions, is loving them. That is our first priority in any time of prayer!

As much as you are listening to what the person has to say in the interview time, you should also be listening to the Holy Spirit for His insight into the problem. For instance, some sicknesses may have roots in spiritual issues such as sin, bitterness, unforgiveness, emotional wounds, or even the effects of a curse or a demonic affliction. The Lord may give you words of knowledge or words of wisdom in how to deal with these issues.

Step 2: Prayer Selection

When we see Jesus and the disciples pray, there are two ways that they demonstrate for us. The first is a petitioning prayer. This is when we ask the Lord to heal the person. For example, “God, right now I ask in Jesus Name, that you would take this pain from my brother…”

The second way we see Jesus and the disciples heal is through the use of command, which we have already discussed in depth. This is when, rather than petitioning God to do something, we speak to the disease or injury in the name of Jesus, and command it to leave. For example, “In the name of Jesus, I command this pain to leave…”

Dr. Clark says, “A command is appropriate as your initial step unless you are led otherwise by the Holy Spirit…” This is especially true when there has been a word of knowledge given for their specific issue.

You would also use a command when there is evidence of a demonic power causing the affliction or in breaking a curse over the person. For example, “In Jesus name, I break the curse over this person, and command this afflicting spirit to leave…”

After you have interviewed the person and discerned what the Holy Spirit is saying, you should decide which prayer to begin your ministry time with. Don’t worry about making a wrong choice as you will likely be praying more than one time, and can change your approach as the Spirit and situation lead you.

Step 3: Pray

This step is pretty straight forward. Pray for the person using the style of prayer you chose following the interview.

Some tips for praying:

Instruct the person not to pray. Instead, they should be resting and positioned to receive from the Lord. They should also be paying attention to their body for any changes in their condition or other manifestations of the Spirit.
Keep your eyes opened during your prayer. Watch for any physical activity that may tell you if the Spirit is doing something.
- Sometimes in a prayer people will feel extreme temperature changes, especially in the pray-er’s hands. They may also be moved to laughing or crying. They may begin to shake. They may fall down. All of these have been viewed through Christian history as potential signs that God is working. Let it build your faith in your praying.
Always pray in Jesus’ name. That is where our authority to heal lies. By praying in His name, we are speaking with the authority He gives to us as His church.
If you are praying for someone with an unseen disease where an immediate healing would not be detectable, such as cancer or diabetes, you might opt to pray with a petitioning prayer, rather than using a command. Since there may be no manifestations taking place, and they will not know if they are healed immediately, your prayer time should be long enough that the person feels encouraged and loved through the time of ministry. Let them know your faith is with them for their healing.
If you are praying for a very evident affliction like one leg being shorter than the other or a visible tumor, you should begin by praying with commanding prayers, and watching for any change in the condition.
If you are praying for an unseen affliction, but where healing would be evident to that person, such as back pain or TMJ (popping in the jaw), you should pray shorter prayers and re-interview often to find out what they are feeling, if anything.

Step 4: Re-Interview

After praying for a short period of time, especially when commanding sicknesses to leave, you should stop often and re-interveiw that person. In this step you are trying to discern, if possible, whether healing is occurring. You want to ask questions like, “how is your pain level now?” “Are you feeling anything?” “Can you move it any more than before?”

If it is a physical affliction, where healing would be evident immediately, ask them to try and do something they couldn’t do before. They shouldn’t do something that will injure them worse, but sometimes the simple act of faith to make an attempt at something they couldn’t do before is the catalyst for their immediate healing.

It is important to understand that most often healing is not an instantaneous process. You may be ministering to one person for a good amount of time seeing a progressive healing take place a little more each time you pray. Be encouraged by this. Jesus, Himself, prayed for one blind man multiple times before he was healed (see Mark 8:22-25)!

During the re-interviewing process, you may need to ask further questions intended on probing at a deeper cause for a stubborn illness where no healing is taking place. For instance, if the person was injured in a motorcycle accident years before, perhaps they need to forgive the person who hit them before healing will come. People will not always be forthcoming with heart issues, so these things may take time to uncover.

One other thing to be aware of is that the demonic can play a role in sickness without the person realizing it. This would become apparent in cases such as the illness increasing in intensity or pain moving from one location to another. When this is the case, you should begin praying to cast out the spirit rather than praying about the condition.

When to Stop Praying

After you re-interview them, return to steps 2 through 4 again, as necessary. You may pray and re-interview many times during one ministry session.

I once prayed for a woman with pain in her neck, shoulders, and upper back, which she had carried for a few years. She began by telling me her pain was a 9. After three prayers, it finally moved down to an 8. Then a 7. Then a 5. Then a 4.5 and a 4. All in all, I ministered to this lady for more than half an hour before the pain had completely left (as well as a spirit of affliction, which became evident during the prayer). She walked away totally healed. I just kept telling myself, “Jesus prayed again, so can I.”

You should stop praying when:

The person is completely healed.
The Holy Spirit leads you to stop.
There has been no further healing taking place for some time, and you don’t feel led to pray any other way.
The person asks you to stop.

Step 5: Post-Prayer Suggestions

If the person has been healed, then all that is left to do is praise God together for this gift. Celebrate with that person, and reflect with them on God’s faithfulness and love for them.

If the person who has been healed had to walk through the process of repentance of sin or forgiveness of a past wound in order to receive salvation, remind them that God has set them free from that as well. They no longer have the right to return to their bitterness or sin. To do so, may in fact undo the healing they have just received.

Encourage the person to share their testimony of this experience. If possible, do so immediately in the meeting you are a part of, but if not, they should at least share with their family and friends what has taken place. As a ministry we make it a priority to record video testimonies of every major healing which takes place, if at all possible. When we cannot get the recording, we will try to get the basics of the testimony in writing.

If the person is not healed, remember that we must leave them feeling loved by God and by us. Encourage them that sometimes healing is not immediate and may still come following this time of prayer. They should keep praying and seeking God to grant them this miracle. Encourage them to seek prayer from others, and to continue to press in to God in intimacy.

If the person is holding on to some sin, unforgiveness or other issue that you feel is holding back their healing experience, then encourage them in the gospel and push them to seek repentance in that situation.

Never blame the person for their not being healed. While it is true that sometimes a lack of faith is the reason we don’t see healing occur, it is never our place to judge the level of faith in others. In fact, in Matthew 17, when the disciples were unable to heal an epileptic child, Jesus blames the disciples’ lack of faith, rather than that of the boy or his family.

Give them a scripture they can hold to, if one comes to mind, looking to the full promise of God for their life and eternity.

It’s Your Time

I hope that through this post, and all those leading up to it, you have had your questions answered and that you are feeling more equipped to pray for the sick. My final word of advice is “try.” As I shared in my own journey into healing ministry, I was praying for people every week for months before God brought the breakthrough moment and people began getting healed.

After Heidi Baker received the Word of the Lord that she would see the blind see, the deaf hear, and the dead raised, she prayed for the blind and deaf in her area of Mozambique daily for over a year, before any of them began to be healed.

I believe it was John Wimber who first said, “Faith is spelled R-I-S-K.” The only way you will begin to see people get healed is to take the risk and pray for them.

A note to pastors: The church should be a safe place for people to try out their spiritual gifts, be able to fail and make mistakes without condemnation, and to grow into all they are called to be in the Lord. It is your job to be equipping the saints to do the work of ministry (Ephesians 4:11-12). I highly encourage you that if you are functioning in the healing ministry, to also be equipping your church members to do the same.

Lets Connect

I would love to hear your thoughts or questions in the comments below. You can also join me on social media to continue the conversation there. You can find me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

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Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.”

