The Gospel in Twenty Questions (20 page)

So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the
word of God. (Romans 10:17, NKJV)

The word of God is Jesus. Faith
comes when we hear about Jesus. That hemorrhaging woman suffered for twelve
years before faith came. What happened in the twelfth year? “She heard about
Jesus” (Mark 5:27). Someone told her about the Lord who saves and she believed
what she heard.

Perhaps as
you are reading
this chapter, you can feel faith
stirring within you. This is a normal reaction to hearing about Jesus. If you
are sick, or if there’s a part of your body that has succumbed to death and
disease, and you have faith in Jesus, lay hands on yourself right now. Take
this opportunity to receive from the riches of his grace. Pray for yourself
with faith and boldness. You don’t need to talk to God about your sickness
—
he already knows. Instead, talk to your sickness about your
God. Speak to your mountain. Faith doesn’t move God; faith moves mountains.
Command that sickness to go!

Since faith
comes by hearing about Jesus, when I pray I like to remind myself of who Jesus
is and what he has done. I might say, “Thank you Lord that your name is above
every other name. You are greater than this sickness. You have already provided
everything I need to be healed, so I’ll just receive it.”

There’s no
right or wrong way to do this, but a prayer of faith will be characterized by
thanksgiving and praise. It takes no faith to complain about your woes. It
takes faith to thank God in advance for his healing and grace.

If you
struggle to get your focus off yourself, consider the cross where Christ bore
our infirmities and sorrows. Then consider the empty tomb that testifies to the
supernatural power of a God who raises the dead.

Once you’ve seen Jesus,
believing is easy. The hard part is resting in that place of trust while you
wait for the healing to manifest.

I once
received a phone call from a tradesman who was doing some renovations on my
house. He hadn’t shown up for work and was calling to let me know where he was.
In a broken voice he told me he was in the hospital sitting outside the
intensive care unit. “My brother’s been in a motorcycle accident. He hit his
head, and the doctors say he’s not going to make it.” The despair in his voice
was palpable. It was clear that he had given up his brother for dead.

As I heard
the diagnosis of death, something inside me stirred. It was faith in the form
of a holy indignation. Bold words came to my mouth. “Listen, you don’t know
this, but I’m a Christian. That means when I pray for the sick, they get
healed. Can I pray for your brother now,
over the
phone?” He agreed, and in the name of Jesus, I commanded life over his comatose
brother and the complete restoration of all his mental faculties. I kept it
short, he thanked me for praying, and then I heard nothing for 72 hours.

The
morning after I prayed the following
thought came to my mind.
Boy, you sure were bold yesterday. You are going to
look silly when this man dies. And he will die. You heard what the doctors
said.
My shoulders slumped, and for about two seconds I felt depressed.
That’s how long it took to discern the death-dealing spirit behind the thought.
“Wait a second,” I said to myself. “This thought is not of God. It is not the
Lord’s will for this man to die.” I chose not to agree with that dark thought but
took it captive and made it bow to King Jesus. Then I shouted at nobody in
particular, “This man will not die but live!” Two days later he was discharged
from the ICU and on his way to a full recovery.

Everything we
need for healing was made available through the sacrifice of God’s Son. So why
aren’t more people healed? One reason is they are living under law.

Paul
said the law is a ministry of death (2 Corinthians 3:7). Live by the law and it
will make you sick and then it will kill you. If you think you are sick because
you are being judged for some sin, or if you think you have to fast and pray
and otherwise earn your healing, then you are living under law. Your beliefs
are literally making you sick and keeping you from receiving the healing that
comes by grace alone.

Live
under the law and you may experience crippling stress, anxiety, even full-blown
depression. I personally know many people who have suffered terrible illnesses
as a direct result of trying to be good Christians. The problem is not Christ
or Christianity
—
it’s DIY religion. It’s the mindset that
says you have to work to make yourself into a new person. The problem is you
can’t succeed and you may die trying. The endless cycle of dedication, failure,
and recommitment can literally break your mind and body.

The
law makes you sick, but the good news is that grace can make you better!
[35]

This
past week I heard from a lady who battles with a type of OCD known as
scrupulosity. This is a mental disorder characterized by guilt over religious
issues. This lady had been to “countless therapists,” but nothing had helped.
Then she read something I wrote about God’s radical grace and felt her fears
calm for the first time in a long time. I can promise you it was not my
eloquent writing that set her free! It was the good news of grace revealed in
Jesus.

