Can Christians Heal Like the Apostles Did?

Can we heal people today like the apostles did in the New Testament? That's just one of the questions we'll be answering on today's edition of CORE Christianity. Hi, this is Bill Meyer, along with Pastor Adriel Sanchez, and this is the radio program where we answer your questions about the Bible and the Christian life every day.

That's 1-833-843-2673. You can also post your question on our Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter accounts. You can watch us on YouTube, and you can email us with your question at questions at corechristianity.com. First up today, let's go to Drew in Nashville, Tennessee.

Drew, welcome to the program. Hey, thank you, Bill and Pastor Adriel. My question is regarding persecution as believers. I know in John, Jesus says, if the world hates you, know you hated me before I hated you. And I've noticed recently on social media, certain pastors that I respect have made some statements that at least seem to state if you aren't regularly hated or persecuted, you might belong to the world or to essentially examine yourself.

And so my question is, in our daily lives, what might this look like? So I understand if you're sharing the gospel, maybe experiencing direct pushback or persecution, but should we constantly be correcting and or seeking to offend? I'm not seeking to offend, but you know, regularly correcting, and if not, do we have reason to think that we are not true Christians or that we belong to the world?

Drew, this is a really excellent question. And just the last part of your question there, I don't think that if, you know, we're not getting the type of persecution that we need to say, oh, I must not really be a believer, that kind of a thing. I think practically speaking, I mean, you were mentioning what Jesus said to his disciples in places like John chapter 15, look, the world is going to hate you for the sake of Christ, for the sake of the gospel, so that when we are extending the truth of God's word to others, for some people, it's the aroma of life. You know, they hear the gospel and they realize that they're sinners in need of this divine grace and they receive it, it's life-giving for others, they're convicted and they hate the truth of God's word, and because we're sharing the truth of God's word in ways that are respectful, not trying to, you know, do our own thing to be offensive just for the sake of being offensive, but we're really sharing with the love of Christ.

And even by loving others and speaking the truth to them sometimes will still be hated, and I think that's exactly what Jesus was saying. You know, I think of what the apostle Paul, when Paul was talking about the qualifications for ministers in 1 Timothy chapter 3, one of the qualifications that he gave, Drew, this is really interesting to me, in verse 7 of chapter 3, he says that, you know, the potential elder must be well thought of by outsiders so that he may not fall into disgrace into a snare of the devil. In other words, he's assuming here that outsiders, those who aren't believers, not a part of the church, they think well of this person. He's not an individual who's obnoxious, who's always trying to be offensive, that kind of a thing. No, he's a person of integrity who has strong convictions, clings to what they believe, to the truth of the gospel, but they also love their neighbors, and I think there's something very attractive about that, frankly, to the world, to see Christians loving as we should while also holding fast to our convictions.

I think there's a balance that we have to strike here. Another passage of scripture that I would say is good to go to is in 1 Peter chapter 3, beginning in verse 13. Here it's talking about persecution again for the sake of Christ, and he says this, Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? In other words, who's going to persecute you for being zealous for that which is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame, for it is better to suffer for doing good if that should be God's will than for doing evil.

And my concern, Drew, is that when people think like, oh man, I'm not suffering enough for Christ's sake, I better get out there and be a little bit more obnoxious, that kind of a thing. What ends up happening is people don't hate you and persecute you for the gospel, they actually begin to hate you because you can be obnoxious in how you share the gospel, and I think we have to be careful with that. We want to share the truth of God's word with gentleness and respect.

Our lives should be exemplary, lives of integrity, lives of love for our neighbors, and that is attractive to the world in one sense. And there are some people who, even though they see that when they hear the gospel, the exclusivity of Christ, the fact that we need to have our sins forgiven, they're going to hate us, and they're going to speak ill of us. And that's, I think, when we can say, well, I'm genuinely being persecuted for the sake of Christ, but if we're being persecuted just because we like to be loud and get in arguments on social media, that kind of a thing, that's not honoring to the Lord, and so we have to be really careful that that's not what's taking place. May the Lord bless you, Drew.

Thanks for your question. I'm so glad you brought up that passage in 1 Peter 3, because I hear a lot of Christians, and they will quote, you know, be ready at all times to answer anyone who asks you to explain the hope you have within you, but then they'll stop there, and they won't mention the next verse, which says to do it with gentleness and respect, which is the key, isn't it? That's right, and it seems like here for Peter, he's saying, well, one of the reasons people are going to ask you about this hope is because in the midst of the suffering you're experiencing, you're handling it in such a gracious way, in such a godly way. You aren't, you know, throwing stones back or responding evil for evil, and so it raises this question in the minds of people around you, hey, despite the fact that you're being slandered, you're still loving your neighbor or these people who are treating you this way.

