Chapter Three
Chapter Three
Because Jesus' death ratified the Abrahamic covenant, which granted us healing for our bodies, the Scriptures spell it out over and over and over that, because of this ratification, God's will for us is our complete healing at all times. In this chapter, we show that healing for our body is spelled out for us in the subject of redemption. We shall find here that our bodies have already been redeemed from sickness. We will look closely at Romans 8:22 and 23, a passage used by the critics of healing to prove their criticism.
Rom 8:22-23
22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. (KJV)
There is a theology that says we cannot honestly teach healing for the body because the body is not redeemed yet. The followers of this theology declare that the spirit and the soul have been redeemed, but the body has not been redeemed yet, and they use the above verses to prove it. Therefore, they say that we cannot pray in faith believing that God is obligated to heal our body each and every time that we get sick. In other words, we cannot pray and know that it is the will of God for our bodies to be healed. Well, if that is the case, it goes right in the face of what I personally believe. I believe that it is the will of God for every child of His to be healed. I do not believe that it is the will of God for any Christian to be sick and stay that way. I believe this is what the Bible teaches, and I can prove it.
But someone might object, "If our bodies are redeemed already, how do you explain that plain statement above, that our bodies are not redeemed yet? It said that we are waiting for the adoption, that is, we are waiting for the redemption of our body. If our body has been redeemed already, why is it and how is it that we are still waiting on it? "
We are, indeed, waiting for the redemption of our body, but not in the way the critic of healing thinks. As we shall soon see, this view (this theology that our body is not redeemed yet) is based upon a lack of understanding.
Look closely at that word redemption in verse 23 above. Redemption translates one Greek word, APOLUTROSIS, which combines two Greek words; the Greek proposition APO (meaning away from) is combined with the Greek word LUTROSIS (meaning to loose after receipt of ransom). The word LUTROSIS is uniformly translated in Scripture by the word redeemed (verb form) or redemption (noun form). That is the word used here. It is combined with the Greek proposition APO which means away from. The combination of APO and LUTROSIS, then, means away redemption.
Now what is the significance of this word APO combined with LUTROSIS which means the away redemption? It means that our body has already been redeemed. It means that our body was redeemed at the same time as our soul and spirit.
Here is the significance of APO (meaning away) when added to LUTROSIS (meaning redeemed). It is as though I had a watch and I needed some money. So I took the watch to a pawn shop and hocked it. Let's say I got twenty dollars for it. I am to go back there one month later and give them back the twenty dollars plus interest and get my watch back. Therefore, at the end of the month, I give them twenty dollars plus interest, and they return my watch.
But I say, "Listen to me. I have paid the bill. I owe no more. However, I must go downtown to do some things. I want to leave this watch here with you. I'll pick it up later in the day. Will you keep it for me for safekeeping?" And the fellow says, "Yes. I will keep it for you for safekeeping."
Remember this, I have already paid the bill, there's no more due on it, I just haven't picked up what's mine yet. It's still in the pawn shop although there are no obligations on it at all. In other words, I have not yet taken it away. I have redeemed it, but I have not taken it away yet. I have redeemed it, but I have not taken it away yet.
That's the meaning of the word translated redemption in Romans 8:23. It means that our body has been redeemed, but Jesus has left our body here. He hasn't taken it with Him into heaven yet. The word really speaks of an away redemption. The price has been paid. The price was the death of Jesus. You can find Scripture after Scripture after Scripture that says the redemption price has already been paid.
I had to show you what this word redemption means so you will get it out of your mind that our bodies are not redeemed based on a misunderstanding of Romans 8:23. Our body is redeemed, but it is not taken away yet. The away part of our redemption has not yet occurred, and it will only occur at the rapture of the church.
We cannot conclude, therefore, that God will not heal us based on Romans 8:23 because some say that we are waiting for our bodies to be redeemed when Jesus comes. Therefore, they say, since we supposedly have an unredeemed body, that we cannot pray to God and expect it to be the will of God each and every time for us to be healed. This is absolutely not the teaching of Romans 8:23. So then perish the thought that the whole man has not been redeemed because he has. Jesus' blood paid the price of everything in order "to loose" us. As a matter of fact, LUTROSIS, literally means "to loose upon receipt of ransom." In this case, of course, the ransom paid was the very life of Christ.
