Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.” 2 Corinthians 6:14

Having stated the principle of separation, Paul gives a list of reasons for the separation. In general, he makes the case that because the Spirit of God lives within you, you are sacred and set apart for exclusive service unto God just as the temple was. Anything that is profane or secular that touches the sacred defiles it. To underline his command, he simply asks a series of rhetorical questions.

He first asks, “What do righteousness and wickedness have in common?” and “What fellowship can light have with darkness?” He lists two incompatible things that are polar opposites. In many cases, we are so desensitized to the world that we often don’t see wickedness for what it is. The Greek word is anomia which means lawlessness. Righteousness is living based on God’s standards or God’s law. Of course, we don’t always measure up to his standards but we have an “imputed” righteousness through the blood of Christ and an innate desire to live up to the standards. An unbeliever does not submit to the law of God nor does he desire to but lives by a set of worldly standards that have been established by the prince of this world. Although those standards may have an appearance of goodness and morality, the basis for the standards is polar opposites. The righteousness of the kingdom is based on the moral nature of a holy God who will judge men and nations. Worldly standards always place man as the judge of all things and truth as his truth rather than the creator’s truth.

The world can imitate goodness and morality but at the core, righteousness exalts God while wickedness exalts man and self. Eventually, that road will lead us away from God and the fallen nature will have its way. When speaking of light and darkness Paul simply reminds us that they too are incompatible. Fellowship implies close and harmonious association. Darkness is the absence of light and light pushes out darkness. They cannot coexist in the same space. From God’s perspective, believers are incompatible with unbelievers because the Holy Spirit living in us makes us so different from the unredeemed that we can only be contrasted not compared. Again, I think our desensitization to the sin and self-centeredness around us dims our awareness of how different children of light are from children of darkness. But God does not lose sight of the vast difference.

Paul then raises he question, “What harmony is there between Christ and Belial?” Belial seems to be one of several Greek names for the god of the underworld and is a reference to Satan. Believers belong to Christ while unbelievers belong to Satan. Most unbelievers are unaware that Satan owns them and would deny that they serve him but there is no spiritual Switzerland – no neutrality in the spiritual realm. We either belong to Christ or we belong to Satan and the two have declared war on one another. There is no peace between the two kingdoms and to be yoked to an unbeliever opens the door to the presence of the enemy. Satan will always use his subjects to draw you away from Christ. To be in a binding relationship with an unbeliever is making an alliance with the one who rules over him or her and that “ruler” is bent on destroying you.

Paul then summarizes his point by asking what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever. Of course, you might answer that you both like baseball or that you both need love and purpose and those things would be true, but Paul is talking about our natures, our allegiances, our purpose, and our destination. From Paul’s perspective, you have nothing eternal in common with an unbeliever.

Paul finishes with the rhetorical question, “What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God.” This again raises the question of the sacred mixing with the profane. The temple and everything in it was dedicated to the service of God. Because the presence of God was in the temple, great care had to be taken to purify all of the grounds and instruments related to the temple from sin. Sacrificial blood was sprinkled on everything on a regular basis to cleanse the temple and its furnishings from the defilement of sin. Any bowls, knives, plates, tables, censers, etc. that were used in the temple services were to be destroyed if they were ever used for ordinary purposes. Once you have been dedicated to the service of God you are not to involve yourself in anything that will defile you. In addition, idols are always associated with demon worship in both the Old and New Testaments and so Paul is declaring that to be yoked with unbelievers not only connects you to profane things that defile your sacred standing with God but also brings you into agreement with demons and empowers them in your life.

Our problem is that we don’t value the presence of God within us and the holiness of God as we should. We become careless with it and often compromise with the world and may even yoke ourselves to what is unholy in the eyes of God. But God calls us to be separate and to serve him only. He is not calling us to isolate ourselves from the world because them we could not rescue the lost from the dominion of darkness but we are to maintain a separation in our hearts and refuse to make alliances binding agreements, and covenants with anyone or anything that is not willingly submitted to Christ and made clean by his Spirit. Those relationships will always pressure us to compromise.

That does not mean that we separate ourselves from the lost or refuse to love them because God loves them. Jesus associated with sinners but never came into agreement with their values and never bound himself to them in order to win their approval or even their love. He never compromised his allegiance to the Father or his mission. Paul’s challenge is this section of scripture is for us to never forget who we are, who we belong to, and who lives within us. We must consider ourselves and all those who have the Spirit of Christ within them as sacred – as holy ground. We must also remember that those outside of Christ belong to the devil and have the spirit of disobedience within them. Our job is to bring them into the light not to participate with them in their darkness. You are holy. You are sacred. You house the presence of God. Live like it.

For those of us who desire divine healing or who are pursuing a spiritual gift of healing for the sake of others, it is important that we are convinced of God’s constant goodness and his constant willingness to heal. Anything less, produces doubt in our prayers for healing.

