By His Stripes, We Are Healed
a scriptural look at the healing teaching
One of the errors of the faith movement is in not rightly dividing the Word of God and thus not differentiating between the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of earth. There is a popular teaching in the church today that Christ, on the cross, took on all sickness and infirmities, and that by exercising faith, all believers are promised physical healing as part of the atonement.
We know that sickness entered our world with the fall of man in the Garden of Eden. We also know that sin will be a part of our world until the Kingdom of God is at hand. Scripture tells us that there will be a resurrection, and for those of us living, we will be changed -- the corruptible will become incorruptible, and the mortal, immortal. (1Corinthians 15:51-54). Incorruptibility is not for the kingdom of earth, it is for the kingdom of heaven.
I will begin with Isaiah 53, which is referred to as the "Suffering Servant" passage, and in conjunction with Psalms 22, is a critical passage in understanding the prophesies of the coming Messiah. The theme of this passage is the underlying explanation for the role of the messiah, and his purpose as the substitution for sin.
In Isaiah 53:4, the prophet writes,
"Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted."
Matthew 8:17 clearly states that this verse was fulfilled, not on the cross (and therefore part of the atonement), but before the cross -- during Jesus' earthly ministry. Therefore, this prophesy was fulfilled by Jesus, but as a separate event from the actual atonement.
The prophet continues in verse 5,
"But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.."
This is a reference, not to Jesus' earthly ministry as above, but to the actual atonement on the cross.
This prophesy tells that Jesus was wounded for our transgressions, and bruised for our iniquities, and because of his suffering, we are atoned, or healed. No where does scripture state that atonement is necessary for sickness -- we are told that atonement is the requirement for sin.
One test of an interpretation is to replace the word used with the word that it is being interpreted to mean. With that, lets take a look at Isaiah 53:8, "He was taken from prison and from judgment, And who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; For the transgressions of My people He was stricken."If we are to interpret that the atonement on the cross is said to include (or refer to) physical healing, then that equates physical infirmities with 'transgressions". Using the test of replacement, that would mean that an equal interpretation for verse 8 would include "for the physical infirmities of My people, He was stricken", saying that Christ did not die because of sin, he died because people get sick.
Just as we see where Isaiah 53:4 was fulfilled in Jesus' earthly ministry, Isaiah 53:5 is addressed in 1Peter 2:24, "who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness--by whose stripes you were healed." Again, the reference here is to salvation -- that it was our sins that we are healed from that we might live for righteousness, not our disease that we are healed from, that we might live for health. Notice also that Peter references "were healed", in the past tense, not "are healed" in an ongoing sense. Believers are healed once upon salvation. To apply the meaning of physical healing to these salvation verses, one also must ask why people aren't physically healed from all infirmities upon their salvation, and conversely, how Christians can continue getting sick after salvation.
Where "healing" can refer physical healing, it is also referenced as spiritual healing. It is clear that the emphasis of Isaiah 53 is centered on our sinful state and the promise of spiritual salvation, not our physically infirm state and the promise of physical healing. Jesus said that his blood was shed for the remission of sin (Matthew 26:28), not that it was shed so that people could be healed from illness.
Physical healings are not limited to born again Christians, nor are they guaranteed to all born again Christians. As the promise of atonement is only for born again Christians, and for all born again Christians, one would be in error to state that the atonement is tied to physical healing, as that would be the same as saying that not all born again Christians are covered under the atonement, yet some who reject Christ are.
Physical healings prior to the Kingdom of God are not based on the atoning blood on the cross, they are a sign within the power and will of God, according to his grace and his mercy.
posted with permission
http://www.bereanfaith.com/articles.php?action=article&id=22
BY HIS STRIPES I AM HEALED
Can all be healed by CONFESSING out loud God’s word and apprehend their healing by FAITH?
Isaiah 53:4: “Surely he has borne our grief’s and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.” In Matthew 8:16-17 Peter applies this to Jesus healing people while He was on earth physically present with them doing ministry, not now by the means of the Spirit. Verse 16-17 says, “When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: “He Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses.”
The Holy Spirit applies this prophecy of Isaiah as to Jesus’ earthly healing ministry and not to His atoning work of death on the cross. “He healed that it might be fulfilled.” This did not occur on the cross but before in his public ministry. The purpose was to affirm that His person and message were from God.
