HEALTH BY FAITH

There are many confusing ideas about health and healing in the world. There are several major worldviews when it comes to understanding health and disease. A major worldview, which comes out of Babylon, is the idea that the human is a microcosm of the universe, and that health is the result of universal energy flowing through the individual in an unhindered manner. In this worldview, disease is caused by “blockages” of that universal energy as it flows through an individual. Treatment, therefore, focuses on removing those blockages and restoring proper energy flow. In many of these healing forms a therapist attempts to manipulate the energy of the patient, certain substances are applied or consumed, or the sufferer participates in certain exercises or meditation to bring about healing. 

In Chinese Medicine, health is the result of a balance of positive and negative energy flowing through the body (yin and yang). Disease is the result of an excess of yin or of yang. Different foods, minerals, substances, herbs, exercises, meditation, etc. are used to counterbalance the energy imbalance to restore proper balance and thus restore health. The substances aren’t used because of their nutritional or chemical value, but because of their ability to balance positive or negative energy. Chinese medicine also includes the idea of meridians—major pathways through which that energy flows through an individual. Different organs are associated with different meridians, and dysfunction in an organ is treated by manipulating the meridian(s) associated with that organ. Popular treatments used to restore proper energy flow in these meridians include acupuncture and acupressure. 

Ayurvedic medicine is based upon the concept of chakras, which are spinning wheels of energy that align along the spine to the head of an individual. This is where matter and consciousness meet, and through these chakras flow a vital life force called Parana. Chakras are believed to correspond to massive nerve centers in the body which contain bundles of nerves and major organs as well as one’s psychological, emotional, and spiritual states of being. Health is dependent upon the seven main chakras staying open, aligned, and fluid. If there is a blockage, energy cannot flow, and physical disease results. These chakras can be balanced by meditation, breathing exercises, yoga, mantras, colors, gems, aroma therapy, essential oils, and herbs. The use of each of these things is to bring balance to the chakras, in order from the lowest to the highest chakra, so that one can experience health and eventually achieve Moksha (relief from death). 

There are also other forms of energy healing, such as reflexology, reiki, therapeutic touch, Bowen therapy, and iridology. But there are other forms of therapy available, including chiropractic, kinesiology, homeopathy and hypnotism. But the most popular form of healing in Western societies is allopathic medicine. In allopathic medicine, the premise is that a symptom should be treated with a substance that causes the opposite of that symptom so that the system is brought back into proper function. For example, if one is vomiting, you take a substance that makes you stop vomiting. If you have a fever, you take a substance that prevents a fever. If you have inflammation, you take a substance that prevents inflammation, etc. The problem is that none of these methods get to the cause of the problem. 

We are told, “There are many ways of practicing the healing art, but there is only one way that Heaven approves. God’s remedies are the simple agencies of nature that will not tax or debilitate the system through their powerful properties. Pure air and water, cleanliness, a proper diet, purity of life, and a firm trust in God are remedies for the want of which thousands are dying; yet these remedies are going out of date because their skillful use requires work that the people do not appreciate. Fresh air, exercise, pure water, and clean, sweet premises are within the reach of all with but little expense, but drugs are expensive, both in the outlay of means and in the effect produced upon the system.” {5T 443.1}

Where does health come from? We understand from the Biblical context that health comes from God. But many of us have come to believe that health is the paycheck we receive for doing the right things. If we only eat the right food, exercise sufficiently, get sufficient sunshine exposure, live a relatively natural life, and don’t stress too much, we should have health. But how does health come about? For this, we must go to the fundamental textbook—the Bible. In the Bible, what are we told is the cause of disease and the source of healing? Read Exodus 15:26, Deuteronomy 7:12-15, Deuteronomy 28, 2 Chronicles 7:14, Proverbs 3:7-8, Proverbs 4:20-23, Matthew 13:5. 

Many times, when Jesus healed someone, He said, “Your faith has made you whole [Sōzō].” In the Bible, the Greek word, Sōzō, means to save, to make whole, and to heal. The same word is used for salvation and for healing. Could it be that salvation and healing have the same foundation? 3 John 1:2 states, “Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.” How does your soul prosper? The answer to this may be the key to understanding how our health prospers. 

We recognize that our nature is sinful (see Psalms 51:5, Isaiah 1:5-6, Isaiah 64:6, Jeremiah 17:9, Romans 8:7, and Revelation 3:17). And we must be saved from sin into the perfection of the life of Christ. The soul, therefore, can only prosper under the plan of salvation that sets us free from sin. 

Grace is everything that God does to rescue man from sin, which is offered to man as a free gift. Faith is that which accepts the gift of God’s grace and appropriates it to myself so that it becomes mine. And we are told, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2:8-10. This is a one-way process (grace faith  works). This process does not work backwards (works  faith  grace). 

