I am not part of the “word of faith” movement and I am not a charismatic faith healer. I am an evangelical Christian who takes the Bible very seriously, believing it means just what it says.

My goal is is to see what the Bible actually says about healing, as opposed to what people think it says, and to see if I could find any reasons for the disconnect between what it says our experience should be and what it actually is. My research identified several reasons, which I described in the previous segments.

I want to explore what the Bible says about who we are in Christ, and by that I mean what is the extent of our authority in Him.

We all know our destiny is to be kings and priests in the Lord’s Kingdom, but what are we between now and then? Let’s find out.

Ambassadors of Christ

The fact that we’re destined to be kings and priests makes us a royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:9) and having been adopted as God’s own children (Galatians 4:4-7) confirms that we’re part of the ultimate royal family.

In royal families the princes often serve as ambassadors and that’s exactly what Paul called us. Using a Greek word he only applied to us (2 Cor. 5:20) and himself (Eph. 6:20), he called us ambassadors (representatives) of Christ sent with the ministry of reconciliation to reconcile men to God (2 Cor. 5:18-20).

Through the cross, God has made peace with His creation (Colossians 1:19) and as His ambassadors we are called to explain the terms of His peace to all the nations, in other words to share the gospel with them.

When an ambassador is appointed to the country where he will serve, he presents his credentials to the host country. His credentials show he has the authority to act on behalf of his home country’s leaders.

When Jesus sent His original 12 disciples out to minister to the people, He gave them credentials to show they had the authority to act on His behalf. He said, “Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons” (Matt. 10:8).

Later He sent out 72 others telling them to heal the sick in every town that welcomed them (Luke 10:9). And just before He left, after reminding them that all authority in heaven and on earth had been given to Him, He told His followers of that day and ours:

“Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matt. 28:18-19).

To show that we have the authority to act as His ambassadors today, we have also been given the ability to do the things Jesus did.

[He said,] “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing” (John 14:12).

Notice He didn’t say, “Whoever in this generation” or “Whoever until the New Testament is complete” but “Whoever believes in me.” Prefacing His statement with the phrase “Very truly I tell you” indicates He was being as honest and direct as He could possibly be. That means whether you know it or not, you have the authority as the Lord’s ambassador to do the things Jesus did.

We who believe in Jesus have been authorized to heal the sick, raise the dead, cast out demons, preach the gospel, and make disciples of all men, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. We don’t need anyone’s permission to do these things, they are part of our job, even part of our responsibility. They are what we’ve been sent to do, just as they are what Jesus was sent to do.

Jesus didn’t pray to His Father, asking Him to heal someone if it be His will, He commanded the person to be healed. He commanded demons to depart. He commanded dead people to come to life. He did this because He had the authority to do so.

The disciples didn’t pray to Jesus or the Father, asking for healing on behalf of someone. In Jesus’ name they commanded the sick to be healed, the lame to walk, the demons to depart, the dead to rise. They also had the authority to do so.

What Can I Do for You, Lord?

So many times I’ve received emails from people who say, “I’ve prayed for God to show me what He wants me to do with my life. I keep listening, but I never hear anything back. What’s missing?”

What’s missing is that He’s waiting for us to do what He’s already commissioned us to do as one of His ambassadors.

“Heal the sick, raise the dead, cast out demons, preach the gospel, and make disciples of all men, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.”

Why do we expect Him to give us another job when we’ve yet to begin the one he’s already given us?

It doesn’t matter how busy you are or how important your job is, you could find at least a little time to begin acting as an ambassador of the Lord by doing some of the things He has commissioned you to do. Even if you could only commit a few hours a week to this, you would be serving the One who gave His life to redeem yours.

Imagine, if you can, how different the world would be if each of us spent just a little time each week in our role as an ambassador of Christ. Instead of being known primarily for what we hate, wouldn’t the Church be better known for Who we love? Isn’t that what the Lord wants? (John 13:34-35).