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June 16 2020

Christian Healing: Gifts of Healing

A. Scott Ingram Christian Life, Christian Life and Gospel Leadership, Gospel Leadership, Physical Healing, Spiritual Gifts divine healing, healing anointing 0

In the last post, we discussed the “power gifts” of the Holy Spirit and how a person may receive those special anointings. Now, we will dig a little deeper into understanding the “gifts of healing,” which is one of the nine anointings or “manifestations” of the Holy Spirit listed in 1 Corinthians 12:

To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.
1 Corinthians 12:7-11

Healing Gifts

To understand the healing anointing, we must see that a person does not receive “a gift of healing.” Instead, the word gift is plural. The anointing is for “gifts of healing.”

This is an interesting distinction in how the gifting for healing has been viewed in the 20^th century where certain leaders claimed to carry the healing gift as though it is an official position. We have seen many famous evangelists take on the title of “divine healer” or “the man of power.” Unfortunately, there is not an office of healer in the New Testament.

There is Not an Office of Healer

The five spiritual “offices” given in the New Testament are apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. This is often referred to as the fivefold ministry. The Bible says these are unique callings placed on certain people by Jesus Himself, rather than by the Holy Spirit as in 1 Corinthians.

But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore it says, ‘When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.’ …And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers…”
Ephesians 4:7-8,11

These “offices” are directly tied to the long-term discipleship and empowerment of the church (see Ephesians 4:11-16), and should therefore should be considered as God-given job descriptions rather than hierarchical titles to go in front of our names.

Healing vs Prophecy

To better explain, let me divert from healing for a minute…

What you may notice in the two scriptures above is that there is a calling of Prophet given by Jesus in Ephesians and there is also the gift of prophecy given by the Holy Spirit in 1 Corinthians. These two things are not the same!

When Paul writes about the gift of prophecy and its use in the church, he says, “you can all prophesy one by one” (1 Corinthians 14:31). The implication is that every member of the church can, at times, give prophetic utterances from the Lord. That is the gift of prophecy from the Spirit. This does not mean that all believers were Prophets by calling/office.

Office Prophets have an assignment on their lives to lay the directional foundations of the church and nations (Ephesians 2:20). Their prophetic gift is constantly at work in Christ, and their revelation is often much deeper than an “occasional” gift of prophecy received when someone comes under the anointing.

The reason I divert to prophecy is because this distinction between giftings and offices is important in understanding how the gift of healing works. Contrary to prophecy, healing does NOT connect directly with a spiritual office given by Jesus. As I said before, there is not an office of healer (remember, we all have authority to heal!).

This becomes foundational to understanding why there are multiple “gifts” when the Holy Spirit brings His anointing for healing.

Various Types of Healings

As I have read the writings of various ministers, contemporary and historical, who are each recognized for their healing gifts, there are differing opinions for why the “gifts” are plural.

One explanation is because there are various types of healing which can be received, such as:

physical wounds like broken bones or open lesions,
bodily infirmities like HIV or diabetes,
mental illnesses like schizophrenia,
emotional illnesses like anxiety or depression,
soul sicknesses, such as issues coming from traumatic experiences or abuse
spiritual sickness, often coming from demonic strongholds and torments.

Another explanation is that there are various means by which God brings healing, such as:

The laying on of hands,
Anointing with oil
The word of command,
Anointed items such as Paul’s prayer cloths,
Anointed presence such as Peter’s shadow, or
Inspired human wisdom in medical professionals.

Every Healing is Another Gift

While those explanations are mere speculation, there may be a lot of truth to them, and they are very helpful observations. Still, I prefer a much simpler explanation.

I believe that the reason Paul uses the plural “gifts” when discussing healing, is because each healing that takes place is a distinct gift being given to the person healed.

That means that I, as the minister, do not receive the gift of healing. Instead, when operating in this anointing of the Holy Spirit, God uses me to deliver His gifts of healing to those in need.

If someone gets healed of cancer, that is their gift. If someone gets healed of three broken ribs, they have received three gifts of healing. Each sickness or condition God heals is another gift!

God’s Delivery Person

What I like about this understanding, too, is that it removes the pressure from me as the minister. I am not the one with controlling the gift, and therefore do not have to feel the pressure on me to perform.

Instead, I am simply acting as the delivery man, who gets to bring God’s gifts to people as He chooses to distribute them. It is His good pleasure and His timing; not mine! (Side note: this is why the gift of Word of Knowledge is often connected with healing.)

When someone is healed of anything, we give God all the praise. When someone is not healed, we learn to press in to Him more and more for His gifts!

Pursuing the Gift to Get the Anointing

As we said before, the gifts you receive will be determined in large part to how you are pursuing God and how you are seeking to love others. God seems to give healing anointing to those who are praying for the sick. (And unless you pray for the sick, you cannot know if the anointing is there in the first place!)

In the next post we will talk about how you can directly pursue this gift by stepping out and praying for the sick! Until then, I would love to hear your thoughts or questions in the comments below.

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June 2 2020

Christian Healing: Pentecostal Power

A. Scott Ingram Christian Life, Christian Life and Gospel Leadership, Gospel Leadership, Physical Healing, Spiritual Gifts healing anointing 0

Up to this point in this series on Christian Healing, I have shared my journey into the healing ministry; discussed the foundations of Christian healing in the Bible; looked at whether healing is for today; and spent a few posts discussing the authority of every believer to heal (here, here, and here).

In this post, I will begin to shift the focus from the authority of all believers to heal, and begin to look at the special anointing for healing given in the Bible, to some believers. It is in this and the next post that we will discuss the empowerment of the Holy Spirit which multiplies the believer’s authority for the church age, and the “gifts of healing” spoken of by the Apostle Paul in His letter to the Corinthian church.

Understanding God’s Anointing

Right before Jesus left this earth, He told his disciples:

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Acts 1:8

This “power” was something different than the “authority” which He had already given them to proclaim His Kingdom, heal the sick and cast out demons (Matthew 10:1). This power was something new; something they had not yet experienced.

In the greek text, the word “authority” is “ousia” which, according to one dictionary, means, “a state of control over something” or the ability to “command, control or govern.”

This is in direct contrast the the word for “power,” which is ”dynamai” in Acts 1:8, which comes from the root word “dunamis.” According to the same dictionary, this word means the“potential for functioning in some way, power, might, strength, force, capability… specifically, the power that works wonders.” This greek word is where we get our English word, dynamite. This is an explosive power, much bigger than can be contained in ourselves.

I have stated before that while both of these are gifts for believers which come from God, I do believe they are received in different ways. Authority is given by Jesus to all believers. This is why He can command His disciples to command others to do the same things He commissioned them to do (Matthew 28:18-20).

Power, on the other hand, is given through the anointing of the Holy Spirit, and each believer will receive different aspects of His anointing, as their specific needs, callings, and even pursuits will determine. While all have the authority to heal, not everyone will have His anointing for the healing gift.

How the Anointing Comes

Jesus directly tied the power-anointing to the coming of the Holy Spirit. This was something He had promised many times in His earthly ministry. (See, for instance, John 16:4-15.) Whereas Jesus was Emmanuel – “God with us” – the Holy Spirit’s presence would be different. He would be “God in us.” This would be the divine union of God and mankind, which up to that point, had only been seen in a select few prophets and leaders in Israel’s history. This would be the fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy:

“And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit.”
Joel 2:28-29

As Jesus left the earth, His final instruction to the disciples was to wait in Jerusalem for the Holy Spirit to bring this anointing on them (Acts 1:4).

The Day of Pentecost

Finally, on the day of Pentecost, 40 days after Jesus had been crucified for the sin of the world, God released the Holy Spirit on His church with that power. We read about this in Acts 2:

When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Acts 2:1-4

As they take this Holy Spirit party to the streets, there is a lot of commotion in the crowd. People are hearing these uneducated Jews speaking in various languages; proclaiming the Kingdom of God. This spectacle was too much for many in the crowds, leading some to believe they were drunk and rambling, but Peter stands up and announces that this is the fulfillments of Joel’s prophecy.

