Can A Saved Person Go To Hell If He Commits A Sin Just Before He Dies?

By Albert Kang

In August 2023, I wrote an article about one of my church members who was afraid that if he did not fully forgive everybody just at the moment of his death, he might end up in hell. [https://wordpress.com/post/coffeeshopstoryteller.wordpress.com/1994]

In this present article, I want to add more information to help you understand better concerning this matter. For those of us who are the disciples of Christ, we know how the Lord has placed a special emphasis and importance on this topic of forgiving others. He said that if we hold onto our anger and do not forgive, it will affect our relationship with God.

Let’s say if we have bitterness in our hearts and then die, would we go to heaven or hell? Didn’t Jesus say that if we do not forgive others, then God will not forgive us too? (Matthew 6:14-15). To gain clarity on this matter, we need to grasp the THREE TYPES OF FORGIVENESS:

I. REDEMPTIVE FORGIVENESS: The Foundation of Salvation
Redemptive forgiveness is the most important forgiveness we receive when we believe in Jesus as our Lord and Savior. It’s not something we earn by doing good things, but it’s given to us because Jesus already did everything necessary for our forgiveness and redemption on the cross.

When I was pastoring in Pittsburgh, PA, an elderly man told me the reason why he would go to heaven. I thought he would say that because Jesus died for him and provided salvation for his soul. To my horror, he proclaimed that it was because he had been a good person all his life and so he felt that he deserved to go to heaven.

Let me emphasize – salvation is not earned through personal efforts or good deeds, but rather through the finished work of Christ on the cross. This forgiveness is bestowed solely based on faith in Jesus and His sacrifice.

II. RESTORATIVE FORGIVENESS: Sanctification To Transformation
Restorative forgiveness is an integral part of sanctification and occurs after salvation. When we were saved, God accepted us as who we were but He wanted something much better for our life. Our old sinful character of selfishness and self-centredness will not do. God’s desire is to transform us all into the image of His Son, Jesus Christ.

So, sanctification is not just a one-time thing that happens in our lives. It’s an ongoing process where the Holy Spirit is sent by God to help us become the people He wants us to be. When we accept Jesus as our Savior, the Holy Spirit begins working inside us and helps us recognize our sins and make positive changes. Even though we might still make mistakes, commit sins, feel angry, or behave badly, the Holy Spirit will help us realize when we’re doing something wrong and guide us to do what’s right. It’s a journey of our spiritual growth and we are becoming more like Christ, with God’s help.

While our “sins” as believers may not jeopardize our salvation, they grieve God because they hinder the transformative process intended for us. Repentance plays a crucial role in this regard. When we acknowledge our sins, turn away from them, and seek forgiveness from God, we demonstrate our commitment to living according to His will (1 John 1:9). Repentance facilitates our growth, restoration, and an increasing likeness to Jesus.

III. RELATIONAL FORGIVENESS: God’s Love Empowers Our Love
When we have a good relationship with God, our whole being is affected. It empowers us to love, forgive, serve, resolve conflicts, and model Christ’s character. As we grow closer to God, we will become better neighbors and colleagues, contributing to a more harmonious and loving community. Here’s how we can do it:

Love and Compassion: When we cultivate a close relationship with God, we experience His love and compassion firsthand. This love transforms our hearts and enables us to extend love and compassion to those around us. We become more understanding, kind, and empathetic towards others.

Forgiveness and Grace: God’s forgiveness and grace towards us inspire us to extend the same to others. As we grasp the depth of God’s forgiveness, we become more willing to forgive and extend grace to those who may have wronged us. This attitude of forgiveness fosters healthier relationships and promotes reconciliation.

Humility and Servanthood: A genuine relationship with God helps us develop humility and a servant’s heart. Instead of seeking our own interests, we learn to prioritize the needs of others. This selflessness allows us to build meaningful connections with our neighbors and colleagues, as we actively seek to serve and support them.

Conflict Resolution: God’s wisdom and guidance help us constructively navigate conflicts and disagreements. Through prayer and seeking God’s guidance, we gain insights into resolving conflicts peacefully, promoting understanding, and fostering reconciliation.

Model of Christ: When our relationship with God is strong, we strive to reflect the character of Christ in our interactions. We seek to treat others with respect, fairness, and integrity, following the example set by Jesus. This Christlike behavior cultivates trust and promotes healthy relationships with our neighbors and colleagues.