Mat. 8:14: “Himself took our infirmities and bear our sickness.” Just as in the Old Testament God healed people who were sick so did Jesus in His life ministry; this can’t be made to be part of the atonement as a guarantee. ( In Isa.53 the main theme is His substitution for sin).
If this Scripture points to Christ healing prior to the cross before his body was broken and his blood shed, then this Scripture is not fulfilled at the cross and cannot be part of the atonement! It does not say He died for our infirmities and diseases, but rather that He took them and bore them. This means Christ took away their sicknesses by removing them, by having compassion on the people, taking their sufferings and carrying them away before His death. So this was fulfilled. When? Before Calvary! When He was physically present before the people.
We also need to consider the word for healing is not narrowly limited in its meaning to only the physical. In Luke 4:18 Jesus came “to heal the brokenhearted” referring to the alleviating of heartaches. Also In Mt.13:15, the healing is in reference to salvation (Jn.12:40; Acts28:27)
The second part of the verse of Isaiah 53:5 reads, “But He was wounded (pierced) for our transgressions (Breaking the law), he was bruised (crushed, punished) for our iniquities (sins); the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.” This is in reference to our transgressions and sins being removed at the cross. The Bible states that without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sin, not healing for sickness. Revelation 1:5 “To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood.” “...the life of the flesh is in the blood...it is the blood that maketh atonement for the soul (Lev. 17:11)
“He was Pierced for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities” both having to do with sin. Further reading says in V.6 his suffering was for our iniquities. V.8 it was for our transgressions he was stricken. V.10 he was made an offering for our sin. So included is the stripes referring to the healing of our soul from sin. The word ‘iniquity’ is found 4 times in Isaiah 53 and is the emphasis in its discourse. In 53:5, Christ was crushed for our iniquities. v.6, the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him. V.11 He will bear our iniquities. V.12 and He Himself bore the sins of many. The primary concern in Isaiah 53 is not on its physical effects upon the body, but the spiritual healing on the eternal effects of sin. The context of Christ’s death centers on the issue of sin. Matthew, Peter and the Ethiopian eunuch understood Isaiah 53 in reference to sin.Both the books of Leviticus and Hebrews (which is a commentary on Levitical law) demonstrates that the intent of the atonement is primarily about our sin, not diseases. It has everything to do with our sin problem and the redemption needed to remove sin. As were all the sacrifices from the OT which were types of Christ. Christ’s atonement paid the penalty for our sin. Clearly the major emphasis of Isaiah 53 centers on spiritual salvation.
Do we see the apostles use this as a guarantee for their sicknesses or afflictions. Paul mentions Christ being crushed for our sins in the communion service, but he has nothing to say about healing (using phrases taken from atonement Scriptures). This verse is cited twice in the New Testament. In Romans 4:25: where the context is Jesus suffering for our sins. The Greek term `healing’ ( The Greek therapis from the Hebrew rapha) is not found in the text and the context deals with sin, not illness.
1 Peter 2:24 “who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness-- by whose stripes you were healed.” Again the context is that of healing from sin. So we see that neither New Testament reference to this verse even mentions illness. Peter applies this to the cross and the spiritual healing of sins; he says nothing about the healing of diseases in our now mortal bodies. So we see that both New Testament references to this verse do not mention illness; furthermore it is in the past tense, “ you were healed.”
When Isaiah 53:5 says we are healed. Peter refers to the stripes being on the cross (not before), and says by whose stripes you were healed, making it past tense. Showing that this event was accomplished. It is related to our spiritual healing from sin not our physical well-being. To further support this interpretation, Isaiah 53:6 speaks of us as sheep going astray. 1 Peter 2:25 also portrays us as sheep gone astray but now returning to the shepherd of our souls to be brought back into fellowship. Today Jesus heals through His death, (the atonement) and through His present ministry of intercession.