In a matter of minutes, this new power from on High escalated the effectiveness of the Apostles ministries beyond anything they had seen before, and that day, over 3000 people chose to give their lives to Christ.

The Power Gifts

As time went on, the Apostles learned to follow the Holy Spirit’s leading and came to understand more about ministry under His anointing. They began to share this knowledge among the churches. The most famous passage regarding the Holy Spirit and His giftings was from the Apostle Paul to the church at Corinth:

Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed… Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.
1 Corinthians 12:1, 4-7

Paul goes on to list 9 particular gifts He had seen in use (though other gifts are listed elsewhere in the Bible.) These gifts are:

words of wisdom,
words of knowledge,
gifts of faith,
gifts of healing,
working of miracles,
prophetic utterances,
discerning of spirits,
various forms of tongues, and
interpretation of unknown tongues.

The word for “gifts” here is the Greek word, “charis” or “charismata” which can be interpreted as “grace-gifts.” The same dictionary refers to them as, “special gifts of a non-material sort, bestowed through God’s generosity on individual Christians.” It is from this word for gifts that we get our word “charismatic.”

Everyone Gets Power; Just Not The Same Gifts

Paul makes it clear that although all believers were to be filled with the Holy Spirit and walking in His power, the particular gifts each one receives were determined based on the individual.

While it is impossible to clearly articulate all the reasons God would choose to give some gifts to certain believers, and not to others, I do believe scripture gives us some clear understanding on a few of these reasons.

Gifted For Our Calling

The first reason is that our gifts will likely be suited to our specific calling in God’s service. For instance, scripture seems to record that the first Apostles were able, at times, to act in every one of the gifts, though they likely did not walk in every gift all the time. This makes sense, since the Apostles were foundational in establishing every part of the church.

It therefore makes sense to me that other callings would also receive gifts from the Holy Spirit, specific to their role in the body. I think of evangelists who work primarily with non-believers. Their calling would likely make use of gifts of prophecy, healing, or working miracles, to demonstrate the power of God. Pastors, on the other hand, might be better served by gifts like word of knowledge or word of wisdom, as they instruct the body of Christ to become more like Jesus. Intercessory callings, as well, would need gifts like tongues and interpretation of tongues.

I know that I am speaking hypothetically, as I cannot prove this theory from scripture. My point, however, is not without some basis in the writings of other ministers. Dr. Randy Clark, for instance, lumps the giftings together into groupings, which he sees as being interconnected for similar purposes.

Gifted for Our Season

The second reason a person might get particular gifts is that Holy Spirit might distribute certain ones to you based on the season He created you to minister in.

History has taught us that although all of the gifts of the Spirit have been active in every age, there are seasons in which some gifts take priority on the larger, global stage. Think about the great healing revival that took place in the U.S. and spread around the world in the 1950’s, or the restoration movement of the prophetic gifting in the 1980’s. Other gifts were still taking place in those seasons, but as God gifted certain ministers with stronger anointings in these giftings, it was directly linked to what He was doing on a large scale in that season. His global purposes in those seasons demanded more of one particular gifting than others.

Gifted Through Impartation

A third way a person receives particular giftings, is through the transference of anointing from another minister. I won’t take long to discuss this here, as I have shared in depth on the subject in a podcast episode. Suffice it to say that gifts of the spirit being passed through the laying on of hands, is a foundational teaching of the church (see Hebrews 6:1-2) and one that is demonstrated repeatedly in scripture (for example, 2 Timothy 1:6 and Romans 1:11).

Gifted Because of Our Desires

A fourth determining factor, and the one I put more stock in than the other theories, is that God distributes His giftings based on the passions and desires of the one receiving.

Paul says in 1 Corinthians 14:1,

Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy.

And again in verse 39,

So, my brothers, earnestly desire to prophesy…

If Paul, two chapters earlier tells us that gifts are given at the sole discretion of the Holy Spirit, why then would he tell the believers to “desire” specific gifts, unless their desire plays into the gifts they receive?

The word, “desire” means, to “be positively and intensely interested in something, strive, desire, exert oneself earnestly, be dedicated” to that thing. It carries the weight of English words like “be jealous for,” “burn with desire for,” or even “to lust after,” if it is possible to read lust without a sinful connotation.

Paul tells us very clearly that the Holy Spirit determines which gifts we get, and therefore, we need to live our lives with such passion for His works in our lives, that He will give us the gifts we are seeking.

Jesus Himself said,

For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!
Matthew 7:8-11

As a good Father, God responds to our desires when they are glorifying to Him.

Seeking an Anointing for Healing

To bring our focus back to the matter at hand — an anointing for healing — I think there is one undeniable way a person can receive an anointing for healing from the Lord: Go out and pray for the sick!

You can pray for the gift. You can study the gift. You can read every one of my blog posts on healing. You can follow others with the gift of healing. You can attend healing schools and healing conferences. And all of those things may be helpful to you in one way or another, but until you begin to actually move in such a way that gives the Holy Spirit the opportunity to anoint you and use you for healing, it will never happen.

The healing anointing comes when we are actually seeking God’s power to heal the sick. That is how we show the Lord we are serious. We take the risk, and expect Him to meet us in the moment.

In my experience, when our desire is to serve His Kingdom with His power and gifts, He makes a way for us to grow in those gifts and anointing. As I shared before, I was praying for the sick every week for months when I lived in Haiti, and no one was getting healed. I began reading books and watching videos, trying to learn more about how He works this gift, and God met me through it all. My desire for healing moved God’s heart and He directed me to Dr. Randy Clark’s conference, where I received an impartation, and I began seeing healing the next week when the blind man in South Sudan received his healing. The gifting has continued to increase exponentially since that time.

What About You?

In the next post, we will look specifically at the “gift of healing” and how it works in the body of Christ. For now, I just want to ask you: what gift of the Holy Spirit are you burning for? If you could have any of His power gifts discussed in scripture, which one would it be, and why? Are you pursuing it? Are you studying how the gift works and looking for opportunities to learn from others in that area? Are you taking risks, and stepping out in faith to see what God might do? That is the way you are going to find His anointing coming upon you!

Whether it’s healing you are seeking, or not, I would love to hear about your pursuit in the comments below.

As always, I would also love to connect with you on social media (Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter ) and it would be my honor to have you subscribe to my weekly newsletter which goes out every Sunday morning.

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May 27 2020

Christian Healing: Authority and Anointing

A. Scott Ingram Christian Life, Christian Life and Gospel Leadership, Gospel Leadership, Physical Healing, Spiritual Gifts christian healing, deliverance, Salvation 1

Over the course of the last two posts I have discussed how we as believers have the authority from Christ to heal the sick, and looked at how to practice that authority through ‘command’. While there is an indispensable need for the body of Christ to understand that authority as foundational to healing, we will now begin to turn our attention to the multiplied fruit of healing which comes through the anointing of the Holy Spirit.

In order to understand how the authority of the believer is compounded to accomplish more in the here and now, than we could ever have thought possible, let’s first recap where we have been so far.

Healing was Anticipated in the Promise of Messiah

It could be argued that the promise of healing began in the Old Testament, as soon as sin entered the world. Through the protoevangelion (first gospel) in Genesis 3:16, God promises a redeemer who would undo all of the works of sin and destroy the devil. As sickness was introduced in the fall of man, healing is a necessary part of the restoration God would bring through His coming Savior.

All throughout the Old Testament, then, this promise of healing is repeatedly tied to the Messiah who would save the world from sin, heal their sicknesses and disease, and deliver mankind from bondage to the devil and his kingdom of darkness. In previous posts we have already looked at God’s revealed name of Jehovah Rapha, and the promise of healing in passages like Psalm 103 and Isaiah 53. We won’t take time to do that again here.

Healing Starts in The Atonement

The realization of all of God’s promises came through the sinless life, sacrificial death, and resurrection of Jesus. This is stated explicitly in 2 Corinthians 1:19-20.