FINAL WORDS
When we accept Jesus as our personal Savior, we receive Redemptive Forgiveness and become right with God. The Holy Spirit through the sanctifying process, helps us transform and grow through Restorative Forgiveness. God’s Relational Forgiveness affects us so deeply and it will bring us to live harmoniously with our neighbors and colleagues.

In summary, as long as we have a true Born-again experience with Jesus Christ as our Savior, we have received the Redemptive Forgiveness. If anything were to happen to us last night, we can be assured that this morning, we would be worshipping our Lord Jesus in heaven.

However, since we are not going to heaven yet and there is much to be done here on earth for the kingdom of God, we still have to go through the transformative process known as Sanctification. The closer we are to the Holy Spirit, the better our relationship would become with others. God’s love influences and empowers us to love, forgive, serve, resolve conflicts, and model Christ’s character. As we grow spiritually, we become better friends, neighbors, and colleagues, contributing to a more harmonious and loving community.

Even though we are not perfect, we are living in the “perfecting” way or the way of sanctification. The Holy Spirit will continue to prompt us to live a repented and holy life, and even if we fail just at the moment before our demise we will never need to worry about what will happen after we die. The Redemptive Forgiveness of the finished work of Christ will take care of our journey to heaven.

Here is a message on YouTube by Rev Albert Kang about these three types of forgiveness and how you can live a life of forgiveness and freedom.
https://youtu.be/lFMjGKG8pkU?si=On_5eaDl_q13yx4i

What Is The Unpardonable Sin?

Albert Kang, Lead Pastor of FaithLine International Ministries

The Topic of Discussion Since Antiquity
The idea of the unpardonable sin of “blasphemy against the Holy Spirit” has been a hot topic of discussion and interpretation among Christians for centuries. It is primarily derived from the context of Jesus’ teachings in Matthew 12:31-32. Jesus said, “Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.”

This statement of Jesus was made to the Pharisees who attributed the healing miracles of Jesus to be from demonic forces rather than that of the Holy Spirit.

What about today? What if you have slandered the Holy Spirit? Would you have committed the unpardonable sin? This article explores the nature of the unpardonable sin committed by the Jewish leaders and provides hope for those who fear they have committed a sin beyond forgiveness.

The Unpardonable Sin of the Jewish Leaders:
The Jewish leaders of Jesus’ day had a unique opportunity to recognize Jesus as the Messiah sent by God. They witnessed His wonderful works and heard His teachings, fulfilling prophecies and confirming His divine mission. However, instead of embracing the truth, they chose to attribute His power to Satan, willfully disregarding the work of the Holy Spirit. In their defiant rejection of the Light of the World, they committed the unpardonable sin.

Why Is There Forgiveness If One Speaks Against the Son of Man?
The reason Jesus distinguished between speaking against the Son of Man (referring to Himself) and speaking against the Holy Spirit was that the Holy Spirit is the One who testifies to the truth and convicts people of sin, righteousness, and judgment (John 16:8). By rejecting the Holy Spirit, the Pharisees were closing themselves off to the very means of conviction and guidance that could lead them to repentance and forgiveness.

The Uniqueness of the Unpardonable Sin:
It is important to note that the unpardonable sin committed by the Jewish leaders was specific to their historical context. Jesus Christ is not physically present on earth today, performing miracles that people can witness firsthand and then attribute to Satan. Therefore, duplicating the exact circumstances of the unpardonable sin is impossible.
Some years ago, Grace and I were ministering in a church that was divided in their acceptance of supernatural healing. One group was absolutely sold out on the idea that healing miracles are still here while another group believed that healing miracles have ceased.
One elder of the cessationist persuasion was deaf in one ear. After the service, I was encouraged by some other elders who believed in divine healing to minister healing to that elder’s deaf ear. That cessationist elder, though reluctant, allowed me to command healing for his deaf ear to be open. Immediately, by the grace of God, hearing returned to him. Everybody was excited that he could hear because they tested him. He closed his good ear and could hear clearly with his formerly deaf ear. We were happy that God healed this elder and left the Church, fully satisfied that the cessationist elder would become a believer that the healing miracles of the Lord are still active in modern times.
However, after some weeks, we met up with one leader of that Church and he told us that the healed elder had rejected his healing as from the Holy Spirit. Instead of acknowledging the divine origin of his healing, he dismissed it as a psychosomatic phenomenon. Then, within a couple of weeks, he was happy that his deafness returned to that healed ear. He had consciously denied the Holy Spirit’s role in that extraordinary manifestation, refusing to recognize the divine source of healing. However, even if he was to say that his healing miracle was from the devil, he would NOT be committing the unpardonable sin. He was not accusing Jesus of being possessed by the evil spirits and neither did he reject Jesus as his Savior. What he did was, like most cessationists, reject all healing miracles out of ignorance.

