HEALING

The Whole Gospel

The gospel is the good news of God’s salvation from the power of evil, the establishment of His eternal kingdom and His final victory over everything which defies his purpose.  In his love, God purposed to do this before the world began and brought into being His wonderful plan over sin, death and judgment through the sufferings, death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.  It is Christ who makes us free (John 8:31-36) and the healing and deliverance ministry is a hugely important and significant part of God’s plan for the complete salvation and restoration of those who make the freewill choice to be born again by the work of Holy Spirit (John 3:1-17).

The Human Condition

1.As a leadership team, we are committed to preaching and teaching the whole gospel, that is, the biblical gospel in all its fullness.  In order to do so, we need to understand why human beings need it.

2 .Men and women have an intrinsic dignity and worth, because we were created in God’s likeness to know, love, obey and serve him.  But now, through sin, every part of their beings has been defiled, damaged and distorted, resulting in many different types of problems and dysfunction in all areas of life.  Human beings have become self-centred and self-serving people, who do not love God, or their neighbour, as they should.  In consequence, they have become separated both from their Creator and from the rest of his creation.  This is the basic cause of the  pain, heartache, disorientation and loneliness which so many people suffer today.

3. There are many areas of practical day to day living where human beings (including Christians, of course!) experience various problems or difficulties.  These include spiritual, relational, emotional, mental health, sexual and sexuality issues, addictions, physical illnesses, diseases, syndromes, infirmities, etc.

Healing and Wholeness

1. God’s plan is for all people to have the opportunity to receive the full benefits of the whole gospel.  The whole gospel provides for release, healing, deliverance, restoration and wholeness in all areas of life, so that His plan becomes a practical reality in our lives.

2. The Bible makes it clear that every person is made up of three parts – a human spirit, a soul (mind, will and emotions) and a physical body (1 Thessalonians 5:23).  Because the spirit, soul and body of a person are integral to each other it is evident that, for example, a problem in the area of a person’s emotions may also manifest in some way in their body as an illness or disease.  Therefore, we seek to minister to the whole person.  An important part of this, with Holy Spirit’s guidance, is to get to the root of the problem(s).

3. 1 Thessalonians 5:23 says, “May God Himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through.  May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” It is clear from this that God wants to bring all who will submit to Him to a place of inner peace and tranquillity.  The phrase “through and through” indicates that God wants His children to be thoroughly, not partially, healed (Jeremiah 8:11 KJV).  The word “blameless” carries with it the thought of a person being without fault or defect in every part of their being.

4. In recent times, Holy Spirit has drawn together a leadership team at The Way each of whom has a strong desire to see God’s people set free to live lives that are fulfilling and fruitful (Galatians 5:22-23)and glorifying to God.  We recognise that God is the Healer (Exodus 15:26) and that we are simply channels through whom God chooses to work.

5. Those who currently make up the leadership team at The Way have been helped, blessed, changed for the better, healed, delivered and restored through the work and ministry of a number of different, but all Bible-based, Christian ministries.  In addition, some members of the team have received formal training through one or more of the following ministries:

Ministries of Francis Frangipane (Website http://www.frangipane.org)

Bethel Sozo (Website https://www.bethelsozo.org.uk)

Ellel Ministries (Website https://ellel.org/uk)

Ichthus Christian Fellowship (Website https://ichthus.org.uk)

6. In our view, healing and deliverance are ministered not simply to enable a person to go away thankful that God has blessed them.  We also believe strongly that, as well as having the right “final destination” (heaven), a significant part of Father God’s blessing is to enable us to walk into all the good things that He has prepared for us to enjoy in this life – sometimes called “our destiny”.

7. We recognise that Christian ministry, of the kind we practice, is not always a quick fix – although sometimes it is!  It is necessary for the person seeking healing to exercise self-discipline in their daily walk with the Lord, to “walk out” their healing in very practical ways.  Patience, and a determination to be well, is necessary for those seeking healing.  The ultimate objective of this ministry is more than healing alone – it is restoration, wholeness and well-being.  This changes a person’s life into what God always intended it to be – a state of Godly order.

David Restall