Why is that? Well, because we serve Jesus, who did that very same thing. He's our Lord. He's the one that we follow, and so it really opens up the door for us as we model this, I think, to be able to share Christ with people who desperately need to hear the gospel.

Amen. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. If you have a question, here's the number to call. It's 833-THE-CORE.

That's 1-833-843-2673. Let's go to Val calling in from Long Island, New York. Val, what's your question for Pastor Adriel? Yes, hello? The name's Ralph. Hey, brother, thank you for calling.

What's your question? Alright, the question is, my brother, in Isaiah 53, right, obviously it's the messianic prophecy of Jesus, right, and in the verse, where it says, you know, by His stripes we are healed. And, you know, I've been a Christian a while, and we hear people praying by His stripes we are healed, or physical healing, but that's not a context, right, my brother? You're totally right.

Yeah, I mean, you answered your own question. I think that that is being applied out of context. I have heard pastors, you know, go to Isaiah 53, and, you know, they're talking about this atoning work of Jesus Christ. I'll begin in verse 4. For surely He has borne our griefs, talking about the servant of the Lord here, and carried our sorrows, yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted, but He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities, upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His wounds we are healed. Now, the wounds of Jesus Christ, His crucifixion on the cross, that was about the healing of our souls. I mean, we're talking about the forgiveness of sins, first and foremost.

Now, one day everything is going to be restored. We're going to be fully healed, you know, at the resurrection. Our bodies restored that as well, but I think when people take this verse, and they try to apply it to physical healing today, and they're almost sort of naming it and claiming it and saying, hey, this says, by His stripes we're healed, by virtue of the fact that Jesus died for me, I need to be healed of cancer, or whatever else. That's taking this passage of Scripture out of context, brother. Have you been hearing pastors, I mean, I'm guessing you're seeing this on the television, or is this a church you're a part of, or something like that? I'm in a prayer group at a church, and yeah, I heard people praying like that, and I'm not a leader in church or anything, but the pastor doesn't correct them, and right now I got a cold.

Yeah, well, and that's the thing. We can't be presumptuous with God's healing, with divine healing. I mean, the apostle Paul told Timothy that he had these frequent ailments, and so he should take a little bit of wine to settle his stomach. He didn't just say, hey, you need to go to Isaiah 53 and name it and claim it, and you should be healed if you're really following the Lord, that kind of a thing. A little bit later in Isaiah 53, it says, out of the anguish of his soul, he shall see and be satisfied.

By his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous. It's justification, and that's the healing that we're talking about. We're talking about the healing of sinners through the atoning work of Jesus Christ. That doesn't mean that we can't pray for healing, that we can't ask God for divine healing, but we've got to be careful that we're not taking Bible verses and then trying to demand something from the Lord when we're taking those verses out of context and we're not using them the way they were intended to be used. So it sounds to me like you understand this, and I think in a situation in a local church where you're hearing this, you don't need to beat someone over the head with the right interpretation. You should just go to them and say, you know what that verse is, that passage is really about? It's really about the forgiveness of sins that we've already received from Jesus, and what a wonderful thing that is. That's what we should rest in and put our hope in, while at the same time being able to pray and say, Lord, please give me your healing mercies. I'm asking you to heal me in this particular area of my life. There's nothing wrong with that.

It's just a wrong application of Isaiah 53, verse 5. Thanks for your question, brother. Great advice there, Adriel.

Thanks so much. Always so key that we take every scripture and look at it in the whole context of the Bible, as you often say, not just take a little proof text and try to build something out of it. Well, one of the things we want to mention here about Core Christianity is that we have a podcast. And if you are helped by what you hear on this program and you listen to our podcast, we would love to encourage you to subscribe to it and leave us a five star review. That way, even more people can hear about the podcast and have a chance to learn about the core truths of Christianity. You can find the podcast through your podcast app.

And again, if you like what you hear, leave us a five star review. Let's go to Anna from Kansas City, Missouri. Anna, what's your question for Pastor Adriel?

Hello. I am calling about Ephesians chapter one, verse four, which says, According as he has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love. So I was told by someone I trust that that sounds like or that that is because it was God's plan to choose Jesus to reconcile us to God through, well, through Jesus.

So I just want to know what you think about that passage. Yeah, well, well, Jesus is central in the Book of Ephesians and we are chosen in Christ, but the ones who are chosen here, I mean, Paul, as he's writing to the Ephesians, he's talking about the fact that God chose them. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him in love. He predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ.