The Unpardonable Sin Today:
The only unpardonable sin in the present age is that of continued unbelief. Salvation is found exclusively in Jesus Christ and rejecting Him as the Savior leaves one with no means of salvation. God has provided for our redemption through His Son, Jesus Christ. Forgiveness is only found in Him. Therefore, the unpardonable sin today is dying in a state of unbelief, without accepting Jesus as the Savior.

Meet Sarah, who grew up in a Christian household but gradually drifted away from her faith. Over time, she felt the Spirit tugging at her heart, urging her to return to God and embrace His love and grace. However, Sarah consistently ignored these promptings, convinced that the Gospel did not apply to her or that God was not speaking to her through Scripture. By continuously rejecting the Spirit’s call and denying her need for salvation, Sarah is caught in the trap of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, hindering her access to forgiveness and redemption. Therefore, we understand that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is a persistent, willful rejection of the Spirit’s call to repentance and acceptance of Christ as Savior.

The Hope of Forgiveness:
Many individuals fear that they have committed a sin beyond the reach of God’s forgiveness. The enemy, Satan, seeks to perpetuate this misconception and discourage people from seeking reconciliation with God. However, the Bible offers encouragement and assurance for those burdened by guilt.

Have You Committed The Unpardonable Sin?
If you are still concerned about having committed the sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, it may be helpful to consider a few biblical principles:

1. The conviction of the Holy Spirit: The Holy Spirit convicts people of sin, righteousness, and judgment (John 16:8). If you are still sensitive to the conviction of the Holy Spirit and have a desire to seek forgiveness and draw closer to God, it is a positive indication that you have not committed the unpardonable sin.
   
2. Repentance and forgiveness: The Bible consistently teaches that God is merciful and forgiving to those who genuinely repent and turn to Him in faith. 1 John 1:9 assures us that “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” God’s desire is for people to turn to Him, seek forgiveness, and find restoration.
   
3. Relationship with Jesus: The primary focus of the New Testament is on the person and work of Jesus Christ. The unpardonable sin is directly related to rejecting Him as the Savior and attributing His works to Satan. If you have a personal relationship with Jesus, have placed your faith in Him for salvation, and continue to follow Him, you have not committed the sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.

Take-Home Idea
The unpardonable sin committed by the Jewish leaders of Jesus’ day was a deliberate rejection of the truth and a purposeful slandering of the Holy Spirit. However, the circumstances surrounding this sin are unique to that specific historical context. Today, the only unpardonable sin is the continued rejection of Jesus Christ as the Savior, dying in a state of unbelief.

If you find yourself weighed down by guilt, rest assured that you have not committed the unpardonable sin. God is loving and merciful, and He awaits your return with open arms. Jesus Christ, our Savior, has the power to save completely those who come to God through Him. Trust in God’s salvation and find strength and defense in Him. There is hope and forgiveness for all who turn to Him.

Let us take comfort in the fact that God’s forgiveness is abundant and available to all who come to Him in faith. There is no sin too great for His grace. If you feel burdened by guilt, know that God is ready to receive you, forgive you, and offer you salvation through Jesus Christ. Trust in His promise of complete redemption and find strength in His unfailing love.

Why Do You Drink Poison And Expect Your Enemy To Die?

In the teaching of the New Testament, believers and bitterness are contradictory to each other. It’s like fire and water. They just cannot mix. A true believer cannot harbor bitterness in his or her heart. Paul the Apostle encourages every believer to “get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior.” (Ephesians 4:31 NLT).

Jesus emphasized that “forgiveness” is part of the basic character of a true believer.
Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?”
Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.”
Matthew 18:21-22

The rabbis of antiquity recommended the “three-strikes-and-you-are-out” approach in forgiving. A person is required to tolerate and pardon three offenses of his opponent. However, after that, he is allowed to retaliate or take revenge.

Peter was more magnanimous than the rabbis because he recommended forgiving the offender seven times. Jesus blew the concept of three and seven pardons out of the water with His “forgiveness” standard raised to “seventy times seven”. Jesus did not mean that we should only forgive 490 times. His answer to Peter set the biblical standard: as believers, as long as the person repents, you have to forgive that person. If he offended you again and again and repented, again and again, you will have to forgive Him. Yes, countless times. The apostles who were listening with Peter finally exclaimed to Jesus in full recognition of their weaknesses, “Increase our faith!” (Luke 17:3-5).

