This may seem like and odd question but trust me there is a logical reason for asking it. I listened to a sermon the other day that asked if Jesus was first our teacher before we embraced him as our savior. The idea he was trying to bring across is the problem that many churches today are trying get people to embrace Jesus as their savior without knowing what he teaches or requires of them.

When I was an unbeliever and walking in rebellion to God I could discern the people that walked in the power of the Holy Spirit and those who didn’t.  To me, it was apparent and obvious. I didn’t know there was any controversy about the baptism in the Holy Spirit, just the evidence or the lack there of. Later, after receiving the Lord into my life, I was amazed to discover believers were arguing that when you got saved you already received the Holy Spirit and don’t need any further baptism. The person I wanted to pray for me to receive Christ was filled with the Holy Spirit and I could tell the difference between those who talked a good game and those who were walking with the Holy Spirit.

People are born with an innate desire to build relationships and friendships. God made us to be “Social Creatures.” But, what happens if we encounter bad relationships or friendships? These bad encounters can, and often do, hinder our willingness to be open and transparent with people which is a building block in cultivating future relationships. This includes building a healthy friendship with God.

In this third and final article on healing and the atonement I want to to conclude with the passage in 2 Peter 24-25 as Peter references the passage used previously in Isaiah 53, typically used as the text for the purpose of Jesus coming to earth to save humanity from sin. This now is the third article on healing, so if you have not read parts 1 and 2, please do so before reading this final one, as they are built on each other. 

In the first article on healing I talked in great detail about God designing our bodies to self heal and without that design no doctors or medicines would be able to heal us. Secondly, I talked about being in harmony with God in order for his additional blessing in our healing process.  Many Christians today have been taught to confess that they are healed when they are walking contrary to how God intended. Confession is a positive element in healing as long as we are walking as God intended. If you have not read the first article, I suggest you do so because I laid out a foundation for how I will proceed with this topic. 

Let me start this topic with a couple of simple beliefs that I have: First, I believe God heals people, plain and simple. Second, I do not believe healing is in the atonement, but rather it is God’s design and desire to heal us prior to the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.

I am glad that most churches conduct baptism during their Sunday services and not at some small service during the week but I  am usually disappointed when I see them because they are so hurried.  Sometimes they ask the person who is being baptized a few yes or no questions.  Why is it that something as significant as baptism is rushed through quickly? 

If you have been raised in a church culture, often you can have a narrow perspective of who God might use and why. What I am referring to is that “FLAWED” people can often be rejected because of some past problems. Somehow, Christians tend to think or are taught that God only uses pure and un-defiled people when there are so many examples and instances of just the opposite.

Have you ever focused on the difficult passages of scripture in which Jesus said things that seem difficult, if not impossible, to live out practically? I know I have, and I continue to circle back to them throughout my Christian walk because I know the more I try to understand the scriptures the better I am able to understand God and my walk with him.

One thing I discovered studying the scripture over the years is that when considering Jesus Christ and his offer to be my sacrifice for my sin it is clear there would be an exchange. I would be exchanging my way of life for his and that meant appreciating who and what he has done and will do in my life.