333 Words

333 WORDS….

There is a perverse logic, an unreasonable thinking, that several centuries ago gained entrance and established a beachhead in Christ’s church, and since has caused havoc on millions of saints as it spread like the contagious infection it is throughout christianity.

The teaching (in truth, one of many “doctrines of demons”) goes something like this….

Sometimes sickness and tragedy are beneficial in breaking the stubborn will at odds with the preferences of a holy God. (Which is true.)

These troubles can actually be a motivation to receive Christ’s salvation. (True.)

And they can move the evangelical, etc. to go deeper in Christ. (True again.)

Therefore it is a safe assumption that God authors/allows, said woes. (Very not true.)

God is sovereign, so we can be assured that whatever happens, good and bad, is His will and design. (Un-unh.)

Can you see what a monster-God this reasoning creates? If the flu can be attributed to God as a means of sanctifying His kids, why not a plague? Yes, even the bubonic plague.

And if, say, a burglary is deemed the covert work of God, why not the invasion of a weaker country? And ensuing rapes and murders and even genocide?

But isn’t God in control? Isn’t He sovereign? Nothing happens unless He allows it?

The answers, hard answers for many, are: No, God isn’t in control (this mess isn’t His, it’s ours), His sovereignty doesn’t trespass man’s free will, and He allows what we allow. (“I give you the authority…. over all the power of the enemy.”)

The will of God is displayed in the life of His exact image, His Son Jesus Christ, as expressed in the gospels. Lord Jesus didn’t make people sick. Not once. (Didn’t humble the twelve or the seventy-two by inflicting leprosy.)

Our Christ is a healer, a fixer, a physician, a protector, a refuge, a friend, a good shepherd. He healed “all who were oppressed”, not by God but, “by the devil.”

That’s “oppressed by the devil.”