Healing Scriptures

These are the healing scriptures that I got mostly from Joseph Prince website. I meditate on them almost daily, confess them, personalise them to myself, pray over it in tongues. I encourage you to use it to build faith in you to experience the Healing of power of Jesus in your life.

In word document format to be Downloaded:

HealingScriptures

Health And Healing

Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 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.
Isaiah 53:4–5

But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
Romans 8:11

Then your light shall break forth like the morning, your healing shall spring forth speedily, and your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
Isaiah 58:8

Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and He saved them out of their distresses. He sent His word and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.
Psalm 107:19–20

I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord.
Psalm 118:17

And the Lord will take away from you all sickness, and will afflict you with none of the terrible diseases of Egypt which you have known, but will lay them on all those who hate you.
Deuteronomy 7:15

… 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.
1 Peter 2:24

Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.
3 John 1:2

For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.
Romans 8:2

And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick.
Matthew 14:14

And begged Him that they might only touch the hem of His garment. And as many as touched it were made perfectly well.
Matthew 14:36

The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
John 10:10

Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved, for You are my praise.
Jeremiah 17:14

And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people.
Matthew 4:23

Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge, even the Most High, your dwelling place, no evil shall befall you, nor shall any plague come near your dwelling.
Psalm 91:9–10

My son, give attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your eyes; keep them in the midst of your heart; for they are life to those who find them, and health to all their flesh.
Proverbs 4:20–22

When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And he cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: “He Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses.???
Matthew 8:16–17

But when Jesus knew it, He withdrew from there. And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them all.
Matthew 12:15

… God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.
Acts 10:38

But when the multitudes knew it, they followed Him; and He received them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who had need of healing.
Luke 9:11

And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.???
Mark 16:17–18

And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.??? Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.??? Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.
Matthew 8:2–3

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: Who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases.
Psalm 103:2–3

With long life I will satisfy him, and show him My salvation.”
Psalm 91:16

Behold, I will bring it health and healing; I will heal them and reveal to them the abundance of peace and truth.
Jeremiah 33:6

Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.
Proverbs 18:21

For I will restore health to you and heal you of your wounds,’ says the Lord, ‘Because they called you an outcast saying: “This is Zion; no one seeks her.???’
Jeremiah 30:17

He also brought them out with silver and gold, and there was none feeble among His tribes.
Psalm 105:37

So you shall serve the Lord your God, and He shall bless your bread and your water. And I will take sickness away from the midst of you. No one shall suffer miscarriage or be barren in your land; I will fulfil the number of your days.
Exodus 23:25–26

“… I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the Lord who heals you.???
Exodus 15:26

Matthew 10:1, 7-8

Jesus summoned His twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.“And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. Freely you received, freely give.

Luke 9:1

And He called the twelve together, and gave them power and authority over all the demons and to heal diseases.

Mark 6:7,13

Jesus called the twelve and began to send them out two by two. He gave them authority over the unclean spirits. And they were casting out many demons and were anointing with oil many sick people and healing them.

What is the New Covenant?

New Covenant

• What is Righteousness? 2 Corinthians 5:21
  • How do we get it?
    • Under Old Covenant Righteousness by the Law (Deut 6:25; Php 3:7-9))
      • Also called “Self-righteousness” (Romans 9:30-10:4)
      • The ability to attain Righteousness by Self
      • Our Righteous Acts are like Filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6)
      • External keeping of the commandments produced external holiness
    • Under New Covenant, Rightousness by Faith
      • God’s Gift of Righteousness, a Righteous that is From God not from Man (Romans 1:17)The Righteous that is by Faith Apart from Works (Romans 4:6-8; Galatians 2:15-21)Jesus showed that Self-righteousness was impossible by expounding the Law internally (Matt 5:21-30)

        Messiah is the End of the Law, End to Self-Righteousness- (Romans 10:4)

        How did Jesus become Sin? Did He Sin? No!! He was tempted in All ways, yet without sin. (Heb 4:16)

        Jesus received our Sin as a Gift, so we received His Righteousness as a Gift not because of any righteous acts we’ve done.

  • God only sees One Righteousness-that is His Righteousness
  • Let’s Boast in God’s Righteousness not our own righteousness (1 Cor 1:22-23; 29-31; Jer 9:23-24)

  Is it the job of the Holy Spirit to make me feel guilty and point out my faults all the time? John 16:8-11

  • He will Convict the world wrong concerning Sin- because THEY/WORLD/UNBELIEVERS don’t believe in Me
    • Sin is in the Singular, the Sin of Unbelief. John 3:18,36; 8:24. Mark 16:16The Holy Spirit only makes unbelievers convinced, not the Church.How can the Holy Spirit convict you of your sin if God Remembers them No MOre? a double negative? is God confused? Hebrews 10:17-18

      Heb 10:2 “For the worshippers would have been cleansed Once and For All, and would No Longer have Felt Guilty for their Sins.”

    Concerning Righteousness, because I AM GOING TO THE FATHER

    • God will judge the world one day to see if they’ve received His Gift of Righteousness. Acts 17:31.Jesus was crucified to take the punishment of my sin, and He was raised to make me Right with God (Righteousness/Justification) Romans 4:23-25. 6:11. Jesus included my sinful nature in His death, when He rose from the dead He included me in His Resurrection, I was was raised with Him in Resurrection life and now I share in His Life, share His Righteousness- Right standing with God.The Holy Spirit will only Convict/Convince that you are God’s Righteousness. He will never point out your fault.

    Concerning Judgement, because the ruler of this world has been Condemned.

    • The only person that the Holy Spirit ‘makes’ feel guilty, or point out faults to is the devil.

    The devil is the one who makes you feel guilty and points out your faults all the time- he is the prosecutor at law. Revelations 12:10-11

    Do not mistake the devil to be the Holy Spirit

     

  What is the Law? 2Cor 3:6-11

  • The ten commandments, engraved by the finger of God
  • The ministry of death
  • The ministry of condemnation
  • made ineffective with fading glory
  • It has been cancelled (Col 2:14-15)
  • We died to the law (Romans 7:6)

  What was the purpose of the Law? Romans 7:6-11

  • brings sin to life. V.7
  • gives sin opportunity to take control.
  • no Law, no sin
  • produces in me all kinds of evil desires

Do Christians have to confess sins to God?

Please check out All Scriptures listed here to see what is said is been true. If any query, free to ask at the bottom of the posts!! Thankyou,

Do Christians have to confess their sins to God in order to be Forgiven?

Finally the Lord is giving some mighty revelations into this truth, Thankyou Jesus!!!

2000 years ago, Jesus has Already forgiven you of All your sins!!! and you partake of that, you received that Full forgiveness in One Perfect installment at salvation, Eternal Life, the moment you gave your life to Christ.

