Decoding the Debate of Faith vs. Works and Recovered vs. Never Recovered.
Receive the Word and be a Doer, not Just a Hearer.
21 Therefore, ridding yourselves of all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls. 22 But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not just hearers who deceive themselves.
The real issue of all of this is an argument about how much of what is said in the Bible you have to do and why. Some of the questioning of “why” is a distraction when the answer can so easily be because the creator of the universe said to.
In the argument based on faith versus works, the central idea is that since what you do is entirely not why or how you get “saved,” why bother? The answer can so simply be, “Even if it is not how you get saved, God has told you to do it, and it is probably not a good practice to simply ignore what God says either before or after you are saved.” I would assume that if you are “saved” and have been given the extra ability to obey through the Holy Spirit, the expectation of obedience would be higher and not lower.
Receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls. But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not just hearers who deceive themselves.
Whether a person ever recovered or should a person never say one has recovered is not an argument about believing in God. It is about how different people define the word and if that definition means the addiction can ever come back again as scripture clearly states it can and will.
Now, it is time to look at what Jesus has to say about these particular arguments directly and how he approached the ideas in these two arguments in practice. In other words, it’s time to take the W.W.J.D. approach. What would Jesus do?
Recovery and the Sick Man Healed By Jesus
5 Now a man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. 6 Jesus, upon seeing this man lying there and knowing that he had already been in that condition for a long time, *said to him, “Do you want to get well?” 7 The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I am coming, another steps down before me.” 8 Jesus *said to him, “Get up, pick up your pallet and walk.” 9 Immediately the man became well, and picked up his pallet and began to walk.
Now it was a Sabbath on that day.
So this is a man who had been sick for thirty-eight years. It says that immediately, the man was well. Was he made “well?” It says he was.
That means he had recovered from his sickness. If Jesus sets you free, you are free indeed.
But what happens next?
14 Afterward, Jesus *found him in the temple and said to him, “Behold, you have become well; do not sin anymore, so that nothing worse happens to you.”
That is an intriguing thing for Jesus to say right after giving the man recovery from his sickness: “Behold, you have become well; do not sin anymore, so that nothing worse happens to you.”
You have become well; do not sin anymore, so that nothing worse happens to you
If Jesus freed him from his sickness, he would be the freest he would ever be. On the other hand, there was no “might” or “possibly” in Jesus’ statement. He told him bluntly that something worse would happen to him if he sinned more.
Let’s go to one more story from Jesus:
Recovery and the Possessed Man Delivered by Jesus
22 Then a demon-possessed man who was blind and unable to speak was brought to Jesus, and He healed him so that the man who was unable to speak talked and could see. 23 And all the crowds were amazed and were saying, “This man cannot be the Son of David, can he?”
So, this man was so plagued by evil that he is described here as “demon-possessed”; on top of that, he was blind and could not speak. Again, Jesus set somebody free, and that person fully recovered.
A few verses later, Jesus has this to say about casting evil spirits out of people:
43 “Now when the unclean spirit comes out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and does not find it. 44 Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came’; and when it comes, it finds it unoccupied, swept, and put in order. 45 Then it goes and brings along with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they come in and live there; and the last condition of that person becomes worse than the first. That is the way it will also be with this evil generation.”
Did you catch that “the last condition of that person becomes worse than the first” part? That states that if Jesus himself casts evil out of a person, it will come back at some point, and if that person is still the same, that person will end up worse off than if he had been just left alone with the demon in the first place.
Once again, this argument is one of semantics. People are in these intense arguments over what words to use and inadvertently changing the meaning of the terms. Forget the word “recovered” and whether you should use it.
The fact stated in these two stories from the mouth of Jesus is that even if Jesus, in person, sets you free from something rooted in evil, it will come back if you are not changed. If Jesus freed you from addiction in person, he would probably end with words like “Go and sin no more.” He would probably explain, as he did for this man, that if you do, you will end up in a worse state than if he had never delivered you in the first place.
When Jesus himself casts evil out of a person, it will come back at some point, and if that person is still the same, that person will end up worse off than if he had been just left alone with the demon in the first place.
That is where the facts live. It doesn’t matter if you don’t even have a word for it; that is the truth. If a person recovers from a broken bone, that bone is not usually physically stronger, and the person is not now invincible because they are healed from this one injury.
If I broke my leg and the bone heals, I shouldn’t smash it with a sledgehammer because it is now “recovered.” Recovered and invincible are not synonymous, even though many think they are. That is precisely why the original Twelve Step folks came up with the idea that we are not really recovered. The statement is misleading, so they decided it was best not to use it. It was never a statement against God’s power and was never even in the realm of that discussion.
Recovered and invincible are not synonymous, even though many think they are.
Both of these arguments are genuinely just distractions from apparent facts. For example, I don’t care if we say we are “recovered” or “never recovered.” The truth is, I will never be in a place where whatever evil I am free of will not return to try to entrap me until I die. That goes double if I ignore the words of Jesus to “go and sin no more.”
I also need to believe in my heart and confess with my mouth to have salvation. That salvation will empower me to have the will and strength to try to obey God, and that will be a struggle as I go to sin no more after Jesus sets me free.
Those are facts, and what I call it does not matter. That is how Jesus himself said it works: PERIOD!
Refuse Foolish and Ignorant Speculations, be Saved by Faith to Be Obedient and Useful to God.
21 Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from these things, he will be an implement for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work. 22 Now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. 23 But refuse foolish and ignorant speculations, knowing that they produce quarrels.
Please refuse to be bogged down in these ridiculous arguments. They are the foolish and ignorant speculations that only produce quarrels and send everyone involved into deceptions.
You will only find yourself saved from eternal damnation by believing in your heart and confessing with your mouth. You are saved by faith alone. You will then have the power and the desire to obey. Then, as you see in this verse, you will have to “flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace.” You are then told you must refuse distracting arguments like these.
You are saved by faith alone. You will then have the power and the desire to obey.
You will have to obey and be changed to be different. If you are not changed, you are the same. If you are “saved,” you now have access to new and greater divinely sent power to change, but you will still have to change. Remember, here are saved people who are addicts and alcoholics. They have access to the ability to stop, but it remains unused. It does not matter what one calls it.
Do I say recovered? Rarely will I use that term, but I do sometimes. I don’t prefer it because it is a misleading concept. It gives the idea that I think it can never come back, which I know is a lie. But, if it is a stumbling block for someone, I am not opposed to it because I was delivered just as the two men Jesus healed were.
If I use it, I would express it as being in the same way that the men Jesus healed were recovered. The sickness was gone entirely, but at the same time, it will be a struggle that comes back, and I have to live every day wholly committed to obedience to God to keep it from coming back.
Even when the sickness is gone entirely, it will be a struggle that comes back, and I have to live every day wholly committed to obedience to God to not end up sicker than before.
Is this saying that I am saved by “works?” NO! That “saved” (as in from eternal damnation) is only by believing in my heart and confessing with my mouth. That “saved” gave me the power and the desire to be committed to God in obedience in a way that will allow me to stay sober.
That “saved” by faith gave me the power and the desire to be committed to God in obedience in a way that will allow me to stay sober.
See to it that your relationship with Him is right and great events will come to pass for you and countless others. This is the Great Fact for us.
Alcoholics Anonymous pg. 164