Part 3 – Healing
(Acts 2:12-16 NIV) Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?” (13) Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.” (14) Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. (15) These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! (16) No, this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel.
The Promise vs. The Completed Work
- Salvation was a promise under the Old Testament.
(Isaiah 53:6 NLT) All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the LORD laid on Him the sins of us all.
(Ezekiel 11:19 NLT) And I will give them singleness of heart and put a new spirit within them. I will take away their stony, stubborn heart and give them a tender, responsive heart,
- Salvation is now a fact based on the completed work of redemption by Jesus at the cross.
(Ephesians 1:7 NKJV) In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace
- To receive salvation, we put our faith in that completed work.
(Romans 10:9-10 NKJV) …that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. (10) For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
- In the Old Testament, healing was a conditional promise.
(Exodus 23:25 NIV) Worship the LORD your God, and his blessing will be on your food and water. I will take away sickness from among you,
(Psalms 103:2-3 NKJV) Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits: (3) Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases,
(Isaiah 53:4-5 NKJV) Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. (5) But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.
- In the New Testament, healing is now a fact based on the finished work of Jesus.
(1 Peter 2:24 NKJV) who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness–by whose stripes you were healed.
- To receive our healing, we put our faith in the finished work of Jesus.
Understanding Faith
- Faith begins where the will of God is known.
- We know the will of God through the Word of God.
(Romans 10:17 NKJV) So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
- Faith gives praise to God even when it seems like nothing is changing.
(2 Corinthians 5:7 NKJV) For we walk by faith, not by sight.
- Faith is a journey and a process.
(Mark 16:18 NKJV) …they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
(Romans 4:19-21 NKJV) And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. (20) He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, (21) and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform.