[Roundtable] A Calvinist looks at the promise of Healing

[RAY MARSDEN]

The outworking of regeneration is not just the journey towards all truth by the leading of the Holy Spirit but the empowered dynamic witness in living out that truth to the world. We have been given all things necessary for the work of the Lord and the apprehension of every successive truth must bear fruit in our own growth in holiness, in our better expression to love our neighbour and in our competence to bring the lost to Christ. There are only front line soldiers in the work of the Lord and very few of them are not wounded at some time or other and many of them would actually die if they were fighting in the right war.
We have been given a present of inestimable value to use in the markets of time and eternity. It would be a significant move forward if we stopped just analysing the box in which it came, or just thanking the sender, or just losing ourselves in inexplicable expressions of joy, or just creating ornate rituals celebrating the giving. Unfruitful theology is a most divine road to Hell paved with the definition of every good doctrine at the end of which the dreadful words are heard "I never knew you"


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From: Jefferis Peterson <jefferis at petersonsales.net>
To: Roundtable [Posts] <roundtable at scholarscorner.com>
Sent: Friday, 9 October, 2009 18:12:14
Subject: [Roundtable] A Calvinist looks at the promise of Healing

Here's part one of an article I'm working on for the Scholar's Corner. It is a three parter...

A Calvinist Looks at the Promise of Healing and the Faith Movement.
The Idea of a Covenant of Healing

A lot of people have criticized the “Faith Movement” for its emphasis on healing as the will of God in all circumstances, but the more I examine healing from the perspective of a covenantal theologian*, which most Calvinists are, the more I am convinced that every covenantal theologian ought to be in agreement with the faith movement, at least on this issue. In this article, I’m going to tell you why I have come to this conclusion. There are three main evidences for this argument:  the Gospel of the Kingdom of God, the Names of God, and the actions of Jesus as God’s Covenant Maker with humanity. 


What is the Gospel of the Kingdom (of God)? 
“And he went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every infirmity among the people.” Matthew 4:23, RSV.
“And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, as a testimony to all nations; and then the end will come.” Matthew 24:14, RSV.
“And he said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.” Mark 16:15, 16, RSV.


We often hear the words “gospel” and “kingdom of God” in Christian circles, but to people outside the faith, these are slogans empty of any real meaning. Outsiders see this language as a type of  “Christianeze:” an exclusive language made up of code phrases or ideas, which are nonsensical. Even believers take these words for granted without really taking the time to understand them. The word gospel is nothing more than an old English word meaning “good news.” So something is supposed to be good news to those who hear this message, but what is meant by the phrase “the kingdom of God”? The word kingdom is a type of government. In this case, it is place where God has total dominion, where his will is not only The Law, but is also a controlled territory where his will is done perfectly. 



In our democratic societies, we are so used to rule by the people that we have lost sight of the idea of a king who has total control and can do whatever he wishes. Human governments with such rulers usually have tyrannies, but such governments used to be the most common form of government, whether that was a Roman Emperor, a local king, or a tribal leader. In the time of the New Testament however, the idea of the dominion, or reign, of God would have been better understood. So in short, the Gospel of the Kingdom actually means “the Good News of God’s total dominion and control over life where his will is fully and completely carried out.” 


So, what does it mean for God to have total dominion?  What is the content of this message that makes it “good news?”  As evidenced by Jesus’ actions when he went about preaching the good news of the kingdom, he went about “healing every disease and infirmity among the people.”  The primarysigns of the kingdom were the healings he did as part of God’s kingdom. In fact, Jesus sent out his 72 disciples with this very message: 
“Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you; heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’” Luke 10:8, 9, RSV.

Jesus had the disciples heal the sick first and then explain to the people that these healings are the signs of a coming kingdom of God. In other words, they were to point to the healings and say: “Look, this is what the kingdom of God looks like! And it has come near you right now, therefore believe.”  So what is this Good News?  That God is your healer. Not only does he forgive you of your sins, but he also wants to heal you and make you whole. He wants to make you, every bit, a whole human being and heal you from head to toe. He wants to forgive you of your sins and restore your relationship with him, and healing is a sign of this restoration.  This good news is the message Jesus was preaching, and it was the one he gave his disciples to demonstrate by word and by deed.
 
So the whole Gospel, or the Full Gospel of Jesus Christ is the Good News of the dominion of God over your life where your sins are forgiven and your body is healed and restored. Any Gospel that centers on forgiveness of sins only is not the true Good News of God because it is only a half gospel.  
 