The redemption (price paid) has loosed us from the grip and snare of the devil. The price that was paid was the blood of Christ. This price loosed us from all claims of both sin and Satan. We are loose, and liberty and freedom are the results of our redemption. This is the redemption. This is actually what the word means. We are loosed and are therefore free. It's just that we have not been taken up yet. The away redemption has not occurred; the paid redemption has occurred. So what this means is that we just haven't been taken out yet, but we have been redeemed, all of us, including our body.
Since our body is redeemed, then God has a vital interest in our body. Does that make sense? If our bodies had the price paid to deliver it from sin, Satan, hell, etc., God must have a vital interest in what happens to our body. Romans 8:11 demonstrates this for us.
Rom 8:11-17
11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.
12 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.
13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. (KJV)
When you get saved, the spirit of God comes into you at that very moment and starts living inside your spirit man. Since the spirit of God is in you, and since your body has been redeemed, the Bible says that the same spirit that raised Christ from the dead shall also quicken or give life to your mortal body.
Those who attempt to take away your healing say that this verse applies only to the rapture. You know, there are so many things relegated to the rapture by people trying to take God's blessings away from us. If there is something they don't like they will say, "Well, that's going to be at the rapture." I beg to differ. This verse has nothing to do with the rapture, and I can prove it. Furthermore, I will show you why Romans 8: 11 has nothing to do with the rapture. You see, the scoffers say that God will give life to our bodies at the rapture when the dead are raised. But there are numerous problems here, if that's the case.
If it did, a total rewriting of verses 11 through 17 would be required. Here's why. Verse 11 must read like this:
Rom 8:11
11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies AT THE RAPTURE by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. (KJV)
Furthermore, in verse 12, Paul draws a conclusion based on what he had said in verse 11. He uses two Greek words, ARA plus OUN (translated "therefore"), to show that his conclusion in verse 12 follows logically from verse 11. But if verse 11 pertains to the rapture, so does verse 12 (because of ARA plus OUN). Consequently verse 12 must read like this:
Rom 8:12
12 Therefore, brethren, AFTER THE RAPTURE, we WILL NOT BE debtors to the flesh, to live after the flesh. (KJV)
This is not all. Verses 13, 14 and 15, all start with the preposition "for" which translates the Greek preposition GAR. This Greek preposition, GAR, gives the ground or reason for a preceding statement. Therefore if verse 12 pertains to the rapture, then so do verses 13 through 15. They must read, then, like this:
Rom 8:13-15
13 For if ye live after the flesh AFTER THE RAPTURE, ye shall die AFTER THE RAPTURE: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live AFTER THE RAPTURE.
14 For AFTER THE RAPTURE as many as WILL BE led by the Spirit of God, they WILL BE The sons of God, BUT ONLY AFTER THE RAPTURE.
15 For AFTER THE RAPTURE, ye WILL NOT RECEIVE the spirit of bondage again to fear; but AFTER THE RAPTURE ye WILL RECEIVE the Spirit of adoption, whereby we WILL cry, Abba, Father AFTER THE RAPTURE. (KJV)
The logical absurdities do not stop with the above. If Romans 8:11 applies only to the rapture, then verses 16 and 17 must also be changed to reflect it. Watch.
16 The Spirit itself WILL BEAR WITNESS with our spirit AFTER THE RAPTURE, that we are the children of God:
17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ, BUT ONLY AFTER THE RAPTURE.
Observe, below, the conclusions drawn from this nonsense.
Another problem is Paul's choice of the word mortal. He said you are mortal. He said that God will quicken or give life to your mortal body. Mortal, in this verse, is the Greek word THNETOS, which is akin to the Greek word THANESKO which means to die. Mortal here means death doomed. It relates to a body that is still living but is in the process of aging and decaying and ultimately dying. Because it is living, it is death doomed. Mortal means subject to die. You see, we call ourselves mortal beings. God is immortal. He doesn't die. Anything that is subject to die is considered mortal. There is a death principle that operates in all of us, and that death principle makes us mortal.