Whenever a discussion immerges regarding divine healing, four questions always seem to arise: (1) Does God still heal today? (2) Why does he heal? (3) Is God always willing to heal or just on rare occasions? (4) If God heals today and is always willing, then why are many not healed? Let me share some thoughts on the first three questions and them some thoughts on number four in my next blog.

In Psalm 103, David declared, “Praise the Lord, O my soul and forget not all his benefits – who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love an compassion” (Ps.103:2-4). Throughout the Bible, the forgiveness of sins and the healing of disease are linked together and tied to God’s love and compassion. Let me make an extreme statement based David’s inspired declaration. If God does not heal all of our diseases then he does not forgive all of our sins because they are both promised here and are linked together. If healing is for only a few then forgiveness is for only a few but God desires that all men should be saved.

That statement does not mean that if you have asked for healing and have not received it that your sins are not forgiven. What it does mean is that as much as God is willing to forgive our sins, he is also willing to heal our diseases. It also means that if our sin problem has been removed or dealt with, then we should have open access to the healing power of heaven. One of the critical steps in receiving healing or ministering healing is the recognition that God is not only able to heal those who ask, but is always very willing. Remember, one of the names of God is Jehovah Rophi, the God who heals his people. His names reflect his nature and his nature reveals his heart. It is his nature to heal because life flows out of God and life heals. In the sane way that God cannot deny his holiness or his goodness, because that is his very nature, he cannot turn off his willingness to heal because that is his very nature.

In the gospel of Luke, we see Jesus healing a crippled woman on the Sabbath. Of course, the Jewish rulers rebuked Jesus for healing on the Sabbath since, in their minds, healing constituted work and no work was to be done on the seventh day. In reply to the rebuke, Jesus answered, “Should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her” (Lk.13:16)? Notice that Jesus considered her condition a work of Satan and John tells us that the very reason Jesus came into the world was to destroy the works of Satan (1 Jn.3:8).

Jesus also used the word “should” which carries with it the implication that her healing was a moral imperative or an obligation. It was the right thing to do. It was, in fact, part of God’s covenant with Israel (Ex.15:26). In Isaiah 61:1-3, we are told that Jesus came to set captives free and, in this verse, he likened her illness or her condition to bondage. Healing her set her free.

Jesus also felt compelled to heal this woman because of his love and compassion for her. She was a child of God and a daughter of Abraham living under the Old Covenant. The fact that Jesus never turned anyone down who came to him for healing suggests the he felt just as compelled to heal others as he did that woman. Jesus always did the Father’s will and always represented his Father perfectly. When we have seen Jesus we have seen the Father. It is the nature of God to heal; he is compelled to do so out of his goodness, love and compassion; he is also compelled when covenant promises are involved; and his mission through Jesus is to destroy the works of the devil including illness and bondage.

Okay, Jesus healed then, but does he heal now? Of course he does because it is still his nature, it is still the right or moral thing to do, and he still has the unchanging love and compassion for us that he did for her. We too are children of Abraham if we have the faith of Abraham (Gal.3:7) and on top of that, we too are covenant children living under an even better covenant than that woman did.

David’s words out of Psalm 103 really come to mind in the gospel of Matthew. In this account, as a prelude to healing, he declared the man’s sins to be forgiven. The religious leaders around Jesus, thought such words were blasphemy and so Jesus responded, “Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins….” Then he said to the paralytic, “Get up, take your mat and go home.”      And the man got up and went home^” (Mt.9:5-7).  That moment brought David’s words to life. Disease has come into the world because of sin. When sin is forgiven or dealt with, disease no longer has a legal claim on us. Healing then becomes our inheritance in Jesus.

The Lord’s Supper represents our covenant with the Father through Jesus and has two elements – the bread and the cup. The cup, of course, represents the blood of Christ that was shed for us. “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you” (Lk.22:20). Hebrews tells us that without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness (Heb.9:22). So the forgiveness of our sins is in the blood and is represented by the cup. But what about the bread? Jesus said that the bread was his body broken for us. Peter echoed that same truth when he said, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed” (2 Pt.2:24). The wounds are the wounds of his broken body. Those wounds purchased healing for us. Even the Lord’s supper, through the cup and the bread, declares that he forgives all of our sins and heals all of our diseases.

Just as preaching the gospel and forgiving sins marked the ministry of Jesus, so did healing. When Jesus sent out the twelve and the seventy-two to preach the gospel, he also commanded them to heal. In addition, he has commanded us to do what he did and has given the church gifts of healing. Healing is a confirmation that Jesus has taken away our sins – he forgives all our sins and heals all our diseases. Because Jesus died for the sins of the world, healing in his name can even come to unbelievers.

As we pursue healing or a gift of healing, we need to have every confidence that our prayers for healing are pleasing to the Father and that he is willing to answer our prayers. I believe that any serious study of healing in the Bible will lead you to the conclusion that God is willing to heal his people and even desires to do so. Because of that, we can pray for healing with the prayer of faith and have confidence and God will raise up the sick person (Ja.5:15). Healing is part of our inheritance in Jesus!