However, you may say that it is easy to say but the feeling of unforgiveness and bitterness is difficult to overcome. It is especially difficult when you have been hurt by those whom you least expected to do so. As time extends, such unresolved anger gradually turns into full-blown hatred and bitterness.

Many believers are stuck in this rut of bitterness and feel totally helpless in overcoming it. The worse thing for them to realize is that the people who hurt them do not even seem to care how they feel. In their deep anger, the devil is having a wonderful time manipulating them. He suggests many ideas of malice and revenge. And that is why bitterness and hatred inevitably become the sin of murder.

Some secretly wish that bad things will happen to the offender such as dying a gruesome death. Others curse these offenders under their breath. The more religious ones pray imprecatory prayers of judgment upon their adversaries even though the teaching in the New Testament does not encourage that. Instead, the Apostle Paul exhorts believers saying, “Bless those who persecute you; bless and curse not” (Romans 12:14).

If you can identify with these struggles, here are some helpful steps to help prevent you from poisoning yourself.

TELLING THE TRUE STORY TO JESUS
Stop and consider telling the most accurate story only to Jesus and yourself. Why? Because for too long now, you have created a story for others so as to justify your inner struggle, hurt, and pain. You also provide the reason why it is impossible to forgive the person or persons who hurt you.

Like a good detective, you may have to search through years of scattered memories and historical rubbles to determine the facts of the situations that caused you to retaliate in anger and hatred.

Is it what the person said or did, or is it being made to look ridiculous that offended you?

When I was around seven years old, I was “made a fool” by an uncle at one of our family gatherings. It was actually nothing – this uncle mimicked my childish voice when I addressed him. All my cousins laughed and I felt thoroughly embarrassed. Ever since that incident, I had a dislike for this uncle. It did not amount to hatred but at any family functions, I avoided him at all costs. It was not until I was 40 years old that I realized that it was that particular hurt that caused me to “dislike” this uncle. Thank God for revealing that to me. How did I resolve it?

The best approach to such a negative encounter is to confess, repent and hand the hurt feeling to the Lord in the Handing-over Prayer. That was what I did and I reconciled with this uncle socially and in my heart.

STOP TELLING YOUR STORY TO EVERYONE
One of the hurting people’s weaknesses is the desire to tell their negative stories to just about anyone. You can tell your story to a counselor or pastor so that you may receive helpful counsel and advice. However, if you repeatedly share your negative story with everybody you are keeping that painful memory alive.

When you prayed and surrendered that hurt to Jesus, He had begun the healing process in you. As you keep trusting and handing the struggle to Him, soon that inner wound will be healed.

Repeating your negative story is like digging into your old wound and making it all bloody again. Then Satan will control your life because he strives in conflict and pain. Unknowingly to you, the devil has shackled you with the chains of victimhood.

CHECK YOUR EXPECTATIONS
Another reason for the inner hurt may be that you have unrealistic expectations. Even though it is common for everyone to have certain unrealistic expectations, that does not mean that it is healthy.

An elderly missionary who returned alone to the USA from the mission field of Africa wanted to be treated with great honor and respect. However, the denomination did not really accord him the level of honor that he expected and according to his son, this missionary died an angry and bitter man.

A close relative had an adversarial marital relationship because she expected her husband to be able to read her mind and anticipate everything that she needed. She associated his inability to discern her needs as he did not love her enough. She was perpetually hurt despite the assurance from her husband.

Another friend expected her family members to respond in certain ways and when they did not, she was furious. For her entire life, the sad and often angry memories of her “uncaring” family members were repeated in endless narratives to others.

Unrealistic expectations are damaging because they are too complicated for any ordinary relationship to be established. These expectations are destined for failure. No amount of unforgiveness and bitterness will change your situation. By paying attention to why every unrealistic expectation ends up in failure or quarrel, we may become wiser and better at dealing with such disappointments.

TIME TO HAND OVER YOUR BURDENS

Jesus said in Matthew 11:28-29: “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”
The Lord is definitely sympathetic to your hurts and brokenness. You can come to Him with your tale of sorrow, and He will not scorn you. You can cry upon His shoulders, and He will not push you away. In the deep silence, you will hear His voice of comfort and liberty. He will gently untangle your throbbing affliction and His peace will calm that stormy discrepancy.

Every hurting memory does not need to own or control you. Every flood of pain does not need to drown you. When all these come and they will come, all you need to do is to acknowledge each feeling of hurt and pain. Don’t fight it. Just acknowledge it, receive it, and then give it a shape and color in your mind.