Jesus
said, “According to your faith it will be done to you.” I know people who are
convinced God does not heal, and guess what, they never see anyone get healed.
I know others who believe he does, and they do. Who would you rather be? The
unbelieving cynic who buries their loved ones with the satisfaction of knowing
they were right? Or the believer who may not see miracles every time but surely
sees them some of the time? I’d rather be a part-time healer than a full-time
doubter. I’d rather walk with those who are seeing the kingdom come than sit on
the sidelines with those who only read about it.

My five-year-old daughter came
home from school with a fever. We wrapped her up in her quilt, made her
comfortable on the couch, and prayed for her. She got worse. By the time dinner
was served, she was lying on the floor moaning and unable to get up.

It was time
for Jesus’ medicine!

It might
surprise you to learn that in the cupboard we have some divine medicine that is
super effective for healing. It goes by the name of communion, which for my
daughter meant blackcurrant cordial and pita bread. There is nothing special
about pita bread, but there is something very special about proclaiming the
Lord’s death—which is what we are doing whenever we take communion.

When we
proclaim the
Lord’s death, we are saying Christ died
to deliver us from sin and all the effects of sin, including sickness. We are
agreeing with the prophet who said:

Surely he took up our pain and bore our
suffering … and by his wounds we are healed. (Isaiah 53:4
–
5)

In chapter 10, we
looked at the benefits of communion and how Paul’s instructions to the
Corinthians are sometimes used to withhold grace from those who need it most.
One reason why some people hesitate to partake of communion is because of what
Paul says here:

For those who eat and drink without
discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves. That is why
many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. (1
Corinthians 11:29
–
30)

In context, Paul is
speaking about the negative judgment unbelievers bring on themselves by
refusing grace. But then he makes a point that’s relevant to Christians. He
basically says, “We may suffer too, not because God condemns us, but because we
condemn ourselves through unbelief.”

An
“unbelieving believer” ought to be a contradiction in terms, but it’s not. An
unbelieving believer is the Christian who thinks he must keep the rules to stay
healthy. It’s the mother worried sick about her children. It’s the miserable minister
busting his hump for the Lord.

An
unbelieving believer is any Christian who relies on their own resources and
understanding instead of relying on the Lord. It’s an unhealthy way to live.

But if we judged ourselves rightly, we
would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord so
that we will not be condemned along with the world. (1
Corinthians
11:31
–
32, NASB)

The word for
disciplined
in this verse should not make you think of punishment. It means training as in
training up a child. Paul is saying, “When we renew our minds and learn to
discern what is from the Lord and what is not, we are trained up as sons and
daughters and no longer suffer the effects of sin and condemnation.
”
[36]

When we get
ill we need to ask ourselves, “Is this sickness from the Lord?” When we come
under pressure and stress, same thing. “Is this anxiety I am experiencing from
the Lord?” Then, once we have renewed our minds—
this bad thing is not from
God
—we are ready to proclaim the Lord’s death over our situation. “Christ
died that I might enjoy a healthy life. Sickness, leave! Anxiety, take a hike!”

Taking
communion when you’re sick is great way to exercise your God-given faith. It’s
saying, “I don’t identify with these symptoms. I identify with Jesus, who
carried my infirmities and was wounded that I might be healed.”

When my kids
get sick, it makes me sick. My natural flesh responds with fear and anxiety and
I cannot rest. But one place I find comfort is in these two words from Isaiah:
“Surely, he …” Surely he took up our infirmities. Surely he carried our sorrows
and sicknesses.

My feverish
daughter was lying sick and moaning on the floor. As a family we took communion
together and proclaimed the Lord’s death over her. We thanked Jesus for carrying
her infirmities and then commanded the sickness to go. The change was dramatic.
Within a minute she perked up. The fever left and
she
went to the table and wolfed down her meal. Then she had seconds. She was her
usual cheerful self and when she went to bed later that evening she thanked
Jesus for healing her.          

Hand
on heart, I have to admit we don’t see such miraculous healings every time we
pray. But one thing we have learned is that we are more likely to see healings
when we pray than when don’t. We may be part-time healers, but our desire is to
reveal Jesus the full-time healer every time we pray.

The
bad news of life says sickness and death are inevitable. The worse news of
religion says you can hasten your own demise by trusting in the death-dealing
law and engaging in dead works. But the good news of grace says death no longer
has the last word. Jesus is the Author of new life. In him we have a Healer who
is greater than any hurt and a Savior mightier than death.