1 Peter 1:3-5

I can talk to God about my sins and ask Grace to Overcome, but its not the same as Confessing it because All my sins have Already been Forgiven and He promises in the New Covenant that He makes with us, that our sins He “Remembers them No More” Hebrews 8:12;10:17-18.

Unbelievers need to confess their sins to God to get saved; but Christians do not need to, because they are Already saved.

1John 1:9 was written to refute the teaching that Gnostic false teachers had infiltrated the church to dilute the Gospel Message to the world. The Gnostics claimed that ‘there was no such thing as Sin or Sinning’, and that our bodies are already evil anyway.

So what John the Apostle was essential saying was, “If any unbelievers confess their sins, they can be cleansed of All their sins and get saved.” refer 1 John 1:9

If an unbeliever doesn’t believe that ‘sin or sinning’ exists (or the doctrine of original Sin) due to the Gnostics teaching that was trying to infiltrate the believers, then the unbeliever won’t acknowledge that he is a sinner to God and hence be saved.

Read Ezekiel 36:25-26, Ephesians 1:7; Colossians 2:13 as an foundation to 1John1:9 and Hebrews 10:19-22 which is referring to unbelievers getting saved.

Ezek 36:25 I will sprinkle you with pure water and you will be CLEAN from ALL your impurities. I will PURIFY youfrom ALL your idols. 36:26 I will give you a NEW heart, and I will put A NEW spirit within you. I will remove the heart of stone from your body and give you a heart of flesh. 36:27 I will put MY SPIRIT within you;

Ephesians 1:7

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace

Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah, his blood poured out on the altar of the Cross, we’re a free people–free of penalties and punishments chalked up by all our misdeeds. And not just barely free, either. [Abundantly] free! (MSG translation)

Colossians 2:13

And even though you were dead in your  transgressions and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, he nevertheless made you alive with him, having forgiven all your transgressions.

When you were stuck in your old sin-dead life, you were incapable of responding to God. God brought you alive–right along with Christ! Think of it! All sins forgiven,

Hebrews 10:19 Therefore, brothers and sisters, ²¹ since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, 10:20 by the fresh and living way that he inaugurated for us ²² through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, ²³10:21 and since we have a great priest ²⁴ over the house of God, 10:22 let us draw near with a sincere heart in the assurance that faith brings, ²⁵ because we have had our hearts sprinkled CLEAN from an evil conscience ²⁶ and our bodies WASHED in pure water.

This Scripture in Hebrews was written to Hebrews/Jews, some of which was tempted to go back under the Law or some of which won’t even saved, possibly to encourage them to come out of Old Covenant of Moses, into the New Covenant. It is a SCripture written to encourage these Jews to get saved!!! by having their hearts cleansed by the Blood of Jesus!! It’s not a SCripture refering to believers but Unbelievers who already know the Law!!

1John 1:9 But if we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous, forgiving us our sins and CLEANSING ²⁴ us from ALL UNRIGHTEOUSNESS.

Reading this SCripture in the light of Ezekiel and other Old Testament SCriptures prophesying of the New Covenant, we can see once again that this Scripture 1 John 1:9 is in line and it’s talking about unbelievers entering into the New Covenant so all their sins can be forgiven. Look at the Word ‘Cleansing‘ in Ezekiel and 1 John and you’ll see the parallel.

“The best commentary for the bible, is The Bible!! “said Ian Mckellar

Think about this:

How can God tell believers to confess their sins if He promises “I will Remember their sins No More…”

Read Jeremiah 31:34; Hebrews 8:12; 10:17,18; Psalms 103:3,12; Micah 7:19

Everything in the Old Testament must be interpreted the New Testament.

What the Old Conceals, the New Reveals; everything before the Cross, must be interpreted after the Cross.

Matt 6:14-15 was written before the Cross (read the context), it must interpreted through what happend After the Cross in which God Changed the Way He Related to us, Colossians 3:13

The Bible, is meant to be read as One Book, written by One Author, with One Theme flowing through the Old and the New.

It’s not meant to contradict each other, but what the Old Conceals, the New Reveals.

What the Old Prophesies, the New Fulfills.

Jesus is the The Fulfillement of the Old Covenant to bring the New Covenant, He IS literally the New Covenant!!

Isaiah 42:6; Luke 24:27; Colossians 1:27

When some of the Corinthians were sleeping with the temple prostitutes, Paul never tells them even once to ‘Confess their sins’. If confessing sins was such a common practice among New Convenant believers, why was it never mentioned once in all of Paul’s letters?

1Cor 5:1-2; 6:9-11

Paul says to those who were sinning, “those who commit sexuall immorality will not inherit the Kingdom of God…”

but Then He says, “that is what some of you WERE… you were WASHED, SANCTIFIED!!!”

He is saying, “that is Not you!!! the unbelievers won’t inherit the Kingdom!! that is Not you, you have Already been WASHED!!!”

“You don’t need to confess your sins, you’ve ALREADY BEEN WASHED, bEEN FORGIVEN!!!”

WASHED = FORGIVEN, FORGIVEN= WASHED. It’s the Same thing, it’s both past tense.

Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD:

though your sins are like SCARLET, they shall be as WHITE as SNOW;

though they are RED like CRIMSON, they shall become like WOOL. Isaiah 1:18

If you already have been forgiven, what is left to confess? You only need to do it ONCE!!

For by a SINGLE/ONE Offering He has PERFECTED for ALL TIME those who are being SANCTIFIED(set apart unto God by that One offering, we are set apart FOREVER!). Hebrews 10:14

WASHED = FORGIVEN = SANCTIFIED = JUSTIFIED = 1Cor 6:11; Romans 8:30 = COMPELTE = FINISHED WORK OF THE CROSS = “It is finished!!!” John 19:30

God’s Work is Complete from Beginning to End, for He declares the End from the Beginning. Isa 46:10; Rev 1:8

He is the ‘Beginning/Alpha and the End/Omega’, so if you are in Him, you are Already Complete.

Paul is trying to ‘change the way they think’ – Repentance, to tell them “this is not you… you are not sexuall immoral anymore, you are New Creations in Christ… therefore start acting like one…you don’t have a sinful nature anymore, but you have a God nature and you have been justified (declared Righteous before God).

“As man thinketh in his heart, so is he” proverbs.

If you believe you are sinner, then you’ll sin by faith. If you believe you are a ‘Idiot’, then you’ll act like a Idiot. The whole bible is all about transforming your mind, there is nothing you have ‘To Do’, it has already ‘Been Done!’, just Repent (change your mind) and Believe the Truth so you can be Set Free!!! John 8:32, Live by the Spirit, Not by the Law, Galatians 5:18

We are not longer ‘Sinners saved by grace’, we WERE sinners, but Now We are Saints.

The moment you discover Who you really are, then you’ll start to live like it.

Paul didn’t tell them to confess their sins but he told them Who they are. There is no need to confess your sins if you don’t have a sinful nature anymore!!!

