The Bible says, “By His stripes we were healed.” Either the Bible is the truth or a lie. You decide. But the whole New Testament is a testament to God’s goodness and will to see you whole. Everyone who came to Jesus were made whole (Matt 12:15; 15:30). Everyone that Jesus touched was made whole. When asked, “If you will, you can make me whole,” Jesus said, “I will” and healed him (Matt 8:2).
I know what the Bible says and I know many who have been healed. You’ll have to ask God about Joni.
But you mischaracterize the goodness and power of God, failing to glorify Him, and do His people a great disservice when you substitute some circumstance in place of the truth of scripture as the basis of Truth.
I do not misjudge the power God. Unlike you, I don’t presume to know whom He will heal and whom He will not. Some Christians get healed, some do not. To tell people otherwise is deceitful and dangerous. And, I strongly suggest you read the following link : http://www.gty.org/resources/sermons/90-60/does-god-still-heal
I agree with both of you to a certain extent.
We must keep in mind that the miracles Jesus did were “signs”. The signs point us to Jesus.
Likewise, there were signs which followed the message of the apostles. These confirmed the claim of being eye witnesses to His resurrection.
We live in a time when the Lord does not walk among us as a mortal human being. And His apostles are not living among us either.
On the other hand, we still have the written testimony of the apostles, in the form of the New Testament. And it is reasonable to expect God to continue to confirm His word miraculously.
I believe this mostly happens when people who have never heard hear for the first time. It is not uncommon for miracles to follow the spread of the Gospel and the translation of scripture into a new language or culture.
And there is the practical aspect of His meeting our needs. This can and sometimes does take the form of provision, protection and healing. However, His grace can also meet our needs without necessarily ridding us of all physical illness.
The proof of this is beyond dispute. No one, of any Christian denomination, throughout the history of the church, has ever exercised so much faith that they overcame mortality and avoided death altogether. Aging and death are the result of disease. And it is simply not true that death only comes to believers because of a lack of faith.
While I cannot agree that God desires every believer to be free of every sickness at all times, I do think those who advocate healing through faith in Christ’s atoning work on the cross are to be commended because often believers do not receive God’s best due to not exercising faith and asking. Jesus taught us to ask, seek, and knock. This applies today. James also instructed that we have not because we ask not.
Believers in Jesus Christ should recognize that healing is easy for God. It is easier than the redemption from our sins that Jesus accomplished on the cross. It is easier than God fulfilling the numerous Old Testament prophecies by Christ’s death. It is easier than raising Him from the dead.
While we can never demand that God heal us, it is not unreasonable to ask, seek, and knock. He always can, and He often will.