It’s all on deposit. Everything you need that pertains to life and godliness is already available to you. God has already made provision and given to you all that you need. Look what it says here in 2 Peter 1:1-3 in the New Living Translation.
1 This letter is from Simon Peter, a slave and apostle of Jesus Christ. I am writing to you who share the same precious faith we have. This faith was given to you because of the justice and fairness of Jesus Christ, our God and Savior. 2 May God give you more and more grace and peace as you grow in your knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord. 3 By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know Him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.
It’s all on deposit in your account. Just go and get it. What’s on deposit? Everything. Salvation, healing, power, forgiveness, authority, peace, favor, comfort, grace, love and mercy.
Ephesians 2:7-9
7 That in the ages to come He might shew the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 not of works, lest any man should boast.
Saved by grace through faith, because of his exceeding riches and kindness. Faith is not the initiative. Grace is the initiative. We simply respond by faith. Remember, grace has it all, faith just goes and gets it.
You didn’t get saved by faith. You didn’t get saved by grace. You got saved by grace through faith. You see, grace is the initiative. Faith responds to that initiative. It’s the same thing with forgiveness of sins. It’s not your faith that caused your sins to be forgiven and it’s not faith that brings forgiveness every time you sin. It’s was God’s grace by sending Jesus to the cross. Now faith responds to that.
1 John 2:12 says “I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven you for his name’s sake." Forgiven is the greek word aphiemi (a fee a mee). It means to send away, to expire, let go, disregard, to give up and keep no longer.
Look at Ephesians 1:7 “In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
Sins = paraptoma or transgressions or trespasses.
Ephesians 4:32 reads “Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also HAS forgiven you”.
What point am I trying to make? That the blood shed at calvary’s cross provided total and final forgiveness and healing. Religious/legalists will tell you God won’t forgive you until you forgive and they’ll use one scripture. Matt 6:14,15. Here it is.
14 For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.
Transgressions or trespasses = paraptoma. Remember Ephesians 1:7? Sin is the same word, paraptoma. So do we have a contradiction? NO!!!
This in Matthew, is Jesus talking to the Jews, before the cross. It was the law. Ephesians 1:7; Ephesians 4:32 and 1 John 2:12 are after the cross. It’s grace.
Another parable the religious crowd likes to use to keep you in fear and bondage is in Matthew 18, starting in verse 21. Watch for the teaching “Unforgiving Servant” for the truth surrounding that parable told by Jesus. Again, it’s rightly dividing the word of truth to make sure it’s in the proper context. Who is talking? Who is that person’s audience? What is the dispensation of time – before or after calvary. Is the law or is grace in place?
In this great dispensation of grace, after calvary and the resurrection, we don’t forgive others so that we can be forgiven. We forgive others because we are forgiven. We don’t fight for our healing. We fight for the manifestation of the healing we already have.
In other words, the finished work at the cross provided everything in the atonement. Not just salvation, but total and forever forgiveness of sin, healing, provision, strength, power, and authority. All of it was provided. That means it’s on deposit in your account. Here’s the good news. It never runs out. So, just like your bank. When you need money. That’s on deposit. You just go and make a withdrawal. You don’t ask if it’s okay. You don’t beg if you can have what is yours. You just go get it.
It’s the same with forgiveness of sin. It’s on deposit. You just go and make a withdrawal when you need it. For instance, you make a mistake, scream at your wife, cuss at the kids or stupid drivers. Whatever it might be. You don’t beg God to forgive you. You don’t ask God if He’ll forgive you. You just make a withdrawal from the total forgiveness in your account by simply thanking Him for what He’s already provided. Then simply seek for more grace in that area of your life.
Okay. Healing works the same way. Look at Luke 5:17-26. Now that you’ve read that, let me ask the same question Jesus asked in vs. 23. “Is it easier to say ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or ‘Stand up and walk’?”
The answer. Neither is easier. Both took the exact same sacrifice to pay for both. So, we approach healing the same way we approach forgiveness of sins. It’s on deposit in our account and we simply go and make a withdrawal for what we need at any given time. We don’t beg God to heal. We don’t even ask God to heal, we simply go and put a demand on what is due and make a withdrawal. It’s that simple.
Now whoever studies this teaching will come to a wrong conclusion about what was just said in the paragraph above. I did not say "name it and claim it". We don't walk up to God, kick him in the shins and say "Gimme, gimme, gimme, my name is Jimmy, Jimmy, Jimmy". I said we simply put a demand on what is due. I will explain this truth further in part 2, but for now don't miss the truth that's it's already on deposit, available, and waiting for us to make the withdrawals.
The problem is that the majority of believers approach their healing as if they are applying for a loan. They’re not sure whether they’ll get it or not. I’m telling you that everything you need that pertains to life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3) is on deposit in your account. Just go and get it. I do agree that this healing thing can appear to be difficult to grasp, but that's because we just don't know enough about the totality of our conversion and what took place at the cross.
I'll end with this. "Until we comprehend and understand the finality of the cross, we will never be able to fully experience the power of His resurrection." In the meantime, we will need to give up our right to understand. So what do we do? We take a truth and wrap faith around it, seek for a deeper revelation of that truth until we have an experience, and then that experience will bring understanding.
As a man, I will never understand what it is like to have a baby, because I will never have that experience. Experiencing something brings understanding. There's an old saying that says never debate a person who has had an experience by giving that person your opinion. The person with the experience will win everytime.
Don't miss part 2 where we will explain clearly the truth behind putting a demand on what is due. Grace and Peace.
Comments