2Corinthians 5:17-18 (Amplified) says, "Therefore, if any person is (ingrafted) in Christ Jesus (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old (previous moral and spiritual condition) has passed. Behold, the fresh and new has come. But all things are from God, Who through Jesus Christ reconciled us to Himself (received us into favor, brought us into harmony with Himself) and gave to us the ministry of reconciliation (that by word and deed we might aim to bring others into harmony with Him)."
We were created a new creation, a spirit man who was not only made alive by God's Own Spirit, but one that was joined to Life by God's Own Spirit living in us. We're not just a spirit (like Adam was), but a spirit born of Life by God's Spirit indwelling in or blended with our own spirit when we were born-again. The new creation isn't only joined together with the Holy Spirit of God, but is now through Jesus, in direct communication with the Father (just like Jesus was in His earthly Body).
Romans 10:17 tells us that, "Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God." Paul continues with asking, "How shall they hear without a preacher?" Our faith in God's Word diminished over the years, because we haven't "heard" what the Word says from many of our traditional preachers. Faith in God comes by hearing what God says and preachers are supposed to preach what He says and not just what they've heard from men.
If what we hear is, "Those things have passed away," "Those things are for other people," and "You never know what God's will is," then this is what we will build our faith on. Since "faith comes by hearing," it doesn't matter whether or not it's God Word, what we hear most often is what we will put our faith in. If we hear the wrong things taught about God, then our faith will be placed in those wrong things about Him.
We were created to believe. We not only have a living spirit, but we have God's Spirit indwelling within us. Jesus called Him the "Holy Spirit" and the "Spirit of Truth" and Jesus says "He will never speak anything into our spirit, that is not Truth." The people under the old covenant (the people Jesus preached to) were not born-again and believed by what they could see and from the testimony of others who saw. Today, we struggle to understand whether it's God's will to heal or do the other things Jesus did. We want to believe, but we've heard so many different things preached against the Word, that it becomes nearly impossible to believe.
We believe that God can do anything, so it's not a question whether or not God can do it, but will He do it. This is where our faith meets the wall of doubt. It's not only unbelief, but doubt that restricts our belief. We can only receive from God, what we believe and put faith in. In Mark 16, Jesus commanded us to "preach the Gospel to every creature, those that would believe would be saved and those who wouldn't believe, would be lost." It didn't depend on God's Word, according to John 3:16 (Amplified) which says, "For God so loved the world that He gave His Only Begotten Son that whosoever would believe should not perish, but have everlasting life."
Our walk with the Heavenly Father and His Word, doesn't depend on God, His Word, because "His Word is forever settled in Heaven" and "God cannot lie." Our walk with God, depends on us believing what we hear and hearing the right Word from and of Him.
Many base their belief on healing, testimonies and/or experiences with others. They know someone who believed God for healing and they died, thus leaving them to believe "it must not be God's will to heal." First of all, you don't know whether or not, they believed God and His Word. You only have what they said, to weigh against what God says. Some say, "I know Christians who are sick" and those people judge the Word of healing on this, determining that "God no longer heals." I might respond to this, saying, "I know people who are not saved," but does this mean that He is no longer a Savior? God forbid.
It's not only a matter of what God said, but a matter of believing what He said. We read in the Word, that Jesus healed everyone who would believe and said that "He came to do the Father's will." Was it the Father's will to heal? Yes, but only those who believed what Jesus was preaching were healed. Many heard what He preached and were offended by His Word. Some argued about the "Gentiles" who believed and were healed, while the Jews were not. Who decided which ones would be healed? Not God. He sent His Word to "heal and to deliver from destruction," according to Psalm 107:19-20 (Amplified) which says, "Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and He delivers them out of their distress. He sends forth His Word and heals them and rescues them from the pit and destruction." According to Mark 6:5-6, Jesus "could do no mighty work" in His hometown of Nazareth, because of "their unbelief." This is Jesus Himself and not some preacher or pastor. He was God's Only Begotten Son and still He could do no mighty work, because of their unbelief.
It's not that you don't have faith, because you wouldn't even have been born-again. It's a matter of growing in your faith, by what you hear. You are more in charge of your healing, than God is. It's already His will to heal, when we are subject to believing what His Word says about it. We read about the woman with the issue of blood in Mark 5:52-30 (Amplified), who, "When she heard the reports concerning Jesus, she said 'If I can only touch His garments, I shall be restored to health." In Verse 30, Jesus "felt the power flow out of Him, and stopped to see who had touched Him."
Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. This woman not only heard what Jesus had done, but had undoubtedly heard of what He preached. When Jesus said, I came to do the will of the Father" and "It's not Me, but the Father in Me Who does the work,"this woman put faith in what He said and believed for her healing. She stopped Jesus, He didn't stop her. She believed what she heard Jesus preach.
Healing came through Jesus by the Father, but the healing was always present through faith. The believing people drew healings and miracles from Jesus, by their faith. By her believing, the woman with the issue of blood drew healing and restoration into herself. When she came to know through Jesus' preaching, that it was always God's will to heal, believing was not a problem for her.
We've heard so many different things preached, that it's become difficult to believe much of anything at all. This is why we were filled with God's Own Spirit of Truth. We must believe for ourselves, in order to receive. The woman in the above scripture, didn't rely on what her neighbors said, or on what others might have told her. There were people around her, who called Jesus "demon possessed," and "a phony," but she used her own faith to believe unto health. I've made a decision to allow God to teach me Truth. I've decided not to put others down in their belief. I've also decided that I will not be swayed by every wind of doctrine and will only be led by the Spirit of Truth.
I hear good preachers, from many different churches, who are men and woman of God and integrity and who love God teach various opinions of the Word of God. All of these preachers seem sincere and believe what they're teaching, but because the things they're saying isn't always the same, they cannot all be correct. If one man teaches one things and another teaches the opposite, then either one or both are wrong. It comes down to "Whose report will you believe?" Will you believe God's report or your report? We are all called to seek the Truth and the Word, for ourselves. This isn't to say that we have no need for the five-fold ministry, but we are all called to seek and discern for ourselves.
This isn't to puff you up with pride in your revelation, but to strengthen you in your walk with the Lord. We've never been called to "believe whatever is said," but to meditate and listen to the Voice of the Spirit. If Paul had gone with what everyone around him said, instead of what the Lord said, then only the Jew would have been saved and the Gentile would still be lost. This isn't a democracy, where the majority rules. This is God rules and He is always right. If something isn't working according to the Word, then we should be smart enough to know that when it comes down to who missed it (God or us), it wasn't Him.
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