Is Healing In The Atonement? (Part 3)

In this third and final article on healing and the atonement I want to to conclude with the passage in 2 Peter 24-25 as Peter references the passage used previously in Isaiah 53, typically used as the text for the purpose of Jesus coming to earth to save humanity from sin. This now is the third article on healing, so if you have not read parts 1 and 2, please do so before reading this final one, as they are built on each other. 

Paul states in the book of Philippians that our bodies will be healed completely when we go to be with the Lord, not before. Remember this, everyone still dies in this life and that happens because the body breaks down. Also because we live in a broken and fallen world. Even if a person is healed because of the body’s innate ability to self-heal, or we utilize medicine, or God gives us a special miracle of healing, we all die until Christ returns.

Philippians 3:20-21

For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.

It is theologically misleading to say that Jesus bore our sickness in the same way he bore our sins. I believe it is misleading to teach people that healing is in the atonement because it cheapens the very purpose of Christ going to the cross, which was to be a “RANSOM” for our sin. The idea of ransom in the Greek is “To Loosen,” or set free. Jesus came to set us free from sin and shame. That was his high calling, not physical healing.

Matthew 20:28

Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.

The second major reference to Isaiah’s prophecy is found in 1 Peter 2. But upon closer examination of 1 Peter 2:24 it becomes apparent that the “Healing” which Peter is referring to is “Spiritual Healing“, that is, it is salvation from sin. This becomes even more apparent when we read the verse 25. Peter talks about sheep going astray, referring to the idea that Jesus said “His Sheep” hear his voice, meaning his disciples hear his voice. Peter is talking about people who have wandered off from God through temptation and sin, but are now returning because of Jesus.

1 Peter 2:24-25

He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

If we believe that healing is in the Atonement, then we have to ask why most sick people are not healed? The Assemblies of God denomination teaches that “Healing does not fail because of the will of God, but because of the unbelief of his children.” In other words, all the weight of whether or not healing happens is laid on the shoulders of sick people, not on God’s will. This seems very cruel and unjust. God does move when our faith is elevated, but even in Jesus’ case he said there are different reasons why and when people are healed: from it being God’s will, as well as people having great faith and even the faith of people who pray for the sick. God never makes healing totally dependent on a believer’s faith, but rather on the will of God. There were many in the early church in whom the power of the Holy Spirit was evident, but were not healed and, in fact, died in their faith. The book of Hebrews talks about this.

I can remember in the early 70s being in Kathryn Kuhlman healing meetings in Los Angles and she would teach “The only thing in existence that can limit the power of the Lord Jesus Christ is our unbelief.” In the meeting I attended of 5,000 only a handful of people would be healed, yet many people in wheelchairs and with crutches left more discouraged than when they came. I rejoiced with those who got healed, but my heart broke for those who were blamed for not having enough faith. We all know the teaching of Jesus that states we should ask, seek and knock and the door of our prayers will be answered. We all have done just that: asking, seeking and knocking, yet it seems God felt it was wise not to grant our request because he is God and we are not. He sees what we can’t comprehend and does what is best, even when we pray in faith. Remember the story of Lazarus and his sisters desiring his healing by Jesus, but Jesus let him die. God was about a better work than just healing his sickness. He wanted to raise the dead. To be clear, I am grateful for people who have been given a healing gift. However, people with what I call a “Big Gift” tend to think that gift entitles them to interpret scripture, and they often go over board in certain areas, like healing.

The apostle John, when he was 95 years old, commixed his desire for the people he was writing to in the book of 3 John. He prayed that they would be in good health. Why? Because John knew that the will of God is the deciding factor, but he also knew his prayer mattered to God. God wants us to pray, but we should realize as God is the provider he sees what is best for us even when we pray in faith.

3 John 2-3

Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers. For I was very glad when brethren came and testified to your truth, that is, how you are walking in truth.

Paul wrote to the Corinthian church that the Holy Spirit imparts certain gifts to people. We all do not have the same gifts. Healing is one of these gifts. If healing was in the atonement, why would we need individual people who have this gift? The atonement covers all of us. We need the gift of healing because we don’t automatically get healed when we get saved, and not everyone can handle the responsibility and pressure of such a gift.

1 Corinthians 12:9

Gifts of the Spirit – To another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit,

In the Old Testament God revealed himself to the children of Israel as the God who heals them. One of his names is defined at the one who heals. If we embrace God as our healer, we, like the Israelites, can solicit him to heal us. But, the spiritual gift of healing is not automatic. It must be personally pursued.

God revealed himself to the Israelites in Exodus 15:26. He said, I’m Jehovah Rapha, the God who heals you. And the Psalmist wrote “Bless the Lord O my soul, let me not forget any of your benefits who forgives all your iniquities.” And what did he say in the next sentence? “Who heals all your diseases?”

When you work your way through the New Testament there are many promises for healing. But, in scripture James asks the whole church, “Is any among you sick?” Well what should he do? Let him call for the elders of the church and let them anoint him with oil and so forth. And the prayer of faith will restore the one who is sick. And if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him. We often overlook the instruction of the Lord for our healing, and so we are not healed because we don’t go to the elders, or the elders are not walking in their gifts as God requires.

James 5:14-15 tells us that we can be healed by the prayer of our elders (church leaders) when sickness is because of sin. God heals through prayer.

The current concept that is being taought actually states that Christians should never be sick, because there is healing in the atonement. They teach that if you just confess that you are healed, as if by some magical incantation the healing happens. They have missed the fact that all of the apostles are dead. That is a problem because death is eventually caused by sickness and disease – even heart failure is a disease. Even automobile accidents are a result of sin. Some day all believers will live in heaven, and never be sick or die again, but that is not now!

Let me close this article with a few statements so you don’t think I am against healing. Nothing could be further from the truth. First, I believe as God healed in the Old Testament, he heals today. I believe that if people pray, many will get healed. I believe God is still in charge of what prayers he will answer or not, and that includes praying for the sick. When I pray for people I ask the Holy Spirit to guide my prayer so that I can pray in faith and according to the will of God. I have prayed for people and they have gotten healed. I have prayed for people and they did not get healed, at least not by my one prayer. I have known people around the world who have prayed for healing of great men and women of God, and they still didn’t get healed. We are not in charge of telling God what to do, but rather telling God our hope and desires and leaving the answer up to him as he knows best.

Questions:

1) Have you been discouraged because you have not been healed, even though you were told it was in the atonement just like your sin? That teaching is misguided at best, and false at worst. We can be healed if we and others pray for us, but we must rest in the character of God to lead us in our seeking healing. God may lead us to find the right doctor or get the right medicine. Let the Holy Spirit lead you to how to get healed, and follow his direction

2) Have you been healed by God in the past? Share your stories with everyone who will listen so we all can rejoice with you, but also so we can discover the means of our own healing as we grow in Christ.

Learning to be humble enough to know God is the answer in all things,

Pastor Dale