Are We Healed or Forgiven?

My puzzle today is are we healed or forgiven?

One guy who is an apologist against faith who gave up faith  said he was hurting and in church he got healed and so was a Christian. Later, when he got healthy, he left the faith and opposed its teaching. Ugh.

First, let me say that faith is precious. May we guard our hearts with truth.

Now, to generalize from this great debate in youtube may not be fair,  but I was reminded.

In a modern church, we go to church and sing worship songs and hear a good sermon, maybe chat with some friends and go home.

Also, we may do a lot of work to help people in church be healthy. Both of these are good. We need to be both healed and forgiven.

Healed or Forgiven? Forgiven Needs Repentance

However, a key step toward God is repentance. Jesus made the ceremony of communion to bring us back to the Cross where we can know repentance and endless love. Then we can be forgiven.

Our position is one of being a sinner cared for by a loving God.   God is not afraid of us complaining. He accepts us. We respond with contrition knowing we are both deeply loved and deeply in need of repentance. We are small children before him. Let’s enjoy our place.

Our life with God should not lead to me being more and more mature and thinking I do not need him. It seems pretty doubtful to me to stand above God, and say you did this wrong.

I am not big enough to stand above an all knowing God and say with my limited understanding that God does not understand or has failed somehow. Somedays, I feel that way, but must come back to humility. Often, I need 10 years to say I now understand. God has so much more perspective strength than I do.

Repentance is me coming back to being created and knowing I am failing a loving Heavenly Father as well as people around me. The church is not a hospital where hurt people get healed and sent home, though we do get healed.

It is a place where children learn about our heavenly family culture and spread its light, so others may be adopted in like us. Repentance is the path in…and further and further in.