Great teaching On Divine Healing Guaranteed in the the Atonement Question mark

s Divine Healing Guaranteed in the Atonement?

By D. G. Miles McKee

Minister of the Gospel

It seems that, anytime we turn on the TV, there is some tele-evangelist proclaiming that Jesus died for all our sickness.  Accordingly, at the cross, Christ took all our illnesses and we, therefore, need never be sick again.  Here’s a word by word example of what was recently said by one of the foremost spokespersons of this movement;

“When Jesus hung on the cross, He took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses. (Matthew 8:17) That is why your sickness does not have the final word in your life. Jesus does, because He took your sickness upon His body and paid for your healing with His blood.----- So why settle for the curse of sickness or even poverty when the price for your healing and prosperity has been paid by Jesus?

Wow! Is that really what the Bible teaches?  This matter needs to be seriously examined. If, after all, these claims are Biblical, then we must accept them, if, on the other hand they are false, we must spurn them.

Let’s be abundantly clear about the question this booklet asks. It does not ask whether or not God is a healer, --of course God is a healer! The question, however, is this, “Is Divine healing provided by and guaranteed in the atonement?”  The answer is short and sweet---  No! Divine healing, here on planet earth, is nowhere guaranteed by Christ’s death on the cross.

If, however, you have been raised in the Word of Faith movement or the like, you will immediately think me a heretic.  After all, you know the excellent passage in Isaiah about being healed by his stripes, and you’ve read Peter, in the New Testament, as he states the same truth.  We will get to these scriptures in a moment.

Since repetition is the price of learning, let me again stress that the question this small booklet addresses is not whether or not God is a healer -- That God is a healer, I firmly believe! What is under examination is the question as to whether or not divine healing is guaranteed by the Atonement of Christ.

Is there such a thing as Divine Healing?  Most certainly!  James 5:14-15 tells us, “Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:  And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; -----.”  If there were no other verse given to us than that one, it is enough.  We can see plainly that God is a healer.  In addition, the disciples were sent to lay hands on the sick. In fact, we read, “They shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover” (Mark 16:18).  Furthermore, one of the magnificent titles of Yahweh is Jehovah Ropheka, the Lord our Healer (Exodus 15:26).  However,  the question is not if there is such a thing as Divine Healing, but rather, is divine healing guaranteed for us in Christ’s atonement? Was disease as well as sin included in Christ’s atoning death?

For a moment, let’s assume that the Word of Faith people are correct when they say that Christ’s death on the cross guaranteed healing for every one of us.  This then causes us to confront some startling conclusions.

Conclusion 1) If healing is guaranteed in the atonement, then it must be God’s will to heal every sick person who looks to him for physical healing.  In much the same way that no desperate person who applies to Calvary for mercy and forgiveness is ever turned away, regardless of how weak their faith is. No one who applies for spiritual health and healing at the cross can be denied.  But when it comes to the physically infirm, this is not so.  Many saved people have died from their illnesses and diseases in spite of praying for healing.  If, however, healing were guaranteed by the death of Christ, then we must ask why they were not healed?

It Takes Faith!

“Oh,” you say,  “brother, you simply don’t understand, it takes faith.” Indeed it does!  And I’d say it takes a whole lot more faith to believe that our record of vile transgression and sin is done away with and purged at the cross than to believe for healing for our aches, pains and diseases.

Conclusion 2) If healing is guaranteed in the atonement, then all medicine and doctors should be considered sinful. After all, there only is one cure for sin, not two. The only way for God to cleanse our sins is through the blood.  The cross of Christ is not one among many cures for sin, it is the only cure for sin. Therefore, we must conclude that, if Christ’s death guarantees physical healing, then to look for a second way of healing through doctors and medicines must be sinful, disobedient unbelief. If healing is in the atonement, then doctors become the arch-enemies of the gospel. But how is this possible?  Two of our books in the New Testament were written by a Doctor, Dr. Luke.  In fact, the apostle Paul, speaking under the influence of the Holy Spirit, calls him the beloved physician (Colossians 4:14). How could he be called beloved if he were presenting an alternative to the cross?

