July 2, 3, 2022
From the Pastor’s Desk: Rev. Simon Lee
Dear brothers and sisters of RCAC,
In our last article, we introduced our series on Christ Our Healer. We shared how our concept of healing in the Alliance church is unique as we focus on Christ as our healer. We also talked about the importance of health in general.
But the Bible teaches us that “health” is more than physical health. It encompasses our “spiritual being” as a physical-psychological-spiritual whole. Simply defined, the Hebrew and Biblical concept of “health” is “wholeness” (shalom) for our entire “spiritual being.” In our spiritual journey on earth, we as followers of Christ, still face physical, psychological, and spiritual challenges and trials, just like everyone else. This is because we are still flesh and blood, and oftentimes our spirit is willing, but our flesh is weak. Our mortal bodies waste away day by day and none of us is immune to disease, sickness, and aging.
Also, the Bible tells us that the heart is deceitful above all things, and therefore Christians still sin, often grievously as our conscience can be dulled, sometimes even by head knowledge, preventing the work of the Holy Spirit. Sin is indeed one major cause of sickness. Because we are a spiritual whole, our body, our mind, and our soul affect each other, and we can all suffer from physical, mental, and spiritual illnesses stemming from any negative aspect of our whole being. Moreover, lest we forget, Satan is like a roaring lion ready to attack us when we are vulnerable, or when we let our guards down, telling us that “we can be like God…” We are therefore ultimately in a spiritual battle.
Furthermore, we do not preach a health and wealth gospel, and we are not in the charismatic tradition, but we do believe God answers prayers and God heals. In other words, we do not believe that by trying to be a “good” Christian we will automatically be blessed by the Spirit with health and wealth, as if we can earn them by doing good. We also are not in the charismatic tradition where the belief is that by our own efforts we can earnestly seek and get the special gifts of the Holy Spirit which includes physical and emotional health. However, we do believe that God is the healer and in Christ and His substitutionary atonement and redemption, we are healed according to His perfect will. What that means is we are healed by Christ through His sacrificial death. Because He died in our place, we are saved. His saving grace may include temporally saving us from illness according to God’s will and timing, but we are definitely and ultimately saved to have eternal lives, to be with God in heaven.
As an Alliance Church we also believe (and should put in practice more) in prayer, fasting and the anointing with oil as taught in chapter 5 of the book of James. Oil in the Old Testament have medicinal value. Kings, prophets and priests are also anointed signifying the authority and blessings of God. The important thing to note is that ultimately healing comes from God. May the Lord bless us all with His total health and healing.
Your servant in Christ,
Rev. Dr. Simon Lee,
Senior Pastor