Vines Dictionary says STRIPE molops “a bruise, a wound from a stripe,” is used in 1 Pet. 2:24 (from the Sept. of Isa. 53:5), “ not referring to Christ’s scourging, but figurative of the stroke of divine judgment administered vicariously to Him on the cross. W.E. Vine explains this is “ not referring to Christ's scourging, but figurative of the stroke of divine judgment administered vicariously to Him on the cross (from the Septuagint of Isaiah 53:5, Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words and the Collected writings of W.E. Vine)
Jesus while He was physically on earth healed people physically. Because of His death His healing is applied to our sins for those who accept His sacrifice. The word “stripes” is in the singular, which probably relates to his being struck once (Moses was to strike the rock once). Jesus the rock was struck only once to cure sins, and Christ died for sins once. The stripe on the cross is related to sins, He bore our sins on the cross, not our sicknesses. While sicknesses can be caused by sin, there is no inclusion for them. Death is a disease that terminates life, just as sicknesses limit our quality of life now. Today death still occurs to non-believers and believers alike. If our sicknesses were all to be healed now, we would not die, for death is a consequence of sin.
The phrase “we were healed” in Strongs Concordance the Hebrew word is chabbuwrah- meaning bound (with stripes), i.e. a weal (or black-and-blue mark itself): The root word is #2266 chabar-1) to unite, to join, to bind together, to be joined, to be coupled, to be in league, to heap up, to have fellowship with, to unite, to join oneself to, to make an alliance. When the Scripture says by His stripes we were healed, it means our healing came through being united to God spiritually. We now have fellowship where sin once kept us from it. While this does not dismiss the possibility of physically healing, but it in no way guarantees it. To teach that this is an absolute promise can be just as much a disservice as to teach someone that God no longer heals!
We do not see the apostles use this Scripture as a guarantee for their sicknesses or afflictions. Paul mentions Christ being crushed for our sins in the communion service he has nothing to say about healing using phrases taken from atonement scriptures. In 1 Corinthians 11 people were becoming weak, sick and dying because they partook of the Lord’s Table in an unworthy manner. This Church ordinance looks back to the atonement, the very thing that faith teachers refer to when they say, “by his stripes we are healed.” But some of the Corinthians were becoming sick and dying from remembering it wrongly. They did not respect it or confess their sins.
1 Peter 2:24 “who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness-- by whose stripes you were healed. Peter applies this to the cross and the spiritual healing of sins. He says nothing about the healing of diseases in our now mortal bodies.
One of the primary rules of biblical interpretation is context. If it is violated you can come up with your own personal interpretation for just about anything. What is the context in 1 Peter 2? Salvation. There is no way to interpret it in any other sense. The verse is talking about Jesus on the cross dying for us, enduring punishment and bearing our sins, thereby providing salvation for us. (with it relieve of suffering and healing by his mercy).
Notice Peter also says to live to righteousness, not to health. Physical healing is included in the cross but is no guarantee. The disease of the soul are to be healed -- and the primary disease of the soul is man’s unregenerate state, which is rooted in our sin nature, that is the focus of our healing. Notice Peter said you were healed past tense. Not you are continually being healed of your diseases otherwise we can apply this to salvation scriptures, you were saved meaning you are continually being saved. This would make no sense at all since salvation is a single time event. The good news is that God has provided healing for this disease of the soul. And that is what Peter is talking about in 1 Peter 2:24. He is not saying physical healing is guaranteed to every believer. Healing for the body is a benefit of Christ’s death, included at the cross. it has never been considered in the history of the church -- a guarantee that God has to heal your body; He doesn’t have to! One thing that needs to be pointed out; there is no account of any person saying to Jesus by your stripes I’m healed when He was physically present on earth. If it was a promise like some say we would see examples of this in His ministry. No one stood before Him and claimed their healing by faith or recited the promise of Scripture.
The atonement brings redemption from sin but has not eradicated sin. Neither should we think it can do so for healing. We have not yet received the redemption of our bodies this will be dealt with at the resurrection not before. In other words we die because we are not cured physically from our sickness of sin. This is reserved as the last enemy to be conquered by the resurrection.
When certain people get hold of this passage, they change the context from salvation to physical healing. Every time such people see the word “heal” in the Bible they assume it refers to the miracle of divine healing for the physical body, regardless of what the context indicates. It’s like those who when they see the words cleansing and washing and think it always means water baptism.
At the Last Supper Jesus stated, “This is My blood...which is shed for many for the remission of sins” (Matthew 26:28). Notice He did not say for our physical healing, but sin....The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin (1 John 1:7). It is always sin, not sickness that we are promised to be healed from in the atonement. Now the question comes up “Isn’t sickness from sin, so we should not be sick. So is old age, pain, failing eyesight, and so is death. The Bible says “ the wages of sin is death.” Have you seen any faith healer survive this yet? No. So it must mean we are forgiven and cleansed in a legal sense and not in a completed sense, until the day of our resurrection. Then sin will be dealt the death-blow and we will live in an immortal body.