Conclusion 3) If Christ guarantees health for His people at the cross, then, logically speaking, if we are sick, we are not saved. Let me illustrate. Some years ago, when I pastored in Texas, I bumped into a young college student at a local filling station. I was glad to see him as he’d recently begun to attend our Church meetings, but had been absent for a couple of weeks.   He was easily recognisable due to his large pair of thickly lensed glasses.  After giving me the usual excuses for his absence, I asked what was actually going on, to which he replied, “Pastor, you know how I am severely troubled by my lack of eyesight. I have to wear these awful glasses and, if I don’t wear them, I get wretched headaches.  I have asked the Lord to heal me, and I have been prayed for by the least to the greatest.  I have travelled to meetings in Fort Worth and Oklahoma and have done everything that the great Word of Faith teachers have told me to do.  I have thrown away my glasses and confessed that I am healed, but still after all this time my eyes are no better.  Now, pastor, if the Lord died to heal me of all my sicknesses and I am still not healed, how can I know that my sins are forgiven? I was enabled to explain the way of the Lord more perfectly and thus to prevent him from making shipwreck of his faith.

He was a smart kid with a logical brain.  He had seen the problem that others ignore. If it is true that Christ died as much for our health as He did for our sins, then his lack of healing, logically declared that he was not saved.  Untold, widespread damage and devastation has been caused by this awful teaching.

Conclusion 4)  If Christ guarantees healing because of his atonement, then logic must further dictate that we will never die.  But what idiot would dare to believe that?  Christians die all the time.  Pastors die, preachers die.  Is this because they don’t have enough faith?  Some of the Faith Teachers would tell us yes.

But, here’s the reality of the matter, sickness is incipient death. It is the budding, first fruits of the grim harvest yet to come.  We are all getting older. We are all slowly dying. Yet some live in denial of these simple truths. I personally know a preacher who preached divine healing as being guaranteed in the atonement but, when he turned 40, he began to wear reading glasses. He couldn’t see (if you’ll pardon the pun) the inconsistency of his position. He also made frequent trips to the dentist to get his teeth filled.  Surely these things ought not to be if Christ guarantees our health in the atonement.

The sad facts, however, are these, most “No Medicine”, “No Doctors” preachers are young and blessed with the good health of youth.  Just watch them change their theology or deny it by their practice as they get older and are subject to the ravages of time. It seems that they carefully ignore the scripture that tells them, “Our outward man is perishing” (2 Corinthians 4:16).  In other words, we are all getting older each day-- we are headed for death -- we are perishing.  But how is this possible if our present health is guaranteed by the death of Christ?

But, What About The Gospel of Healing?

Are you ready for this? There is no Gospel of Healing mentioned in the Bible!  We read of,

The Gospel of the Grace of God

The Gospel of Jesus Christ

The Gospel of the Kingdom

The Gospel of God

The Gospel of His Son

The Gospel of Peace

The Gospel of your Salvation---but never read the term, The Gospel of Healing.

The early Church had never heard of the Gospel of Healing.  Does this mean that they didn’t see healing?  To the contrary, they saw mighty acts of healing everywhere the gospel was preached.  There was and is immense power which accompanies the preaching of Christ Crucified. We should not think it strange, therefore, that, in the wake of genuine gospel preaching, wonderful, sovereign healings can and do occur. Nevertheless, the early church did not preach healing as a guarantee of the atonement. They guaranteed the forgiveness of sins by the cross, but not divine healing.

Supposed Texts For Divine Healing in the Atonement

1 Peter 2:24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.

This is the bastion text of the teachers who hold to physical healing being guaranteed in the Atonement.  Yet this verse has nothing whatsoever to do with physical healing. Following the old maximum that, “A text taken out of context becomes a pretext,” we would then do well to look at the surrounding verses. There we read,

“For even hereunto were you called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow his steps Who did no sin neither was guile found in his mouth: Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judges righteously: Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes you were healed.

v 25 For you were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.”

Notice the “FOR” in verse 25. This shows us clearly that the  context here is spiritual healing and not physical. “For you were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.”

Physical complaint is not in the context of this passage.   Indeed, the healing dealt with is clearly spiritual healing.  He bore our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes you were healed.

Another favourite verse of the healers (so called) is Isaiah 53:4.  It reads, “Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.”

The Word of Faith teachers are quick to point out that the word “griefs” in this verse literally means sicknesses and disease. Furthermore, they draw our attention to the fact that the sorrows which Christ carried are, literally, physical and mental pain. This, they say, shows clearly that Christ died for our sicknesses at the cross.