For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you… was not Yes and No, but in him it is always Yes. For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.

Therefore, it comes as no surprise that Jesus stood in the synagogue at Nazareth and declared, in Luke 4:16-21, that He was the fulfillment of all Messianic prophecy, and specifically those listed in Isaiah 61. We have looked at those verses already in the previous posts. I won’t dig into them again.

Sozo – Complete Salvation

Even the greek word for “saved” in the New Testament — “sozo” — is an all encompassing term for the fulfillment of the promises found in Jesus’ atonement! (What a great name for a ministry…)

The Concise Greek-English Dictionary of the New Testament defines sozo this way:

σῴζω – save (of Christian salvation); save, rescue, deliver; keep safe, preserve; cure, make well.
Newman, B.M., Jr., 1993. A Concise Greek-English dictionary of the New Testament.

To make it as simple as possible: the atonement of Jesus Christ offers ‘complete salvation’ to those who come to Him by faith. That is salvation from sin, healing in their physical bodies, and deliverance from the power of their enemy, the Devil. To remove any one of these fulfilled promises is to remove power from the cross!

Healing Authority is Your Inheritance

Knowing that Jesus purchased our healing, we then turned our attention to the fact that He passed the authority to heal on to His first apostles, other disciples, and then to the whole church.

He did not just talk about healing as something which was available through Him. He commanded believers to put that authority into action by healing the sick. Just as He spoke to diseases to leave and ordered bodies to be restored, He commanded His followers to do the same. This command was clearly one which the New Testament expected to continue throughout the church age (Mark 16:15-18).

All believers have not only been promised healing in our own bodies, but have received the authority to extend Christ’s healing to others who come by faith and receive! It is a universal promise within the body of Christ!

Healing Anointing Multiplies the Fruit

The authority of all believers to heal in Jesus’ name is amazing enough, but that is not the full extent of Christian healing in the New Testament! As my spiritual father, Dr. Randy Clark always says, “there is more!”

As I have sought the Lord to understand the healing gift, the Holy Spirit spoke to me recently and said:

“While all believer’s have the authority to command healing, and all believers carry the inheritance of My atonement – salvation, healing, and deliverance – the ‘charis’ gift of healing, and the anointing to heal is reserved for those who are hungry and pursuing.”

He explained to me that although the authority to heal is there for all people, it is through the anointing of the Holy Spirit that He amplifies everything His blood purchased, “on earth as it is in heaven.” Yet it is up to us to seek Him for the more of His anointing.

Remember, before Jesus left the earth He had already given the disciples authority, yet he told them to wait for the Holy Spirit to empower them before they began to minister:

And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
Acts 1:4-5

It is through the empowering of the Holy Spirit which God releases His special grace-gifts into His church. As we seek Him for His anointing to heal, there is a compounding effect on producing fruit.

Simply put, while all can heal the sick, even more people will be healed as we pursue — and receive — the power of God in the Holy Spirit, and receive the “gifts of healing” He distributes to His church!

This is what I discovered early on, in my journey into the healing ministry. There is a common grace for healing in the church (authority), yet the easiest way to see fruit is to partner our authority with His anointing. After the prayer of impartation from Dr. Clark, I received a Holy Spirit anointing to heal the sick and immediately blind eyes were opened, the lame walked, and since then, the healing miracles have continued to increase in my ministry, more and more.

What About You?

As we have laid this foundation for healing already, and have discussed the authority of all believers for healing, in the next post we will dig deeper into this anointing and the Holy Spirit’s “gifts of healing.”

I do hope that through these posts you are already growing in your faith for healing. I believe that as we all come into an understanding of the role of the Holy Spirit to fully empower us in this work, that it will be the first step in launching you into the healing ministry. Stay tuned…

For now, I would love to hear your thoughts and questions in the comments below. If you are enjoying what you’re reading, I would be honored if you would subscribe to my weekly newsletter below! You can also join me on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to stay up to date what everything the Lord is doing in my ministry. I would love to connect with you there.

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May 22 2020

Christian Healing: Healing By Command

A. Scott Ingram Christian Life, Christian Life and Gospel Leadership, Gospel Leadership, Physical Healing, Spiritual Gifts Commanding Sickness, Gospel 6

In the last post, we discussed the believer’s authority to heal, and primarily the transferring of that authority from God, through Jesus, to His disciples and the church. We said that the practice of the believer’s authority is linked directly to the believer’s level of belief in God’s desire to heal. In this post, we will now turn our attention to the practical side of the authority to heal, and discuss how it is our privilege to command sickness and disease to leave, in Jesus’ name.

Once again, we look first to Jesus as our example in healing the sick and practicing authority. What stands out to me is that in the gospels, whenever Jesus healed the sick, it was always accomplished in one of two ways. He either healed by physical touch or he healed by commanding the disease to leave.

The act of laying on of hands in scripture is always a physical outworking of the anointing of God on a person, through the power of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, when Jesus laid hands on someone, I believe it was a practical example of healing through the anointing, which we will discuss in a future post.

For now, I want to focus on Jesus’ practice of commanding or rebuking sickness in people’s bodies, which, instead of demonstrating His anointing, was a manifestation of His authority over the power of sickness and death.

Commanding Sickness is Demonstrated by Jesus

Over and over again in the Bible, when Jesus heals the sick, we see Him do it through a verbal command, either toward the sickness itself, towards a person’s body, or towards a demonic spirit which was causing the disease.

Jesus Commanded Diseases to Go

One of my favorite phrases in the New Testament is “…Jesus rebuked…” This is used in reference to all sorts of earthly phenomenons, such as calming storms, yet most commonly we hear it in regard to sickness. For example, not long into His earthly ministry, Jesus meets Simon Peter’s mother-in-law, who has been sick for some time.

And he arose and left the synagogue and entered Simon’s house. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was ill with a high fever, and they appealed to him on her behalf. And he stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her, and immediately she rose and began to serve them.
Luke 4:38-39

Jesus doesn’t pray for the woman. He doesn’t implore God to heal her. Instead, He speaks directly to the disease and commands it to leave her body. In His authority from God, He spoke and the disease responded by leaving! Remember, Jesus said that He did nothing, except what God revealed to Him to do (John 5:19). That means that as Jesus healed every sick person around Him, it was God’s will being fulfilled!

Jesus Commanded Bodies to Receive Healing

Not only do we see Jesus speaking to disease to leave people’s body, but we also see Him speaking to people’s bodies, commanding them to recover from their physically broken state. Take, for example, His healing of the blind man, Bartimeus:

And Jesus stopped and commanded him to be brought to him. And when he came near, he asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” He said, “Lord, let me recover my sight.” And Jesus said to him, “Recover your sight; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him, glorifying God. And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.
Luke 18:40-43

As Jesus spoke to bodies, they responded to His authority, and recovered.

Jesus Commanded Demons to Leave

Another demonstration of Jesus’ authority to heal people was in His rebuke of demonic spirits that were causing sicknesses and diseases. Remember, disease and demonic torments are both results of mankind’s fall into sin. Therefore, the sinless Son of Man has authority over all these things. Take the example we discussed in the last post, of Jesus healing the epileptic boy, after His disciples could not:

While (Jesus) was coming, the demon threw (the boy) to the ground and convulsed him. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit and healed the boy, and gave him back to his father.
Luke 9:42

In Jesus’ ministry, we see Him commanding disease to leave in all forms! Jesus commanded invasive sicknesses, like viruses and infections, to get out of people’s bodies. He spoke to people’s bodies to be healed of their own brokenness, like blindness and deafness. He also took authority in the spirit realm, which caused many people’s afflictions, and not only healed them, but also got rid of the tormenting spirits.

Jesus’ Disciples Also Healed by Command

From this discussion, we might well conclude that Jesus’ authority to heal was all-encompassing! However, it did not stop with Jesus. When He gave His authority to His disciples, they responded by practicing their authority in the same ways He did.

