Hope, Healing & Freedom Podcast: Episode 145
TRANSCRIPT
Entitlement says I have a right to certain things, and I should not have to work for them. We are living at a time in which entitlement has almost become the norm. Many people live with the unjustified assumption that they have a right to certain advantages or preferential treatment. And unfortunately, this mindset has even crept into the church. “Because I am a Christian, God should bless me no matter what I do” has become a normal belief. In today’s podcast I want to gently dispel this entitlement mindset by showing how Jesus dealt with people in His day.
I’m Lee Whitman with Restoring the Foundations and I welcome you into this Hope Healing and Freedom podcast. Today’s verse is John 5:6 which says, “Do you want to get well?” Jesus was obviously brilliant in the way He dealt with people. He often asked the people an obvious question. In John 5, there is the story of the paralyzed man lying by the pool of Bethesda. The man had been lying there for 38 years trying to be the first to get into the pool after the waters stirred. It was believed that if you were the first into the pool after the angel stirred the water, you would be healed. For 38 years he tried and failed to be the first into the water. Jesus approached this man and asked him an obvious question: Do you want to get well? The answer should be obvious, right? Why would Jesus ask such an obvious question to this paralyzed man? In this podcast I want to show how Jesus is looking for our buy in. He is not into entitlement that says we have a right to certain advantages or preferential treatment. Most times when Jesus performed a miracle, He asked the person a question to get their buy in. There was an action, sometimes only verbally, to show that they were involved in their own miracle.
Let me begin by looking at salvation as an example of needing a buy in. When Jesus went to the cross and died for our sins, He died for the sins of all of mankind. Yet not all of mankind have become children of God. There is an action that must take place in order for them to enter into this relationship with Jesus and Father God. John 1:12 says “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.” The word “receive” is a very active word. It is not to just give a mental ascent or agreement. It means to take what is one’s own, to take to one’s self, to make one’s own, to take to one’s self, lay hold upon, take possession of, i.e. to appropriate to one’s self, to catch, reach after, strive to obtain. Do you hear the action in that word? The word receive is a very active word, we might even say an aggressive word. It means to actively take to one’s self. We live in the age that everyone gets a participation trophy. That is not the way it is with salvation. We must reach out and grab ahold, to take salvation into ourselves. To reach out and receive in an aggressive manner the gift that is given us. The same is true with receiving in a biblical sense. Entitlement says that what Jesus did on the cross is ours because we agree with the fact that Jesus died on the cross. Just believing that Jesus died on the cross is not enough. The demons believe that Jesus died on the cross. Now we must go the next step and aggressively take to ourselves what Jesus did for us on the cross. The verse goes on to use the words to “Believe in His name.” The word believe here means to have confidence in or be persuaded of something, to have unwavering faith. These are very active words. I have heard people say that they believe in Jesus yet there is nothing in their lifestyle that proves that out. When we truly receive and believe in Jesus as savior, our lives are changed.
Another famous verse that has an action on our part built into it is 1 John 1:9. It says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” This is one of the many verses in the bible that is written as an If…Then statement. Our action is to confess our sins. If we confess, then Jesus responds to our action. Our forgiveness and cleansing is dependant on our actions. Once again, I am confronting this entitlement mindset that says because we are now under grace God is going to forgive me no matter what I do. Or the false belief that because I asked for forgiveness once, then all of my sins for now and forever more are also forgiven. I don’t need to confess my sins once I accept Jesus. He is automatically going to forgive me. The verse right before this verse says, if we say we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.” God requires an action on our part. We must confess our sin, and He is more than ready to forgive us and cleanse us.
Another place we see that Jesus required an action on someone’s part before He healed then was the woman with the issue of blood. There was a woman who was bleeding for 12 years. In that culture that would have made her an unclean outcast. She had tried everything in order to be healed, but none of the doctors could help her and she was out of options. She heard of Jesus and believed that if she could just touch the hem of his robe, she would be healed. Jesus was on his way to another assignment and was passing through a very crowded street. I believe that God the Father must have told Jesus to go on this crowded road at this particular time of day because Jesus only did what His Father told Him to do. Did Father God know that this woman was trying to get to Jesus? I am sure He did and that is why He told Jesus to take this particular street that day. Could Father God have told Jesus to stop and meet this woman to heal her face to face? I am sure He could have but He didn’t. Instead, Father had Jesus keep walking in the midst of this crowd. And the only way for this woman to reach Jesus, was for he to crawl on her hands and knees through the crowd. Why would He make the woman crawl on her hands and knees through the crowd to simply touch Jesus’ robe? I think it took this action on her part in order for the miracle to take place. Jesus often requires an action or a response on our part. This is a great story. A helpless and hopeless woman was healed that day because she put her faith into action.