The point I want you to see is that Paul was speaking to a group of people that were alive. They were living. Had he been speaking strictly about the rapture, he would certainly have said something about the dead in Christ. After all, they were so important in the mind of God that, He will take them up, even before the mortal or living are changed and taken up.
In addition, if Paul was telling a living group that God would quicken their (or your) living bodies at the rapture, this meant Paul was wrong in what he said since the rapture did not occur while they were still living or mortal. Therefore, this passage does not pertain to the rapture at all but describes what God is doing now to the bodies of living, mortal Christians.
In other words, the word mortal is completely wrong in this context. He says that God will quicken your mortal body or make your mortal body alive. Well, your mortal body is already alive. So I find a problem with the word.
Those who relate this passage to the rapture will argue that although the people addressed in the verse are living, Paul said in other Scripture that living bodies would be changed at the rapture. Therefore, their reasoning goes, Romans 8:11 still applies to the rapture.
Consider verse 12, and look closely at the word are. We are not debtors to live after the flesh. We are is the Greek present tense which means continuous action or state of being in present time. Paul was speaking to a group of people in the church at Rome who were living people. They were alive. They were alive then and there. Furthermore he placed are in present time which means continuous action or state of being in present time for them. He said that since God is making our bodies alive (now) with the life of God, we are continuously not a debtor (now) to the flesh to live after its principles and way of doing things.
Follow Paul's logic here very closely. Since are is continuous in the present, this means the rapture had to occur then and there. It did not. Therefore, this passage could not and did not apply to the rapture.
The above statement will become absolutely clear, if we assume for a moment that the critics of healing are right, and that Romans 8:11 does apply to the rapture.
If the critics of healing are right and Romans 8:11 does in fact apply to the rapture, here is the logical conclusion. After the rapture, there are two ways to live your life: You can live your life by your own ingenuity, or you can live your life by faith. Let's contrast these two ways of living our lives after the rapture, assuming that the critics of healing are right and Romans 8:11 will not be fulfilled until the rapture.
Faith is knowing the will of God in advance and acting on that knowledge. This is walking or living in the spirit. On the other hand, living or walking after the flesh, is living by your own ingenuity, figuring things out yourself, conceiving your own scheme, living by your wits, being the captain and master of your own fate and soul. See How To Obtain Abraham's Blessings.
But is this possible? After the rapture, will the possibility for a Christian to live by his own wits (walking after the flesh) still be open to him/her? Absolutely not. Yet this is the logical conclusion if Romans 8:11 will only be fulfilled at the rapture. After the rapture, this possibility will no longer be open to us. Paul was, therefore, addressing options that pertain only to the present.
No wonder he said that we are continuously not (obligated) debtors (now) to have to figure things out (any longer) on our own, to have to scheme things out and conceive our own plan and plan our work and work our plan. This is what the unsaved must do. They are debtors to the limitations of the flesh and its principles. Unfortunately, carnal Christians live their lives this way also.
But no Christian has to live his life in this manner. We Christians are not debtors to live after the flesh anymore. We can find the mind of God on a subject and act on that. We can do this now. We are not obligated any more to live by our wits, because the Holy Ghost has done and is doing something to our mortal body (continuous action and state of being in present time). Even while Paul was speaking and living and writing, the Holy Ghost was quickening their mortal bodies. Otherwise, Paul could not have placed this statement in the present tense. He could not and would not have said that we are no longer a continuous debtor to live after the flesh now. He would have said that we will not be a debtor in the future, because Romans 8: 11 will only be fulfilled at the rapture.
Understand this next statement well. Not only will the option of walking after the flesh no longer be a possibility for us, but neither will it be possible for us to die after the rapture. Need we say more? Yet if Romans 8:11 pertains to the rapture, this is the logical outcome; we can still die after the rapture. This in insane.
If, therefore, any of these Scriptures pertains to the rapture, Paul would not and could not make them at all for the simple reason that we would be in heaven. Common sense shows us that none of these statements (verses) would apply to us in heaven. To put it differently, the choice to live and walk after the flesh will no longer be an option to any Christian. We Christians can indeed walk after the flesh now. But after the rapture we will not have this option. Although we have the option to walk after the flesh now, we do not have to do it because the Holy Ghost is pumping the life and nature of God through our veins, enabling us to no longer be a debtor to the flesh now. In addition, after the rapture, death will no longer be a possibility for us. Therefore this passage does not pertain to anything that happens to Christians at the rapture, either to those Roman Christians, or to us today
But, somebody says, that He said He will quicken our bodies. He used the future tense. He said the spirit of God will quicken (future) your mortal body. Well, somebody says, that means that at some point in the future He is going to do this quickening, but not now.