You see how Jesus is central here. I mean, this predestination, this choice is happening in Christ through Christ to the praise of his glorious grace with which he has blessed us in the beloved. So Paul is he's talking about God's sovereign choice of his people even before the foundation of the world, and it's connected to Jesus. You know, we're only saved by faith in Jesus Christ, but even that is something a gift that the Lord gives to us. And so I'm not sure it sounds to me, Anna, like you were saying that this friend of yours was saying, well, really, the one who's chosen here is Jesus, not us.

Is that accurate? Well, he's chosen Jesus, and we are in Jesus when we choose Jesus. No one can be in Christ unless they choose Christ.

Yeah. Well, that is one way in which this passage of scripture has been, and a number of other passages as they relate to this doctrine, the doctrine of election have been interpreted, the idea being that God chose Jesus, he's sort of the team captain, and when we choose Jesus, we're in Jesus, and so in that sense, we're chosen in Jesus. I think we could even go further than that because it seems to me like what the apostle Paul is saying here is actually that God chose you before the foundation of the world, before you had ever done anything good or bad, that God set his love on you in this particular way. And this is something that we see not just here in Ephesians 1, but in other places of the Bible, both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament. I think of Romans 9, for example, just really all over the place, but what's being emphasized here is God's sovereign love. Again, verse 5, in love, he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ. Now, the big question comes then, well, if that's the case, well, what about my choice? Does my choice even matter?

How does all of that get parsed out? What about free will? What about human responsibility? And we have, Anna, I think, a tension here in the Scriptures. From God's perspective, he's chosen. He's done it all.

He does the entire work. I remember when I first started walking with the Lord thinking, Anna, boy, I'm so glad I discovered Jesus and the gospel, and man, it would have been terrible if I would have just missed this in my life. And a friend of mine told me, what if it wasn't so much that you discovered all this, like you found a $100 bill on the ground, you just stumbled across it, that kind of a thing. What if God was the one who pursued you, who brought you into the fold, who rescued you?

What if he's the one who's been at work? And it really just struck me then and there. And I think, again, that's what the apostle Paul is saying here, is God has been at work from before the foundation of the world, accomplishing redemption and drawing his people to himself in time. And at the same time, as I said, you have this tension, because the Bible's absolutely clear that you and I are responsible for the decisions that we make, that we're called to believe and to trust in Jesus Christ, those kinds of things. And so you do have this tension, but I think what Paul is saying here is not that God chose Jesus, and then when we choose Jesus, we're a part of the team, that kind of a thing.

It's this sort of idea sometimes referred to as corporate election. I think what's being emphasized here is actually that God chose us, the individual, for salvation, before the foundation of the world in Christ. And it's this great mystery, and ultimately it should be a great comfort to us, knowing that our salvation rests entirely in God's hands. Anna, thank you for your question, and I appreciate you digging into the Scriptures.

Really big, important topics, predestination and these doctrines related to God's sovereignty. So important for us to dig into the Word of God to see what the Scriptures say. You're listening to Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez, and just a note, we aren't supported by a particular church or denomination. We rely on people just like you to make donations to keep this program on the air. And if you find our show helpful, we would ask you to prayerfully consider making a gift of any amount. One of the things you can do is join our inner core. That's a select group of people that support us on a regular basis, and it comes with some special bonuses. Yes, we do have a lot of exclusive material for those of you who sign up for our inner core. It's a monthly donation of $25 or more. First thing you'll get is a copy of Core Christianity, an excellent book that focuses on the core doctrines of the Christian faith, doctrines that we think really everyone, if you're a Christian, you need to be grounded in these truths.

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That's 1-833-843-2673. Let's go to Marcy. Oh, go ahead. You know, I did just want to say before we get to Marcy, going back to Anna's question, because this is such a big thing, you know, and people, I want to be sensitive to the fact that people are wrestling through this. You know, how do we understand the relationship between God's sovereignty, my call to believe, and God's electing grace? Think of a passage in the book of Acts, Acts chapter 13, verse 48, the disciples are preaching the gospel, and when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed, we're told there. You see, the gospel is preached, but it's the Spirit of God working behind the scenes. It's God's grace appointing to eternal life, if you will, a little bit later in the book of Acts. In Acts 16, verse 14, one who heard us, a woman named Lydia from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods who was a worshiper of God, the Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul, and after she was baptized, and her household as well, she urged us, saying, if you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my house. But you just see how God is working here through the preaching of the gospel, granting faith, you know, appointing to eternal life, opening in Acts 16 there, Lydia's heart. It's something that should give us confidence, brothers and sisters, when we're praying for our loved ones who aren't in the faith, to know that God, by His Spirit, opens the heart. It's what the Lord did to Lydia there in Acts 16. It's what the Lord did for each of us. He really is all-powerful, and so we give Him the praise and the glory, and I just wanted to bring those two passages into play, Bill. Sorry to cut in there. No, no, that's so key, and I love the fact that you brought those up, Adriel. Let's go to Marcy, who's calling from Morton, Illinois. Marcy, what's your question for Pastor Adriel? Hi.