Believers no longer have to be ‘sin conscious’, but they can be “Gift of Righteousnes conscious” and “Christ conscious” rather than “self-conscious”. Romans 8:1

Woohoo!! thankyou Jesus, Heavenly for this wonderful Gospel Grace that truely changes people from the Inside out, not Outside In!!

So what happens when we sin?

Instead of asking Him to forgive us and feeling condemned, we just thank Him that He has already forgiven us and there is Now No Condemnation.

More to come about “Do Christians have a sinful nature?” studies based in Romans 6-7.

Thankyou and feel free to spread this blog!!!

Have a read of this as well:

* When did Jesus forgave us all our sins?

http://gracerevolution.tv/grace/gracerevolution/2008/09/25/when-did-jesus-forgive-us-all-our-sins-part-1/

http://gracerevolution.tv/grace/gracerevolution/2008/10/06/when-did-jesus-forgive-us-all-our-sins-part-2/

The understanding of this took me a couple of years to grasp it.

Confessing your sins and forgiving others in order for God to forgive you was an Old Covenant practice (Matthew 6:12, 14-15); but in the New Covenant we forgive others Because God has already forgiven us (Colossians 3:13). Jesus was still living under the Old Covenant when He said this, the New Covenant didn’t begin until Jesus died on the Cross and it was completed on Acts Chapter 2, the Day of Pentecost when the Spirit was poured out.

Its important to RIGHTLY DIVIDE THE COVENANTS when you read the bible otherwise you’ll mis-interpret it. There are 7 major covenants in the Bible. Right now we are living under the Dispensation of the New Covenant, so when we read Old Covenant Scriptures we’ve got to filter it through New Covenant Lenses.

E.g. If you read most parts of the Old Testament, you will find that God commands us to kill our enemies. Do we do that today? of course Not, that was Old Covenant Law of Moses. Also when Jesus came, He said He was only sent to the Lost sheep of Israel, Not to the Gentiles (Matthew 15:24), and He also told his disciples only preach to the Jews (Mathew 10:6)  that was Old Covenant. But when He rose from the dead, the Covenant changed and He told everyone to go into the World and preach the Good News to all ethnic groups, all people, not just Jews!!!

Jesus preached law/Old Covenant to its original standard, where once people had watered the law down to be “keepable”, he preached this to the Self-Righteous and Proud in heart to expose their sins by bringing the law which is  mirror, and Jesus preached New Covenant Grace Prophetically and renewing the Abrahamic Covenant of Faith to those were humble and ready to receive.

What is New Covenant Repentance?

Newly updated: 16th July, 2011.

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Hello there, I’ve done alot of thinking about this since Glory & Grace in Sydney in March 2008 and trying to work it out in my own life. Here is what I’ve come to a conclusion with regard to Repentance and I welcome your comments. I believe one cannnot understand what Repentance is if they cannot understand God’s Grace and the New Covenant that you and I live under today. We are no longer living under the dispensation of the Old Covenant. The Old Covenant stopped when Jesus shed His Blood, the New Covenant was initiated at the Last Supper and begun when Jesus shed His Blood as the Establishment of the Covenant, and it was Completed on the Day of Pentecost when the Spirit was given.

Is New covenant repentance different from New covenant repentance?

Yes, of course, because its a different Covenant. Everything must be interpreted within the Covenants. There is so much confusion of covenants and mixture of law of and grace preached in the body of Christ.

There is 8 different covenants in the bible, and all Scriptures must be interpreted within the Covenants to get the correct meaning.

The Application of repentance under the Old and New Covenant are different.

Here are some examples of “God repenting”, King James Version:

Amos 7:6
The LORD repented for this: This also shall not be, saith the Lord GOD.

1 Chronicles 21:15
And God sent an angel unto Jerusalem to destroy it: and as he was destroying, the LORD beheld, and he repentedhim of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed, It is enough, stay now thine hand. And the angel of the LORD stood by the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite.

Jonah 3:10
And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.

What does God need to Repent of?

Does God need to repent of Sin? No!! of course not- God does not Sin, that is blasphemy to say that of God.

Repentance means a ‘Change of mind’, God simply “changed His mind” that he would not destroy the people because of the evil they had done. Under Old Covenant, people’s sins were covered temporary, but when Jesus came, all our sins past present and future were punished Once and for All on Jesus our Substitutionary Lamb of God, who takes “away The Sins of the World”. God could not be angry with the world again (Isa 54:9;10), because He already punished All our sins on Jesus and Now He is Not counting the world’s sins against them!! (2Cor 5:19)  Woohoo!!!

Except on one issue: the Change of mind about the Law of Moses- which was a unit, the complete set of 613 commandments God handwritten on the tablets of stone. (For more info: please read my document “What is the purpose of the law???? http://gracerevolution.tv/grace/gracerevolution/2008/04/29/what-was-the-purpose-of-the-law/)

Repentance is not ‘good works’, ‘trying to do something or turn from sin’ as most preacher’s will tell you, put on you external behavioural modification principles to try to change man from the outside but have no ability to change the inner man.

I believe there is alot of confusion about what Repentance is. It has resulted from a mixture of Law and Grace preached in the Church worldwide- that’s why we think repentance is tryin to do something, but Grace is a free gift, so repentance and faith seems to contradict one another???

Repentance is NOT good works; otherwise we are no longer saved by Grace. Grace is a free gift.

So, what is repentance then?

Under the Old Covenant system means that people have to keep a complete set of rules, laws, regulations Perfectly to work to please God and earn the blessings.

The New Covenant means that God is pleased with us and gives us the blessings when we believe/faith in the gift of His Son Jesus, His Righteousness Nature and Perfect Record- the free gift of right standing with God apart from works. Grace is what God does for us completely independant of our actions. Faith is simply a positive response to what God has Already done on the Cross 2000 years ago through Jesus, He forgave us All our Sins even before we were even born and had committed any transgressions!! All you have to do believe and Receive!! For more, listen to Andrew Wommack’s teaching on “The balance of Grace and Faith”,

Under the context of the two different major covenants in the bible, Repentance will be interpreted under those covenants:

Old covenant (Law of Moses keeping) repentance was to try turn from your wrong doing and come under the law of Moses again to keep the commandments and  in order to be righteous, to earn a right standing before God (Deuteronomy 6:25), to be self-righteous- it’s all about what you do for God. The Law brings condemnation and wrath and you actually can’t live Holy truly from the inward parts; i.e. the Pharisees were able to avoid committing adultery physically, but they could look with lusts and its still the same as adultery in God’s eyes because the law simply stirred up sin in their lives.

Example of Old Covenant repentance.

Isaiah 55:7  The wicked need to abandon their lifestyle 

and sinful people their plans. 