Here is my answer to this hypothetical nonsense. Will quicken is a progressive future. In Greek, a progressive future describes what is occurring now that will continue in the future. Let me illustrate this with Philippians 1:6.
Phil 1:6
6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ: (KJV)
That is a progressive future. God was already doing a good work in those people. For He said that He has already begun it, and He said the work that He has begun, He will keep on doing it until Jesus actually comes back again. This is a progressive future. He is talking about something that had been going on in the past, was still going on, and is still going to keep on going on into the future.
So, what Paul is saying is this: God is doing some things to every cell of your body by the Holy Ghost Who dwells in you now, and not only is He doing it now, but He will keep on doing it in the future. The body has been redeemed, just like the soul and the spirit. Because of your redemption, the Holy Ghost has a vital interest in your body. Consequently, when the spirit of God starts living in you, He starts quickening every cell of your body. He begins to pump the life of God into every cell in your human frame and keeps on pumping it in the future.
Look at the word quicken. This is one Greek word which combines the Greek word ZOA (which means the life of God or the nature of God) and the Greek word POIEO (which means to do or to make). In other words, the Holy Ghost is going to make or to do or quicken (make alive) the life of God in your human body now. Do you know that the very nature and life of God is being pumped into the various cells and muscular structure of your physical flesh at this very moment? Even as you are reading these words, the Holy Ghost is in your very being, pumping the life of God through your veins now. Moreover, this life (there are three different Greek words for life) is the life of God, the nature of God, the life that only resides in God. This is the life that is being pumped into and through the structure of the cells of our physical bodies right now.
No wonder Paul said we are no longer debtors to the flesh, to live by its dictates, deeds, and principles. We have a power inside of us that liberates us from the dictates and deeds of the flesh. I don't have to succumb to it. When sickness strikes, I don't have to tolerate it. If I am still stuck with living by the principles of the flesh, I am at the mercies of the medical profession. But I am not stuck with living within the limitations imposed on me by the flesh. I am no longer a debtor to it for the very power of God is surging through the cells of my body. That's what this Scripture says.
Here is the clincher. What is the definition of redemption? It means loosing upon receipt of ransom. Surely, we can all agree that the price of our redemption is the death of Christ. This being the case, if our body has not been loosed because it has not been redeemed yet, then the redemption price for our body has not been paid yet. Since the price of Christian redemption is the death of Jesus, then Jesus must pay for our bodies at the rapture. But with what price? If Romans 8:11 will be fulfilled only at the rapture, Jesus must die again when He comes back, since there is no other Biblical way for us to be redeemed.
The above is silly. Romans 8;11 has nothing to do with the rapture. When you read Romans 8:11, remember the word mortal that is applied to living people. Remember the Greek present in the next verse which says we are continuously not debtors now any longer to the flesh, (Greek present tense means continuous action in present time and not way out in the future at the Rapture). So don't let somebody tell you that this is future! He "will quicken" us with the life of God is a progressive future like Philippians 1:6, which declares that what is going on now will keep on keeping on in the future .
We have found four things about our body so far:
(1) The body is redeemed
(2) It just hasn't been taken away yet
(3) The Holy Ghost is vitally interested in our body
(4) Therefore He is pumping the life of God into our very
cells right no
First Corinthians 6:13-20 also demonstrates God's vital interest in your body.
1 Cor 6:13-20
13 Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats: but God shall destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body.
14 And God hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise up us by his own power.
15 Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid.
16 What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh.
17 But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.
18 Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.
19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's. (KJV)
Verse 13 above says that the body is for the Lord and the Lord is for the body. Let me ask you a question. If the Lord is for my body and if my body is for the Lord, then does it not make sense that the Lord would have an interest in my health? You can bet the ranch on it! The Lord has an intense interest in my health.
