The hypocrisy of some - 'can't you see what you are doing' - while keeping score is amazing. Talk about 'according to their own experiences'. We don't see the same admonishment given earlier for their reasons. I was trying to 'open their eyes' but they will have none of it unless it favors their agenda. And make their own stories - with their 'yeah, buts... and we have no idea' earlier in the thread.
They have no idea why he was sick but had no problem running off and using that Scripture for their agenda. No meditation on their part and that's called rightly dividing the word for them.
"But when he asks, he must believe and NOT doubt because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does."
With their mindset they pray in DOUBT. "If it be your will" - demonstrating have no idea what the will of God is. "I am the Lord that heals you" and "By My Stripes you were healed" means nothing to them - they DOUBT in their heart the very words of God.
"From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it." Matt 11:12
Enjoy your day as the Joy of The Lord is your strength! We won't find it here but lots of strife and bitterness and insults!
You forgot the first part of that verse, as follows, and which clarifies in what context doubt is being used...important to consider....
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. .....PERSEVERANCE MUST FINISH ITS WORK..... so that .....you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything...... If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given him...... But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does .....(James 1:1-8).
Perseverance is the ability to keep right on going with joy in our hearts despite apparent setbacks and disappointments, illnesses, hardships etc. and this seems to be a quality that the Lord values almost beyond all else.
There is another passage in the Bible that teaches exactly this same thing. .....in Romans 5...... Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.... Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance….
Notice the same sequence… Sufferings… joy… perseverance….
Suffering produces perseverance;.. perseverance,.. character;.. and character,.. hope... And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.
From our perspective, stress and strain and problems and pain are those things that mar our lives....... but from God’s perspective, those are the things that develop our faith ....and our perseverance and make us people of maturity..... James said: Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
Ah...Just to clarify what the 'stripes' Christ suffered accomplished..and of which we are healed as follows:
The healing here referred to, is 'spiritual healing', or healing from sin...... Pardon of sin, and restoration to the favor of God,.....these are not unfrequently represented as an act of healing.
The fact sinners are often represented as crushed,.. broken,... bruised ...by the weight of their transgressions, and so the removal of the load of sin is repesented as an act of healing.
'I said, O Lord, be merciful unto me; heal my soul, for I have sinned againt thee' Psalm 41:4.
Have mercy upon me, O Lord, for I am weak; O Lord, heal me, for my bones are vexed' Psalm 6:2.
The idea here is, that the Messiah would be scourged; and that it would be by that scourging that health would be imparted.... 'to our souls'.
'Sin' is a disease belonging to all men, a natural, hereditary, nauseous, and incurable one, ...but by the blood of Christ; forgiving sin is 'a healing of this disease'; and this is to be had in no other way than through the stripes and wounds,.. the blood and sacrifice,.. of the Son of God.
"By My Stripes you were healed" Really? That's a quote from Scripture? Chapter and verse please?
And while healing comes through His stripes, the verse does NOT say that everyone will be healed on demand.
It just states that the mechanism for healing is through the stripes so that if we're healed, we know how it came about.
INDEED.
WELL PUT.