Evil is the result of taking what is good and turning it around. Good is God’s grace accepted by faith, which then naturally works in harmony with God’s will. Evil (legalism) is doing good works to develop faith by which I earn God’s grace. Your soul can only prosper by grace accepted through faith which then works. Your soul can never prosper by works obtaining faith to obtain grace. 

What about health? Where does health come from? Does it come from some cosmic energy flowing through your body the right way? No! Does it come from balancing positive and negative energy in your being? No! Does it come from taking substances that counteract certain symptoms or hinder certain physiologic processes? No! Does it come from eating a healthy diet, exercising regularly, getting regular sunshine and fresh air, and otherwise living a healthy lifestyle? Does it? Is health the paycheck you receive for doing all the right things? No! So, where does health come from? 

Health comes from God and God only. Health is a gift of God’s grace, offered to undeserving sinners freely, because we need it. And that health is accepted by faith, which then naturally works in harmony with God’s will. Health is not the result of doing enough good health “works” that prove that you have enough faith so that you can earn health as your paycheck, your earning, your due, your right—as if God was obligated to give you health if you behaved good enough. You are not saved by works, and neither are you healed by works. You are saved by grace, through faith which then works in harmony with God’s will. And you are healed in the same way—by grace, through faith which then works in harmony with God’s will. 

Is it God’s will for you to eat a healthy diet? Yes! It is God’s will for you to get enough exercise in the right context? Yes! Is it God’s will for you to get sufficient rest? Yes! Is it God’s will for you to avoid putting into your mind and body things that will clog the system and cause it to not work so well? Yes! Is it God’s will for you to be in a natural environment where you can have fresh air, sunshine, pure water, the surroundings of nature, etc.? Yes! But it is not the doing of these things that brings health. Health is a gift of God’s grace, offered to each of us freely. And that gift is accepted only by faith—a faith that will then naturally work in harmony with God’s will; a faith that will live a healthy lifestyle, not to convince God to give me health, but to cooperate with the One who is giving me health. 

Unfortunately, we have not understood this in our health work. In one prominent system of healthcare, we have burdened people with treatments and slow poisons that cause many side-effects and slowly destroy the system, while we miss entirely the cause of disease and health. And in another system of healthcare, we have burdened people with long lists of what they should eat, how they should eat it, how long they should go between meals, what times of the day they should eat, what attitude they should have when they eat, what food combinations to avoid, etc., etc., etc. And then people go home with a long to-do list of very good “works” to do, with the idea that by doing these works, they will earn health. We may say that the one system is better than the other, because one gets closer to the cause by addressing the lifestyle of the people. But what does it matter if we are still operating under a works-based system? Both will fail. 

What does health by faith really look like? You trust that God is your source of health and healing. You understand that healing can only come from Him. And trusting in Him as your only hope, you accept His grace (not just the health as an end product, but the motivation and power to cooperate with God in the process of restoring health) as a free gift to you. Trusting in Him to do for you what you cannot do for yourself, you ask the Lord, “What would you have me to do to cooperate with You now?” He will then lead you to those things He has already blessed (healthy diet, proper eating habits and times, exercise, fresh air and sunshine, proper rest, etc.) and invite you to participate with Him in those things with Him. As you trust in Him and follow His leading, you will have access to His power and consistency to be able to participate in those healthy behaviors that are in harmony with His will. Thus you will succeed where you had always failed. 

This does not mean that we will always have the health we are looking for at the time and in the way we wanted it. God knows the end from the beginning, and He knows what is best for us. Job’s affliction was not lifted just when he would have liked to be free from it, but it was lifted when God knew it was time. Elisha died of an illness, but He did so with an expectation of being raised again when Jesus returns to health everlasting. As we trust in God and put our faith in His promises, we do not demand that He works according to our will, but we trust in Him as He works according to His will, which is for our best good. 

We must bring people to God. We must show them that their hope is in God and God only. We must help them to see that God loves them, despite their intemperance and decades of deadly “health” practices, which are, by the way, only manifestations of the real, underlying problem. We must help them to see that God is just as willing to heal them now as Jesus was when He walked on the Earth. Jesus turned no one away who came to Him for help—no one. And God is the same today as He was then. God offers us health as a gift of His grace. And that gift is only accepted by faith. There is no other way to accept that gift. If it is by works, then the gift will not be accepted. And the faith that accepts that grace will naturally work in harmony with God’s will. 

Does this mean that there are no benefits to good works when done from the wrong motive? No. There are benefits to good works, even if done from a wrong motive. But health, true health, is only accessible by grace, through faith which then naturally works in harmony with God’s will. May we pursue health and salvation the same way, for we will only prosper and be in health as our soul prospers. And may we not lay heavy burdens upon others by giving them a long list of do’s and don’ts. That kind of life is a burden, constantly having to do so much to earn the coveted prize of health. Point them to the Savior who takes away the sin of the world and lead them to trust in Him. Then faith will grasp the promises and will naturally work in harmony with God’s will. Then the good works will flow naturally and freely from a life that is full of God’s grace. That is the experience and the health the world is longing and searching for.