Look now at verse 15, which asks, "Know you not that your bodies are the members of Christ?" You are aware of the silly teaching that we are to glorify God through our sickness. Can you imagine a sick Christ? We have no record that Jesus was ever sick a day in his life. Can you imagine a sick Christ? Can you imagine Jesus with a terminal cancer, even though the Bible says that our bodies are the members of Christ? Visualize the fact that we actually become a member of His body. Our bodies are members of Christ. Do you see that? I cannot visualize any member in His body being sick. I cannot visualize such a thing as that.
In verses 15 and 16, Paul says that two shall be one flesh. He is talking about why a Christian should not live a sexually impure life. If we join our body, which is joined to Christ, to the body of a harlot, we make Christ joined to a harlot, and they (Christ and the harlot) become one flesh. This demonstrates the great Bible truth that we are actually a part of His physical body. His body was never sick. His body will never be sick. We must reject the theology that we have been taught that's not based on Scripture. We must determine who we are and what belongs to us and how to get it. We must stand on our feet and tell the devil, who put that sickness on our loved one, to go straight to hell. I have been joined to Christ. You have been joined to Christ. We are part of His body. Therefore, we don't have to put up with the devil's nonsense.
In addition, verse 17 says, "He that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit." one body, and now one spirit. I am now part of the very spirit that Jesus carried around in Him. We are now one spirit. One body, one spirit! I am a member of His body, and His spirit and my spirit are now one. One. One. One. The people of God and their Christ are now one. No wonder He redeemed the human body. When He died for our sins, He died for all of them; the sins of our mind, the sins of our body, etc. He also died for our sickness and since sickness resides primarily in the body, He redeemed the body with the away redemption to provide for our bodily, physical sicknesses. The Holy Ghost is working His work in our body, now, and I am one flesh with Him and one spirit with Him as a result of it now..
Verse 19 demonstrates this even more: "Know you not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost who is in you, whom you have of God?" I am one spirit. I am a member of His body. No wonder the Holy Ghost is in me. It couldn't be any other way could it? Since I am member of His body and one with His Spirit, the same spirit that was in Him has to be in me. Doesn't that make sense? Do you see the relationship the body has to the things of Christ based on the Word of God? Do you see how that the Bible throws a lot of light on so much modern, doubting and scoffing theology that just takes away everything that God promised in His Word? Most modern theology takes away your healing and your prosperity. You must, therefore, examine the Scriptures that the apostles of doubt put forth to demonstrate to you that healing and prosperity do not belong to you. You will find that their proof texts say the exact opposite of what they say that they say.
Can't you see that the body is redeemed? The body is so redeemed that God supernaturally joined it to Christ and made it one of the members of His own body. Don't you see that when we get saved, our spirit actually becomes one with His spirit? No wonder the Holy Ghost is in us. No wonder the Bible says that our bodies become the temple of the living God. No wonder that my body is a temple of the Holy Ghost, which I have from God. Modern theology, which says that our body is not redeemed yet, is false! Here, the word is away redemption, but the price has already been paid.
Notice something else in verse 19: "You are not your own." If I am not my own, then I am His. If I belong to Him, then He is responsible for me. He is responsible for me as a member of His own body. The Bible says that I am a member of His body. If He is responsible for me as a member of His body, then He will do for me exactly what you will do for a member of your body when it starts ailing; you will take care of it and get it well.
Any way you view it, your body is vital in the mind of God. Your body has been redeemed. It has been joined to the very body of Christ, and we have been made a member of His body. Our body is so redeemed that the Holy Ghost lives in us. The Spirit of Christ in our spirit becomes our spirit. Therefore I am a temple, the temple of the Holy Ghost. I am not my own. I am a part of His body, and my spirit and his Spirit are now one Spirit
I have been bought with a price. The price was the blood of Jesus, and that price took care of my body. Our bodies were bought and paid for by Jesus' blood. When the price was paid, the redemption occurred. My body has been "loosed upon receipt of ransom." That's what the Bible says about it. I am not my own. If I am not my own, I am His responsibility. If I am His responsibility, what kind of God is it that is going to leave His child sick. I won't leave one of my children sick. Neither will God!
