Healing and Consecration

James 5:14-15 talks about calling for the elders to anoint you with oil in the name of the Lord.  Why oil?  Oil in Scripture is a symbol of consecration.  Men were anointed with it to be set apart for certain tasks.  The king was anointed with oil.  The priests were anointed with oil.  It symbolized holiness – in other words, being set apart for God.

It is a mockery of God to be anointed with oil for healing while deliberately retaining sin in your life and not caring about it.  If you want to continue doing something that you know is sin and you don’t care about it or want help to escape it, save the elders some time and don’t call for them.  If you’re going to live an unconsecrated life on purpose, the oil that symbolizes consecration doesn’t mean much in your case.

The Corinthians were living proof (and sometimes dead proof) that living an unconsecrated life can mean living a short or sick life.  Their problem was not lack of faith but lack of consecration.  You can know all the right Scriptures and still get sick and die if you’re not consecrated.  The Corinthians “came behind in no gift,” which indicates that the gifts of healings and working of miracles were operating at Corinth.  Yet these people did not receive healing or miracles in their own bodies.  I wonder how many people got offended and were “turned off” to healing because of them.

I have to assume for the sake of teaching in most of this book that you are a serious Christian whose life is sold out to Jesus Christ and who desires to glorify God on the earth.  I can’t put little footnotes for you to click after every other sentence that says, “This may not work for you if you are living an unconsecrated life and ignoring God completely.”  However, you may assume that such footnotes are implicit throughout this book.  If you aren’t serious about your walk with God, get serious now.  Otherwise, if you get healed, it’s God’s mercy in action, but you still need to reform.

I am not saying that everyone who fails to receive healing is unconsecrated.  Lack of proper instruction and understanding of healing is a far more common cause.  Also, all of us have areas in our lives where God is dealing with us about our motives, actions, and attitudes.  You don’t have to be perfect to get healed, but you need to be serious about your walk with Jesus Christ or you will trouble receiving anything.  It’s hard to resist God in one area of your life while expecting Him to move in another area.  It’s hard to tell God “Come!” in regard to healing while simultaneously saying “Go away!” in regard to a sin issue.  It’s also more of a case of what direction you’re moving in as opposed to where you are in your Christian walk right now.  A person who was born again yesterday and determined to live for God is in a better place to receive healing than an “old fogey” Christian who has camped out on his blessings, gotten lukewarm and stopped striving to grow in God.

Unfortunately, SOME modern teaching has devolved into a worldly “It’s all about YOU!” mindset.  The messages are about what Christ has done for you, but not about what He expects from you. They’re big on receiving what’s yours, but small on consecration and commitment.  And so people who are taught like that proceed to live selfish, unconsecrated, uncommitted Christian lives, to their own hurt.  Don’t buy into the cafeteria-style thinking, “I only read the Scriptures that I happen to like.”  You need ALL of the Word of God to really grow up, not just the verses that promise you things or tell you what blessings you have in Christ.