However, since we follow the rule that scripture interprets scripture, we will see that this verse was not fulfilled at the cross, but during the healing ministry of the Lord Jesus as He walked this earth. In Matthew 8:16-17 we read,  “When the evening was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.”

Notice the time frame that the Holy Spirit identifies as being the fulfilment of Isaiah 53:4.  Was it at the cross or during the active healing ministry of Jesus when He walked on planet earth? According to the scriptures, Isaiah 53:4  was fulfilled when Christ was alive and preaching not when He was dying on the cross. Again we must stress that divine healing is true, but healing guaranteed because of the atonement is false!

Another favourite verse with the ‘healers’ is Isaiah 53:5, “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.”

Again, we need to understand what this verse is saying.  It is clearly talking about transgression and iniquities.  It is referring to our spiritual healing which did indeed take place at the cross.

In addition to chapter 53:5, Isaiah alludes to healing 8 other times, but not once does the context refer to bodily healing.

Isaiah 1:5-9 refers to there being no healing of depravity.

Isaiah 3:7 refers to the healing of a bad situation.

Isaiah 6:10 refers to the healing of conversion.

Isaiah 19:22 refers to spiritual healing.

Isaiah 30:26 refers to spiritual healing.

Isaiah 57:17-18 refers to spiritual healing.

Isaiah 57:19 refers to spiritual healing.

Isaiah 58:8 refers to spiritual health.

Not once, in spite of the Word of Faith teachers assuming to the contrary, do we discover that healing and health in Isaiah refers to physical healing.  

Psalm 103:2-3

Another great favourite of the healing tribe is Psalm 103:2-3.  It says, “Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases.”  

Does this actually mean that all our physical diseases are healed at the cross? If so, we will never die!  If all our sicknesses were pinned to Christ when He was dying, then no one would ever go bald, lose their teeth or wear glasses.  After all, balding, tooth loss and bad eye sight are usually signs of aging and aging is a sign of incipient death.

Psalm 103: 2-3 is not talking about physical healing.  However, the type of healing that David is describing is the same healing referred to in Psalm 41:4 where we read, “I said Lord be merciful to me, heal my soul; for I have sinned against Thee.”  Here, as in Psalm 103: 2-3, the context refers to spiritual healing, the healing of the soul.  The Lord heals all our spiritual diseases, but nowhere does He guarantee to heal all the physical disease of His people all the time.

Examples of Godly People Who Took Ill And Could Not Be Healed

Elisha

Have you ever heard of Elisha? He was the double portion prophet who performed 14 miracles.  Yet in 2 Kings 13:14, we read that he took ill and died. Does this mean that he was backslidden or had a momentary lapse in faith?  But this is nonsense. We read that, after his death, he had more power in his bones than we have in our entire bodies for his bones were able to raise the dead (2 Kings 13:21).

Trophimus

What about Trophimus?  In 2 Timothy 4:20 Paul writes, “Trophimus have I left at Miletum sick.”  Who left whom?  Paul left Trophimus.  But why? The answer is straightforward, Trophimus was sick.  Did Paul not understand that there was no excuse for an apostolic worker to be sick since healing is guaranteed in the atonement?  Paul had seen many miracles, he had raised the dead and had prayed over hankies that were sent out to heal folks, yet he left this preacher sick.  Now, if divine healing is guaranteed in the atonement, explain that one.

Epaphroditus

In Philippians 2:24-30 we read,

But I trust in the Lord that I also myself shall come shortly.

Yet I supposed it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, and companion in labour, and fellowsoldier, but your messenger, and he that ministered to my wants.

For he longed after you all, and was full of heaviness, because that ye had heard that he had been sick.

For indeed he was sick nigh unto death: but God had mercy on him; and not on him only, but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow.

I sent him therefore the more carefully, that, when ye see him again, ye may rejoice, and that I may be the less sorrowful.

Receive him therefore in the Lord with all gladness; and hold such in reputation:

Because for the work of Christ he was nigh unto death, not regarding his life, to supply your lack of service toward me.

Here we discover, Epaphroditus, an apostolic worker who was sick.  And just what made him sick?  Here’s the answer. He overworked in the ministry. We read, “Because for the work of Christ he was nigh unto death.“ Now, here’s another question.  If Christ died for his sicknesses, how then could Epaphroditus become ill in the work of Christ?