The next question, then, is always, “So why isn’t everyone healed?” I will share some thoughts on that in my next blog. Blessings today and health in the Lord.

“I am the Lord who has made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself…who carries out the words of his servants and fulfills the predictions of his messengers…” (Isa.44:24-26).

Most of us are familiar with the concept of prophetic words.  God puts his words on the lips of his prophets and as they declare those words they release the activities of God to bring about those prophetic declarations.  Jeremiah is the perfect example of that dynamic.  “Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, ‘Now, I have put my words in your mouth.  See today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant’” (Jer.1:9-10). Jeremiah never led an army or launched a war through the power of politics.  He tore down and built up by declaring the words God had given him.  Like a starter firing the gun to release the runners in a race, the prophet releases the power of heaven we he/she declares the words of God.

God frequently works in partnership with his people.  He could do all things by himself but chooses to work with us and through us.  Prophetic words are really his words going forth from our lips and, like prayers, it is possible that some things are not released because we have not spoken what God has put on our hearts or lips.

Many prophetic words are also conditional. A prophet will say what God will do if we are willing to respond to the word or what he will do if we don’t respond. When Jonah preached to Nineveh that judgment would come in forty days, it was a word that also presented the option of repentance.  Nineveh did repent and God withheld judgment.  In the New Testament church, when a prophetic word declares that God will use a person mightily in a certain area, the condition is that the individual must be willing to prepare for that moment and be willing to serve in that arena for the prophecy to be fulfilled.  The prophecy is conditional – God will do this if you will do that. Again, God often works through partnership with his people and we determine by our choices how much of God’s will on the earth is released and becomes a reality.

There are also prophetic acts that release God’s activities on the earth.  One such moment is recorded between the prophet Elisha and the king of Israel. “He said, “Open the window toward the east,” and he opened it. Then Elisha said, “Shoot!” And he shot. And he said, “The Lord’s arrow of victory, even the arrow of victory over Aram; for you will defeat the Arameans at Aphek until you have destroyed them.” Then he said, “Take the arrows,” and he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, “Strike the ground,” and he struck it three times and stopped. So the man of God was angry with him and said, “You should have struck five or six times, then you would have struck Aram until you would have destroyed it. But now you shall strike Aram only three times” (2 Kings 13:17-19).  In this case, the king of Israel performed his own prophetic act and his lack of zeal or faith drew less form heaven than God was willing to give.

Anointing someone with oil can also be a prophetic act.  “So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came upon David in power” (I Sa. 16:13). Pouring oil on a king, a prophet, or a priest that God has chosen is certainly a sign that God has selected that person for an office or mission but I believe it is also a prophetic act that releases the Holy Spirit into that person’s life. In each instance, the appointing required an anointing with the Spirit for them to successfully fulfill the role that God had given them.  Does God ever give his Spirit to someone without anointing him/her with oil?  Yes, of course, but at other times anointing releases the power of heaven (the Holy Spirit) over the one who is in need of the Spirit.  The laying on of hands can be a similar prophetic act that releases or imparts authority, spiritual gifts, or the Spirit himself into a person’s life.

I believe it is the same for healing.  Mark tells us that the apostles anointed many people with oil and healed them (see Mark 6:13).  James tells the church to call the elders whenever someone is sick so that the elders can anoint the sick with oil in the name of Jesus and offer a prayer of faith which will bring healing (see Ja. 5:14).  I believe the oil is a prophetic act releasing the power of the Spirit in that person’s body for healing.  We need to take note that that prophetic acts are not incantations but are done in faith that God will fulfill what is indicated by that act.

The church today often simply goes through the motions of “sacraments” without believing that God is doing anything as a result.  And yet the Bible is full of prophetic acts that release the activities of God over a nation or a person. In the New Testament we are instructed to anoint with oil, lay hands on people, baptize in water, and take bread and wine in the Lord’s Supper.  I believe that each of these are not just symbols of a truth but are also prophetic acts that combined with faith will release the power of heaven into a situation or a person’s life.

Churches often neglect or minimize these “acts” thinking that they are simply symbols rather than prophetic acts releasing the power of God into someone’s life.  Water baptism certainly symbolizes rebirth, resurrection, cleansing, etc. but what if it not only symbolizes those things but also releases the power of God for those things. As we take the communion bread we often say. “The body of Christ broken for you.” We are also told “by his stripes we have been healed.”  The broken body of Christ has purchased healing for believers.  Does the taking of bread in faith constitute a prophetic act that releases healing over God’s people?  If so, we might want to take communion more than once a quarter. Does the cup that represents the blood of Christ release other things over the children of God?  I will leave that for you to think about.  Again…it is all by faith in what Jesus had done but God has always waited on his people to declare, pray, or act before releasing miracles and the power of his Spirit into situations.  Maybe we should give more thought to that partnership.

Be blessed today and declare the words of God over those things that need his Spirit.