Jesus’ Disciples Commanded Diseases to Go

As we have already talked about previously, the Bible records that before Jesus ever gave His Holy Spirit to the disciples, He transferred His God-given authority over sickness and disease to them!

And he called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal… And they departed and went through the villages, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.
Luke 9:12 and 16

Although this verse doesn’t specifically say they “rebuked the sicknesses” verbally, there is no implication in Jesus command or in their practice that says they were praying for the sick and asking God to heal. It was the disciples who were healing, with the authority Jesus gave them. As disciples following a Rabbi, they most likely did this the same way He demonstrated.

Even after Jesus left this earth and gave them the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, the Bible still records that the Apostles were the ones active in healing people. They weren’t praying and asking God to do it.

Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles (not by the hand of God). And they were all together in Solomon’s Portico…The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all healed.
Acts 5:12 and 16

Jesus’ Disciples Commanded Bodies to Receive Healing

In the same way that Jesus spoke to people’s bodies to recover, the Bible records the disciples doing so as well. One example is the first miracle after Jesus gave the great commission and left. While going to the temple to pray, Peter and John healed the lame beggar, sitting at the gate of the temple courts:

But Peter said, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!”
Acts 3:6

Peter spoke with authority, in Jesus’ name, and commanded the man’s body to function correctly. And it did!

Jesus’ Disciples Commanded Demons to Leave

Not to leave anything out — remember, Jesus promised that all who believe in Him would do the same works that He did (John 14:12) — the bible also records that the disciples, too, cast out demonic spirits that were tormenting and afflicting people. Take the story of Paul, who was being followed around by a demon-possessed girl:

And this she kept doing for many days. Paul, having become greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And it came out that very hour.
Acts 16:18

The disciples of Jesus demonstrated the same authority as Jesus by commanding sickness, bodily afflictions, and demons, “in Jesus name!”

The Authority to Command “In Jesus’ Name”

This brings us back to the point we made before: Jesus said in John 14:

Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
John 14:13

The authority of a believer, today, does not come from within ourselves, and it cannot be something we claim for ourselves. Our authority is explicitly given by Jesus, the same as it was to His disciples, and therefore we can only accomplish the things He commanded us to do, by doing them “in His name.” It is the name of Jesus that is our ‘badge’ of authority.

When Peter was called to the authorities and had to explain the healing of the lame man mentioned above, he goes out of his way to explain that it was not his own authority, but that of Christ, that the man was healed:

And (Jesus) name—by faith in his name—(God) made this man strong whom you see and know, and the faith that is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all.
Acts 3:16

One of my favorite scriptures in the Bible is when the governing authorities take note and wonder if this authority must have come from Jesus, because these men on their own were nothing:

Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.
John 4:13

Later, as the church prayed for more boldness to continue doing what Jesus had commanded them, it is clear that they understood there was a distinction between the hand of God working sovereignly, and what was being done through them by the authority in His name.

And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”
Acts 4:29-30

The Authority for Healing Continues in the Church

Now, knowing that Jesus passed His authority to His apostles and the other early disciples, and that His expectation is that His Kingdom and authority would continue to grow in the earth (Isaiah 9:7), it is not surprising that Jesus’ stated intention was that His authority would remain with His people, the church, until His second coming!

Authority is in the Great Commission

Once again, this command to “heal the sick” — complete with His authority to do so — continued in the church after His departure. It is an inseparable part of the Great Commission.

And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
Mark 16:17-18

Although citations are impossible and I cannot give a full account in this blog post, I can boldly say that Christian history has recorded healing in EVERY branch of the church since Jesus spoke the Great Commission. Even in the most cessationist denominations, room is occasionally given to pray for the sick, and at times healing miracles have been recorded by all of them.

God is Glorified by our practicing Authority “in the name of Jesus”

The Bible is clear of Jesus’ intention that believer’s would use the authority given by Christ to the church. This is not an abuse or a misuse of His power. It is how He gets glory! We need to practice doing what He said, even more.

And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Colossians 3:17

The Great Controversy: Can Man Tell God What to Do?

One of the biggest criticisms I see of those who practice Christian healing is that “these healers command God, telling Him what to do.”

If that were the case, I agree with the critics that it would demonstrate the utmost arrogance by mere men, elevating themselves above God Himself. However, from my own experience in the healing ministry and in my observation of dozens of other healing ministers, both contemporary and historical, this is a major misunderstanding by the critics of the practice of healing.

I have never seen a credible healing minister command God to do anything! Yes, they do make commands, but God is not the target; sickness is, the same as it was for Jesus and the early disciples. Even though this practice is often called a “prayer of command”, the truth is that this is not really a prayer to God, petitioning Him to move. Instead, this is an exhibition of the believer’s authority, which was first demonstrated by Jesus Himself.

When speaking in training conferences and discipling believers to pray for the sick, I am always diligent to make this distinction clear. “As believers, we ask God to heal, and we command sickness to go. Don’t get this confused. We do not ask sickness to go — ‘oh cancer, please, if it be your will, leave this body…’ — nor do we ever command God to do anything — ‘Lord, I command You to remove this cancer…” To do those things would lead to devastating results in the pursuit of healing, and would bring a major level of sin into our relationship with the Lord.

However, as we are careful to point our commands appropriately, it is a practice as old as the New Testament for believer’s to speak to sickness, in the Name of Jesus, and command it to go.

It’s Time to Use Your Authority

If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, then you have been given His authority as His representative in the earth. In His name, you have the right to speak to every manner of sickness, affliction, and demonic torment, and command them to go! What is lacking is a motivation among God’s people to do what Jesus told us to do, either due to a lack of belief, or a lack of boldness to operate in our authority.

If you lack belief, then please go back and read my previous posts, dig into scripture, and see what Jesus says you carry. If you lack boldness, then do as the early church did, and pray for God to give you more. However, to be faithful to Jesus’ command to heal the sick, you are eventually going to have to look at the sickness in front of you and command it to go, “in Jesus’ name.”

As John Wimber is often credited with saying, “faith is spelled R-I-S-K.” It is one of those things that you will never know, until you try! I cannot guarantee anything, concerning your efforts. There are often other, unseen realities at work that may prevent healing from coming immediately, yet that is not an excuse to not make the attempt! Jesus wants the sick to be healed, and He wants you to be the one doing it. So go for it! “In Jesus’ name,” tell those diseases to get out and not come back. (Then share your testimony with me, so we can celebrate and give glory to God together)

What Are Your Thoughts?

In our next post we will turn our attention to the Holy Spirit’s role in healing ministry, and how to work under His anointing to see even more power for healing in your life.

Until then, I would love to hear your questions, thoughts and testimonies in the comment section below.

As always, if you are enjoying what you are reading here, I would be honored if you would subscribe to my weekly email below. You can also follow me on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for regular updates and ongoing #ChristianLife and #GospelLeadership insights!

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Christian Healing: The Believer’s Authority

A. Scott Ingram Christian Life, Christian Life and Gospel Leadership, Gospel Leadership, Physical Healing, Spiritual Gifts Christian Life, Christianity, Gospel Leadership 4

In the last post, we discussed the issue of whether or not Christian healing is for today. Concluding that there is no biblical expectation that this (or any) spiritual gift would cease in the first century, we must now turn our attention to the practice of Christian healing. As I have studied scripture, I see two major elements continually at play when the Bible discusses the issue: the believer’s authority to heal given by Jesus and the anointing for healing which comes from the Holy Spirit.

Although these two things work in tandem (and are often indistinguishable in Jesus’ ministry), I believe it will be helpful to discuss them separately. Therefore, in this post and the next, we will take on the topic of the believer’s authority to heal, then later we will look at the Holy Spirit’s power for healing.

In laying the foundation for the believer’s authority to heal, there are two areas we must discuss. The first is our own beliefs and expectations concerning our authority to heal, which we will discuss today, and then how we put that authority into practice, which we will tackle in the next post.

