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NASB | Romans 8:28 ¶ And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Romans 8:28 ¶ And we know [with great confidence] that God [who is deeply concerned about us] causes all things to work together [as a plan] for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to His plan and purpose. |
Subject: Is God's will prosperity/healing always? |
Bible Note: "I agree that Isaiah 53 is in reference to spiritual healing. However, in verse 4 when it refers to our infirmites I think of physical ailment, which leads me to believe that it is also about physical healing." Well, you thinking of it as something doesn't make it so. Peter in his reference to Isaiah 53 in his own epistle directly ties the healing to our sinful conditions, not to any diseases. You wrote: "In reguards to Ex 21:24, that was part of the Law that was set up for government before the Messiah came." Both Paul and James use the moral law as normative commandments for Christians, quoting the Decalogue verbatim (Ephesians 6 and James 2). You are correct that Jesus redeems us from the law's CURSE, but that does not liberate us from God's commandments to follow His moral will, which is summed up in the Ten Commandments, and even more succinctly in Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18. You wrote: "Finally, we need to define Biblical prosperity. Biblical prosperity is all of your needs being met with enough left over to put some extra in the offering with your tithe." If this is your view of what prosperity is, then we are closer than what I thought on our definitions. You must admit, however, that many of the more well-known, so-called "prosperity doctrine" preachers are not preaching having one's needs met, but rather having one's lusts fulfilled. "Look at Matthew 9:13. If Jesus was not prosperous enough to feed Himself and the men who travled with him then how could the Pharasees say that the disciples never fasted." Fasting is not simply going hungry. It is a spiritual activity of willful abstinence. This passage is in no way a commentary on Jesus' level of financial means. Jesus and the 12 were PROVIDED FOR. There is a difference between being the recipient of God's providence (often through the generosity of others) and having a huge bank account to finance Kingdom work. The epistle of James acknowledges that the church is made up of both rich and poor. Nowhere are the poor chastised for any supposed "lack of faith." The poor among us are an opportunity for God to be glorified by the generosity of His saints. One can very easily look at it this way: how can brotherly generosity on the part of the church of Jesus Christ be demonstrated if no one among God's people has a need? In the Bible, God reveals that ones needs are met through a variety of means other than "claiming a promise": WORK "He who steals must steal no longer; but rather he must LABOR, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need." --Ephesians 4:28 THE GENEROSITY OF OTHER CHRISTIANS "and when I was present with you and was in need, I was not a burden to anyone; for when the brethren came from Macedonia they fully supplied my need, and in everything I kept myself from being a burden to you, and will continue to do so."--2 Corinthians 11:9 "for even in Thessalonica you sent a gift more than once for my needs." --Philippians 4:16 I believe Paul nails the coffin of prosperity doctrine shut with one of the most famous passages in Scripture, demonstrating clearly that our material needs are not always what we think them to be: "Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me." --Philippians 4:11-13 Where is Paul's reliance upon being prosperous? He says that he has learned, as a CHRISTIAN, to be content without it, in suffering from NEED and being in HUMBLE MEANS. The Christian life is NOT a ticket to material Easy Street, or Paul just didn't get it like you do. --Joe! |