More than fifty five years ago on the bed of sickness as a young denominational boy reading Grandma's Bible, the more I read the Word, the more I learned. I realized that I had never heard the full gospel, just part of it. The fullness of the gospel hadn't been taught in my church. But the more I read the Bible, the more I realized that I didn't have to die. The more I read God's Word, the more I realized that I could be healed. Of course, the devil was right there trying to tell me that healing had been done away with. I had been taught that God would heal if He wanted to. But saying that God could heal, but that He might not want to is an even bigger insult than saying He couldn't heal. Both of them are lies. I read the Word concerning healing. But the devil was right there to try to oppose me. The devil brought to my remembrance all the doubt and unbelief I'd ever heard. He brought to my remembrance all that I'd been taught on the subject of healing. Something that helped me immeasurably was that even though people had told me that healing had been done away with, I couldn't ever remember hearing that faith had been done away with. I'd never heard that.
As I studied the Word of God, I saw that faith had not been done away with. For example, the text in Acts chapter 14 says that the man at Lystra had faith to be healed. And in Mark 5:34, concerning the woman with the issue of blood, Jesus said, "... Daughter, THY FAITH hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague." Therefore, the Bible clearly shows that faith has not been done away with. The man at Lystra had faith to be healed, and concerning the woman with the issue of blood, it was her faith that made her whole. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. Notice in Mark 5:34 that Jesus didn't say that His power or His faith had made the woman whole. Jesus said to the woman, "... THY FAITH hath made thee whole. .." (Mark 5:34).
When I saw this, I knew that if her faith made her whole, then my faith could make me whole too! And, thank God, it did. My faith tapped into the power of God and I was made whole! My paralysis disappeared and my heart condition was healed. Since then I've been going at a hop, skip, and a jump, and I have been preaching the truth of the gospel, including healing, ever since.
Let's look more closely at the man at Lystra who had faith to be healed. How did he get that faith? From what he heard. What did he hear? He heard the Word of God. Is there something about hearing the gospel that would cause a life-long cripple to be healed? Decidedly, yes. Emphatically, yes! Healing Is a Part of the Gospel Paul preached the gospel of salvation which includes healing. The Bible simply calls it the gospel. How do we know he did? Look at Romans 1:16.
ROMANS 1:16
16 For I am not ashamed of THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST: for it is the power of God unto SALVATION to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
The footnote in the Scofield Bible says, "The Hebrew and Greek words for salvation imply the ideas of deliverance, safety, preservation, healing, and soundness." I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ! It is the power of God unto deliverance, safety, preservation, healing, and soundness. Paul preached the full gospel, not just part of it. We also know that healing was a part of the gospel that was preached because other scriptures indicate it as well.