One final word about ambassadors. They don’t try to impose their country’s culture or values on the country they’ve been sent to. And they certainly don’t try to take it over. They know they are guests who serve a special purpose.

In the same way it’s not the Church’s job to take over the world or impose the Christian culture upon it. We are also guests who serve a special purpose. Jesus told the 72 that if they entered a town and were not made to feel welcome, they should leave, shaking the dust from their feet as they did (Luke 10:10-11). And Paul said it’s not our responsibility to judge those outside the Church (1 Cor. 5:12).

Our job is to show them something better by our actions. Now before you say that to be an ambassador for Christ you would have to leave your home and become a missionary in a foreign land, consider this.

“Our citizenship is in heaven and we eagerly await a savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Phil. 3:20).

No matter where you live on earth, you are only a visitor here, so you could start right where you are.

Our purpose is to introduce the very special benefits of our home country (heaven) to those who live on earth and influence them to change their citizenship. And how do we do that? The way Jesus told us to.

“Heal the sick, raise the dead, cast out demons, preach the gospel, and make disciples of all men, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.”

If you’ve never done anything like his before, you shouldn’t expect to do all these things successfully right out of the box. For example, just as it takes faith to be healed, it takes faith to heal others. Most of us don’t have that kind of faith because we’ve never developed it, and we’ve never developed it because it has never occurred to us that we could.

But there are thousands of ways to show the gospel to people. All it takes to get started is to make a commitment to do something. And with prayer, study, and practice, we can all learn to do all these things because we have all been given the authority to do them. It’s who we are in Christ.

Last time. we discussed five things the Bible says about the way God sees us now that we are born-again. We’ll review these briefly and then see what the Bible says about how we should respond.

1. He sees as His own children, adopted into His family, and made one of His heirs with an inheritance that can never be taken from us.
2. He knows we still sin but He no longer counts our sins against us, attributing them instead to the sin that still lives within us.
3. Because we’re in Christ, He sees us as a new creation. From His perspective, everything we used to be is gone and we’ve been made new, as righteous as He is.
4. Therefore, no one can condemn us before Him for any reason.
5. He knows when we stand before Him all our earthly imperfections will be gone and we will be perfect, as He is perfect, fit to dwell with Him forever.

As we begin, let’s make sure we understand that none of these five things are conditional upon us, maintaining any standard of behavior. The only requirement God has attached to them is that we admit we’re sinners, and believe when Jesus went to the cross He went for us, to pay the penalty for our sins, so we could be forgiven for all of them (John 6:28-29). This is what it means to be born-again. Our salvation and the inheritance that goes with it is a free gift of God’s grace (Eph. 2:8-9), and all that’s required of us is that we receive and accept it.

Therefore, nothing that follows should be seen as the price we have to pay to receive or keep eternal life. We have already received it, and nothing in heaven or on earth can ever change that.

In two different places Paul said that for the believer, “Everything is permissible” (1 Cor. 6:12, 1 Cor. 10:23). In both cases the Greek word translated “permissible” means “lawful.” Then he completed the thought with, “but not everything is beneficial” meaning just because it’s permitted doesn’t mean it’s good.

Before we go on, how could Paul say that everything is lawful for believers? Didn’t Jesus say He hadn’t come to abolish the Law? Yes He did, but when He went to the cross He abolished the penalty associated with breaking the Law for those who believe.

“He canceled the written code with its regulations that was against us and that stood opposed to us” (Colossians 2:14).

The law and its penalties are still in force for those who don’t believe, and they remain liable for every violation. But for believers, the penalties have been canceled. They aren’t simply overlooked, because God can’t do that. They are canceled because Jesus paid them in advance by nailing them to the cross. The power of the Law lies in its penalty, so where there is no penalty the Law is powerless. It’s as if everything is lawful.

