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Many people who have been in Spirit Filled type churches will recognize the slogan “God heals, saves, and delivers.” What does that mean?

Healing should be obvious. Not jus tin the way creation was set up do things heal and regenerate sometimes, but also, we see miraculous healings. As far as I know God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, is the only one who heals. No one claims that competitor gods heals.

Being saved seems to be a term used in the more evangelical, Bible oriented church. Any church, however, with any sort of tie to the history of Christianity witnessed to in the Bible, understands conversion, regeneration, and thus “being saved” — even if that is not what they focus on. The terms mean the same thing. When one surrenders one life to Christ Jesus, comes under his Lordship, one receives His salvation from sin, receives forgiveness but also a new life. This is what regeneration means. One might say that the human spirit, once dead, become alive as it is not connected with God’s Spirit. (That last sentence is my own thinking and not necessarily wide spread consensus theology — but the rest is.) Salvation is from sin, from dead, and into eternal life. This change should show in the here and now, and not in the afterlife only. All Christians agree; any who do not are outside of the tradition and disconnected from the Bible.

Delivers — okay. Again, going back to the Bible, we see both Jesus and the Apostles delivering or rescuing people from demons/unclean spirits/devil(s). This idea of deliverance and rescue certainly may be applied to any negative life circumstances. Jesus helps drunks get sober, the poor find provision, the solitary find community. This should be uncontroversial.

So, this is what we mean. God can heal your heart. God can heal your child. We see God doing so in various ways, in the Old Testament, in the New Testament, and in the testimonies regularly today. God can deliver you from terrible circumstances. We read miracle stories from the history of the Israel and Judah. We hear testimonies today. God tends to do this, in our understanding, mostly these days when someone surrenders their life, meaning they receive help in the way God wants to give it. Lordship and Saviorship/salvation/rescuing come together. The testimonies are almost all in this context of having a bad life, coming into a church, agreeing with the preached word, joining the community, and having a changed life. Mostly.

So, this applies to you and your family. To your children. The way of the Lord is health and life. It is learning, too. Search for God. God is reaching out to you. Yes, there may be blockages. Some person or another may be used to knock you off your goal. Ignore that and grab the gold ring: salvation, healing, and rescue in all ways.

Isaiah 53 is our best chapter on the Messiah, Jesus bring healing and salvation. Romans 10 is our best passage on how to get it: believe, confess, and receive.

Then, you will have “walked out” (or experienced the process and now demonstrate) “God heals, saves, and delivers.”