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Healing and the Gospel
NetCentral Live Chat was a purportedly Christian Chat site. It is no longer active. But when it was, while chatting at the site the topic of healing and the Gospel came up. Many in the chat room were promoting the idea that it is God's will for every Christian to be healed. This idea was based on the belief that healing is a part of the Atonement.
Years ago, I was confronted with these ideas. As someone who suffers from numerous health problems, I found the teaching emotionally devastating. It was a very difficult time of my life trying to deal with my failing health. But now, on top of the physical problems, I was being told that my poor health was the result of a lack of faith or knowledge of the "real" gospel.
But does a "gospel" that can be emotionally devastating sound like the Gospel Jesus proclaims in Matthew 11:28-30?
Furthermore, as long as I continued to "trust God for my healing" (as I was told to do) I was always living in the future, thinking about what my life would be like when I was healed, rather than trusting God to show me what I could do in my life despite the difficulties (1Cor 4:6-13; Gal 4:13; Phil 4:12,13).
Thankfully, God delivered me out of that false belief system. It was only after I was able to ACCEPT my health problems that I was able to go on with my life. I came to realize that I needed to trust God to comfort me in my afflictions rather than continuing to trust Him to deliver me out of them (2Cor 1:3-7; 12:7-10).
As for healing being part of the Atonement, Peter tells us that the "healing" the believer receives is a healing from SINS, not physical difficulties (1Peter 2:24; also John 1:29; Heb 9:29).
Lastly, if it is God's will for everyone to be healed, why did Paul tell Timothy to, "use a little wine for your stomach's sake and your FREQUENT infirmities?"(1Tim 5:23; also 2Tim 4:20).
For more on my experiences in this matter, see Value of an Intellectual Faith.
Books and eBooks by Gary F. Zeolla, the Director of Darkness to Light
The above article was published in Darkness to Light
newsletter
and posted on this Web site in April 1997.
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