In addition, the passage says, "You are bought with a price, therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit which are God's." I want you to see this well: Both your body and your spirit are God's.
We have already seen that a redemption, which involves a ransom, pertains to the body according to Romans 8:23. That redemption happens either at the Rapture, or it has already happened. (We are demonstrating now that it has already happened.) But either way, a redemption of the body is scriptural. When the Bible says that you have been bought with a price, it means all of you, not just some of you. Therefore, we are instructed to glorify God in our body.
Next, let's take a deep, hard look at this word glorify. What do we mean by glorify? What does the Bible mean by glorify? The first place I went publicly as a little baby was to Sunday school and church. The first place my kids went publicly was to Sunday school and church. The first place my grandchildren went publicly was to Sunday school and church. But even though we have come up through Sunday school and church, I have found that we take for granted some of the simple little things we have heard from childhood without being able to really define them. If we can't define them, we really don't know what they mean. The word glorify is one of them. We have never really known what it means. But here's what it means.
The word glorify or glory comes from the Greek word, DOXA, the basic meaning of which is to suppose or to seem and consequently, to form a favorable opinion. That's the basic meaning of the word translated glory or glorified. Based on supposing or seeming, it came to mean reaching a favorable conclusion about something I had thought about. It means, in other words, to form a favorable conclusion after supposing on something.
What do I mean, then, by glorify God in my body? I mean that I am to suppose that God redeemed my body, and it is His. Since my body has been redeemed, I am to suppose that He is living in my body, which He is. Finally, I am to reach a favorable conclusion about all this, and acknowledge that the Holy Ghost is doing some things in my body now, which He is.
The question, then, becomes, "What is He doing in my body that I am to reason, to seem, to suppose, to reach a favorable conclusion about and, finally, to acknowledge?" What is the Holy Ghost doing in my body that I am to honor? Romans 8:11 gives us the answer: "If the Spirit of him that raised Christ from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you." In other words, that same spirit is continuously pumping the life and nature of God progressively into your mortal body. Therefore, I must "suppose" on this fact, reach a favorable conclusion, and acknowledge it.
How many people stopped today to ponder and acknowledge that the Holy Ghost is pumping the life of God Himself into the very cell structure of your body? If you did not, you did not glorify God in your body. You may glorify Him in the beauty of a sunset, you may glorify Him in the beauty of a flower, you may glorify Him over the blessing of a child, but how many of you glorified Him in your body today? When you learn to do this, your health is going to turn around. Because the job of the Holy Ghost inside your flesh is to pump the life giving forces of God's life and nature into the very cell structure of your physical flesh. We must recognize what the Word of God says about it, and start giving God glory for it. We must think this thing through, settle it in our mind, and acknowledge that the Holy Ghost is pumping the life of God in my very flesh right now. That's giving Him glory for what He is doing in your body.
I know what Paul meant when he said that we are no longer debtors to live after the flesh. I don't have to live after the flesh. In addition, I must know what the Bible says the Holy Ghost is doing in my body now. For when I know it, then I can act on it. Until I know it, I cannot act on it. I am stuck with living as a debtor to the flesh. But when I understand what the Holy Ghost is doing in my body, not only can I act on it for my healing, I will also reason, suppose and seem on it. When I reach a favorable conclusion on it, I will acknowledge it. When I acknowledge it, then I am giving honor to it. I acknowledge that the Holy Ghost is pumping God's own life inside me right now. This is what the Bible means when it says, "Glorify God in your body."
Let me go over that word life again. Quicken is a Greek word which combines two words, ZOE (life), and POIEO (to make or to do). This word describes life as it comes from God. There is a sense in which all life is ZOE, that is, from God. However, there is also a peculiar sense in which ZOE life can only be applied to a saved person, since it is primarily used concerning people who have been born again. It is the life and nature of God Himself. It is a life independent of the fact that you are biologically living. It is totally different. Though your biological life comes from God, ZOE, for a Christian, is distinct. In this context, God is pumping, producing and reproducing His own ZOE life, His own ZOE being, His own ZOE nature inside you. He is working ZOE into your physical body.