Our physical healing is included in the cross but is not guaranteed at this time. The diseases of the soul are to be healed -- and the primary disease of the soul is man’s unregenerate state, which is rooted in our sin nature. Notice Peter said you were healed past tense. Not you are continually being healed of your diseases or will be healed. otherwise we can apply this to salvation scriptures, you were saved meaning you are continually being saved or will be saved. This would make no sense at all since salvation is a single time event. The good news is that God has provided healing for this disease of the soul. And that is what Peter is talking about in 1 Peter 2:24. He is not saying that physical healing of the body is guaranteed to every believer. Healing for the body is a benefit of Christ’s death included at the cross. It has never been considered in the history of the church -- a guarantee that God has to heal your body; He doesn’t have to! The atonement brings redemption from sin but has not completely eradicated sin, neither should we think it can do so for healing.
Healing is in the atonement but it will be fully given in the resurrection when we shall each receive new bodies. Only then will we not become old or sick. Look at those prosperity teachers who preach this doctrine do they not grow old and sick like everyone else?
We have not yet received the redemption of our bodies this will be dealt with at the resurrection, not before. Any healings we receive before the resurrection are the blessings of Gods grace which are a foretaste of the immortal bodies we will receive.
Does God only heal?
Not all sicknesses come from Satan, nor are they all contrary to the will of God. If this were so there would be no divine chastisement for God’s children, we are told he chastens those he loves. We need to discern, as Scripture states in Hebrews, that whom God loves He chastens. It is God who either directly or indirectly allows punishment, sickness and even death for the believer. We cannot simplify good and evil it to “the Devil only does bad and God only does good.” The reason God afflicts somebody is not for evil, because His intention and goal is for good. The Devil afflicts someone to destroy them, but God allows it in order to work good in their life. God is in control of the believer’s circumstances and life. Duet. 32:39 “Now see that I, even I, am He, and there is no God besides Me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; Exod.15:26; Deut.7:15, 28:60, 30:19-20, 32:45 all teach that God can afflict the people for chastisement, even though he does not want to.
In Luke 1:20 Zacharias is struck dumb (mute). In Acts 5 both Ananias and Sapphirra were judged by God for lying to the Holy Spirit, it wasn’t Satan who killed them. In Psalm 119:67 David says, “Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep they word.” Verse 75 says, “In your faithfulness you have afflicted me.” David attributed his affliction to God’s hand, not the Devil’s. Does the Devil afflict? He certainly does, but he can’t afflict the saints without the Lord’s permission. God is in control of the believer’s life. Jesus has the keys of death and hell, not the Devil. We see in the New Testament taking communion without reflecting on the Lord’s body have caused many to be weak , sick and some have even to die (1 Cor.11:29-30).
God’s ability to heal extends to all of us. The issue isn’t “does God heal today” but will He heal, and how and when. No true believer is without the possibility of divine healing. One way which the promise of healing is found in the atonement is in James 5:14,15 ( Psalm 31:10). It is when an illness is a direct result of someone’s unconfessed sin. James writes when that sin is confessed and repented of healing comes as a result through the local church elders. (Not all sickness is direct from sin but because of sins affect on the world we live in).
Is there healing in the atonement. Yes, but it is not a standard promised to all believers at the present time. To say this is in my opinion an injustice. Nowhere will you find that he died to heal us in the body, but to set us free from the domination of sin. Rom. 6:6-7: “knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin.”
Rom 7:17: “But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.” We still have sin in us and this is the reason we die. It also is the reason we can get sick.
Heb. 9:26: “But now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.” Jesus purpose was to deal with sin so that we will not be punished for it but we still have sin. This will not be dealt with until we are glorified as Paul writes the last enemy to be conquered is death, which is a result of sin.
Heb 10:6 “In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin you had no pleasure. All the sacrifices were about sin, not for physical healings.”
What the faith teachers do is apply physical blessings pertaining to the time of the Millennium for us today, which can be summed up as a over realized eschatology. Our complete physical healing will come in the resurrection when our corruptible bodies will become incorruptible and immortal bringing us into total health. Jesus’ life ministry was a foretaste of the future Millennium when he will again be here physically on earth to heal all and rule.