They should return  to the Lord, and he will show mercy to them, 

and to their God, for he will freely forgive them. 

New covenant(Jesus Crucified for you Type) repentance is about turning away from the law as a means to attain righteousness, turning away from self-righteousness, and turn to turn to the Grace of God and Receive His Gift of Righteousness Perfect Record as a Gift through Faith- it’s all about what God has Already done for you!! The result of this change of mind will manifest in Holy and Righteous living through receiving His Grace which is gives you power, knowing that He loves you as his own child, it changes you from the inside – out,  grace give you power to partner with God in relationship to live your lives in devotion to Him and say no to ungodliness (Titus 2:11-14)

Acts  16:30 Then he brought them outside  and asked, “Sirs, what must  I do to be saved???? 16:31 They replied, “Believe  in the Lord Jesus  and you will be saved, you and your household.??? 16:32 Then  they spoke the word of the Lord to him, along with all those who were in his house.

Paul didn’t tell them to repent, but he told them ‘to believe’. Repentance and faith is synominously in the new testament.

Repentance in the New Covenant is Simply to believe in the Truth about something.

In the New Testament, the word for Repentance is ‘to change one’s mind.’

Repentance in the New Testament

Gk metanoeo 3340 Strongs Concordance

To think differently, or afterwards, i.e. reconsider.

Is about changing your mind, change your attitude and the way you think; come to your senses. It is all about the mind, not about doing anything. Change your mind and believe that Jesus did the Perfect good works on your behalf. In the New Covenant, God’s Children no longer have a sinful nature but becomes reborn, have a new creation. Your Spirit becomes recreated, perfectly Righteous (Ephesians 4:25; 2Cor 5:21), its just that your soul/mind/emotions isn’t fully renewed yet; your body is neutral, its neither good nor evil, both your soul and body has been purchased by the blood of Jesus but not fully redeemed yet. When your soul agrees with your Spirit, the Spirit man is able to take over the whole body and manifest its holy power in your body. More on that teaching by Andrew Wommack: Spirit, soul and body. http://www.awmi.net/extra/audio/1027

And you will know and desires things of God naturally- you will automatically know what to do (Hebrews 8:10-12) from the Spirit of God that is within you, but you will NOT do them to EARN the blessings because you have ALREADY been BLESSED through Jesus. It’s easy to know and want to do God’s will because we’re a new creation in Christ.

Repentance is an inward change of mind that will eventually change the outward behaviour of a person.

To Summarise :

Repentance in the Old Covenant is ‘to turn from your sin’, because you are under the law- an performance based mentality to earn Righteousness-an right standing with God (Deut 6:25). Repentance in the New Covenant is ‘to believe in Jesus’ (Romans 3:20-24; 5:1-2, Galatians 2:15-21;3:1-14, Ephesians 2:8-9), because Jesus repented on your behalf when He went through the baptism of repentance at Jordan river,. Jesus never sinned, and He removed your record of sins and destroyed/crucified your sinful nature on the cross, so you are now Perfect, Not Guilty and Evil-Free!! So that if you believe in Him, you will become a new Creation and All your sins are Removed. That is the best way to ‘turn from your sin’, by trusting in the One Who Removed your sinful nature and imperfect record. This is how you ‘turn from sin’ in the New Covenant: is to believe and receive His Perfect Record!! Because you could never achieve a Perfect record under the law by your own works, or turning from your own sin. But Jesus achieved it for you, the sinless immaculate Son of God repented on your behalf by being perfectly obedient to the Law.

So if you believe/trust in Him, YOU HAVE ALREADY REPENTED!!

“Old Covenant repentance is turn from your sin, and obtain self-righteousness by law keeping (set of rules and laws); New Covenant repentance is to turn away from self-righteousness by the law, and receive God’s Gift of Righteousness by faith!! “

Isaiah 53:6 All of us had wandered off like sheep;

each of us had strayed off on his own path,

but the Lord caused the sin of all of us to attack him

When we are telling unbelievers ‘To Repent’, we are not telling them ‘To turn from sin’, but we are telling them to change of mind which RESULTS in the change of direction of their lives- turning to God. Simply tell someone, “Stop sinning!! turn from Sin!!” does not give them the power to overcome sin.

We are telling them that Jesus died for All their sins, He was punished for their every sin, so the Only sin Jesus couldn’t die for was the sin of Unbelief. We are telling them to change their minds and believe and they will be saved.

John the baptist was giving a baptism of repentance (Luke 3:3), and when Jesus was baptised He was repenting on your behalf. He repented for your sins by keeping the Law perfecting, not sinning once. Then all you have to do is believe and receive His Perfect Record!

Repentance for an unbeliever and a believer is different.

Repentance for an unbeliever is for receiving salvation, repentance for an believer is simply for him to realise who he/she is in Christ and then the actions will follow.

Repentance is different for an unbeliever because he is sin conscious in his unsaved state. When he repents and receives Christ, he becomes Righteous conscious, realising that Jesus is his Righteousness (Right standing with God), he cannot earn a right standing with God by his works of law.

Repentance for an believer is different to an unbeliever, because he is or ought to be Righteous conscious, and when he repents (changes his mind), he is simply realising or becoming more righteous conscious then he already is. A believer is no longer ‘under condemnation, never not possible, in Christ’ Romans 8:1. Repentance cannot mean to become ‘sin conscious’, because he is ‘righteousness conscious’.

All repentance is for a believer is to become “Righteous conscious”, realising and reminding yourself that “I’m the Righteousness, the Perfect record of God in Christ Jesus!” and then the change in lifestyle follows.

Repentance doesn’t always include regret or godly sorrow, it depends on the situation. When God repented, He did not feel sorrowful. Unbelievers when they receive salvation, they should sorrowful and grateful at the same time. When a believer realises that he is the Righteousness of God in Christ Jesus and that he right with God by faith, he can feel joyful! Its a just a change of mind.

Proverbs 23:7

⁷for as he thinketh in his heart, so is he.

What do we need to change our mind about?

There are 3 areas that people change their mind about, the first and the third one applies more to an unbeliever while the second constantly needs to be reminded for the believer:

1) About Sin. Once we thought ’sin’ wasn’t that bad, and then someone shares the Good News with us. We saw the Law of God and couldn’t believe how far we have fallen from his standards. We saw that ’sin’ isn’t just pleasure, but it was a crime before God, its actually bad for your body and soul and it hurts people involved and breeds bad consequences. We then realised that sin is bad, it leads to physical death- Romans 6:23, and ‘liars and sexually immoral will have their part in the lake of fire which is the second death’ Rev 21:8 – Eternal separation from the Loving God in utter darkness and torment. We realised that just as criminals deserve to be punished in a court of law, so we realised that we deserve nothing but death and hell for what we’ve done to God and other people.

