This post was first published on ROOTSS on Monday, 29th January 2007
One topic that may be of great interest is that of "paradoxes" in the Bible. Growing up in this particular denomination, I was led to believe that the Bible was full of paradoxes, and to accept them as such because "God's ways are higher than our ways". I thank God that I now know for a fact that His message to us is all Yes and Amen, and not yes one moment and no the next as recorded in 2 Cor 1:16-19.
The Bible has no contradictory passages; it is our mis-interpretation of the Bible that makes us think that there are.
One such "paradox" was that of loving vs fearing the LORD, and I have addressed that in another post entitled "What does 'fear of the LORD' mean"?
Another "paradox" deals with that of Christians falling sick...
I recall a conversation that I had with a dear brother of mine regarding 1 Cor 11:27-30:
27 Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.
28 A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup.
29 For anyone who eats and drinks without recognising the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself.
30 That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep.
He felt that this passage suggested that Christians who are not abiding in Christ, or who do not live as Christians ought to/can become sick and even die. He also felt that this was a paradox that was not so easy and straightforward.
My response to him was that I also used to struggle with that passage (until very recently). I grew up in a very traditional Methodist environment, where the works of the Holy Spirit such as tongues, healings, and other signs and wonders were not emphasised.
I was thus made to believe that healing only happened during the apostolic age, but not for our current generation. Even if healing took place, it was supposed to be the exception rather than the norm, and not meant for everyone. Those who remain ill was to take it that it was God's will for them.
But is it God's will for us to be or remain sick? The will of God is revealed in the Word of God. Hence, we as Christians should not pray and ask whether God wants to heal us, or whether a non-Christian person should be our life partner, or whether we should tithe. Such things are a "given" because God's Word tells us, respectively, that He is our healer, that we should not be unequally yoked, and that our firstfruits belong to the Lord.
If we think that God only chooses to heal some and not others, then the Scriptures becomes a book where passages have to be read selectively. Some passages are meant for a group of believers, while other passages are meant for another group. If we believe our God is one who is supposed to unconditionally extend his agape love to us, then the above interpretation that He selectively chooses to bless some and yet withhold His blessings from others does not seem consistent with this concept of God.
Also, if Jesus is the same God yesterday, today and forever (Heb 13:8), the fact that Jesus healed 2000 years ago means He still heals today and will continue to heal till His second coming. Having searched the Scriptures, I now know that such doctrine is not only unbiblical, but it puts the blame on the wrong source. We read in John 10:10 that it is actually the devil who comes to steal, kill and destroy our health, our family, our peace, our well-being, etc. Jesus, on the other hand, has come to give us life in abundance.
Being bedridden or being stricken with a chronic disease is definitely not abundant living. So how do we reconcile "paradoxes" in the Bible? If *all* scripture is inspired by the Holy Spirit (2 Tim 3:16), then there ought not to be any paradoxes in the Bible. God is not a God of confusion. Would it not be ironic if He gives us a spirit of power, of love and of a sound mind (2 Tim 1:7), and yet contradicts Himself in His Word?
So coming back to the "paradox" in 1 Cor 11:27-30? The secret lies in the verse before this passage. Verse 26 says that "as often as you eat this bread, and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until His comes".
What is meant by proclaiming Jesus' death? Are we not as Christians supposed to focus on Jesus' resurrection instead, and the resurrection life we are supposed to be living out? Having meditated on that verse, I submit to you that we are actually proclaiming to those in the spiritual realm, ie. the devil and his fallen angels that are causing us the oppression. We are declaring to them and reminding them of Jesus' finished work on the cross.
Whenever he makes us feel condemned, we remind him that Jesus has taken our condemnation, so that in Christ there is now no condemnation (Rom 8:1). Whenever he makes us feel unrighteous, we remind him that Jesus is our righteousness. Whenever he makes us feel our sicknesses is because of some sin in our life, or the sin of our forefathers, we remind him that by the stripes of Jesus, we have been healed.
Now with the above revelation, let's read 1 Cor 11:27-30 again:
27 Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.
28 A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup.
29 For anyone who eats and drinks without recognising the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself.
30 That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep.
So what does verse 27 mean by "eating or drinking in an unworthy manner" (or unworthily, as KJV puts it)? In the context of verse 26, it means eating and drinking without realising that the body and blood of the Lord was the means by which the divine exchange took place. Jesus came to earth for that very purpose: to take our sins and sicknesses upon Himself and in exchange, to give us His righteousness and wholeness.
Verse 28 tells us that we ought to examine ourselves before we eat and drink of the Lord's supper, as to whether we are taking the communion as a mere ritual, or whether we are doing so to remember God's greatest act of love for us to free us from the bondage of sin and sicknesses.
Verse 29 tells us that if we do not judge the body rightly, we bring judgment upon ourselves.
The NASB version of 1 Cor 11:30 says "for this reason, many among you are weak, and sick and a number sleep". There is a singular "reason" why Christians are weak, sick or die prematurely, and that is because we do not recognise the body of the Lord as recorded in verse 29, ie. we do not comprehend or believe that His body was broken and striped to deliver us from sicknesses!
Many of us today accept Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, but how many of us accept Jesus as our Healer? When Jesus died on the cross, He died not only for the forgiveness of our sins, but also for the removal of our diseases. Salvation is via His blood, healing is via His body.
We as Christians are shortchanging ourselves if we only believe salvation is ours via the cross, but do not understand that healing is ours as well. By the blood of the Lamb, we have received forgiveness of our sins. By the stripes upon the body of our Lord, we have been healed. Why is it easier for us to believe the former by faith, and yet not the latter, also by faith? Things may not happen in the physical realm immediately, but it has already happened in the spiritual. So we have to continue to "call for things that are not as though they are" (Rom 4:17) until they manifest in the physical realm. Just like Abraham was called "father of many" years before Isaac finally came forth.
So there. Another so-called "paradox" debunked. Thanks be to God for His consistent message of redemption. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, I'm redeemed, I'm redeemed, praise the Lord!
Brothers and sisters. The sooner we as Christians realise that we can claim this as our right as His children, the sooner we will see fewer cases of Christians who are weak, sick, or die prematurely. Amen?
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