Timothy

In 1 Timothy 5:23, we read instructions for the restoration of health to an ailing preacher.  It reads, “Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake and thine often infirmities.” Who gave these instructions?  Paul, the apostle, that’s who! What a blunder!  If Christ died to guarantee Timothy’s health, how in the name of thunder could he say this,? Here’s a gospel minister who is more often sick than well. Does Paul say,  “Hang on in there Timothy, and I’ll come over and pray for you for, after all, Christ died for your sicknesses?”  No, he says, “Take a little wine for your stomach and your frequent infirmities.”  But this advice could only be rank heresy and error if Christ died to guarantee that Timothy would never be sick! If Christ died so that Timothy would have no sickness, then there should be no healing sought out other that faith in the atonement.

Did Christ have the Go to the cross in order to heal us?

Did Christ have to go to the cross in order to heal us?  The simple answer is no. Christ could have stayed in heaven and healed us all. All it takes for us to get healed is His power.

OK, now here’s where the argument starts.  Some will argue that, because sickness is a result of sin, Christ had to go to the cross to obtain healing for us.  Not a bad argument, but a flawed one!  It misses the point.  The point is this; Christ’s death did not guarantee perfect health for anyone. There is no guarantee that everyone who applies to the cross for healing and health receives them!  In fact, the evidence is to the contrary. On the other hand, Christ saves every sinner who comes to Him for mercy and grace.  No one is refused. No one is denied!  To put healing and forgiveness of sins, therefore, on the same guaranteed footing requires us to neutralise our thinking and mental capacities.

When I became a believer, I heard about a Christian lady who prayed for the infirm. Sick people would go to her home, she would lay hands on them and pray and oftentimes people got healed.  Her reputation spread and soon the local farmer’s would ask her to come to their farms and lay hands on their sick animals. Oftentimes the animals recovered.  Now then, we must ask a question.  Did Jesus die on the cross for the sicknesses of cows, sheep and horses?  Of course not!  Jesus did not have to go to the cross to die for the sickness of any animal. However, in order to purge our sins He had to become a man and die as a offering which satisfied the wrath of God. He had to die to satisfy the righteous demands of the justice of God. Without His death there could have been no forgiveness for without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin.

Someone will argue that all the blessings we have are because of the atonement.  I won’t debate that point.  I firmly believe that truth! The fact that we have air to breathe is because of the atonement.  Indeed, if Christ had not died on the cross the cosmos would have collapsed. But this is a whole lot different than saying that Christ died to guarantee healing  for us all at this present time.

Objection

Here’s an objection that the Word of Faith people use.  Quoting Psalm 105:37, they say that, Israel, on the journey from Egypt to the Promised Land had not one feeble member among them.  This, they maintain, shows us a great passage on supernatural Divine health.  Well no, actually it doesn’t. Forgetting  to compare scripture with scripture, they miss out on Deuteronomy 25:17-18 where we discover what actually happened the feeble. There we read, “Remember what Amalek did unto thee by the way, when ye were come forth out of Egypt; How he met thee by the way, and smote the hindmost of thee, even all that were feeble behind thee, when you were faint and weary; and he feared not God.”

Ah! Now that’s a lot different than the way the Word of Faith preachers tell it.

A Prayer is Not A Promise!

Perhaps the chief, supposed stronghold of the Word of Faith preachers is 3 John 1:2 “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.”

The way these preachers spin this verse has created havoc among multitudes of professing believers.  According to this verse, these preachers say that every believer should have health and wealth.  The mayhem is caused among some folks when, after years of confessing health and wealth, they wake up to find that they still have neither.

So what is this verse saying? The first thing to note is that this verse is a greeting or a prayer, it’s not a promise.  In this verse, John the apostle tells Gaius that he is praying for both physical and spiritual health for him.  If Gaius’ physical health, however, was guaranteed in the atonement, there would be little need to pray that he would be healthy.  John would simple reminds him to continue to claim and walk in the health which had been purchased at the cross.

But What about Hebrews 13:8?