But then we realised how much God loved us, that He would send His Only Begotten Son Jesus to take the punishment for all our lying, stealing, adultery – even while we were still sinners He expressed His love for us. That makes me feel sad about my wrong doing. I realised that my sins hurt God and sent him to the Cross. I don’t want to do those things anymore that hurt him. Jesus identified with my Sin, He clothed HImself with my Sin, and gave me His Cloak of Right standing with God. It’s the Grace of God that ‘teaches us to say no to ungodliness…’.

Titus 2: 11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all people. 16 2:12 It trains us 17 to reject godless ways 18 and worldly desires and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age,

Remember 2 Cor 7:10 says that ‘it’s Godly sorrow that leads us to repentance’. When you hear the Gospel preached, that the Creator of the Universe died a substitutionary death for you sins and you understand that the wages of sin is death, then a Godly sorrow will come upon you, and you will have a change of mind and a change of heart. This is repentance.

2) About the Law. Once I thought I could please God and earn my way to heaven with my own good works, now I realised how sinful I really was inwardly and that my good works are nothing but filthy rags Isaiah 64:6 (menstrual cloths) in God’s eyes, and they are like dung in the sight of a Perfectly Good God (Phlippians 3:1-9). I realise how sinful I’m and that I have a sinful nature and no matter how hard I try to please Him, it would just be the same as an apple tree trying to produce an banana- impossible! so how can someone that is wicked on the inside do anything that is purely good? Outwardly I could be perfect by the law, but inwardly I’m just as evil as anyone else. If I looked with sexual fantasies towards someone, its the same as commiting adultery which I deserve to be stoned to death; if i been angry with someone and thought about killing them, that’s just as bad as the act of doing it, which is also a death sentence. No one can keep the Law of Moses perfectly, which is what Jesus came to show us, that unless your righteousness exceeds the pharisees (which is self-righteousness by the law keeping), you will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven; the only way to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, is by Receiving the Gift of God’s Righteousness, His Perfect Record through Jesus’ sinless life.

3) About Jesus and God. At once I didn’t believe Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God and therefore the Saviour of the world, now I realised that He was the Lamb that was slain, died a substitionary death for my crimes and is the ONLY way to God. Before I came to God, I thought that God never cared about me. He was just a judge wanting to punish and judge people, far away in the sky and I could never reached Him. But now that I’m saved by His Sacrifice, I realised that He is my Father. He loves me, He does care about me and wants to have a personally relationship/friendship with me.

For an unbeliever,

Repentance is to Change the way you think, your soul/mind/emotions, its a process that will eventually open up the door for you Spirit which is already Perfect forever, to be unlocked and let out, and manifest in your body, resulting in an outward expression, so that what you think will come out of you on the outside.

At the point of Receiving Christ, Repentance is more than just a mental agreement with the Good News, it is a change of mind that opens the door for the grace of God to come into your life and to make you a New Creation that is in Christ Jesus. A change of mind really is talking about a change of heart, if there was no change of heart then the mind has never really changed.

‘As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.’ Proverbs

It’s wrong to tell a unbeliever to ‘turn from sin’ since their heart hasn’t been changed yet; since ‘repentance’ is, a change of heart. Our job as evangelist is not to ‘change people’s behaviour’, but to ‘change people’s hearts’.

Illustration of Repentance:
Put yourself in a situation of a criminal who committed a series of bank robbery of over 100 Million dollars and assaulted an elderly man and is caught. He stands before the judge, and all the evidence is presented- he has no where to run and a 10 years sentence is about to be served.

How does he feel?

1) I feel sorry for what I’ve done. What I used to love doing now I hate it.

2) I realise I cannot save myself; no matter how many good things I do now, it will not take away the bad things I’ve done. In other, I realise that I cannot save myself by keeping the law.

And as the judge is about to pass the sentence, all of a sudden, Jesus bursts into the courtroom and says to the judge, ‘Judge, put his criminal record on me and I will give him my perfect record.’

Now, you have a Choice: whether to believe in Jesus and accept His Perfect Record, and exchange your imperfect record for His. Or Reject His Gift.

So you say to Jesus, “I believe in You Jesus and I accept Your Perfect Record for my imperfect record.???

Then the judge says to you, “Not Guilty! you are declared innocent, an upright and perfect law-abiding citizen! You are free to go! You have Never ever done anything wrong in your whole life! You’ve always kept the Law perfectly!???

That is exactly what Jesus already done 2000 years ago. All you have to do is believe in Him and accept His sacrifice, burial and resurrection.

Look at Paul’s mission statement in life that he mentioned to the Ephesian elders,

Acts 20:20 You know that I did not hold back from proclaiming to you anything that would be helpful, and from teaching you publicly and from house to house, testifying to both Jews and Greeks about repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus.

Look at Jesus opening words for ministry,

Mark 1:15 He said, “The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the gospel!???

Acts 20:21 testifying to both Jews and Greeks about repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus.

Hebrews 6:1 Therefore we must progress beyond the elementary instructions about Christ and move on to maturity, not laying this foundation again: repentance from dead works and faith in God,

In the context of Hebrews, the author is wrtiing to Jews who are knowledgeable of the Old Covenant and are still living under the law and tring to do ‘good works’ to earn the blessings. This is considered as ‘dead works’.

Good works of under the law are DEAD because they do not bring LIFE. Self-righteousnes will never earn eternal LIFE.

To summarise the process of repentance is based upon Acts 20:21 and Hebrews 6:1,

Repentance towards God from dead works

You change your mind and believe, and then God changes you!!!

Another illustration of repentance:

YOu are talking to an unsaved friend of yours. You start to tell him about Jesus, sin, forgiveness etc… as you are telling him the great news, all of a sudden repentance is taking place in his mind- this is all happening simultaneously as he is listening, he is changeing his views about sin, self-righteousness. And then you share with him that how he can be saved is by calling on the Name of the Lord, and all of a sudden faith is taking place in his heart to believe on Jesus and that faith gives him the ability to call on Jesus and be saved. He now obeys God out of thankfullness to the sacrifice of Jesus rather than external rules and laws that has no ability to empower the new nature within.

Faith comes from hearing, please read:

Check Romans 10:8-17

But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart??? 9 (that is, the word of faith that we preach), 10:9 because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10:10 For with the heart one believes and thus has righteousness and with the mouth one confesses and thus has salvation. 10:11 For the scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.??? 10:12 For there is no distinction between the Jew and the Greek, for the same Lord is Lord of all, who richly blesses all who call on him. 10:13 For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. 10:14 How are they to call on one they have not believed in? And how are they to believe in one they have not heard of? And how are they to hear without someone preaching to them ? 10:15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How timely is the arrival 17 of those who proclaim the good news.??? 18 10:16 But not all have obeyed the good news, for Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report???? 19 10:17 Consequently faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the preached word

Repentance is a change of mind, that is your mind now is being exposed the Grace of God, and your mind is beginning to understand God’s Grace and it’s changing your heart and everything about you.