The above reveals one of the main reasons some people are sick. They have not glorified God in their body. To glorify God in our body means to suppose, to seem on the above and finally to reach a favorable opinion about it. It means to become aware of what the Holy Ghost is doing in your body, and then it means to acknowledge it favorably.
What you must do from this day forward is say what the Word of God says about you. In other words, you must acknowledge that what the Bible says about you is true. The Bible says that God's Spirit is making your physical body alive with the life of God. God cannot be sick. It just can't be. Jesus was never sick. He cannot be sick. I am now a member of His body. I am now one spirit with Him. That's why I am the temple of the Holy Ghost. That's one of the reasons the Holy Ghost is in us, keeping that temple swept, garnished, healthy, and in good shape. Therefore, we can never get sick and stay that way. Now the above is what the Bible says about the body. That is what is going on in me. It's what is going on in you.
We must assemble all these truths in our "bucket of faith." Remember that faith is knowing the will of God in advance. It is information you receive from God for you to act upon. Faith is advance information that will enable you to know what God will do before He does it. This advance information usually contains instructions as to what your part is in what God is about to do. We have to know what the Bible says about what the Holy Ghost is doing inside our flesh right now. He is quickening it. That's why some people, when they are eighty years old, don't look a day past fifty. They have recognized what is going on inside of them. They see that their physical wellness is up to God, and they rest in that. When they rest in that, the load is lifted from them. They maintain a strength they would not have otherwise.
Carrying everything by yourself will kill you, it will beat you down. But when you recognize what God is doing inside of your body and let Him do it, you are glorifying Him in your body. Most everybody glorifies Him in their spirit. Most everyone knows that you have a spirit man and the spirit of God is in that spirit man. Most everybody knows that God talks to you in your spirit, and we go all out in our Spirit-filled churches to emphasize the Spirit, and rightfully so. But I want you to see that this same Holy Ghost that we go all out to emphasize has a vital interest in your body. He is pumping the very life of God through you right now, quickening your body. The very life of God is bathing every cell in it even now.
Why then, does it do me no good? Here's why: You don't know it so you can cooperate with it; you haven't acted on it because you can't act on information you don't have. When you know it and act on it, you glorify God in your body. God is vitally interested in your body.
You see, I am building a framework here where anybody can be healed. I believe what I am saying. I have staked my life on it. I lost my job and my career in the denominational church because I believed what I am telling you. When that happened, do you know what sustained me? I had seen it work. That sustained me. You know, we preach a gospel that works. We don't preach theories and doctrines of men. I have seen too many people on their death bed who listened to what I said about healing in the Abrahamic covenant that have walked out of that death room absolutely well. They learned what the Bible said about their body, and they acted upon it. They began to glorify God in their body, and He healed them in response to their acting on His promises concerning their flesh.
Your body is important. Your body is vitally important. It is so important that when Jesus Christ died, He died not only for your sins, but for your sicknesses as well. It is the job of the Holy Ghost to produce the very life of God in your body. When you act on these Scriptures by faith, everything that the death of Christ procured for you will be manifested for you and in you.
In another chapter, I will show you that the death of Jesus Christ covered sickness just the same as it did sin. I will show you that both sin and sickness came straight from hell. They do not come from God. Never get so silly in your theology that you think that God is using sickness to get even with you or to teach you. God doesn't have to use that to teach us. That puts God down on the level with the devil. It says that the devil is even bigger than God because God is such a wimp that He must have some of the devil's tools to teach you. But God doesn't need any of the devil's tools with which to teach His children. He can get through to you and teach you without them.
If I want one of my children taught something I don't run them through a diphtheria colony. I don't give them AIDS. I don't give them cancer. That's bizarre. God is not like that. The Holy Ghost is in the cells of your body right now, making them alive with the life of God. When you recognize this fact and acknowledge it, you glorify God and give honor to Him for it. It is at this point that you begin to rest in and rely upon it. It is at this point that your health turns around for the better.
"Father, in the name of Jesus, bless this teaching. Teach us, Lord, what the Bible says about healing. Dear Master, heal the sick and fill them with hope. In the name of Jesus. Amen."
Copyright 1996 - 2009
Date Last Updated:
April 15, 2009
PO Box 59 ¦ Livingston, TX ¦ 77351
936-327-3676
http://jaysnell.org