The Basis of Our Authority to Heal

Jesus made a very casual statement in the book of John, which has been the topic of much disagreement between Christians for millennia. However, as you know, my general approach is to simply take the Bible at it’s word unless there is something to imply there is more behind what is stated. In this case, there does not seem to be a hidden meaning.

Jesus’ statement was this:

“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.
John 14:12

This verse follows after an explanation in verse 10 that everything Jesus was doing was not on His own authority, but an extension of the authority of God. He then gives us His radical expectation that if a person would believe in Him, then that person will also do what He does!

We have previously discussed that what He did was to fulfill all the Messianic prophecies he quotes in Luke 4:18-19. One of these Messianic promises which Jesus was doing daily when He made this statement was healing the sick, and now He says he expects that the disciples belief in Him would translate into their doing the same thing!

The Name of Jesus – Our Place of Authority

Looking again at John 14, Jesus goes on to say:

Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.
John 14:13-14

From this passage of scripture alone, it is easy for the human mind to race with unlimited possibilities. After all, Jesus said “whatever you ask,” I will do. Unfortunately, though, within the passage itself there is a limitation on the scope of this promise. It does not mean we can ask Jesus for a new Land Rover or for a million dollars, and expect it to come.

His statement that He would do “whatever we ask” was directly tied to our accomplishing the same works that He was doing by the Father’s authority! He is implying a chain of command!

Jesus’ Authority Becomes Our Authority

God commanded Jesus to heal the sick, in fulfillment of His promises (see John 5:19). That command carries with it the authority of the One giving it. Then, in the same way, Jesus commands those who would believe in Him to continue doing His work – including healing the sick. This command, therefore, also carries the same authority of God to do so that Jesus had. This is why when we pray for the sick, we pray “in Jesus’ name.”

That phrase — “in Jesus’ name” — means that we are praying as someone who has a right to be heard in the heavenliness, because we have Jesus’ authority backing us up! It is the same as when a police officer shouts, “stop in the name of the law,” or when a judge places his name on a court order. The name of the person in authority is what validates the command, even when someone else enacts it! (We will discuss this topic further in the next post.)

What I want you to understand for now is that Jesus’ gave His own authority to the church, to continue the works He began, and He expects them to continue “in His name!”

Jesus Gave His Authority (Before He Gave His Holy Spirit)

Most people look at healing and think, “Well, I don’t have that gift” or “God can do whatever He wants to do. It’s not up to me.” This isn’t a correct attitude, however. This is why I said we must first fix our belief system, before we can talk about the practice of healing itself!

Do you realize that Jesus’ first commissioning on His disciples was not an impartation of the Holy Spirit — He would not impart the Holy Spirit to them until after the resurrection in John 20:22, and again at Pentecost. His first commissioning was an impartation of His authority:

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.
Matthew 10:1

After listing the names of the 12, it goes on:

These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying; give without pay.
Matthew 10:5-8

Jesus does not tell the disciples to go and “pray for the sick.” He told them to go heal them. The disciples did it through the authority they had been given!

In Luke 10, Jesus “appoints” 72 others with the same authority and the same commissioning!

Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you. Heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’
Luke 10:8-9

I believe these instructions — proclaim the gospel, heal the sick, and cast out demons — are primarily what Jesus is referencing in Matthew 28, when He says “teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you,” in the Great Commission. This is also validated by Marks’ rendering of the Great Commission in Mark 16.

…And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
Mark 16:17-18

It is Your Authority to Heal

You may be asking, “why does any of this matter?” After all, haven’t we already laid a foundation and know that healing still happens today from the last posts?

Yes! But the point I want to make today is that not only does healing still happen, but that YOU, as a believer, have been given the authority to heal the sick. It is not someone else’s job.

The bible says that “all may prophesy,” not just the prophets (see 1 Corinthians 14:31). It also instructs all believers are to “do the work of an evangelist,” not just those with the gift of evangelism (see 2 Timothy 4:5). In the same way, the Bible teaches that all believers have authority over sickness and disease in Jesus Christ! However, we MUST believe in this truth, before we can effectively operate in healing.

The Necessity of Faith

The Bible makes it very clear that there is a direct link between our belief and our authority to heal. Before we can get to the “doing” what Jesus did, we must do the harder work of “believing” what Jesus said.

Over and over again, the Bible tells us that it is belief that matters. One example is in the book of James:

Is anyone among you sick?… the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up…
James 5:14-15

In another story, Jesus comes out of His private prayer time and finds the disciples unable to heal a child with a demonically-caused epilepsy. After He heals the child, the disciples ask why they weren’t able to do so. Jesus answers:

He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.”
Matthew 17:20

When Mark shares his version of this same story, the family demands to know if Jesus can heal their child after his disciples had failed. Jesus reassures them:

(The boy’s father said) “But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.”And Jesus said to him, “‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.”
Mark 9:23

The Faith of the Sick Person

From this verse, it seems that not only does Jesus place the onus of faith on the one doing the healing, but He also includes the faith of the sick to be healed, as well as those in the crowd around Him!

It is true that not only the faith of the one praying matters. After all, how many times do we see Jesus, the one who IS God, not base His authority for healing on Himself, but also on those He is ministering to? How often do we hear Him say the words, “Your Faith has made you well”? (See Luke 8:48, 17:19, 18:42, Mark 5:34, 10:52, and Matthew 9:22 for examples).

Still, I would caution putting too much emphasis on the faith of others, though, as you practice your own authority to heal. After all, when Jesus went to Nazareth — the faithless city — the Bible says:

And he could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. And he marveled because of their unbelief. And he went about among the villages teaching. Mark 6:5-6

Even when he could do no great miracles due to their lack of faith, Jesus’ authority to heal the sick was still working!

I will add that in my own experience, some of the most radical healings I have seen have been while praying for people who didn’t believer, and/or being surrounded by unbelievers.

You Have The Authority of Christ to Heal

The dynamic of the believer’s authority to heal is undeniably tied to their ability to believe, even more than it is tied to the power of the Holy Spirit working inside us. Again, I believe both are necessary, but you cannot deny that in the examples we have shared today, Jesus and those He personally trained healed people by their authority more than by their anointing!

Yes, there are those who are given a special anointing to heal, but healing in the Bible is not just a gift of the Spirit. It is a part of your inheritance in Christ. It is within your authority as a representative of heaven on earth. All you must do is believe it in order to see it.

In the next post, we will lay the foundation for how to operate in your authority, and actually heal sickness and disease, in Jesus’ name. For now, I would love to hear your thoughts, questions, and testimonies in the comments below!

If you are looking for a good resource on the authority of the believer to heal, I would recommend the book, “Authority to Heal: Restoring the Lost Inheritance of God’s Healing Power” by Randy Clark.

As always, if you are enjoying what you are reading on my blog, I would also be honored if you would subscribe to my weekly email below. You can also follow me on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for regular blog updates, and other ongoing #ChristianLife and #GospelLeadership insights!

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Christian Healing: Is It For Today?

A. Scott Ingram Christian Life, Christian Life and Gospel Leadership, Physical Healing, Spiritual Gifts Christianity, divine healing, faith healing 0

In the last post, I laid out the biblical foundation of Christian Healing from God’s revelation of Himself as Jehovah Rapha – “God Your Healer” – up to the fulfillment of Messianic prophecy that healing would be in the atonement of the coming Christ. Although I believe that biblically we can prove that Jesus’ healing gift was not relegated to the future consummation of His Kingdom, we are still left with the challenge of proving that it was Jesus’ intention for healing to continue throughout the church age, now.

We left off discussing the fact that Jesus healed every sick person that was brought to Him. No one who believes the Bible disputes that fact. However, in answering the question of whether that healing would continue today, we must face certain objections that are often raised against divine healing moving forward.

Objection: Jesus Was God! We are Not!