The terminology ‘turning from sin’ has to be rid off because that terminology makes people feel like they are still living under the law. I did a universal search in the net.bible.org the phrase ‘turn from sin’, no search results turned up.

Repentance is not ‘turning from sin’, but living a life set apart for God is a result of Repentance which comes from hearing and understanding the Grace of God. But we cannot understand the Grace of God until we understand how sinful we once were. Understanding the theology of the Law will help us to appreciate the Grace message.

When someone has truly grasped the revelation of Grace- repentance a change of mind regarding who he/she is has changed, then it will work out into their lives.

Paul preached that ‘they should prove their repentance by the things they do

Mat 3:8 + Therefore produce fruit that proves your repentance,

Act 26:20 – but I declared to those in Damascus first, and then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds consistent with repentance.

In other performing deeds consistent with the Grace message.

Remember Jesus said about Mary, ‘he who has been forgiven much loves much, he who has been forgiven little, loves little.’ Repentance is realising that we have been forgiven much. There is a possibility when sharing the Good News to some unbelievers not all, the message of Grace could become ‘cheap’ to them when we don’t show people how ‘expensive’ the blood of Jesus was to redeem us from the curse of the law due to the rebellion of Adam and mankind.

God does the work upon the unbelievers heart, it’s not up to us to save people, but for us to stay true to the message of Grace and forgiveness and God will do His work in the right time.

The bible says that “Godly sorrow leads to repentance” 2Cor 7:10.

Acts 2 is an example of how Godly sorrow leading to Repentance for unbelievers.

It is the day of Pentecost and many devout Jews from all over were there to do their religious duties. The Holy Spirit just fell and this is the beginnign of the New Covenant of Grace and Peter stands up in boldness having being waiting for the Holy Spirit for a while.

Acts 2:23 “this man, who was handed over by the pre-determined plan and foreknowledge of God, YOU EXECUTED BY NAILING HIM TO A CROSS AT THE HANDS OF GENTILES,”

Imagine you are standing right there with the devout Jews. Imagine how they would have felt when Peter said this. What Peter was basically saying was this…

“You Executed the One Who Gave You LIfe! You killed Elohim! You killed the your Creator, the God of your fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. the One Who made an covenant with you to bless you, You Killed God Who said, “I carry you in my bossom and nurture you, you are the apple of my eyes, even though when you walk through the waters you will not drown and when you walk through the fire you will not burn, I’m the river of living water and I love you with an everlasting love.” You killed the Messianic King! You killed God’s Son! Who was supposed to come and Save you from oppression of your enemies and give you the land that God Promised to you!”

Silence. Everyone stopped. Their faces looked down. You could almost feel people wanted to start crying. They couldn’t believe what they’ve just done. They have just killed their Saviour the Author of Life. They have done worse than the people did in Moses day when the Old Covenantn was given; They have done worse than killing a calf, they have just killed the Innocent Son of God.GODLY SORROW HAS TAKEN PLACE.

Peter personalised their sin to them by saying, ‘You’. And they realised they have broken the Torah, the commandments God gave. They broke the first and second commandment to ‘Have no other God’s before Him’- the traditions of the elders and pharisees became their god, they broke the third commandment by blasphemy the name of Jesus by calling Him ‘beelzebub the prince of demons!’, they broke the fifth commandment which was to honor your father and mother by dishonoring the the covenant God made their ancestors, they broke the sixth commandment ‘thou shall not murder’ by plotting the murder of the Son of God, they broke the 9th commandment by giving false testimony about the Son of God.

They have just killed the One Who loved them with an everlasting love and came to save them. How could they have done such a thing? they realised how wicked they really were.

NOW GODLY SORROW HAS DONE ITS JOB LEADING THEM TO REPENTANCE.

Acts 2:37 Now then they heard this, they were ACUTELY distressed and said to Peter and the rest of the Apostles, “What should we do, brothers?

Acts 3 is another example of how Godly sorrow leading to Repentance.

A miracle has just taken place outside the temple grounds. The blind beggar is now walking. Everyone is amazed at Peter and John. Peter stands up and declares to them ‘You rejected the Holy and Righteous One… You Killed the Originator of life…!”

Then we see in Acts 4:4 ‘many believed in the message and the number of men came to about 5000.’