Today God does heal in answer to prayer according to His sovereign will , but He is not obligated to heal by any promise in Scripture. Physical healing in this life is not guaranteed by Christ’s death, but is a provision. There is no promise in the New Testament like “whosoever believes will be healed.” Whenever God heals our body today its by intervention of his mercy not by an obligation of a promise.
In Phil. 2:25-27: Epaphroditus was sick almost to death, Paul did not recommend to use any Scripture by faith. Certainly we can assume he prayed for his fellow worker in the Gospel. Some use this and other Scriptures to say the gift of healing faded away. I don’t think that is the case. Look at what Paul states in v.27 “But God had mercy on him.” It is by God’s mercy that He heals, it was not in the hand of the apostles to do anything they so desired unless it was Gods will. Neither can we today.
Paul personally had his own struggle 2 Corinthians 12:1-10: “Paul requested healing from the Lord three times. And three times he got an answer back: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Translation: God said no to Paul’s request for healing. He didn’t confess by his stripes I’m healed and continue in faith for it. Why? Because Paul was mature enough to accept the answer God gave. And we should be also.
Questions to be asked, if Healing is in the Atonement
Why didn’t we receive physical healing when we first believed? The same faith we used to be saved spiritually certainly would be enough to be healed with. So, in essence if this faith is a guarantee of healing then all should be physically cured automatically when they are first saved. We have not seen any such demonstration in the history of the Church or in the Bible. The truth is some of the most spiritual people who have Christ’s fortitude are afflicted with sickness, and know Him in a way many of us will not. They are the ones who need to exercise complete faith each and every day, sometimes for the smallest of needs that we all take for granted.
If you pray to be healed and are not, does this mean you don’t have ANY faith? Because Jesus said it only took the smallest amount to move a mountain. Does this mean you may not be saved because you have not been healed? How much more faith do we need for our healing than we had used for our salvation? If people can be sick or even die because of a lack of faith, then how can they be assured they have salvation? That same faith they exercised for their salvation cannot make them well. This doctrine would mean that only those who are physically healed are really saved. If a believer asks for healing and is not healed, how does he know that when he asks for forgiveness that his sins were actually forgiven? These are logical questions that need to be answered by the Bible.
If someone came up to you when your child was sick and said he was a doctor let me prescribe medicine for him. You would probably say I don’t know you, your not my physician let me see your credentials before I accept what you say. Why do we not do this in the church when someone comes in and says he can lay hands on the child and he will be healed or let me lead you into a new experience of the Holy Spirit. Should we not ask their views on Christ and other essential doctrines before we give our loved ones or ourselves into their hands. I think So!
Do not be deceived by the false promises and false teachings of popular charismatic leaders that take Scriptures out of there context. Follow the Bible and avoid those who promote error and confusion. Then peace will come in any situation you're in, whether you're sick or healthy.
posted with permission
http://www.letusreason.org/Wf10.htm
Please get the book: Our Sufficiency in Christ by John F. MacArthur
(excerpts from Our sufficiency in Christ)
It is appropriate that a prosperity gospel be born in the hedonistic, self-centered, get-rich-quick milieu of modern American society. We are, by nature, pagan. Either our religion will transform us or we will transform our religion to suit our sympathies.…
The prosperity Bible does not deal only with freedom from sickness. It would have us read, “He Himself bore our sickness and poverty in His body on the tree, so that we might die to infirmity and lack; for by His wounds you have been healed.” In contrast, there was no question in the mind of the apostles that the gospel promised “spiritual riches in heavenly places in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3), not earthly ones. Our Lord was afflicted so that we could be healed. But that is a metaphor for the wonderful truth that the penalty justly meant for us was endured instead by Christ, our substitute. The rod of justice that dealt the Lamb of God such bitter blows declared us righteous!
It is to trivialize greatly the work of Christ to suggest that God the Father sent His only-begotten Son into the world to bear the world’s blasphemy, insults, and violence, and, most of all, to bear the Father’s wrath—all for increased cash flow and fewer bouts with asthma. It is to make a joke out of the great displeasure, anger, and wrath God has toward sin and sinful persons. God’s real problem, say the faith teachers, is not that we are wicked, selfish, God-hating rebels who deserve eternal punishment, but that we aren’t enjoying ourselves!
