Chapter 2

This chapter describes the commission that rests on all believers to carry the Gospel of Salvation and the Gospel of Healing to the world. However, execution of this commission has eroded over the centuries, possible reasons of which are presented.

Two Questions

With healing of body and soul being restored as attested to by the holy scriptures (Isaiah 53:4-5), I want to ask two questions.

Question #1: If you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior, do you believe you are healed from sin because of the shed blood of Jesus?

Question #2: If you have accepted the blood of Jesus Christ as redemption for your soul, do you believe that same blood heals you from disease?

Most likely you quickly answered “Yes” to the first question. When you answered the second question, was your answer the same and was it as emphatic and absolute as you answered the salvation question?

If not, why not?

The same act of redemption, the same blood, the same death purchased both salvation of the soul and healing of the body. So why would the answer be different in content and intensity?

Tell and Show

The disciples were commissioned to spread the gospel and to make other disciples. In the book of Acts they created a model for discipleship. They were to,

1. Witness Jesus as Christ, the world’s Savior and,
2. Demonstrate the power of God with healings and miracles through the Holy Spirit

Mark 16:15-18 Amplified Bible

¹⁵ And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.

¹⁶ He who has believed [in Me] and has been baptized will be saved [from the penalty of God’s wrath and judgment]; but he who has not believed will be condemned.

¹⁷ These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak in new tongues;

¹⁸ they will pick up serpents, and if they drink anything deadly, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will get well.”

Before Jesus ascended to Glory, he told the disciples to “tell and show”. Tell of the redemptive salvation and demonstrate redemptive healing.

The acts of the apostles set a pattern that has not been superseded. The principles that were established and demonstrated by Jesus and the disciples are still relevant today. This verse is not just expressly speaking to the first disciples, it addresses “those who believe will...”  The commission rests on all believers. Folks that’s you and me!

What Happened to the Gospel of Healing?

Erroneous Belief System Evolved

What has happened since the first century Church and the Church today?

The impetus of the duality of the gospel began to wane substantially. The gospel message of salvation continued in strength but the gospel message of healing took a back seat, way back. For the most part, it has been minimized as a prominent part of contemporary gospel.

Probable Reasons for Exclusion

Healing, signs and wonders have a Good Until Date which has since expired.

Some have placed an “expiration date” or “good until” date on healing, signs and wonders. The first century church preached Christ’s deity and proved it with signs and wonders. So now that we know Jesus is God some believe there is no more need for miracles, signs and wonders.

Healing is through those with the gift of healing.

Other believers feel healing comes in waves and works only through those with the gift of healing. Healing is prominent until those with the gift die. It will become an active manifestation again when God raises up others with the gift.

Healing is possible today but Christian faith has decreased rather than increased over time.

Faithless Generation

When the disciples could not heal a boy with evil spirits, Jesus called them “faithless and perverse” (Matthew 17:15-21). He replied this kind [of evil spirit] comes out by prayer. In some versions of the Bible, it will state “by prayer and fasting.”  Regardless of which version, it is obvious that the effort requires a heightened state of faith.

This heightened state of faith by definition of the story in Matthew 17 is a formidable threat to demons. The consequence of operating outside this heightened state is demonstrated when demons called out to the sons of Sceva, “Jesus I know and Paul I know, but who are you?” (Acts 19:13-16). Then the demons, through the possessed man, over-powered them and beat them soundly. Faith cannot be imitated.

Today’s church doesn’t want similar consequences of the sons of Sceva so they minimalize this part of the gospel and may even say God has provided ‘healing’ through physicians so healing by the Holy Spirit is no longer prevalent. While God has provided physicians as a source of healing, healing is no longer prevalent because our faith isn’t where it should be as disciples of Christ.

The cost of discipleship is too high.

Mark 16 says that the disciples were to make disciples (followers of Christ) and those disciples were to make more disciples so on down to this present day. Although some are named preachers, evangelists, pastors, teachers, helps, etc. we are all disciples first. There is a cost to being a true disciple of Christ.

What is the cost of being a disciple?

It is operating under the anointing of the Holy Spirit. It is being so attuned to the voice, movements and tendencies of the Holy Spirit that “walking” in the spirit is your natural state. Not many leaders, not many preachers nor laypersons care to pay it. They are satisfied to stay in the Holy Place (church with its formalities and programs) but are not willing to make the sacrifices that will allow them to enter into God’s Holy of Holies (where He dwells).

Short Clip on the Anointing of God

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Xn7iJx-P7wE

Self-Aggrandizement

Self-ag·gran·dize·ment – the action or process of promoting oneself as being powerful or important.

Persons with the spirit of self-aggrandizement will not place themselves in a position to fail. Preaching the salvation message skillfully can be acquired over time and causes many to be puffed up. There is a distinctive difference between one who learns to preach skillfully and one who preaches under the anointing of God.

However, healing requires faith not skill.  Healing faith is honed by both successes and failures. It grows by stepping out on the water with nothing to hold you up but your faith in God. And if you sink it takes a step back and makes inquiry of God.

How did I fall short?

What do I need to do differently?

Faith does not give up when someone that is prayed for doesn’t get healed. It doesn’t give up because of how the failure looks on the person who prayed. A person with a self-aggrandizing spirit will give up. Why? Because they want credit, applause, and admiration. The spirit of a disciple, on the other hand gives all glory to God and assigns no success to their person. They consider themselves merely vessels, servants fitted for the Master’s use. Self-aggrandizement is the reason why many won’t emphasize healing in their ministries because they regard it as a mirror, a reflection of themselves.

The Gospel Bicycle Analogy

The two-prong gospel message is like a two-wheeled bicycle. The front wheel being the Gospel of Salvation and the rear the Gospel of Healing. Through the years the rear wheel flattens because it’s lost air, impetus, momentum, continuity. Choose anyone one of those words you like, they all apply.

It was easy to pedal the Salvation Gospel because the decision rests on the sinner to accept Jesus or not. From the point of acceptance, it is the newborn Christian’s responsibility to follow the precepts of the Word of God. From this point the onus is not on the messenger of the gospel. After they preached the gospel and extended an invitation for salvation, their job was done.

On the otherhand, the rear wheel or the Healing Gospel focuses on the messenger. The messenger’s faith is what sets the stage for the phenomenal to occur. His faith has been strengthened through intentional prayer, fasting and consecration. It requires staying in lock step with the Holy Spirit. Many who should have worn this mantel were not and are not willing to make this personal sacrifice. Especially when they are content to live off the fruit of the church in its current state.

As a consequence, we ride bumpy on this gospel bike but don’t notice because the flatten tire has been replaced with other program items that amuse us or at the very least keep us occupied.

On occasion a man or woman will come on the scene and breathe life into the flat tire. But the life lasts as long as the person lives. Generally, the mantel is not taken on by church leaders today.

Next Chapter

Chapter 3 of Healing: The Lost Gospel covers four steps that revive the Gospel of Healing in the Church.

The “Gospel Bike” illustration drawn by Isaiah Lawrence (grandson).