Page 55 - Reading Job to Know God

what is called “progressive sanctification”. Peter
received much but it took over 30 years of walking with
the Lord for him to be able to write his epistle on
suffering and it’s value. He had to be rebuked by Paul for
hypocrisy long after his mighty experience on the day of
Pentecost. God can be glorified by our sickness and by
our healing. Only He knows which is the better way.

We tend to confuse the natural and the spiritual and
forget what the Lord Jesus spoke to the woman at the
well. She tried to show off her spiritual credentials
based on her honored ancestors well. John 4:21-23
“Jesus said to her, ‘Believe me, woman, the time is coming
when you will worship the Father neither on this
mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans do not
know what you are worshiping ; we Jews do know
what we are worshiping; for salvation comes from the
Jews. But a time is coming- indeed, it is already here –
when the real worshipers will worship the Father in
spirit and reality, for the Father is looking for just such
worshipers.’ ”
Now, is there an element of truth in the phrase, “healing is in the
atonement”? . The answer is yes, there is an element of truth. The fact is,
if it was all a lie it would not stand up at all. Nobody would believe it.
Error has to borrow from truth in order to support itself. Error cannot
stand on its own two feet. It needs some truth to stabilize it. But the
element of truth in this statement, “healing is in the atonement”, is this.
Healing is based on the atonement; it is not in the atonement. What we
mean by that is, every good thing God has ever done is because of the
precious blood of Jesus Christ. Everything, is established on the
atonement. Every good and perfect gift that God gives is because of the
cross. I just wanted to point out that this error, “suffering is because of
sin”, is still very much with us.
But don’t worry because the arguments that these men produced before
Job did not bear any convincing weight with him. Job was not blind, and
he gives two reasons for rejecting that whole philosophy. The first reason
is in chapter 21 starting at verse 7
“Why do the wicked still live, continue on, also become very
powerful? Their descendants are established with them in their
sight, and their offspring before their eyes, their houses are safe
from fear, and the rod of God is not on them. His ox mates without
55