March 2, 2012

romans 10:9-10

9) …if with your mouth you confess jesus as lord and in your heart believe that god brought him back to life, you shall be saved. 10) for with the heart men believe and obtain righteousness, and with the mouth they make confession and obtain salvation.

this is a very common scripture in almost all churches. no matter what your ‘denomination’ or belief this is one common ground – the belief that we are saved by believing in our heart that jesus christ was raised from the dead and confessing that with our mouth. when we believe and confess that we believe, we can be certain that we have become christ’s.

many times you see no immediate outward sign of this radical internal change. but because the bible says it, you receive it by faith and believe it. and you hang on to and hold on to that confession no matter what you see in your life that may appear contrary to that fact. because it is the confession or the ‘saying it verbally with your mouth’ that obtains salvation for us.

but that word save is sózó and its meaning is far more than just spiritual salvation. it means to save, heal, preserve, rescue in any and all areas. it means complete saving in every aspect of our lives.

but for all those out there who are willing to believe that by confessing that they have obtained salvation for their spirit man brings salvation for their soul, far fewer believe that same salvation was also provided for their divine health.

i have heard such convoluted excuses through the years trying to explain divine health away.

• if god had meant for everyone to be well then why are so many sick?

• oh that was for spiritual healing, not physical healing.

• god uses sickness to punish some people.

• god has a purpose for not healing everyone.

• god is causing a situation of change in a person’s life by making them sick.

• miracles are passed away.

• divine health was only for the apostles.

• if divine health is real then why did paul have a thorn in the flesh?

i’ve heard more excuses trying to deny divine health that any other aspect of our salvation. it is as if they do not want to believe that jesus died to bring us health as well as spiritual wholeness.

i am amazed that people can believe that they are spiritually saved by grace but not healed by the very same grace. god does not do things half way. he does not go part way and stop. he is an abundant and bountiful and complete god.

i peter 2:24
24) and he himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by his wounds you were healed.

isaiah 53:5
5)but he was pierced through for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon him, and by his scourging we are healed.

james 5:14
14)is anyone among you sick? then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the lord; 15) and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him.

these are just 3 of the many scriptures that discuss the sacrifice of jesus and how it brought us healing.

so you ask if god bought and paid for our healing, why are so many so sick all the time? i could say the same about the spiritual salvation that christ bought and paid for us on the cross. he sacrificed his life for all to have salvation so that none should perish, but there are hordes of people walking around on this earth who have not received jesus as the spiritual savior.

to receive jesus salvation you must accept it, believe it and confess it with your mouth. that is all you need to do. but when you receive it you are not just receiving spiritual salvation, but complete and perpetual salvation which will allow you to live in a continually ‘saved’ state of being. and one aspect of that continual state of salvation is divine health.

so why are so many who have received salvation still sick? because just like spiritual salvation you must accept it, believe it and confess it with your mouth. and you must keep confessing even when doubts may arise. there may be times when you doubt your spiritual salvation, but you continue to confess it anyway. the same is true of healing.

many times you see no immediate outward sign of this radical internal healing. but because the bible says it, you receive it by faith and believe it. and you hang on to and hold on to that confession no matter what you see in your life that may appear contrary to that fact. because it is the confession or the ‘saying it verbally with your mouth’ that obtains salvation for us.

one of the most overlooked and misunderstood aspects of the divine health that jesus died to give us lies in the holy communion.

the passover meal itself is symbolic of the crucifixion of christ. the wine is symbolic of his blood. the unleavened bread, or matza, was pierced as he was pierced and broken to provide us with wholeness, burnt to symbolize the fiery wrath of god’s judgment which should have been ours, and the lack of leavening to symbolize the redemption of sin in our lives.

but many have shied away from the lord supper because of misunderstanding.

i corinthians 11:27-29

27) therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks the lord’s cup in a way unworthy of the lord will be guilty of the body and the blood of the lord. 28) but let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread, and drink of the cup. 29) for he who eats and drinks in an unworthy way eats and drinks judgment to himself, if he doesn’t discern the lord’s body.

this scripture has tripped many a believer up. the enemy has helped us misinterpret it meaning in order to keep us sick and deny us its power. it says to not take the lords supper in an unworthy manner. but we have been lead to believe that if we ourselves are unworthy we should not partake.

but it is the manner in which we take it that should not be unworthy, not we ourselves. for none of us aside from christ are worthy. in fact that is the very reason we are to partake of the communion, so that we can remember his worthiness and receive what he sacrificed to give us by grace.

manner refers to whether or not we recognize the significance of jesus bodily sacrifice at the cross represented by the bread and the wine. it is if you fail to recognize and acknowledge this significance and do it only as a routine ritual that judgment comes upon you.

30 for this cause many among you are weak and sickly, and not a few sleep.

many are sick among us because they fail to acknowledge and recognize the significance of the sacrifice of jesus body upon the cross when taking communion.

paul scolded the corinthians for taking communion unworthily because they were taking it as a ‘common’ meal.

jesus wants us to take the bread and believe that we are receiving the divine body that he sacrificed for us. he took our sickness and disease so that we could be whole. recognize that when you take the communion bread. believe and be grateful for that sacrifice and receive that wholeness into your body in the form of the communion bread.

28) but let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread, and drink of the cup. 29) for he who eats and drinks in an unworthy way eats and drinks judgment to himself, if he doesn’t discern the lord’s body.

here paul is not saying to examine yourselves for sin in your life as so many of us have been taught, but he was saying to examine ourselves to see if we are partaking in an unworthy manner.

then in verse 29 we see that judgment will come upon us if we don’t partake in a worthy manner. but this judgment is the word krima which is the divine curse that fell upon the earth when adam sinned. but jesus came to deliver us from the curse!

so when we fail to partake in a way that considers the sacrifice and provision of healing and deliverance from that curse, that very curse will remain or fall back upon us.

so the next time you take communion, consider the bread. remember that his body was lashed for our sickness and infirmities; his body was beaten and bruised for our sakes. the fiery wrath of god rested on him rather than on us and how he did all these things in order that he could exchange his divine life for ours.

he took our infirmities, sicknesses, and sin. he did that so that we could live as he did, healthy, whole and free from sin. consider these things when partaking of communion and know that you are receiving his health.

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