Welcome to Word of Life Study Series- Healing is the Children’s Bread! We now begin an epic journey together to kick over sacred cow religious traditions that are man-made; holding people in bondage and robbing them of the truth of God’s Word that sets us free. These next three episodes will focus on specific errors that continue to be peddled in some Christian circles today. Through the sword of God’s Word, we’ll “Demolish arguments and every pretention that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” 2 Cor. 10:5.
1. Permissive vs Causative Tense
There are many who oppose divine healing (God’s will for healing for all, all the time) in Christian circles and they will point out all kinds of scriptures to support their case. Note that the majority of them are found in the Old Testament. It is important to make that distinction because the Bible is progressive revelation in that an increase of light and revelation is given to mankind progressively from the oldest book, Job to the New Testament epistles or letters to the churches- Romans to Revelation. The KEY to understanding these different Old Testament passages of Scripture lies in knowing that the active verbs in Hebrew have been translated in the causative tense when they should have been translated in the permissive tense. So, Deuteronomy 28:27 should have been translated something like, “The Lord will allow/permit these plagues to be brought upon you...”
2. Guidelines for Bible Interpretation
When the Reformers broke with Rome and claimed the view that the Bible was to be the supreme authority of the church, they were very careful to define basic principles of interpretation. The primary rule of Bible interpretation was called “the analogy of faith.” The analogy of faith is the rule that Scripture is to interpret Scripture. In other words, Sacred Scripture is its own interpreter.
3. Calvinism at the Root
I will be introducing some theological beliefs that were first promoted by John Calvin (1509-1564), one of the leaders of the Protestant reformation. I believe that his teachings have cast a shadow on present day Christian theology and could be at the root of a number of misunderstandings that need to be clarified. So what’s wrong with most of Calvinism you may ask? To many, Calvinism goes against the whole flow of New Testament teaching. It substitutes a vengeful, capricious and merciless God, for the loving Father of Jesus’ teachings. It also substitutes God’s sovereignty for man’s free will to choose. Calvinism finds its root in the Old Testament where God is painted as the author of good and evil, without the clarification of the New Testament, that Satan is actually the author and agent of evil.
4. Does God show Favoritism?
No, God does not show favoritism or partiality. There are no favorites in God’s family; He loves us all the same. Every person, born into His family has the same Redemption. Everyone has the same rights in the Family; each one may have a different gift set, but the gift does not make him/her any dearer to the heart of the Father. Each one has the same right to use the Name of Jesus; to deliver people from the dominion of Satan, to heal the sick and to cast out demons. The Father has no favorites, and the closer our fellowship is with the Father, the sweeter and richer our life will be- Romans 2:11, “God does not show favoritism.”