Acts 15 Commentary, by Michael Eaton

Being Kind to the Weaker Brother  (Acts 15:19-35)
Although James concluded that Christian gentiles need not come under the Mosaic legislation, he did ask three things of them (5:19-20)1.  Therefore I for my part come to this conviction: we should not harass people from the gentiles who turn to God (15:19), but we should write to them asking them to abstain from the pollutions of idols, and from wrongful sexual relationships, and from what is strangled and from blood (5:20). He wants to ask gentile Christians (i) not to buy and eat food which was associated with idolatrous worship (having been offered in sacrifice before being sold); verse 29 uses the phrase ‘food sacrificed to idols’.  He wants them (ii) to be specially careful about immorality.  And he wants them (iii) not to eat meat from which the blood had not been drained.
How should these be interpreted.  There are three possible interpretations.
(i) Do James’s three points deal with permanent principals of behaviour?  Are Christians forever forbidden to buy meat with dubious associations, forever forbidden immorality, forever forbidden certain types of food?  This interpretation makes sense with regard to immorality and idolatry but not with regard to the other two matters.  Christians are not permanently compelled to refused meat with blood in it.
(ii) Do James’s three points deal only with minor Jewish sensitivities to which gentiles make concessions?  Are Christians temporarily forbidden to buy meat with dubious associations – as a concession to Jews? Are they temporarily forbidden immorality – as a concession to Jews?  Are the temporarily forbidden certain types of food with blood in it – as a concession to Jews?  This interpretation makes sense with regard to one or maybe two matters, but not with regard to immorality, which is permanently forbidden.
There are expositors who think that ‘wrongful sexual relationships’ refers here only to Jewish sensitivity about the forbidden relationships of Leviticus 18.  But this would imply that such relationships are now allowed, and gentile Christians had then to stay away from them only as a concession to Jewish sensitivites.  Yet the wicked relationships of Leviticus 18 are permanently forbidden – not because of the permanence of the law but because of the permanence of the conscience, and the forbidding of the Holy Spirit.  Although the Christian is free from the law in general, there are certain parts of it which are are are fulfilled without change (especially Levticus 19:18) for reasons of conscience and the leading of the Holy Spirit.   Leviticus 18:6-20 is not dealing with marriage; it is dealing with criminal sexual relationships that were punishable by the death-sentence (see Lev.18:29).  The Christian knows the sins of Leviticus 18 are still wicked.  He does not need the law to know it.  ‘The works of the flesh are obvious’ (Gal.5:19) – even without the law.  But is would be wrong to take this phrase in Acts 15:20 as only a ‘temporary concession’.  Leviticus 18:6-20 will be obeyed by those who keep a good conscience and walk in the Holy Spirit – without their having to come under the entire law..
(iii) Actually, two of these matters are dealing with Jewish sensitivities, and one of them deals with a permanent matters of behaviour. This third approach is less tidy but it is  necessary. Two items are dealing with minor sensitivities to which gentiles make concessions. But immorality is more serious.  Gentile Christians are forever forbidden immorality; but the Christian gentiles are temporarily asked not to buy meat with dubious origins – as a concession to Jews with tender consciences. And they are asked to temporarily abstain from food with blood in it- as a concession to Jews.  The three matters are not all of similar importance.
It may seen puzzling that the three thing are not all of the same kind.  Two of these matters are about food-laws or the purchasing of food; and one of them is about more serious sexual morality.  The explanation, I believe, is that these three (unequal) matters really were, as a fact of history, three concerns of Jewish Christians.  Jewish people were concerned about (i) indirect contact with  idolatry, (ii) looseness of gentile morality (which they feared might still characterize even Christian gentiles), and (iii) horrow at the thought of eating blood.  James says: please make a concession about two matters, and please forever be very careful about a third.
What then are the practical implications of all of this for the modern Christian?  One is: Christians should wise and kindly even where they have freedom.  Two of these three points are not strict ever-lasting legislation for the Christian.  Yet they were necessary in the first century if Jews and gentiles were to have fellowship together.  Care about what you eat would make it possible for Christian Jews and Christian gentiles to have fellowship together without Jews being horrified.  A modern Christian trying to talk to a Hindu friend had best not invite him to a meal with beef in it!  Although Christian gentiles were not under the law, Christian Jews were likely to want to keep their culture for a long time.  If the two groups were to have fellowship and were to eat together, some concessions would have to be made.  Moses gets read in the main cities of the empire (15:21).  Jewish people everywhere are specially sensitive about these three matters, so gentile Christians would do well to restrain themselves, even though they are not bound to the Mosaic law-code.
It must be realised that these three requests are not things that are binding on Christian gentiles for all time.  The three requests are not a new law-code!  They were guidelines to help gentile Christians to avoid offending Christian Jews needlessly.
Chapter 7  Coming To Agreement  (Acts 15:22-16:5)
Part of the precise requests of Acts 15:20 have fallen aside for the modern Christian, and today the concessions about the kind of food we eat are no longer directly relevant.  Yet there is a principle here which still stands.  When relating to people who have some cultural restraints or some excessive sensitivities, one might have to go along with them for a while until the ‘weak brother’ comes to a clearer mind. Christians should be sympathetic to those who have cultural inhibitions; they should be kindly to those with such inhibitions, even where they themselves have freedom.
1.  One way of resolving disagreement is discussion by church conference.  It is a matter of joy when dispute comes to a happy conclusion.  The meeting at Jerusalem agrees with James’s conviction, and they write a letter to the Antioch church.  The letter comes from the entire leadership of the Jerusalem church, with the involvement of the people (15:22).  It is addressed only to the area around Syrian Antioch (15:23).  They explain that the trouble-makers who had come to Antioch had no authority from Jerusalem (15:24).  The letter commends Barnabas and Paul (15:25-26), and it is to be taken to Antioch by people who will explain it more fully (15:27).  The Christians at Jerusalem are resolved not to ask for the Jewish law to be kept by gentiles (15:28), but they do have three requests to make (15:29).
The letter is taken to Antioch and the gentiles Christians rejoice at what has happened (15:30-31).  The ministry of the Jerusalem prophets is received (15:32) and friendly greetings are sent back to Jerusalem (15:33).  The ministry of Paul and Barnabas in Antioch continued (15:34).
So the dispute came to a happy conclusion.  This Jerusalem consultation between two churches is a model of what churches need to do from time to time.  When there is doctrinal dispute, when there are cultural perplexities, there needs to be inter-congregational consultation.  Churches need to cooperate well with other churches, in so far as it can be done.
2.  Another way of resolving disagreement is for both sides to follow different procedures while maintaining friendship.   Immediately after the agreement at Jerusalem, another kind of disagreement springs up between Paul and Barnabas!  Paul wants to visit the church in Cyprus and south Galatia again, but refuses to take John Mark.  Barnabas refuses to go without Mark (who is Barnabas’s cousin – Col.4:10).  The disagreement between the two men is sharp (15:35-39).  In the end they divide the mission into two. Barnabas takes the Cyprus section of the trip.  Paul takes the Galatian section.  The dispute did not cause permanent bitterness.   Although the disagreement was sharp for a short time, eventually a good solution was reached.  They made two missions instead of one. Insoluble disagreements do arise in the church.  God may bring good out of them if they are handled with wisdom and love.  Sometimes an amicable parting is the best way to handle the matter, in which case great care needs to be taken that good relationships are preserved after the separation.  Love can find a way of separating in a friendly manner, and good may come out of it despite bad appearances. Paul speaks well of Barnabas in 1 Corinthians 9:6, and later Paul and Mark were colleagues again (Col.4:10; 2 Tim.4:11; Philem.24).
Because of the dispute the evangelistic team became two teams.  God gave Paul some new colleagues.  Silas took the place of Barnabas (15:40-41).   He was als0 (like Barnabas originally) from the Jerusalem church (15:22) and was a prophet (15:32).  It appears from what we read later that (like Paul) he was a Roman citizen.  Although Paul would probably not have replaced Barnabas if it had not been for the dispute, yet it is likely that Silas was a more suitable co-worker for Paul at this point.  Sometimes God pushes us into decisions that we would not have taken for ourselves.
When the two men got to Lystra (16:1), Paul found a replacement for John Mark also.  Timothy had been in Lystra as a young believer when Paul and Barnabas.  He was one of the Christians who had received Galatians.  Presumably he was in heart agreement with what Paul said in Galatians.  As someone who was half-Jew, half-gentile, he was a useful man.  Such people can relate to Jews as a Jew, and to gentiles as a gentile.  He was just the kind of colleage Paul needed.  Paul was very firm about salvation through grace, but so long as grace was clearly established he was a very yielding and gracious man.  He had Timothy circumcised.  It was a step taken to make thing easier for Paul when relating to Jews.  As long as no one thought Timothy received grace from God by circumcision, than Paul did not mind Timothy’s being circumcised as a concession to culturally touchy Jewish Christians.
3.  The important matter is the preaching of the gospel.  One can see that behind both of these disputes (the conference at Jerusalem, the forming of two evangelistic teams) is a concern for the preaching of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Ways are being found to overcome difficulties in the way of preaching.  The kingdom of God is not circumcision; it is not disputes over opinions.  It is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.  It is Jesus.   The apostles settle these matters as speedily as they can, and then the outreach teams get on with the work of building up the churches.  The decisions made at Jerusalem are told to the churches (15:4-5).  Paul is now ready for a further step in taking the gospel of Jesus to areas where the message is unknown.