I have been trying to get through for like a couple of months anyway. I've been a Christian most of my life. However, I want to know, I do not see in the scripture where there's anything that talks about a prayer language, and there are people who say they have a prayer language, and I just don't see anything in scripture that supports that, and I want to know what you think.

Hey, Marcy. Well, one, I'm sorry it's taken you a while to get through, but I'm so glad I get to talk to you right now, and it's a very important question because there are some who say today that there is this spiritual prayer language that you can have now. You're referring to the gift of tongues. The gift of tongues is described in the New Testament in various places. I think of 1 Corinthians 12 through 14, for example, where the apostle Paul talks about praying in tongues, and he sort of outlines what that looks like in 1 Corinthians chapter 14.

Then also you think of the book of Acts in Acts chapter 2. What some people will say is those gifts, those miraculous sign gifts that were really associated with those apostolic times, with Pentecost, the book of Acts, what Paul says to the Corinthians, that those gifts are still around for today, and that you can have this prayer language. Now, a lot of times they define that prayer language, I think, differently than it was defined in the Bible because in the Bible, these were real languages that God used to help advance the gospel in the book of Acts. In Acts chapter 2, when on the day of Pentecost, the disciples are speaking in tongues, the people that are there say we're hearing them speak in our own native tongues, and they're declaring the wonderful works of God, and it was an opportunity for Peter to stand up and preach the gospel. There are other passages in the New Testament that talk about praying in the Spirit, and Jude talks about this idea of praying in the Spirit. I don't think that it's a reference to speaking in tongues there, and also Paul in the book of Ephesians calls us to be filled with the Spirit, praying in the Spirit, that kind of a thing. And so if we define praying in the Spirit as being led by the Spirit of God, shaped by the Word of God in our prayers, I think we're right, and I think that's something we're all called to do.

We want our prayers to be formed by scripture and guided by the Holy Spirit. But if we mean you need to have the gift of tongues, well, I think that that's actually not a right interpretation. In fact, Paul said in 1 Corinthians chapter 12 that not everyone has the same gift, Marcy, so you don't have to worry if you think I just don't have this gift, because Paul says not everyone has the same gift. And so I appreciate your question, sister, and your concern. I think that you're fine, and I think that you're right. And personally, my view is that those miraculous sign gifts were for that period in the history of the Church.

God still works miraculously today, and He can, but not in the same way that He was doing during the days of the apostles. You're listening to Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. Let's go to a voicemail that came in from one of our listeners. Hi, good morning, Bill and Adriel. Thank you so much for taking my question.

God bless you brothers. I'm just a bit confused. So I grew up a non-denominational Christian, but I did go to Catholic school from kindergarten to eighth grade. And I remember one time my teacher brought in these rosary beads that she said were touched by the pope, and she passed them around. She said if we all touched them, we would be healed from any sickness. And even as a kid, I didn't really believe that. But I was reading the book of Acts, and in chapter 19, verses 11 and 12, they say that aprons or handkerchiefs that Paul touched were carried away, and they healed the sick. So I'm just a little bit confused, because I just don't know if that's still true or not. God bless you brothers.

Enjoy the rest of your day. Well yeah, like I just said with the previous caller, I think that a lot of these sign gifts, these miracles, were a way in which the gospel early on was being sort of launched into orbit, if you will. And even there in Acts chapter 19, with the miraculous things that were happening at the hands of the apostle Paul, that section ends by saying in verse 20, So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily. So I don't think that having holy rosary beads, that kind of thing, is really going to do anything.

Sometimes that can be superstition. The focus has to be the advancement of the word of God through the preaching of the gospel. That's what the miracles were there for, to advance the word. Thanks for listening to CORE Christianity. To request your copy of today's special offer, visit us at corechristianity.com and click on offers in the menu bar, or call us at 1-833-843-2673. That's 833-The-CORE. When you contact us, please let us know how you've been encouraged by this program. And be sure to join us next time as we explore the truth of God's word together.