Quote by Michael Horton, From his book: The Agony of Deceit
That kind of thinking breeds spiritual poverty, not prosperity. It does violence to God’s grace and replaces true spiritual riches with greed and disillusionment. It leaves people feeling abandoned by God or questioning their faith when difficulties come. It impugns the integrity of Jesus, who said that a disciple isn’t above his teacher or a servant above his master (Matt. 10:24); of Peter, who said that we were called for the purpose of suffering, since Jesus suffered for us and left us an example to follow (1 Pet. 2:21); of Paul, who said that all believers will experience persecution (2 Tim. 3:12); and of James, who said that trials produce spiritual maturity (James 1:2–4).
The apostle instructed the Colossians, “Walk in a manner worthy of the Lord … strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light” (Col. 1:10–12). “Strengthened with all power”! For what? Health, wealth, prosperity, healings, miracles, signs, and wonders? No. “For the attaining of all steadfastness and patience”—things necessary in times of trouble. This is no promise of trouble-free living, only power to endure the trouble that is inevitable. How are we to endure it? “Joyously giving thanks to the Father” for an eternal inheritance, not temporal riches.
God has always used suffering to perfect and purify His people and to demonstrate the sufficiency of His grace. It’s only when we don’t trust in His sovereignty or don’t understand His purposes, that we are apt to experience worry, fear, and anxiety when things go wrong. But suffering brings enormous benefits:
Suffering Verifies Our Faith. Peter used the analogy of an assayer or goldsmith to illustrate this benefit of suffering. Just as a goldsmith uses fire to purify gold by burning away the dross, so God uses trials to test and to purify our faith:
[You] are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. (1 Pet. 1:6–7)
Suffering Confirms Our Sonship. Hebrews 12:5–8...
Suffering Produces Endurance. James 1:2–4; 1 Peter 5:10 ...
Suffering Teaches Us to Hate Sin. John 11:33...
Suffering Promotes Self-Evaluation....
Suffering Clarifies Our Priorities....
Suffering Identifies Us with Christ. 2 Tim. 3:12; 1 Thess. 2:14–15...
Suffering Can Encourage Other Believers. 1 Thess. 1:6–7; Phil. 1:14..
Suffering Can Benefit Unbelievers. Acts 16...
Suffering Enables Us to Help Others. ..
Often those who suffer the most are most sensitive to the suffering of others. That promotes the wonderful graces of mercy and compassion. In a sense, that’s the thrust of Hebrews 4:15–16: “We do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need.”
....The story is told of Charles Haddon Spurgeon, who was riding home one evening after a heavy day’s work, feeling weary and depressed, when the verse came to mind, “My grace is sufficient for you.”
In his mind he immediately compared himself to a little fish in the Thames River, apprehensive lest drinking so many pints of water in the river each day he might drink the Thames dry. Then Father Thames says to him, “Drink away, little fish. My stream is sufficient for you.”
Next he thought of a little mouse in the granaries of Egypt, afraid lest its daily nibbles exhaust the supplies and cause it to starve to death. Then Joseph comes along and says, “Cheer up, little mouse. My granaries are sufficient for you.”
Then he thought of a man climbing some high mountain to reach its lofty summit and dreading lest his breathing there might exhaust all the oxygen in the atmosphere. The Creator booms His voice out of heaven, saying, “Breathe away, oh man, and fill your lungs. My atmosphere is sufficient for you!”
Let us rest in the abundance of God’s wonderful grace and the total sufficiency of all His spiritual resources. That’s the all-sufficient Savior’s legacy to His people.“May grace and peace be yours in fullest measure” (1 Pet. 1:2)!
MacArthur, J., F., Jr. (1997). Our sufficiency in Christ
Here's some scriptures to back up the fact that God does not heal everyone for His reasons:
Romans 9:15-16 For He says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.'' 16 So it depends not upon man's will or exertion, but upon God's mercy.
Romans 9:18 Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens.
Job 1:8-12 Then the Lord said to Satan, "Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?'' 9. So Satan answered the Lord and said, "Does Job fear God for nothing? 10. "Have You not made a hedge around him, around his household, and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. 11. "But now, stretch out Your hand and touch all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face!'' 12. So the Lord said to Satan, "Behold, all that he has is in your power; only do not lay a hand on his person.'' Then Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.