There is another story in Matthew 9:27-34 in which Jesus required an action before the healing. “When Jesus departed from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out and saying, “Son of David, have mercy on us!” And when He had come into the house, the blind men came to Him. And Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to Him, “Yes, Lord.” Then He touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith let it be to you.”And their eyes were opened.” Notice that Jesus requires an action on the blind men’s part. “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” Their answer confirmed their faith and Jesus healed them. Jesus was way ahead of His time. He was confronting an entitlement mentality that says I deserve to be healed, or I should not have to do anything in order to be healed. It is not about earning your healing, but it is about putting your faith into action by what you do.
There is another wonderful example of this in Mark 10:46-52. It is the story of Bartimaeus. Bartimaeus was a blind beggar who would sit by the road and beg. When he found out that Jesus was going to walk past him, he cried out in a loud voice “Son of David, have mercy on me.” Jesus heard him and told his disciple to bring Bartimaeus to Him. Jesus could tell that this man was blind, but He asked him none the less, “What do you want Me to do for you?” His need was obvious so why did Jesus ask him what he wanted Jesus to do for him. I believe that Jesus was looking for this man’s buy in. If you don’t like the phrase buy in, Jesus was looking for his faith. He was looking for an action on Bartimaeus part that put his faith into action. It is the same thing with us. Jesus knows what we need before we even ask Him, but He wants us to bring our needs to Him none the less. He wants our action by asking Him. Could Jesus heal us of our sickness and disease without us going to an elder of the church to ask for prayer? Of course He could, but He wants us to put our faith into action and go to the elders and receive prayer.
There are some in the body of Christ who say that everything was done at the cross and there is nothing more we need to do. I believe that goes against what we have just seen about the way that Jesus dealt with people in the bible. People had to respond to Jesus’ invitation then and I believe they need to respond to Jesus’ invitation now. One of the places where this idea of it all being done at the cross comes up is when we minister to generational curses. We have had some say to us that Jesus death on the cross stopped all of the generational curses. If we take that argument and apply it to our sin, then 1 John 1:9 is nullified. We don’t need to confess our sin because all of our sin was paid for at the cross. Yet the bible tells us that we need to confess our sin in order to apply what Jesus did for us on the cross. What we do by confessing our sin is we are applying, or said another way appropriating what Jesus did on the cross. Entitlement would say that we don’t need to do anything since Jesus paid for all of our sins on the cross. And it is true that He did pay for all of our sins, what we must do by confessing is apply what has already been purchased. There is an action on our part that is needed.
In order to eliminate the generational curses inherited from your ancestors, there is another one of those If…Then verses. Leviticus 26:40- 42 says “‘But if they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers, with their unfaithfulness in which they were unfaithful to Me, and that they also have walked contrary to Me, and that I also have walked contrary to them and have brought them into the land of their enemies; if their uncircumcised hearts are humbled, and they accept their guilt— then I will remember My covenant with Jacob, and My covenant with Isaac and My covenant with Abraham I will remember; I will remember the land.” There is an action required. If we confess our sin AND the iniquity of our fathers, then God will remember His covenant and remove that sin from our generational line. It was done at the cross, but we must apply it to our lives. There is an action required. We must apply or appropriate what Jesus has done on the cross to these generational sins and curses. Entitlement would say that it was a package deal when we accepted Jesus as our savior. That, however, is not the case. It is like salvation; the price was paid for all of mankind to be saved. Each person must receive, reach out and take hold of what Jesus did on the cross and apply it to their life. The same is true with these generational sins and curses. We must apply what Jesus has already done on the cross to these sins and curses in order for them to be cut off. Doing this is not difficult, it just requires an action on our part. Wait a minute, that is exactly how Jesus has been doing it for centuries. He makes an offer which requires a response on our part.
Please don’t sit back and assume that it was all done at the cross and because you are a child of God then there is nothing you must do to receive it. The price was completely paid for at the cross, but you must apply what Jesus did on the cross to your life. You have to reach out with your faith and take hold of Jesus offer. It requires an action or a response from each of us.
PRAYER
Father God I am so thankful that You provided a way for us to be set free from anything that hinders us or holds us back from Your best. Please help us to see what action or response is necessary for us to experience that freedom. Would you give us the discernment to know what is Your truth and what is entitlement theology. Amen
If you need help breaking free from those things that hinder or hold you in bondage, please reach out to an RTF minister in your area. Freedom is too important to make the wrong assumption and miss out. Go to our website at restoringthefoundations.org and click on the Get Ministry tab at the top. There you will find a directory of our highly trained RTF ministers in your area.