For example, someone falsely accused me of something and I was hurt. The inner hurt continued to fester as long as I avoided it. When I took responsibility to acknowledge it. I gently received it and gave it the shape of a square and the color was green. Then what did I do with that angry feeling that had a shape and color? I gently handed it over to the Lord.

You may be wondering whether that painful thought ever come back and the answer is that it kept coming back. And I kept up with the same handing-over process. Then, one day, it just didn’t come back with that emotional baggage anymore. I recalled all the words of the false accusation, but they no longer carried that emotion of hurt, anger, and pain in them. I no longer disliked the person who said it. I was able to honestly pray for him and even fellowship with him without any hesitation in my spirit.

Jesus is not only most willing to give you rest but He assures that you will surely find rest in Him. When you trust Him with all your struggles, you will receive your spiritual refreshment. A strong dose of inner nourishment and deep peace will flow within when you hand every ugly thought and painful memory to Him.

As you hand over all to the Lord, you may want to enter into His service and bask in the light of His teaching. The first “rest” is while serving Him, you’ll find your purpose of being, and the second “rest” is found in His life-giving Word. You’ll discover daily purification from the filth of the world. Both are necessary for your spiritual refreshment and growth. And both these can only be found in Christ and Christ alone. May you refuse to poison your life and surrender everything to the Lord.

Here is the playlist of a compilation of Handing-over Prayer videos for you to listen to and share with others.
Playlist of Handing-over Prayer

Is Unforgiveness Blocking Your Healing?

Since 2005, I have ministered healing successfully to more than 10,000 people and I praise God that they have been gloriously healed. However, I notice another large group of people, even though they have great faith to be healed but still do not receive their healing miracles.

There may be various reasons why they are not healed but after having counseled and checked many cases, I traced the discrepancy to one huge, ugly obstacle and that it is unforgiveness. This confirmed what I have learned from the Bible and also from my mentor, Pastor William Lau, the founder of The Elijah Challenge. The unconfessed sins of bitterness, hatred, and unresolved anger are actually hindering God’s blessings and healing miracles.

In a few of the deliverance encounters, demons left upon my command but returned quickly to the victims. I call this the “Swinging-Door Syndrome“. Unforgiveness somehow gives the demons the legal ground to enter the victim again. (Matthew 12:43-45).

Our Lord Jesus knew the danger of unforgiveness and how it would hurt us – and so He gave this admonition, “if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive the wrongs you have done.” (Matthews 6:15).

In Matthew 9, we read the narrative of a paralyzed man lowered from the roof so that Jesus could heal him. Before Jesus healed him, He first forgave the sins of the paralyzed man. The paralysis was obviously caused by the man’s sins and therefore that needed to be dealt with.

In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus taught His disciples to pray, “Forgive us the wrongs we have done, as we forgive the wrongs that others have done to us.” (Matthews 6:12)

Peter was trying to place a limit to forgiveness when he asked, “Lord, if my brother keeps on sinning against me, how many times do I have to forgive him? Seven times?” ‘No, not seven times,’ answered Jesus, ‘but seventy times seven” (Matthew 18:21-22). In short, Jesus was teaching that in the kingdom of God, we should always forgive each other. There is no limit to forgiveness.

Paul emphasized, “You must forgive one another just as the Lord has forgiven you.” (Colossians 3:13).

A forgiven person should be the first to recognize the need to forgive others. The chances why it is difficult for most believers to forgive is because they have forgotten that they are forgiven people. When believers fail to accept the truth of their own forgiveness, they continue to live with a sense of guilt and self-condemnation. The hurts caused by the offenses that have been taken away by the Lord at the cross, continue to be upon them. This perpetually generates unlimited guilt and shame upon their lives.

There is no freedom of Christ for those who have allowed themselves to be shackled and imprisoned by their own harsh judgmental attitude. People who are under judgment will always judge others. When you shackle yourself to the notion of “justice” and that you must get even with those people who hurt you or despitefully use you, you lose your freedom within your spirit. You no longer can be gracious or operate from the zone of grace.

The truth of the kingdom is that the people who recognize themselves to be under grace, find the source of strength to always be gracious to others. Once you realize that you are no longer under judgment but have been fully forgiven by the grace of God, you are liberated and become free. Suddenly, you’ll notice that the door of your self-imposed prison of judgment has never been locked. The grace of God has smashed every lock of judgement and condemnation. You do not need to remain in this dreadful dungeon anymore but step out into the sunshine of grace and forgiveness. Now you will have the grace and freedom to forgive others seventy times seven times.