Oh yes, I almost forgot that one.  Hebrews 13:8 says, “Jesus Christ the same Yesterday today and forever.”  The ‘healers’ often use this verse to try to arouse the expectancy of their hearers.  They say that the Jesus of yesterday has not changed. He the same today as he was yesterday and, therefore, since he healed yesterday, He must heal today.  There is a momentary, plausibility in that interpretation. Indeed, such an explanation may be quite good if the verse had merely said that Jesus is the same yesterday and today.  But the verse says much more.  It says that He is the same forever.  So if we are to take the Word of Faith teachers to what must be a logical conclusion, we see that Jesus will be forever healing us out there in eternity.  What a ridiculous thought. The Word of Faith preachers actually shoot themselves in the foot for by their exegesis they establish that there will be sickness in heaven.

The writer to Hebrews is telling us that the same Jesus who yesterday was my altar, (v10) today is my High priest (v11) and forever will be my continuing City (v 14).

Seven Ways to Be Healed

(1) Healing by the Sovereign Power of God for His Glory

God is a healer.  He heals whomsoever He chooses when He chooses to do so. We must always keep this in mind.  God is a the healer.  His arm has not shortened neither have His ears grown deaf to the cries of His people. The Lord is the sovereign healer. Jesus walked over to the dead and lifeless body of the Widow of Nain’s son and with a word, raised him from the dead.  I have not seen the dead raised but I have seen great healings. I myself have been sovereignly healed from the dreaded cancer.

So let’s say it again, God is the Healer. However, He did not have to come to the cross to purchase the legal right to heal.  He heals and delights to do so. One of the great weaknesses in our non-Charismatic churches is that they do not, generally, pray for the sick. They, it would seem, are afraid to ask the Lord to heal.  It seems that they sometimes don’t want to put themselves on the line to pray, just in case He decides not to heal, and they, in their own minds, will be left looking bad.

(2) Natural Healing.

This is when the body heals itself. If you cut your finger, the body will heal the cut, unless you get it dirty or keep picking at it.  The human body is designed to attack infection.

(3) Healing by Herbs

In Psalm 104:14 we read, “He causes the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man:”

Isaiah 38:21 Let them take a lump of figs, and lay it for a plaster upon the boil, and he shall recover.

Revelation 22:2 In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

(4) Healing by Doctors.  

Nowhere, in the Bible, are we told to stay away from doctors.  In fact Jesus taught that the sick need a Physician (Luke 5:31).  Proper medicines can do us good--Medicines can do us good for notice how the scripture says, “A merry heart doest good like a medicine” (Proverbs 17:22).  Some will point to the story in 2 Chronicles 16 where  King Asa became diseased in his feet and sought the help of doctors.  It seems that there was heavenly disapproval upon his actions.  However, when we read the passage that deals with this episode, we discover that heaven’s displeasure came because Asa did not first seek the Lord and indeed had so little regard for the word of God that he had sent the local preacher, Hanani, to prison.

(5) Healing by the Food Laws of Leviticus

I don’t believe for a moment that the Lord gave Israel the food laws to make life difficult for them.  The Lord is our Doctor and knows what foods are good and bad for us to eat. He declared, “for I am the LORD that healeth thee” (Exodus 15:26). Although the keeping of the food laws will not contribute to our salvation, they are probably worth a good consideration for health purposes.  I know there are people who take the Food Laws too far.  There was one group I knew of who used to sing about their loyalty to the food laws.  They sang,

“Keep the Food Laws,
They are good laws,
You know I’m feeling fine
Since I left off eating swine
Keep the Food Laws
They are good laws
I aim to keep the Food Laws all the time.

Amusing!  However there ought to be some wisdom and health ideas to be gleaned from them.

(6) Healing by our Faith

Acts 14:9 “The same heard Paul speak: who stedfastly beholding him, and perceiving that he had faith to be healed,”

Mark 5:34, “And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.”

Matthew 9:29“Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you.”

(7) Healing by the Faith of Others

Luke 7:9 “When Jesus heard these things, he marvelled at him, and turned him about, and said unto the people that followed him, I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.”

James 5:14-16 “Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:  And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up;

Even Better News!

Here’s some even better news.  The Lord is not committed to keep patching up these old bodies of ours.  Rather, He’s committed to giving us entirely new bodies. In Romans 8:23 we read “Not only the creation, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.”  In 1 Corinthians 15:52 we read, “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. ---- the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.

Each believer will be give a new resurrection body and we shall be like him.  Our bodies will never decay or be sick and diseased.

And that’s the Gospel Truth!