One common objection to God healing today is, “Jesus was God; of course He could heal everyone. We are not!” This objection, however, voluntarily overlooks the humanity of Jesus in the incarnation.

The bible clearly states that although Jesus is God in the flesh, He willingly left His divine attributes aside, and lived life as a human being (see Philippians 2:5-8). Jesus was the perfect example to us of what humanity looks like when we are filled with the Holy Spirit and fully submitted to God. Theologically we call this “Christus Exemplar” or “Christ Our Example.”

As He laid down His divine attributes, we must understand that Jesus was not healing people through His own power as God! He was healing people as man, through the power of God the Holy Spirit, who He then gave to the church as a gift. Through the Holy Spirit, our spiritual DNA is reformed to be just like His!

We see this in the fact that Jesus did not keep His authority to heal for Himself, but He commissioned His disciples to do the same thing:

Matthew 10 tells us:

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.
Matthew 10:1

These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying; give without pay.
Matthew 10:5-8

Jesus not only thought it was possible for human beings to heal the sick, but He gave them the authority and commanded it!

Objection: That Gift Was Only For The Apostles!

Again, the critic will argue that the supernatural gifts of the spirit were given only to those original 12 Apostles (or only for the Apostolic Age), in order to get Christianity started, but that the gifts did not continue past the death of the Apostles.

Yet, again, however, scripture itself overturns this argument as Jesus did not limit the transfer of His authority only to the Apostles:

After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go, and He said to them…Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you. Heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’
Luke 10:1-2a,8-9

We clearly see Jesus Himself directing non-Apostles to heal the sick! And His healing ministry still doesn’t end there…

Should We Expect Healing Today?

In His final charge to His disciples before leaving earth, in Matthew 28:18-20, He commissions them to instruct the next generation of disciples to continue in everything He had taught and commanded them!

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

I believe the “all” includes His command to heal the sick. In fact, in his presentation of this same “Great Commission,” Mark’s gospel says:

And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
Mark 16:15-18

The Great Commission, therefore, tells us that divine healing is intended to pass from one generation of believer to another. It would not stop!

So, should we expect healing today? YES! Not only is healing in the nature of God and the Atonement of Christ. It is also in the commission of the church!

I know many will still object to this fact by twisting minor verses in other places, but the truth is, you have to throw out a lot of scripture to conclude that Jesus does not heal today, through His church, and to believe that He is withholding that gift until His final return.

Objection: Why Are Some People Not Healed?

The short answer: I don’t know. Biblically you can point to many factors which might explain why some people do not get healed in prayer.

It can be my lack of faith as a pray-er (James 5:15).
It can be the person’s lack of faith as the one being prayed for (Luke 8:48, 17:19, 18:42).
It can be the existence of unconfessed sin.
It can be the presence of demonic strongholds.
It may even be a case of the sovereignty of God giving grace to the person, in which their sickness unto death spares them from a worse state (see Isaiah 57:1, with an example given in 1 Kings 14:12-13)
There are likely many other reasons people are not healed in the now.

I cannot give a definite answer as to why some people are healed now, supernaturally, and some are left in their state of sickness. All I can say for certain is that healing IS in the atonement of Jesus Christ, and that whether now or at His second coming, every person who trusts Him will be healed completely.

What we cannot do is to say that because some people do not get healed, that it invalidates any healing at all in Jesus’ name and by the power of the Holy Spirit or that we should not pursue God’s grace for healing today. In the atonement, Jesus paid the price for all sin, and yet for whatever reason some people still do not get saved. The fact that some people still die and go to hell does not nullify that Jesus is the Savior of the world.

A Scholarly Explanation

I don’t want to dwell long on this point, but I do appreciate how Sam Storms in his article “Divine Healing” speaks on this issue:

Everything we receive from God finds its ultimate source in what Christ did for us on the cross. Therefore, the question is not whether our bodies receive healing because of the atonement of Christ, but when. We are forgiven of our sins now because of Christ’s atoning death, but we await the consummation of our deliverance from the presence of sin when Christ returns. We experience fellowship with God now because of Christ’s atoning death, but we await the consummation of that blessed relationship when Christ returns. We profit immensely now from the Spirit’s work in our hearts, but who would dare suggest that what the Holy Spirit is doing in this age is all that he will ever do? There is a glorious harvest reserved in heaven for us of which the present ministry of the Holy Spirit is merely the first fruits!

In other words, it is a serious mistake for us to think that every blessing Christ secured through his redemptive suffering will be ours now in its consummate form. All such blessings shall indeed be ours, let there be no mistake about that. But let us not expect, far less demand, that we now experience fully those blessings which God has clearly reserved for heaven in the age to come…

He goes on to say:

To insist that this physical blessing is future is not to detract from the efficacy or value of Christ’s atoning work, nor to deny that God often heals (at times partially, at times wholly) now. It is simply to recognize, as Scripture does, that God’s timing is often different from ours.
Sam Storms, Divine Healing (Oklahoma City, OK: Sam Storms, 2006).

So What Do We Do?

I 100% believe that Jesus is Healer. I believe this from the Bible. I believe this from church history. And I believe it from many personal experiences with healing, today. Does everyone get healed? No. However, I am not discouraged by that to the point that I would stop praying for the sick, and going after the Lord for more!

We must pursue Jesus Christ to heal ALL of our diseases now, with full faith in His atoning work and an unending hope for His miraculous intervention immediately.

We do not need to pray, “Lord, if it is Your will, heal…” He has made it evident that it is His will to heal. We must learn to pray, instead, “Lord, let your Kingdom come; let your healing be done, on earth (now) as it is (now) in heaven.”

As many respected charismatic leaders have said concerning the “already but not yet: it is not a matter of “IF” we can see God’s Kingdom power now, it is only a matter of “HOW MUCH?” can we have on this side of eternity. To find out the answer, we must pursue Him for healing, in faith, for every sickness and disease we come across.

So what do we do? We lay hands on the sick, pray the prayer of faith, and believe God will be faithful to His promise. The rest is up to Him.

Hopefully this post and the last one have sparked something inside you to pursue the Lord for healing today! In the next post, we will begin to discuss the practical side of praying for the sick by looking at our authority to heal.

If you’re enjoying the content I produce, a little caffeine to keep me going would be appreciated!

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

May 7 2020

Christian Healing: Biblical Foundations

A. Scott Ingram Christian Life, Christian Life and Gospel Leadership, Gospel Leadership, Physical Healing, Spiritual Gifts authority to heal the sick, christian healing, command sickness to leave your body, divine healing, faith healing, Healing, Jehovah Rapha, Salvation, sozo 0

The topic of healing is one I tend to avoid discussing in theological debate settings. I have seen the power of God to heal on thousands of occasions, both in my own body, through my prayers for others, and through the many believers we have equipped to pray for the sick. To say that God still heals today is a foregone conclusion in my mind, and is therefore not a controversy I feel the need to engage in. My mind is settled, so I tend to leave it to more intellectual, “professional” theologians to debate over.

However, as I believe another healing revival is coming and begin discussing the topic on the blog, it is necessary to lay the biblical foundations for God’s healing work and to know from scripture if we can trust that God wants to heal today.

The Theological Divide

The major problem is that the bible holds God’s divine healing of human sicknesses in the tension of the “already but not yet” reality of the Kingdom of God. This is the idea that when Jesus was on earth He initiated God’s Kingdom with all it’s gifts and promises now (the already), and yet there is still more to come in the final consummation of all things at His second coming (the not yet).

This tension has too often created a dividing line between those believers who hold that God’s promise of healing is for today, and those who say that the promise of healing cannot be claimed for now; that we must wait for eternity when “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away” (Revelation 21:4).

As each point of view digs in its heels, both sides, then, position themselves to make theological arguments to prove that God heals within their position’s time period. As I see it, the problem with taking sides on “when” God heals – now or in eternity – is that the Bible itself refuses to make either conclusion. The answer, biblically is “yes.”