Here are some declarations that you present before the Lord and be set free from the shackle of unforgiveness:

In the mighty name of Jesus, I nullify the power of these past offenses that have been keeping me in mental anguish, emotional shackles and spiritual bondage.

I surrender to the Lord any right to judge so-and-so for saying bad things about me or doing harm to me.

I write off any responsibility, debt, liability, or obligation that the person owes me because of past offenses.

By the power of the Holy Spirit, I forgive all who have offended me and release them unto the Lord.

I humbly submit to the Lord and ask Him for courage, grace and strength to relate with the person without regard to past offenses.

I am asking and will continue to ask God’s blessings to be upon their well-beings.

Here is a video on Radical Forgiveness! Trust that it will help you. God bless!

Part 1 – Why Some Are Healed And Others Are Not?

The common question in our healing ministry is why are some people healed after we commanded healing and why are some not healed? For example, one deaf man was healed of his deafness while another deaf person next to him was not healed. I had used the same authority of Jesus and the same command approach recommended by The Elijah Challenge. To the first deaf man, it was an amazing miracle. He was able to hear clearly after more than ten years of deafness, but for the second deaf man, it was a great disappointment. Why did God heal one and not the other?

SEEKING FOR THE ANSWER
When I was an itinerant preacher, it was exciting to command healing for a large congregation. People were healed and a long line of them queued night after night on stage to testify of God’s healing miracles. However, now, as a pastor, even though I rejoice with many who have been healed in our church, I have to explain to those members who do not receive their healing miracles or even improve in their health condition.

We know that ultimately, it is the sovereignty of God that is the basis of all healing miracles. We may command healing accordingly, but the miracles come from Jesus. And even those who are not healed, God, in one way or another, ministered to them.

For example, for about ten years, I suffered from chronic pain caused by ankylosing spondylitis. During every attack, the presence of the Lord was there to comfort me. The benefit was the intense presence and love of God right there in my room. Amidst the pain and tears, He told me to wait for that miracle.

In 2005, Pastor William Lau, the founder of Elijah Challenge had commanded healing for me. I did feel better but the back pain was still lingering. Then in 2007, I received my complete healing miracle. One day, I woke up with no pain at all. Nobody laid hands on me, there was no evidence of someone praying for me… it was just the mercy of God at work in my body.

At some level, the people who are not healed, have received a touch or an answer from the Lord. But, though this is true, the patients who are still suffering from diseases, are not satisfied with just this blessing. They want to be healed – they want their healing miracles.

In this and the next few articles, I hope to explain why some people do not receive their healing miracles. My fundamental belief is that God wants to heal us physically, emotionally, and spiritually. In short, He wants His people to be holistic in their health. That is the reason why Jesus is coming back again. This is still an imperfect world and Jesus will bring us the perfect world…where there will be no more diseases and death.

In this article, I like to share the first most important reason why some people are not receiving their healing miracles.

Sins and Offences
People who conceal their sins will not prosper, but if they confess and turn from them, they will receive mercy. (Proverb 28:13 NLT)

In a healing service held in a small Malaysian church, among the ten people who came out for healing, one woman was not healed. All nine received their healing miracles and there was much joy among the congregation except for that woman.

At that time, I was still new to the healing ministry, and I was curious why only that woman was not healed. After the service, I caught up with her and interviewed her. In the process, this woman confessed that she had harbored bitterness against her pastor’s wife. I led her into confession and repentance of her bitterness. While she was confessing and repenting, her arthritic knees were miraculously healed. She felt the pain and tension depart from those knees. She stood up and walked to test her healed knees. I told her to try climbing the staircase and she did. This woman came back beaming with joy because she was not only healed but relieved of that terrible bitterness. It seemed that the devil had used her unhappiness and misunderstanding against her pastor’s wife to bind her physically.

Divine healing is an act of God’s grace and mercy. Therefore, if a person is in the kingdom of God, she has to move with this grace and mercy within. Forgiveness and graciousness are an integral part of a believer’s lifestyle.

FORGIVENESS IS AN ACT OF MERCY
You will remember that at one time, the Apostle Peter asked Jesus, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?” And our Lord answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy times seven.” (Matthew 18:21-22 BLB). Of course, Jesus did not mean that we should stop forgiving after 490 times or even 77 times – He meant that there should be no limits to our forgiveness.