But that doesn’t mean everything is beneficial. Certain behaviors simply aren’t good for us. They can be addictive, they can ruin our health, they can damage or destroy our relationships with others, they can destroy our self esteem, and most importantly, they grieve the Holy Spirit who is sealed within us and is forced to participate.

In 1 Cor. 6:12-20 Paul’s main topic was sexual immorality. In verses 18-20 he summarized his thoughts this way.

“Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;  you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.”

The Bible considers all forms of sexual activity that are performed outside of a heterosexual marriage to be immoral and therefore sin. Sexual sins are sins against our own body and Paul reminded us that our bodies are not our own to do with as we please. We have been bought at a price, the precious blood of Jesus (1 Peter 1:18-19). God has put His own seal of ownership on us and made us collectively into His temple for this age. His Spirit dwells within us (2 Cor. 1:21-22).

If you’ve read part one of this study, you know that God will not revoke our salvation for this            or any other sin. But Paul has reminded us that since our bodies belong to Him we should strive                       to do only those things that please Him out of gratitude for what He’s done for us. Sexual immorality is not pleasing to God and grieves the Holy Spirit, who being sealed within us, is forced to participate.

The other place where Paul mentioned that everything is lawful for us (1 Cor. 10:23) concerned our example to other believers. Here the issue specifically concerned eating food sacrificed to idols. To those who are secure in their faith this is no big deal, but we shouldn’t seek our own good, but the good of others. So no matter what we do we should do it all for the glory of God. We shouldn’t cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks (Gentiles) or the church of God.

Jews are always looking down at us because of the casual nature of our faith. Gentiles think we’re hypocrites because we don’t live up to our own standards. Other Christians see us living our lives like unbelievers. None of this will encourage people to want to learn more, and may even cause them to reject what little they do know. Sure, everything is lawful for us but not everything is beneficial for those around us.

Paul took the Corinthians to task for their lack of propriety in worship (1 Cor. 11:1-16), the casual way they celebrated the Lord’s supper (1 Cor. 11:17-34), and the way they flaunted their Spiritual Gifts (1 Cor. 12). He could do the same in many churches today. These things don’t bring glory to God, nor do they even show Him the respect He’s due.

In Ephesians 4:17-32 Paul turned to our personal behavior.

“So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts.  Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed” (Eph. 4:17-19).

Again, this kind of behavior is not unlawful for us and will not endanger our salvation. But it’s not beneficial for us or those around us and does not bring glory to God. We’re children of the eternal King and should try to live up to what we’ve already attained (Phil. 3:16) not to mention we’ve been taught better.

“That, however, is not the way of life you learned when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (Eph. 4:20-24).

Even though in the eternal sense God already sees us as being as righteous as He is, we know as long as we’re here on Earth we won’t ever make it. But that’s our destiny, and Paul was telling us to practice being that way. Not to earn or keep anything, but to express our gratitude for His promise that one day soon it will all come true.

“Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body. “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold. Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need” (Eph. 4:25-28).

Notice Paul’s reason for working is not to enrich ourselves but to help those in need. In 2 Cor. 9:6 he said those who sow generously will also reap generously and in 2 Cor. 9:11 he said we would be made rich in every so we can be generous on every occasion. Therefore, the attitude that facilitates true wealth is generosity. Start giving away everything you can in your current situation and the Lord will make sure you always have more to give.

This is why Jesus told us not to store up treasure on Earth. Whatever we receive here is for sharing, because by doing so we’re storing up treasure in Heaven (Matt. 6:19-21). There are over 93 million Americans who can’t find work. You want the more abundant life He promised (John 10:10)? Find one close to you and start helping. Start small and increase your giving as your faith grows. I know this is a radical thought, but Jesus is a radical teacher.

“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you” (Eph. 4:29-32).

Match your generous deeds with words of encouragement. This will become easier as your faith grows, and you will become a kinder, gentler, happier, person.

Above all remember, you are not required to do any of this to guard your salvation. It was a free gift. Doing this is how you respond to God’s grace.