The Kingdom Does Not Consist of Talk, but of Power

Part of the failure and impotence of the Church today is that it has preached a half gospel. It has preached a gospel of forgiveness of sins, but not preached or demonstrated the power of deliverance from the bondages of sin. So, instead of being the good news of forgiveness, the “gospel” message has become a point of accusation. The message has been, “Yes God forgives you of your sin, but you are still a sinner, stuck in your sins and you just have to hang on till you die or till Jesus comes back. And if you try really hard, you may be able to overcome some of your bad habits and become a better person.” This message is not really the good news of a Savior who saves us from our sins and delivers us from the power of darkness. Instead it is a message of self-effort and of self-improvement.  Jesus forgives us but the rest of the work depends upon our good works and sheer force of will. The salvation is spiritual only but we are left physically
 and emotionally unchanged.  
 
Now understand, I’m talking about the Church in practice, not as it understands its own message. I’m speaking of the message it actually communicates to sinners and even to the saved. We do not preach the vital message that Jesus not only saves you from your sins, but he also takes away the desire for sins and sets you truly and completely free from the sin’s power. If the power of God is here among us, it is rarely seen and poorly demonstrated. In short, it is mostly talk and no action. It is a Jesus of the future, of the spiritual, of healing after death, but it has nothing to do with the here and now except perhaps for forgiveness of sins. 
 
Take for example the Church’s witness to homosexuals.  While a few people have turned from homosexuality through sheer force of will and the help of some ministries, the Church has been much more expert in condemning the sins of homosexuality. The problem for the Church is that it has power to preach the law of righteousness, but it doesn’t have the power to set people free from the desire and the identification with homosexuality. Simply pointing out that homosexuality is a sin is not good news. It just leaves those who practice homosexuality with a feeling of condemnation. The message of God’s righteousness is not good news unless it is also accompanied by the power to deliver those who trapped in compulsive desires. Instead, the Church has pointed the finger of accusation towards those trapped in homosexuality, but has offered no evidence that God can actually deliver the people from it. Words are cheap and talk is what the Church does best,
 but Paul said, “The Kingdom of God does not consist of talk, but in power,” 1 Cor. 4:20. 
 
When there is little evidence of the power of the Gospel to deliver those in bondages to various types of sin, then the preaching of the Law of God produces only condemnation in its hearers. It is not Good News but Bad News – very bad news indeed – because you are telling people they are in sin, but you are not giving them a way out of it. Yes, they are forgiven, but they are still stuck in it with no way out, condemned to continue to sin the way they always have because they cannot do anything about it.
 
 In Paul’s day, however, the message of Jesus was accompanied by the cleansing power of the Cross that set people free not only from the practice of sin, but from the desire for it as well. Their hearts were transformed and they were changed from the inside out: a complete and total transformation. So Paul could say to his hearers,  
“Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.” 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, NKJV.

What the Church is lacking today is this evidence of the kingdom of God, and so, it has failed to convince the world that the message it preaches is true. In fact it has not been God’s Good News at all, but only a partial message, a corrupted one…even a false witness. We have not been preaching the total kingdom of God but merely the forgiveness of sins. While true enough, God forgives sins; it isn’t the message of the whole Good News. It is not the message of the kingdom of God.
 
Your Faith Has Saved You

Any good Jew or Greek would understand why the message we preach has been a false witness, or a partial message. The reason being is that the word for salvation in Greek and Hebrew are not simply about a spiritual salvation or the saving of a person’s soul, as we commonly believe. In fact the idea of a spiritual soul as the center of human life is a very foreign idea to the Old and New Testaments. The Jews believed that every human being was a tri-partite being: body, personhood, and spirit. The spirit is the breath of God which makes every human being a living person. The personhood is what we may call the “soul” but in essence this soul is what makes up our personality: our mind, will, and emotions. In other words, the soul is our character or our identity. But every person lives in a body.  For the Jew, one could not be delivered in one’s person without also being delivered in one’s body because they belonged together, and together they
 made up a living human being.  
 
In Greek, this idea of the unity of personhood and body is revealed in the word salvation.  The word is sozo, and it means to “save, heal, and deliver from stress, bondage, danger and/or physical affliction.”  It often is used to describe being saved from enemies in battle.  Jesus uses the same word to describe those whose faith has caused their sins to be forgiven and also those whose faith has caused them to be healed of diseases. In both cases, salvation from sin or from disease is the same word! 
  
“Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little.” And he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” Then those who were at table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?” And he said to the woman, “Your faith hassaved (sozo) you; go in peace.”” Luke 7:47-50, RSV.
 
“And when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling, and falling down before him declared in the presence of all the people why she had touched him, and how she had been immediately healed. And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well (sozo); go in peace.”” Luke 8:47, 48, RSV.
 