Then Jesus went on to emphasize this important principle of forgiveness through the parable of the unmerciful servant (Matthew 18:23-35). The parable was about a king who had canceled the debt of ten thousand bags of gold that the servant owed him. However, when the servant went out and met one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded. The fellow servant begged for mercy, but this forgiven servant refused to forgive the debt. Instead, he threw the servant into prison until the poor man could pay the debt.

What did the king do when he heard about this? He called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ In anger, the king handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. Then Jesus concluded by saying, “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.” (Matthew 18:35 NIV).

Now after all these years of healing ministry, I realize that it is unreasonable to expect the healing miracles of God to come upon a person who is willfully holding unto unforgiveness. Divine healing is an act of mercy and it does not seem to work upon a child of God who is not merciful. As long as he wants to hold onto grudges of the offense done by others upon him, he is creating a barrier to his own healing miracle. King David had so wisely said, “If I had not confessed the sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.” (Psalm 66:18 NLT).

HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT YOU HAVE TRULY FORGIVEN?
1. When you think about the person, do you still think about the hurt that he had caused you? If so, you have not really forgiven. You may say you did, but this little indication reveals the deep struggle inside.

2. Are you still hoping that God will teach the person a lesson for hurting you? If so, the sense of revenge is still keeping you in bondage. There may be consequences from God upon that person but your heart still wants to hurt the person.

3. Would you be willing to help the person if he or she asked for help? I believe you know your answer.

Forgiveness is a choice that you make to release yourself from the bondage of bitterness, hatred, unresolved anger, and grudges. Medical science has revealed that all these negative emotions will build up toxins in your body and also cause you stress. And that is how bitter people are usually very unhealthy. In my encounter with some of these people, I find many of them have restlessness, insomnia, constant migraine headaches, and even developed ulcers in the stomach. Now, I am not saying that all such infirmities are the result of bitterness. Some have other reasons and only their doctors will be able to tell them.

When you are bitter, angry, and resentful towards someone, you are giving him the power to control your healing miracles. Only by forgiveness, you will be able to take that power back. I trust that you will be wise to make the right choice and be healed in the mighty name of Jesus.

In the next few articles, I will share what other ways are preventing people from receiving their healing miracles. Keep track of this blog by subscribing to it.

Here is a video about how to receive healing in the mighty name of Jesus. Be sure to give thanks to God for your healing and testify of His goodness to others.

What Makes The Demons Come Back Again?

A woman desperately wanted to place a curse upon her ex-husband. She had been to different bomohs and witch doctors but somehow, their black magic were not effective. Through some friends, she learned that she could cause real harm to her ex by getting the supernatural power herself. She was recommended to a Thai temple in Bangkok and so with a friend, she flew there. They found the Wat (Thai word for temple) and without hesitation, this hurting woman agreed to perform in a very unique power-endowment ritual. She was to strip and allow the monks to wrap her naked body with a large yellow blanket-like talisman that had many demonic curses written upon it. In that hour-long ceremony, the monks summoned evil spirits to respond to her request and the result was that she, herself, became possessed by evil spirits.

The Result Of Playing With Fire
When this woman returned home, instead of having the supernatural ability to harm her ex, her own life was thrown into a tailspin. She was seeing apparitions, hearing strange sounds and experiencing deep depression. She realized that she was in big trouble and sought for help. One of her friends, who had just become a Christian, brought her to the Church. Later, she repented of her sins, renounced the devil and accepted Jesus as her Savior. But devil was not going to give her up so easily. She manifested and during the deliverance sessions, some demons left. However, her inner struggle with unresolved anger and bitterness towards her ex continued to be the magnet that drew the demons back into her life.

Every time, she had the evil thought and felt the deep anger against her ex, it was as though, she had placed Jesus outside the door, while she partied with the demons inside. There was definitely no Holy Spirit to serve as the Strong Man in her life. Her confession and repentance were only superficial at best. It took many months of counseling, confessing, repenting, renouncing and forgiving before she could be set free. In our experience with such deliverance, the unresolved anger and bitterness are the toughest doors to close. We can cast out the spirits but soon they would return to the victim. We thus called this the type of deliverance the “swinging-door” syndrome.

The Swinging Door of Unresolved Anger and Bitterness
From case to case, we are 100% certain that the “swinging door” of spiritual attack is revolving around unresolved anger and bitterness. When you lack self-control and allow such anger to overwhelm you, the devil will sneak in through the back door and fan the flame of hostility. The devil will instigate you to inflict harm on someone else by falsely accusing them or even uttering a curse against them. Such unrestrained dislike will lead to hatred and bitterness that subsequently will lead to physical violence. The hatred can become so intensified that the person may seek demonic power, just like the woman that I mentioned above, and move you down the dark alley of the occults.

