I go to a "faith healer" to be cured of my debilitating back injury and intractable pain. I am prayed over, hands have been laid upon me and I have been anointed with oil but I do not get any better. Now if I was judging the Bible by my experience I would say:
1. God must not love me.
2. God is lying when he says "by his stripes we are healed".
3. God cannot or does not answer my prayers or the prayers of others.
4. The people who prayed for me could not have had the "gift of healing".
5. God must enjoy my suffering.
On the other hand, if I judged my experience by the Bible I would instead understand that
1. God loves me and that can and will never change.
2. "By his stripes we are healed" doesn't mean physical healing but spiritual.
3. God does incline his ear to our prayers and the prayer of a righteous man avails much but sometimes God allows suffering for a higher purpose.
4. Although the gift of healing as a "sign gift" that was given to the apostles has ceased, it does not mean that God cannot or will not miraculously heal.
5. God does not permit suffering in his kid's life because he enjoys it but that my suffering can have a higher purpose for his glory. His strength is made perfect through my weakness.
Again, let me say I am NOT casting aspersions or criticizing Christians, I am instead asking my brethren in the Lord to question the reasons why they experience what they do and to measure those experiences by what God's holy word says. It seems as though there is some hostility towards anyone who may not see things exactly the way we do and all I want to communicate is that we can sit down and reason together without condemnation and hard feelings. I am not judging, but rather I am asking for objective consideration of what God reveals to us through his word.
I go to a "faith healer" to be cured of my debilitating back injury and intractable pain. I am prayed over, hands have been laid upon me and I have been anointed with oil but I do not get any better. Now if I was judging the Bible by my experience I would say:
.
1. God must not love me.
2. God is lying when he says "by his stripes we are healed".
3. God cannot or does not answer my prayers or the prayers of others.
4. The people who prayed for me could not have had the "gift of healing".
5. God must enjoy my suffering.
6. There's something I don't understand about my life that is hindering the healing . . .
7. perhaps there's a spiritual stronghold invovled . . .
8. ancestral demonic forces, . . .
9. unforgiveness . . .
10. bitterness . . .
11. perhaps I need to confess my faults to another believer that I might be healed according to Scripture . . . [see Henry Wright A MORE EXCELLENT WAY and
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http://www.beinhealth.com"
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and/or
12. There is something about the timing that I don't understand . . . and/or
13. There is something about the ministry of the others involved that I don't know or understand.
On the other hand, if I judged my experience by the Bible I would instead understand that
1. God loves me and that can and will never change.
2. "By his stripes we are healed" doesn't mean physical healing but spiritual.
I think that's UNMITIGATED UNBIBLICAL NONSENSE. There's not a shred of Biblical evidence that indicates, to me, that Christ and Paul meant that as anything less than physical healing. There's grounds for saying it meant more than physical healing but not that it meant less than physical healing.
3. God does incline his ear to our prayers and the prayer of a righteous man avails much but sometimes God allows suffering for a higher purpose.
I don't know that Henry Wright would call it a higher purpose. He just notes the list of things that hinder healings of particular diseases, according to what God over more than 20 years of ministry has shown him.
He became upset that only 5% of the people he prayed for got healed. Then finally God began to show him why. Chronic sins, unforgiveness, ancestral demonic strongholds etc. God noted that otherwise, folks would have the impression that God winked at sin etc. Now, Pastor Wright, IIRC, has above 80% success rate in praying for healing when folks will apply the prescriptions to deal with the spiritual & relationship issues involved. Many healings are dramatic and instant. Many are walked out over time. Many involve deadly rare diseases that are not economical for the medical community to bother with.
4. Although the gift of healing as a "sign gift" that was given to the apostles has ceased, it does not mean that God cannot or will not miraculously heal.
I believe that is UNMITIGATED UNBIBLICAL NONSENSE. There's not a shred of Scripture to indicate that any such thing has ceased. Mankind has not changed. Satan has not changed. Man's needs have not changed and certainly God has not changed.
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". . . they will place their hands on sick people and they will get well."
This is still the New Testament Church era/age/dispensation. The verse still applies.
Sounds like you were judging that Scripture by your EXPERIENCE.
In terms of the I Cor 13 verses, Knowledge has certainly not ceased either. He who is Perfect has also not returned yet to set up His Perfect Kingdom, yet.
5. God does not permit suffering in his kid's life because he enjoys it but that my suffering can have a higher purpose for his glory. His strength is made perfect through my weakness.
True enough, in some respects. Though, as Pastor Wright might say--then why seek healing if it's God's will for you to be sick. There's not really any Scripture that indicates it is God's will for His kids to remain sick and weakened.
Again, let me say I am NOT casting aspersions or criticizing Christians,
I accept that. Nor am I.
I will fiercely cast aspersions on what I perceive to be rank UNBIBLICAL NONSENSE. It is nothing personal, at all.
I am instead asking my brethren in the Lord to question the reasons why they experience what they do and to measure those experiences by what God's holy word says.
My perception was as noted above that you judged Scripture erroneously by your EXPERIENCE.
It seems as though there is some hostility towards anyone who may not see things exactly the way we do and all I want to communicate is that we can sit down and reason together without condemnation and hard feelings.
Of course. Likewise.
I am not judging, but rather I am asking for objective consideration of what God reveals to us through his word.
As am I!
Am off to Hastings for a break and some Chinese chess.