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Healed at Last






Healed at Last: Separating Biblical Truth from Myth by Scott Blackwell

How do we understand miracles in the Bible and today?  Are miracles evidence of a strong faith or is the lack of miracles evidence of the lack of it?  All these questions are swirling around the Christian church and yet, we need solid biblical answers to these questions.  In Healed at Last, Scott Blackwell examines these issues with an eye toward the Bible and sound practice.  No stranger to illness (meningitis) and a sever limp even today, Scott is not one for easy answers or practical appeal, he seeks truth. 

For Scott, the discussion on healing with begins with two corollary truths: God is good, his truth is in Scripture and life is hard (or in other words, we live in a fallen and sinful world).  The second truth is the hardest to swallow for many Christians who err on the side of seeing miracles everywhere.  Blackwell explains this as “life as it is really is (26).”  Yet, this does not make life an easier.  Most Christians believe they have been short changed by the blessings of God and have had their share of personal suffering and anguish.  There is no easy answer as Scott points out, but Christ’s promises to be with us and guide us are no less true when we go through great turmoil. 

In chapter 3, pursuing a sign, Scott gets into the nitty gritty details of those who look at miracles in a me-centered way.  The attraction of the position is found in the first two points that Scott mentions, namely that ‘Miracles are evidence of the presence of the Spirit of Christ and that miracles are evidence that Christ conquered the world (57).’  Yet, the fourth point is the contentious one that states, “The absence of miracles is evidence of personal (spiritual) failture (58).”  In other words, the lack of miracles is a sure sign that you don’t have enough faith and that you are exhibiting sin in some way.  If someone is not free from cancer, this is due to their individual sin.  This kind of thinking does not focus on the promises of God nor on what the Scriptures say about healing.   Rather, the premise is solely weighted on the individual, his faith and his sin.  It is not the absence of individual faith that is the point of this discussion on miracles, but is the lack of the lordship of Christ as the first priority that is the point (72).

Part of the reason why God heals people today is because by doing so he is teaching them to praise him rightly.  Christ decides when to answer the Christian’s prayer, at the right time, and the person’s response is to praise Him for his mighty work.  The overall value of this book is that Scott constantly points us back to Christ and to the Father’s work in the ministry of miracles. 


Thanks to Cross Focused Reviews and Matthias Media for the copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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