As I started my journey with Christ I sometimes heard the message that it is always God’s will to heal every sickness or physical problem: flu, arthritis, cancer, multiple scleroses or a back ache. All these are outside of God’s plan or will and need to be removed. The most important basis for this claim is Isaiah 53:4-5:
Surely he took up our pain
and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
stricken by him, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
Some claim that the healing of our bodies was achieved by Christ on the cross. Jesus not only bore our sin but our sickness. God not only made Christ to be sin (2 Corinthians 5:21) for us, but also made him to be sick for us. This means Jesus took on the flu, ulcers, cancer, tonsillitis, etc. in his death. One teacher of this perspective is Andrew Womack, who expresses this belief as follows:
The Lord redeemed us from sickness just as much as He redeemed us from sin. He would no more want us to be sick than He would want us to sin. Those are radical statements to many Christians because we’ve been taught that forgiveness of sins is what salvation is all about. Well that’s certainly a vital part of salvation, but that’s not all that Jesus accomplished. We were also healed by His stripes. Sickness is not of God just as sin is not of God. Thank You, Jesus!
Gloria Copeland echoes this idea in a similar way:
Jesus bore your sicknesses and carried your diseases at the same time and in the same manner that He bore your sins. You are just as free from sickness and disease as you are free from sin. You should be as quick to cease sickness and disease in your body as you are to cease sin.
What this means is that if you’re not healed, it is due to your lack of faith. Healing has been secured for us in the atonement—and is ours to claim and lay hold of in faith. As Kenneth Copeland instructs: “God intends for every believer to live completely free from sickness and disease. It is up to you to decide whether or not you will.”
What about this teaching and claim? I will make the case that sin was fully dealt with on the cross but the effects of sin–sickness–will not be completely dealt with until the return of Christ. It is not a question of whether God will heal all illness but when.
Did Christ die for our sickness?
Let’s be clear, Christ did not die for our sickness. Sickness is an effect of sin but is not a sin. There is no guilt in having diabetes, glaucoma, blindness, etc. It is our sin that sends us to hell not our sickness. Scripture tells us to “confess our sins,” but nowhere does it say we should seek forgiveness for arthritis. We are not instructed in any way to confess, “Lord, forgive me for this flu.” Jesus did not experience sickness during his atonement. Rather, he took the wrath of God against sin. (Romans 5:8-9) He carried our sin by becoming sin. He did not carry our sickness by becoming sickness.
So, what does it mean that “by his wounds we are healed?” Sin is the ultimate cause of many sources of pain, difficulty and destructiveness in the world: poverty, pain in child birth, natural disasters, illness etc. Jesus did not die for the effects of sin. Rather, he died for sin and as a result he will ultimately overcome those effects when he returns. By his death he has laid the foundation for the ultimate overthrow and annihilation of all disease (and other suffering), which will occur at his second coming.
20 But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.
Philippians 3:20-21
At that time death will be destroyed.
25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
1 Corinthians 15:25-26
Those who claim that Christians should never be sick because there is healing in the atonement should also claim that Christians should never die, because Jesus also conquered death in the atonement. He paid the price of sin in order that one day, when he returns to glorify his people, he will wholly do away with sickness. We experience forgiveness and fellowship with God now because of Christ’s atoning death, but we await all of the benefits of that blessed relationship when he returns.
Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies.
Romans 8:23
Healing Through Not In the Atonement
So, is there any healing in the atonement? The answer is YES. Were it not for Jesus making atonement for sin, we would have no hope of healing, either now or later. The redemptive suffering of Jesus is the foundation and source of every blessing, whether spiritual or physical. Because of this it is more accurate to say there is healing through the atonement rather than in the atonement. This way we avoid suggesting that because of Jesus’s death we are guaranteed healing in this life. It is not a question of whether our bodies are healed but when. There is physical healing through the atonement, but this isn’t guaranteed until the final resurrection.
So What About Matthew 8:16–17?
What, then, are we to make of Matthew 8:16–17? It reads:
16 When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick. 17 This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah:
“He took up our infirmities
and bore our diseases.”
We’re told that Jesus “healed all who were sick,” and that “this was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: ‘He took our illnesses and bore our diseases.’” Are these healings, performed by Jesus, the result of the atonement? The answer would be yes. As Jesus brought forgiveness, healing and deliverance was based on credit through what would be given in the cross. But it doesn’t necessarily mean that healing will always occur now as a result of that work. But, even with this, was Christ’s healing ministry his end game? After all, the people he healed still died. Lazarus was raised from the dead, but he eventually died again. People were healed but the curse wasn’t completely reversed. Jesus died for the sins of men, but men still continued to sin. He defeated death but His followers continued to die. There is an ultimate fulfillment of Christ’s atoning work that will not be realized this side of eternity.
In summary, we do not see the New Testament church going around and confessing and claiming every illness into extinction. Paul left Trophimus behind during one of his missionary journeys because of illness (2 Timothy 4:20). He recommended wine to Timothy for his “stomach and [his] frequent illnesses” (1 Timothy 5:23). Epaphroditus got so sick he nearly died (Philippians 2:25–27). And sometimes God sent sickness to discipline members of his church (1 Corinthians 11:29–32). Paul had a “thorn in the flesh” (2 Corinthians 12:7) and asked God to take it away three times to which God responded, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)
How Do We Handle Illness?
Realize the blessings of health when you become ill.
We seldom celebrate health with the same intensity that we gripe about our illness. When sick take the opportunity to thank God for and remind yourself of the blessing of health. Even though in our sin the world is broken, health is a good gift of God.
Reach to be ultimately new.
We don’t just want to get well, we want to be new. Everything from a head ache to strep to the flu should remind us that we are due for a serious remodeling. Don’t sell yourself short of what we ultimately have coming to us. Every ounce of hope is anchored to every second of Christ’s agony. Yes, by his wounds we are experience full healing.
Next post we will look at why God heals some people and not others.
Story of Grace 