What I am saying is that the only reason we have been able to divide spiritual salvation, or forgiveness of sins, from physical healing is because we have translated the same Greek word into two entirely different words in English. In our minds we have separated the soul from the body, the spiritual from the physical, and have divided what the Scriptures see as a single event.  We have adopted a dualistic view of human nature as being a soul in a body. This view of human nature comes from Greek philosophy, but is not biblical.  We see the spiritual soul as separate from the physical nature, so we can see salvation as spiritual and not physical. That is foreign to the view of Jesus. The Scriptures see the human being as an essential unity of personhood in a body, whose spiritual nature may be joined to God by the Holy Spirit, through being born again. 
 
Now of course, in the grand scheme of things, eternal life is more important than the survival of our temporal physical bodies, and so if we die for our faith, we are rewarded through eternity, but that does not change God’s intention for the Church to walk under the dominion of God on this earth while we are still here acting as his ambassadors and servants.  If we are ambassadors of this new kingdom, we are authorized to act on God’s behalf to announce and extend his dominion to those to who are willing to receive it. We are authorized to use the same authority and power that this kingdom represents!  That is why Jesus sent the disciples out to heal the sick as a demonstration of the power of the kingdom of God and then to announce the good news that this kingdom is coming and is close at hand! 
 
The Works Testify

Jesus said,“If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would not have sin; but now they have seen and hated both me and my Father.” John 15:24, RSV. “Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father in me; or else believe me for the sake of the works themselves. “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I go to the Father.” John 14:11, 12, RSV.

Jesus said that the works he did were signs and evidence that God was with him, and that if he had not done these works, the world would have an excuse for its sin and unbelief.  Then he said something remarkable: that in order for us to testify and give evidence that Jesus was sent by the Father and is now with the Father, we who believe in him would also do works that he did and even greater works would we do.
 
Now it is quite evident that the Church’s witness in the United States and Europe has been in a stranglehold of captivity to the philosophies of this present age: scientific empiricism, Enlightenment rationalism, Darwinian evolutionary theory, etc… All these naturalistic philosophies deny that God can act and do miracles on this earth; that God is a primitive myth and superstition, and that those who believe are weak-minded individuals in need of some crutch.  It is plain that the Church’s half gospel has not reached the culture in which we live, much less converted it. This half gospel of a spiritual salvation, with no earthly effect or power, has not been met with acceptance, except by a few through the grace and mercy of God.   We have not transformed this culture, nor even presented enough evidence of the reality of God to create worthy persecution. We are not being persecuted because people believe we represent the truth of God. The Church
 is being persecuted because we are considered annoying for trying to force our “private” religious beliefs on others. The key word here is “private.” Our beliefs are personal beliefs to the world because there is no evidence for the truth of them in the public square. Remember that Jesus did all his works in public and that is what created the hostility of the rulers and leaders towards him his day. It created real persecution because his works gave evidence that God was with him and it forced people to accept or reject the message. There was no way out, no other alternative, and no middle ground. Our message can be safely dismissed because it represents just personal opinions, private religious beliefs, and not the truth. We have not given the evidence of God or of his kingdom in the public square. 
 
 My point is that if we had been preaching the whole Gospel and God accompanied that Good News with his power to heal and deliver our hearers from the bondages of sin and disease, our impact upon this nation would have been much, much greater. But because we have been either cowards ourselves or deceived by the false teachings we have received, we did not preach the whole good news of the kingdom of God.  And I believe our witness has been blunted and it failed in power because God could not confirm of our anemic witness to his glory. It wasn’t his word so he couldn’t confirm it. He will not falsely testify to himself, but will wait to confirm his word with signs and wonders when his WHOLE Word is preached. 
Instead, we have become, as the Scriptures prophesied, religious, but empty of faith: 
“But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of stress. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents… lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding the form of religion but denying the power of it. Avoid such people.” 2 Timothy 3:1-5, RSV.

  I am saying that if we are bold enough to preach the Whole Gospel, that God is a deliverer from sin, sickness, and lusts of the flesh, then that is a message which God will confirm with signs and wonders following because God has a covenant with his own Word. 
 
“And he said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation…  And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.’” Mark 16:15-18, RSV.

 
 
 
 
Covenant theology (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Covenant_theology) (also known as Covenantalism or Federal theology or Federalism) is a conceptual overview and interpretive <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblical_hermeneutics> framework for understanding the overall flow of the Bible <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bible> . It uses the theological concept of covenant <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Covenant> as an organizing principle for Christian theology <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_theology> .

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Jefferis Peterson, Pres.
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