When To Stop Casting Out Demons
There was a very difficult deliverance case, no matter how many times, we cast the demons out, in a short while, it returned back into the victim. In one of our Elijah Challenge training seminars, this woman suddenly created a commotion at the back of the sanctuary. She was singing and praising God loudly. The ushers could not stop her and so Grace rushed to handle the situation. With a few volunteers, she led this woman into the prayer room. By the time the training was over, Grace and the volunteers were still casting out the demons from this woman. When I went in to help, I realized that there was only one persistent demon left. When we took authority over it, the demon was literally weeping and begging. It pleaded for us not to cast it out as it had no place to go. We insisted that it had to leave that woman and it was agreeable. It screamed, “I will go! I will go!” When the demon left and we could see that the tension in the woman was gone and her face showed total relief.

As we prepared to leave the prayer room, suddenly the woman manifested again. It was the same demon who claimed that it had no place to go and so it came “home”. We cast it out, asked the woman to invite the Holy Spirit into her life, but in a short while, the evil spirit came back again. We did that several times and every time it was able to come back. We decided to stop the deliverance session and went into counseling.

We began to question the woman, looking for a reason why there was a swinging-door syndrome. The woman said that she hated her mother and that she would never forgive her. The reason was that her mother had rejected her when she was being conceived and had wanted to abort her. She said that after the abortion failed and she was born, her mother just hated her. In fact, now that she had a daughter of her own, her mother would often talk to the grandchild but would not talk to her. Her heart was wounded with disappointments and hurts. She hated her mother for all the deep emotional injuries that she had experienced while growing up. She hated her mother more for showing preferences to the granddaughter but did not even bother to communicate with her.

It was a big mess of emotional hurts and spiritual bondage. We could not convince this woman to hand all her grievances to the Lord and forgive her mother. She was adamant that it would be wrong for her to forgive that evil mother. To cut the story short, we had to go because she was unwilling to take the first step of forgiveness. When we left her, her whole being was still wrapped in the shackles of hatred, firmly held on by the evil spirit. It was a sad case, the key of hatred and bitterness had given the demon a free access into that person’s life. We have not heard from her pastor whether she was finally set free or not.

Here are some simple steps to prevent evil spirits from dominating your life.

1. Live a repented life – Repentance is changing your mind about your former way of life and turning around to accept the forgiveness of sins offered by Jesus on the cross. By doing that, you have been justified and fully saved. Living a repented life is to continue in the direction of the way of Christ by denying self and taking up your cross daily (Luke 9:23). A life of repentance is not a life of doubt but the tangible expression of the forgiveness of the Lord in your daily walk. It is also a call for your spirit to be aware of your self-centred weakness to follow after your own will and abandon the will of God. A repented life solves tons of life issues that centred around self and pride. And that also solves the bitterness and anger issues.

2. Surrender Your Compulsive Behavior – You know that you have a problem with demonic influence when you are having sudden urges of hostility and rage, strong desire for illicit sex and any forms of sexual perversion, uncontrollable craving to talk dirty, curse, gossip or blaspheme, consume defiled things such as drugs, alcohol and various types of harmful substances. To prevent further intrusion of this demonic influence, you need to refer back to the first point and that is to repent. And to live a repented life by learning how to hand over every assault upon your spiritual life to the Lord. You can learn how to do Handing-Over Prayer every day.

3. Stay away from the occult – Going to fortune-tellers, mediums, bomohs and spiritualists is a sure way to suffer demonic attack. It is just as dangerous dabbling with feng-shui, horoscope, astrology, tarot cards, yoga, qi gong, transcendental meditation, New Age etc. We have cast out demons out of a “Christian” who was obsessed with horoscope. One good guideline for Christians is that if you encountered any so-called spirituality that is not rooted in the Holy Spirit and God’s Word, then you know that you have to avoid them because they are from the demonic world.

VICTORIOUS LIFE IS YOURS – You can live a victorious life if you are willing to learn from Jesus who came as the Son of Man. The writer of Hebrews states in Chapter 4 and verse 15, “For we do not have a High Priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have One who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet He did not sin.” You have the same Holy Spirit, who was then working with Jesus, in you right now. He will empower you to overcome. Moreover, He is that “Strong Man” in your life. Trust that this message will be helpful to you when it comes to resisting temptations.

Here is a short 8-minute video on how to hand over everything to the Lord.
https://youtu.be/0id08_E_-30