Yes, God heals now AND Yes, God will heal everyone at His second coming. To lay this foundation, we must go back to the beginning of God’s redemptive work in humanity.

Jehovah Rapha

From the outset of God’s personal revelation of himself to the people of Israel, He has declared Himself to be Jehovah Rapha, meaning “I AM Healer” or “God Your Healer.” The Hebrew word “rapha” and it’s derivatives means “heal, cure, and restore.” It is used 86 times throughout the Old Testament, commonly used to describe God’s restorative work in Israel throughout the Old Testament, whether in directly healing His people from disease and afflictions, or in a larger sense of the rebuilding of the nation and cities at various points in their history.

Although space will not allow me to give a thorough overview of God’s restorative practices in the Old Testament and the surrounding requirements which are often attached (repentance, humility, etc.), the point I want us to grasp is that from the beginning, God has revealed Himself as Healer. It is part of His identity.

It is undeniably part of God’s nature to heal and restore, and history has proven that He is not waiting for the future. He has already been doing so throughout the world, in every generation, and we know that He does not change! He is the same yesterday, today, and forever!” (See Malachi 3:6 and Hebrews 13:8.)

If God has revealed Himself as Jehovah Rapha, then to disbelieve that He will heal His people is to break the Third Commandment given to Moses: “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain…” To do so is to hear His revealed name — God Your Healer — and yet to empty it of it’s power and therefore sin by our disbelief.

Healing in Christ’s Atonement

As the Bible begins to point us to God’s promise of a Savior, who would, both, fully reveal and fully accomplish God’s redemptive plan, we learn that this coming Messiah would not only bring the forgiveness of sins, but would also pay the price to earn our healing. We see this in the prophetic revelation God gives concerning the Messiah, as well as in the expectation of those people who walked in relationship with God throughout the ages. Again, due to space, I will simply give two examples of this here, although many more could be listed:

The Prophetic Revelation from God

In Isaiah 53 we get what is, by many, considered to be the clearest picture of the Gospel in the Old Testament. Though I would encourage you to read the entire passage, I will simply share verse 5 for our purposes here:

But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.

Although many people try to spiritualize this as a metaphor for our brokenness and sinful nature, we will see shortly that this is not how the New Testament writers interpreted it.

The Expectation of God’s Human Friends

Not only did the prophets prophesy that healing would be in the atonement of Christ, but the expectation of those who knew God personally, viewed God’s promise of the healing of sickness and disease to be equal with His promise to forgive sin!

As King David writes in Psalm 103:2-3:

Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases…

It is clear from these (and many other passages) that the Messiah would bring about God’s promise of healing, just as He would fulfill God’s promise to forgive sin and restore the creation!

Jesus Claims to Be The Fulfillment of God’s Messianic Promises!

In the New Testament, Jesus is baptized and then goes into the wilderness to fast and pray, and to be tempted by the devil. When He returns from the wilderness, we see the beginning of His public ministry, and in Luke 4:16-21, the first thing Jesus does is stand in the Synagoge in Nazareth and declare Himself to be the long-anticipated Messiah! He read from the prophet Isaiah, where it says,

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Then, as He finished and people were waiting on Him to teach, He says:

“Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

Included in this fulfillment declaration was the promise of healing, pictured in this passage as “the recovering of sight to the blind.” (This again is something some modern scholars try to spiritualize as being blind in our sin, yet the New Testament points to Jesus’ healing of blind eyes as validation of His Messiahship.)

It should be clear from the most basic reading of the Old Testament prophecies that healing was part of the atonement of the Messiah, because as sin is dealt with, so are its effects.

The Healing Ministry of Jesus

As we move to the New Testament, it is safe to say that Jesus’ healing ministry cannot be contained in a couple of short paragraphs. It spanned the entirety of His earthly ministry, and the gospel writers share many stories of physical healing. However, to give one highlight of His practice, in Matthew 8:16-17, we read this:

That evening they brought to him many who were oppressed by demons, and he cast out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick. This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: “He took our illnesses and bore our diseases.”

It seems that Jesus, in His earthly ministry never left a sick person unhealed. He never prayed, “God if it is Your will, heal this person.” Instead, He took the promise of Isaiah 53 as a literal promise, that He would have authority over all sicknesses, and so he healed everyone who came to Him.

Just as the Old Testament prophesied and hoped that the Messiah would bring healing, Jesus became the fulfillment of that promise. While He was on earth, Jesus did not simply promise healing at the consummation of His Kingdom. He brought healing immediately!

From the beginning of God’s self-revelation as Jehovah Rapha to Jesus’ revelation as Emmanuel the Messiah, God has declared and proven Himself to be a healing God in the present tense! Physical healing was expected to be in the atonement of the Messiah, and Jesus proved the expectation to be true! We must begin to put our faith in who He says He is, and who He has proven Himself to be over and over again!

I believe there is a biblical basis (not just anecdotal) to believe that healing is not limited to the second coming of Jesus. However, there is still the issue of how healing would be carried on from Jesus’ earthly ministry to the modern day, and there are some objections we must face if we are to claim that Jesus is still healing now.

In This Series

In this series on Christian Healing, we will look at:

Continue Reading in Part 2

If you’re enjoying the content I produce, a little caffeine to keep me going would be appreciated!

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

Category: Christian Life and Gospel Leadership

A Spiritual Enemy

The Armor is Real

Stand Firm

The Schemes of the Enemy

Let’s Connect

Mindset Matters

What You Behold You Become

Spiritual Warfare Begins in the Mind

We Must Prepare Ourselves for Battle

The Armor of God

Are Prayer Models Biblical?

How to Pray for the Sick

Step 1: Interview

Step 2: Prayer Selection

Step 3: Pray

Step 4: Re-Interview

When to Stop Praying

Step 5: Post-Prayer Suggestions

It’s Your Time

Lets Connect

Healing Gifts

There is Not an Office of Healer

Healing vs Prophecy

Various Types of Healings

Every Healing is Another Gift

God’s Delivery Person

Pursuing the Gift to Get the Anointing

Understanding God’s Anointing

How the Anointing Comes

The Day of Pentecost

The Power Gifts

Everyone Gets Power; Just Not The Same Gifts

Gifted For Our Calling

Gifted for Our Season

Gifted Through Impartation

Gifted Because of Our Desires

Seeking an Anointing for Healing

What About You?

Healing was Anticipated in the Promise of Messiah

Healing Starts in The Atonement

Sozo – Complete Salvation

Healing Authority is Your Inheritance

Healing Anointing Multiplies the Fruit

What About You?

Commanding Sickness is Demonstrated by Jesus

Jesus Commanded Diseases to Go

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Jesus Commanded Bodies to Receive Healing

Jesus Commanded Demons to Leave

Jesus’ Disciples Also Healed by Command

Jesus’ Disciples Commanded Diseases to Go

Jesus’ Disciples Commanded Bodies to Receive Healing

Jesus’ Disciples Commanded Demons to Leave

The Authority to Command “In Jesus’ Name”

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The Authority for Healing Continues in the Church

Authority is in the Great Commission

God is Glorified by our practicing Authority “in the name of Jesus”

The Great Controversy: Can Man Tell God What to Do?

It’s Time to Use Your Authority

What Are Your Thoughts?

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The Basis of Our Authority to Heal

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The Name of Jesus – Our Place of Authority

Jesus’ Authority Becomes Our Authority

Jesus Gave His Authority (Before He Gave His Holy Spirit)

It is Your Authority to Heal

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The Necessity of Faith

The Faith of the Sick Person

You Have The Authority of Christ to Heal

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Objection: Jesus Was God! We are Not!

Objection: That Gift Was Only For The Apostles!

Should We Expect Healing Today?

Objection: Why Are Some People Not Healed?

A Scholarly Explanation

So What Do We Do?