Job 1:21 And he said: "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.'' 22. In all this Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong.
2 Corinthians 12:8 Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. 9. And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.'' Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
James 5:11 Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.
2 Corinthians 4:17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory,
Romans 5:3 And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; 4. and perseverance, character; and character, hope.
2 Corinthians 1:4-6 who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ. Now if we are afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effective for enduring the same sufferings which we also suffer. Or if we are comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation.
1 Peter 1:6-7 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ,
1 Peter 5:10 But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.
2 Corinthians 6:4 But in all things we commend ourselves as ministers of God: in much patience, in tribulations, in needs, in distresses,
James 1:3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.
Acts 9:16 "For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name's sake.''
John 9:2 And His disciples asked Him, saying, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?'' 3. Jesus answered, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him.
Luke 13:2-5 And Jesus answered and said to them, "Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things? "I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. "Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? "I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.''
Matthew 5:45 "that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
John 7:24 "Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.''
Isaiah 55:8 "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,'' says the Lord.
Isaiah 30:18 Therefore the Lord will wait, that He may be gracious to you; and therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for Him.
John 11:6 So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was.
John 16:33 "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.'
Healing and the Atonement
Moriel received the following question:
We are preparing to do a show on the “Word faith” movement. I met with a Pastor who is a big proponent of this movement. He claims that in Isaiah 53:5, the word “healed” means physical healing as well as spiritual healing. Thus he claims if we have enough faith we should be healed of any physical problems we face.
If you would be so kind as to help me with the correct Hebrew translation of that word I would be deeply appreciative.
Jacob’s Response:
NERPA LANU – ISAIAH 53:4-5
Your question is practical but not the kind I like to reply to from a linguistic perspective unless I am in dialogue with someone who knows Hebrew. I will touch on the linguistics because you asked me to but then I will endeavor to explain an easier way to refute that word-faith nonsense.
A linguistic argument is in this case only part of the counter argument to word-faith preachers. If you do not know Hebrew grammar the elements of a “nifal” and “vav ha hepuk” would have no meaning to you let alone to the person you are debating so I won’t try to explain it in any depth. In Hebrew, future tense can refer to the past and past tense to the future where there is “vav ha hipuk”, and present and past tenses in the binyan “nifal” verb structure can be the same. But lets not go there. I only mention it in brief in specific reference to the way you phrased your question.
The term can have both meanings in the context. In essence verse 4 of Isaiah 53 applies to physical illness and is past tense, while verse 5 of Isaiah 53 is about spiritual and psychological healing and is present tense (it is again more complex than this but I can’t effectively explain nuances of ancient Hebrew grammar by e mail).
The simpler way to address this garbage (which is doctrinally and theologically to something called “over realized eschatology”) is as follows.
First - We interpret the Old Testament in light of the New Testament revelation of Jesus.
Second - We interpret the Gospels in light of Apostolic commentary – that is the epistles. If we want to know what the Old Testament means, we interpret it in light of the New Testament. And if we want to know what the gospels and direct teachings of Jesus mean, we interpret the gospels in light of the writing of the apostles which explain it.
Third – We always look at:
* TEXT (the original meaning in the original languages)
* CONTEXT ( what the passage is speaking about; not a verse in isolation; while ‘atomization’ is sometimes used in scripture it is never used as the primary basis to establish doctrine)
*CO-TEXT (what other passages speak of and explain the same subject being addressed; these co-textual passages mutually illuminate each other and are designed to be read in parallel).
Full and present “Healing in the Atonement” advocates only look at text or at most text and context. They cannot look at co-text or their foolish argument collapses.
Let us consider the New Testament references to Isaiah 53: 4-5 in light of text, context, and co text;
1) 1 Peter chapter 2 verse 24 cites Isaiah 53 and refers to spiritual healing; this is clear. This corresponds to verse 5 of Isaiah 53.
2) Matthew 8: 16-17 cites Isaiah 53 and refers to physical healing. This corresponds to verse 4 of Isaiah 53.
Both meanings of physical and spiritual healing are in Isaiah 53 and both meanings are cited in the New Testament.
3) Romans 4 25 cites Isaiah 53 and gives a comprehensive meaning uniting both the physical and spiritual aspects of the Old Testament passage referred to separately in Matthew 8 and 1 Peter 2.