If God loves us
unconditionally, how do we account for those scriptures that link his love with
our obedience, like this one?

If you love me, you will keep my
commandments. (John 14:15, NASB)

A legalist reads
this backwards: “You will keep my commandments,
if
you love me.” In
other words, you must prove your love for Christ by obeying him. But one who is
walking in grace reads it as Jesus said it. He understands that obedience is a
byproduct of knowing Christ’s love.

This
is no small distinction. In fact, it is the difference between life and death.

If
you are confused about your Father’s love, you will tie yourself up in knots
over this issue of obedience. You’ll be susceptible to the lie that says your
relationship with God is defined by what you do. I’m talking about the mindset
that says, “You can’t love Jesus without embracing a lifestyle of obedience. If
you’re not obeying, you’re not loving. If you want to be known as one who loves
Jesus, you’d better do what he says.”

This
is twisted. It’s completely back to front. Our relationship with Jesus is love-based
not task-based. Genuine obedience follows love. Obedience is a fruit, not a
root.

The other day I was
walking with my girls to a playground. We were walking along a waterfront
esplanade that is sometimes used by goods vehicles. My girls were ahead of me
and with all the noise and excitement, they didn’t notice a van approaching
from the right. In a loud voice I told them to stop and they did.

Like
good Kiwi kids, they then instinctively looked to their left for the vehicle
they knew must be coming, only they could see no car. It would’ve been funny if
it hadn’t been dangerous. They were both straining so hard to look left that
they were oblivious to the van approaching on their right.

Forgive
the dramatization, but at this point each of my girls faced a life-threatening
choice: to walk by sight (
I see no car
) or by faith (
but Daddy told
me to stop
). They were itching to get on to the playground, but their trust
in me kept them safe and still. Well to be honest, the younger one needed
encouraging, but you get my point. They obeyed me because they trust me. See
the connection? Genuine obedience follows trust, which is based on love.

Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching.
(John 14:23a)

If A, then B. If
you love someone you will trust them and heed what they say. That’s what Jesus
is saying here. It’s obvious, isn’t it? Here’s the flipside:

Anyone who does not love me will not obey
my teaching. (John 14:24a)

If you don’t love
someone, you won’t heed what they say. Again, this is obvious, right?

Only
it’s
not
obvious, for many are trying to obey God out of fear instead of
love. Why fear? Because they’ve been told they have to obey and avoid sin and
do everything the Bible says because if they don’t, God will reject them. They
will be cast aside with the weeds, told to depart with the goats, and burned
with the unfruitful branches. It’s terrifying stuff.

It’s
always a good idea to avoid sin, but if you think Jesus died to turn you into a
do-gooder and that he uses terror to compel your compliance, you have missed
the mark by a million miles. There is no fear in love. My girls didn’t stop on
the side of the road because they are afraid of me. Neither should you be
afraid of your loving Father.

If you keep my commands, you will remain
in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love.
(John 15:10)

Again, this looks
like Jesus is preaching conditional love. Only he isn’t. Read the preceding
verse:

As the Father has loved me, so have I
loved you. Now remain in my love. (John 15:9)

How does the Father
love the Son? Unconditionally. Before Jesus had done a blessed thing, God said,
“This is my beloved Son” (Matthew 3:17). “Do you see how my Father loves me?”
says Jesus. “That’s how I love you.” Jesus is proclaiming his unconditional
love for us. This is good news. This should make you smile.

Christ’s
love is a rock-solid foundation you can build on. But you won’t have a
rock-solid life unless you receive it. Hence the exhortation that follows:

Remain in my love. Abide, dwell, stay
permanently in my love. Sink your roots deep and let nothing move you from my
love. Don’t let the insecure try and sell you my love. Look to the cross
—
you
already have my love. Other loves will disappoint but my love never fails. My
love is the one constant that will hold your world together if you receive it,
so receive it. Bask in it, bathe in it, swim in it, stay in it. (John 15:9,
Paul’s paraphrase)

That’s the best, most
blessed news in the universe. It’s the news a loveless world most needs to hear.
Perhaps you’ve heard it before, but you need to preach this good news to
yourself every single day.
Jesus loves me. He really loves me.

Then,
when you are secure in the foundation of verse 9, you can go on and read verse
10, which I paraphrase like this: “Trusting me to the point of doing what I say
is a sign you are remaining in my love.”

The
issue isn’t obedience versus disobedience. It’s trust versus distrust. When you
know how much your Father loves you, you will trust and obey him naturally.