Episode 9: Reemergence of the Gnostic Heresy: Physical Healing, Sex, and Gender

Summary

In today's episode of “Between Heaven and Earth,” hosted by Justin and Amy, they explore the crucial yet challenging subject of physical healing within Christian faith, especially as practiced and understood in Western evangelical contexts. The hosts aim to provide listeners with a deeper vision of physical healing, moving beyond mere theoretical acceptance to functional, faith-driven practice that aligns with Jesus’ example. The discussion emphasizes that physical healing was a priority in Jesus’ life and ministry, and thus it should be for believers today. However, many Christians struggle to fully embrace supernatural healing due to intellectualism, theological misunderstandings, and cultural influences like Gnosticism—a worldview that devalues the material and physical in favor of the spiritual, often leading to complex issues around gender and the body.

The podcast critiques the prevalent Western Christian tendency to emphasize intellectual knowledge over experiential obedience and faith, which can hinder the practice of healing ministries. It also challenges cessationist views that suggest miraculous gifts, including healing, are no longer necessary in the present age, pointing out the ongoing presence of sickness and suffering as evidence to the contrary. An important theological underpinning for healing is the incarnation of Jesus Christ, whose physical resurrection affirms the intrinsic goodness and eternal significance of the human body and physical matter.

The hosts also address Gnosticism's pervasive cultural and church influence, linking it to contemporary debates on gender and sexuality, specifically how separating “gender” from “sex” has led to confusion, brokenness, and an erosion of biblical anthropology. They argue for a balanced worldview that embraces the physical body as good and meaningful rather than evil or merely a prison for the spirit. Practical steps toward healing include renouncing lies about the body, forgiving oneself and others for past hurts, and actively engaging in prayer and community support. The episode closes with encouragement to embrace a holistic, embodied Christian spirituality that brings heaven and earth together through faith in God’s healing power.

Highlights

• ✨ Healing is a priority for Jesus and should be for His followers too.
• 🧠 Western Christianity often emphasizes intellect over obedient, faith-filled action.
• 🔥 Physical healing requires more than theoretical belief—it demands experiential faith.
• 💔 Gnosticism, which devalues the physical, deeply influences both culture and church, especially around gender and sexuality.
• 💪 True healing starts with renouncing lies about the body and embracing God’s goodness in matter.
• 🙏 Healing involves practical faith steps: forgiveness, prayer, community, and openness to the Spirit.
• 🌟 Jesus’ incarnation and resurrection affirm the eternal value of the physical body and matter.

Key Insights

• ✝️ Jesus’ Example Validates Physical Healing as Kingdom Priority: The podcast highlights how Jesus’ life and ministry, heavily marked by physical healing and deliverance, showcase God’s intention for healing as central to the kingdom. If healing mattered to Jesus, it must matter to His followers, as obedience to God means living like Jesus did. This underscores a practical, embodied faith rather than a detached intellectual assent. Many Christians intellectually affirm healing but fail to engage it functionally in the church or personal prayer life.

• 🧠 Intellectualism as a Barrier to Healing Faith: Western evangelicalism’s strong emphasis on theology, doctrine, and rational study often leads to “theoretical charismaticism,” where believers hold to charismatic doctrines but do not actively practice healing or supernatural gifts. This intellectual dominance fosters paralysis in obedience, where knowledge replaces action and interaction with God’s power. The hosts call for a balance that nurtures both sound theology and courageous faith-in-action.

• 💔 Gnosticism’s Ongoing Influence Shapes Negative Views of the Body: Gnosticism, a heresy rooted in Platonic dualism, separates spirit and matter, elevating the spiritual as “more real” and disparaging the physical as evil or meaningless. The podcast traces how this worldview infiltrates modern church culture, contributing to confusion over gender and sexuality, particularly the division between “gender” (internal, spiritual) and “sex” (physical body). This theological error fuels cultural issues such as transgender ideology and other distortions and diminishes the biblical affirmation of creation’s goodness.

• 🙌 Incarnation as the Ultimate Affirmation of Matter’s Goodness: Jesus’ historic incarnation—born fully human and bodily resurrected—definitively affirms that God cares deeply about physical matter and the body. Jesus’ resurrection body and promised resurrection for believers guarantee that matter is not irrelevant or evil but part of God’s eternal plan. This theology forms a foundational basis for Christian belief in physical healing and the ultimate restoration of all creation.

• 🦋 Practical Steps Toward Healing are Spiritual and Relational: Healing involves renouncing lies about the body (e.g., it’s useless, dangerous, or shameful), forgiving oneself and others for abuses or neglect, and embracing God’s love and healing power through prayer and community support. The hosts emphasize that healing is often a process requiring vulnerability, faith, and communal participation, including receiving prayer, laying on of hands, and anointing with oil.

• 💡 Healing is Part of Integrating Heaven and Earth: The podcast frames healing as a priestly act of bringing heaven and earth together, repairing the brokenness where God’s kingdom intersects with the present age. It urges Christians to move beyond disappointment and passivity towards hopeful, active participation in God’s restoration work, trusting in the Spirit to teach how to love what Jesus loves—including our bodies and the physical world.

Conclusion

Between Heaven and Earth offers a deeply biblically rooted and pastoral reflection on physical healing that challenges the Western church’s intellectualized Christianity and cultural compromises. It calls for renewed faith in God’s healing power, a rediscovery of the goodness of the physical body, and an embodied discipleship modeled on Jesus’ healing ministry. The podcast underscores the ongoing relevance of supernatural gifts and healing, the necessity of forgiving and correcting faulty beliefs, and the importance of living faith that unites spiritual truths with tangible reality. It challenges listeners to courageously join Jesus in His great project of healing, restoration, and bringing heaven and earth together.