If we read Romans 4:25 in context starting in verse 19, we see it opens with physical degeneration (the illness that comes in this particular case with old age when Abraham had a geriatric testosterone deficiency before Viagra and Sarah was post-menopausal). As “father of all who believe” Abraham the patriarch and Sarah the matriarch are corporate solidarity figures; that is they are actual historical figures who are representations of us. Yet despite the maladies of old age and hormonal dysfunction, a Divine intervention related to faith in God and His promise supernaturally facilitated impregnation. Read in context this is the literary prelude to verse 25 which relates infirmity to sin and culminates with the resurrection.
In other words, Romans 4:19-25 teaches that fallen man exists in what theologians term a “hamaertosphere”; that is a sin infected environment that includes us as infected by sin and requiring both justification to redress the sin and resurrection to redress the consequences of sin which is death. The sin causes human infirmity to begin with and both the cross of Jesus followed by the resurrection are the cure. Thus ultimate healing both physical and spiritual begin with Christ’s justification of us on the cross and complete in the resurrection. Yes – healing is in the atonement, but it only becomes a total and full reality with the resurrection.
Because the promised absolute physical healing is only fully guaranteed and realized in the resurrection/rapture and not in this present life in a fallen world, Paul writes “the old man is wasting away.” Otherwise we would not ever physically die as Word-Faith guru deceiver Kenneth Hagin or the other word-faith deceiver Oral Roberts did themselves. Before he died, Hagin stated on TV that because of his faith he hadn’t had a headache in forty years. Perhaps not, but he had four documented cardio-vascular failures. With a string of coronaries it is no wonder he never had a headache. He was too busy having heart attacks.
The term ‘nerapa lanu’ in Isaiah 53:5 is in the present active first person plural of the infinitive ‘lerapa’ to heal from the root/ shoresh ‘rafua’ (having ‘therapeou’ as its Greek equivalent in the New Testament and Septuagint) and in context this verse 5 applies to spiritual and psychological healing only. Total healing is in the atonement guaranteed to true believers to be fully received in the resurrection or rapture. Any Divine healings before that are only partial and temporary. If a guaranteed healing in this life were true for instance why did Paul leave Trophimus sick in Troas ( 2 Timothy 4:20) as one example, and why do Christians still give up the ghost?
A guaranteed fully realized healing in the atonement before the resurrection is a stupid doctrine believed only by ignorant people and taught by money preaching connivers who do not often really even believe it themselves. It is neither scriptural or logical.
There is of course much more to the subject than this, such as healing when an illness is caused by a specific sin as we read in James’ epistle (which in turn relates to Psalm 32 and John chapter 5 etc.) but this is too involved to exhaustively explain by e mail. Suffice it to say that when God uses illness as an instrument of correction for sin in the life of a believer, there is a third aspect of ‘healing in the atonement’ in that once the sin is repented of. But this subject ventures beyond the parameters of your question and again would require a detailed exposition to explain properly. There is a recorded teaching I did some years ago and is still available I think on an MP3 on healing.
Whenever I address this subject I always try to include a caveat. I know Christians who died physically before their time because of false word-faith doctrines when they claimed healings God did not give them and ceased taking vital medication. As the Lord said, “MY PEOPLE PERISH FOR A LACK OF KNOWLEGE” and this can apply both physically and spiritually.
Misunderstanding what scripture means by ‘healing in the atonement’ can kill people. In the UK, the crown coroner, Sir Montague Levine, once appeared on national TV news and declared in an autopsy report that a young Pentecostal woman, on whose remains he had just completed a post mortem and submitted an affidavit for the coroners findings after she drowned in her bath when she stopped taking vital anti epilepsy medication, would be alive had she not gone to a Morris Cerullo crusade who was promoted in London by Kensington Temple and the Elim movement. This young woman did not lack faith – she threw away her pills. But she had faith in faith not in Jesus and she believed false doctrine and tragically went to a premature grave as a terrible result. Jesus can and does heal people, but when He does they don’t die from what He healed them from. The preachers who feed the sheep of Christ to these money preaching wolves are false shepherds and those who teach these false doctrines will be held accountable (James 3:1).
posted with permission
http://moriel.org/MorielArchive/index.php/discernment/church-issues/word-faith/healing-and-the-atonement