Can Communion make you Healthy??

Does God make people sick through the Communion?

Or do we make ourselves sick? what does it mean to partake of the Lord’s table in an unworthy manner? Isn’t Communion meant to make us Healthy??

1) How can one expect to get sick when Jesus clearly says in,

John 6:41-58

48 I AM the bread of life

51 I AM the living bread that came down from heaven, if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever.

54 “Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life (quality not just quantity)”.

55 For my flesh is true food, my blood is true drink,

Eternal life doesn’t only refer to the length of life, but it also refers to “quality??? of life- healing, wholeness, health. When one takes communion regularly, they experience a quality of life, the healing/life benefits Jesus. Joseph prince says that in the greek, the language used in this scripture is refering to Lord’s supper in Matthew 26:26-29

When one takes time to ponder that ‘By His whipping I AM healed” as they are about to take the communion, by faith I’m tapping into the reality of HIs sacrifice for me and experiencing salvation( includes healing not just deliverance from hell).

The blood and the body of Jesus gives life to our mortal bodies, that even John the apostle never died; there are mystics that’s 400 years old still alive. Elijah, Enoch never died, communion is total opposite of death.

When I take of the communion i declare, “Your body was broken so I could be made whole, you were wounded so I could be healed. I judge myself healed. The life is in the blood, i drink your blood and i have life, I’m cleansed from a guilty conscience and washed whiter than snow, forgiven of all my sins past present and future. Thank You for blood that was poured out for me.”

In Israel today, when people take the unleaven bread for passover, there are stripes on the bread, this is actually a prophetic picture of Jesus being whipped and beaten. The communion meal is actually the passover meal.

Ephesians 2:8 “For by grace you are saved through faith…???

Saved: σοζο(4982)

Pronunciation:

sode’-zo

 to save, keep safe and sound, to rescue from danger or destruction 1a) one (from injury or peril) 1a1) to save a suffering one (from perishing), i.e. one suffering from disease, to make well, heal, restore to health

The bread is symbolic of the body of Jesus, the wine is symbolic of the blood. When we eat of the body we are reminding ourselves of the benefits of the body which bought us healing, when we drink the wine we are reminding ourselves of the benefits of the blood which bought us life and cleansing. Throughout church history, some people have had supernatural experiences and seen signs and wonders when they have partaken of the Lord’s table.

2) Please read 1 Cor 11:17-34

The context was that, there were people who were selfish and at the communion meal, eating all the food and drinking all the wine so that there was none left for others to eat!! especially over those who were poor and had nothing left to eat… those selfish ones were obviously not taking communion to rememebr the Lord’s body and blood, but it was for selfish reasons.

Its not that God makes anyone sick, but its just that people are allowing themselves sick by not meditating, recognising the revelation, or tapping into the healing power of Jesus so that they don’t get the benefits of healing, so they actually become sick; the world we live in is already sick by the power of sin so we need Jesus Immunity to keep us healthy so to speak.

Isaiah 53:4 But he lifted up our illnesses,

he carried our pain;

even though we thought he was being punished,

attacked by God,and afflicted for something he had done.

53:5 He was wounded because of our rebellious deeds,

crushed because of our sins;

he endured punishment that made us well (brought us peace/shalom);

because of his wounds/stripes/whipping we have been healed.

E.g. imagine there was a virus going around that makes everyone sick, but if you wear mouth masks and gloves you can be protected, if you don’t you will get sick. Without recognising the body and blood of Lord and the Spirit of Life to give me life and life abundantly, i’m not getting ‘mouth masks or gloves’ of viral protection against the viral lies of this world that makes me live under the law of sin and death which produces sickness and diseases.

God doesn’t make anyone sick; but we make ourselves sick by not recognising, and rejecting revelation, and using the healing he’s provided for us through the body and the blood.

God’s judgment is God’s discipline-His love, not punishment, like an angry father as many see God.

E.g. if I’m hosting a party at my house, and my son is running around wild and causing havoc, then if it has come to a point that he doesn’t listen, I might have to tell him to goto his room for a while. This is discipline, but he’s missing out on the party and food and benefits of felloship and friendship.I???m not punishing him as such, but i’m just telling him to goto his room so he won’t cause havoc anymore. When he goes into his room, its like a room that has no revelation and he cannot experience the benefits of the party, the fellowship food and drink.

Quoting from Escapetoreality.org, Dr. Paul Ellis,

“What about the Lord’s discipline???? http://escapetoreality.org/2015/02/19/1-corinthians-11v31-32/#comment-91966

When we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord so that we will not be condemned along with the world (1 Cor. 11:32, NASB)

The word for???disciplined???in this verse should not make you think of punishment. It means training as in training up a child. To discipline is to disciple and we are discipled by the Lord. With that in mind, here is my paraphrase of the two verses:

When we receive the Lord’s good judgment – in him you are righteous! – and when we learn to discern what is from the Lord (grace and healing) and what is not (sickness and worry), we are trained up as sons and daughters. We no longer suffer the effects of sin and condemnation. (1 Cor 11:31-32, Paul’s paraphrase)???

God’s judgment here is simply allowing us to go out own way, which is a form of punishment in itself;

Romans 1:24, 26 “Therefore God gave them up…???, letting us go into whatever our free will wants to achive. In that, the judgment is the result from the sin we do, not God. God lets human beings have their own way, that is judgment.

We are the one missing out on the revelation of healing so that we end up living. God’s not punishing us as such, but it’s our own sin that is punishing.
God’s punishment is by allowing you to miss out on the revelation of healing.
If communion could make you sick, then who in their right mind would take it?
It doesn’t make any sense, when Jesus clearly says if ‘you eat my body and drink my blood’ you will love forever!
At Jesus last supper, there is no record of Jesus ever telling their disciples to confess all their sons before they take the communion meal!

In conclusion, the purpose of taking communion, was to remind ourselves of the healing benefits of the body and blood of Jesus. His body brings us healing and supernatural strength, his blood gives us life and cleanses us from a guilty conscience. When we are taking it, we are celebrating His death, what He achieved on the cross. It was all a Free Gift, it has nothing to do with us, confessing sins or getting right with one another- all this is a form of works, (i’m not saying we dont’ do that, because love is simply the overflow), but it was not really about that at all. Communion is communion of the Lords’s body and blood, it’s not a ‘work’, but its a gift of grace- don’t make it into a work (gotta confess your sins and do this or that, 10 steps before you can…)…. it’s a celebration!!

Also Check out teaching by

Joseph Prince, “Health and wholeness through the Holy Communion”, “Receiving healing with faith and patience”

Divine healing teachnician, Curry blake from John G. Lake ministries

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