Healing is For the Believer

Isaiah 53:3-5, assures the Christian that they have lawful authority under the name of Jesus to receive or take or draw upon God’s healing power. When a Christian unwillingly becomes sick, diseased, or is involuntarily struck with any type of physical, emotional or mental pain he or she has access to draw upon God’s healing power. But the key is that they must believe or have faith that he or she has the legal permission under kingdom law to access God’s power and that his power will certainly manifest in their body—the Christian must have faith that their healing or miracle has already been provided for and believing it is done even before seeing it.

 Isaiah 53:3-5

“He is despised, and left of men, a man of pains(a), and acquainted with sickness(b), and as one hiding the face from us, He is despised, and we esteemed him not.

Surely our sicknesses(b) he hath borne, and our pains(a)—he hath carried them, and we—we have esteemed him plagued, Smitten of God, and afflicted.

And he is pierced for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace is on him, and by his bruise there is healing(c) to us.”

(Young's Literal Translation—YLT)

Legend: [Transliteration] {Pronunciation}

(a) Pains [mak'ob] {mak·ōve’} (mental or physical pain): Usually translated as sorrow.

Strong's H4341-mak'ob

(b) Sickness [choliy] {khol·ē'}: Usually translated as grief/suffering—choliy comes from the root word [chalah]{khä·lä'} (sick); also means disease/anxiety/illness/disorder (a disruption of normal physical or mental functions; a disease or abnormal condition).

Strong's H2483-choliy; Strong's H2470 – chalah

(c) Healing [rapha’] {rä·fä'}: To heal of individual stresses, to be healed of personal stresses, to cure, to make healthy, to repair.

Strong's H7495 - rapha'

Isaiah 53:3-5, is a prophecy describing the Lord’s atoning sacrifice. Our sins were taken care of because Jesus was pierced or wounded for our transgression, which we generally depict as the Lord hanging on the cross and the Roman soldier thrusting his sword into Christ’s side; but it is much more than that.

The Hebrew word we translate pierced or wounded is [chalal] {khä·lal'}, which not only refers to fatally wound or pierce someone, but figuratively it refers to profaning or polluting oneself, and this is exactly what Jesus suffered when he became our atoning sacrifice. He willingly became defiled for us by receiving our transgression and carrying it into judgment, metaphorically he became impure and unclean and this is why Jesus lost the sense of his Father’s presence as this figurative transaction was taking place.

He was bruised or crushed for our iniquity or wickedness  so that we might have peace before God, so that we might have completeness, soundness of mind and body, and so that we might have health and even success;  for these  things to become possible in our life Jesus had to suffer our correction and discipline.

Then this passage ends with the knowledge that because he was crushed or bruised for our wickedness, healing [rapha’] {rä·fä'} is then also readily available to us in the same way. Most believe the first part, that our sins were atoned for because Jesus was defiled with our transgression, but they have doubts when it comes to Christ’s atonement for our healing likewise. So many Christian’s struggle with this truth, and this mental wrestling match causes them to be filled with doubt instead of faith.

The key for the healing manifestation of Christ is we actually have to believe that sickness, disease, and pain cannot live in our body, that it can have no part in our existence, certainly, we must have faith that Christ was crushed for our iniquities but also that he lifted up our sickness and carried the load of our pain, in order that we might have health in our physical body and mind.

The faith to believe that our sins are forgiven is a revelation from God that many Christians accept without doubt, and the faith to believe we are healed of sickness, disease, and pain is also a revelation from God but regrettably many Christians are not willing to receive this latter truth like they are the former truth, therefore the knowledge of Christ’s healing  is heavily lacking in many churches. Instead, there seems to be a false idea about healing, one that is actually practiced by pagans.

Doubt is very evident and extremely powerful when it comes to healing because of our five senses: Sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch.

The Christian can be afflicted with illness for a number of different reasons, but instead of activating faith to cast out the affliction, which has been already atoned for by the Lord, some Christians just hold onto it, they give in to it and fall under the power of sickness and disease; unconsciously they take ownership of it because of the way sickness, disease, and pain make them feel.

When it comes to the truth that our sickness, disease and pain has already been atoned for there is sadly too much doubt and very little faith. If this truth was actually taught in more churches then I can assure you that this revelation would likely be accepted in a greater degree and as a result sickness, disease and pain would not be able to take a hold of as many as it does now.

The Christian has to think this out: In the light of Christ’s atoning sacrifice which is laid out within Isaiah’s writing’s, in that, Jesus has atoned for not only our iniquities but he has also atoned for our healing, and if the Christian only believes the former and not the latter then he is robbing himself of all the benefits of Jesus’s obedience to the cross. If he doesn’t believe that he is healed by Christ’s atonement then what makes him believe he is forgiven by Christ’s atonement? Both provisions were dealt with in the one sacrifice.

My conviction is; that today’s Christian has little faith, practically none in regards to receiving healing and miracles. It is too easy for us to depend on doctors and modern medicine. Today’s Christian believes more in a prescription then they do in the power of Christ’s atoning sacrifice; his healing power is only an afterthought to many Christians.

I am also of the opinion that it takes more faith to believe we are healed of sickness, disease, and pain because of the physical manifestations of a fallen world that are tangible. We can see, hear, smell, taste and even touch them, we can see and feel the agony and pain of illness—sickness, disease, and pain are always there to remind us of the stronghold they have over humanity.

We have not worked very hard at believing we are healed because the doctor is only a phone call away if our health insurance premiums are paid up, and then we trust in the benefits of our insurance rather than the benefits of our salvation. Believing that we are forgiven of our iniquities is something that we cannot see or feel or touch, nevertheless we believe we are forgiven because we sense the peace of forgiveness in our heart and believe it in our mind, our belief is not because we see some grand physical manifestation of it, at least not just yet anyway. We cannot prove in a tangible way to someone that God has forgiven us, even though our proof is in his word we still cannot prove to the unbeliever that we are forgiven. Even when we sometimes don’t feel forgiven, we still have faith that we are because this truth has been planted in us over the years stifling the power of doubt, we have worked hard at believing we are forgiven, but we have not worked even a little at believing we are healed because we lean too heavily on our health insurance instead.

We believe we are forgiven because there is more talk about this truth than the truth about us being healed. Sensing the forgiveness of sins is a result of actually choosing to believe one is forgiven where believing one is healed is something a Christian vacillates about. Many have trouble with it because they feel the tangible evidence of pain and the discomfort of illness, and then they make the mistake of making themselves familiar with illness and pain; they get acquainted with it like a lifelong companion. Nonetheless, the benefits of our iniquities being forgiven and being healed of our diseases have already been atoned for.

To activate faith, it is a slow and patient procedure, because the years of doubt can be deeply rooted. You start by sincerely confessing your doubt so the Lord can forgive you. From this day on you should continually plant the knowledge of Christ’s atonement over sickness, disease and pain  in your heart so that faith can take root and begin to grow, it will be a little harder than how you planted in your heart the knowledge of your sins forgiven because when you were a babe in Christ that is generally all a Christian is taught, that their sins are forgiven. The knowledge of Christ’s atonement over illness is rarely ever mentioned in most churches and because of that so much doubt is planted and allowed to grow. Even when communion is served all that is mentioned in most churches is Christ’s atonement over our sins and never ever is his atonement over sickness ever acknowledged. Is it no wonder that most Christians doubt about healing because doubt has been planted instead of truth? Faith will increase by reading Scriptures that reveal this knowledge and never neglect constant meditation so that your thoughts will eventually line up with these Scriptures. Over time your faith will slowly increase and doubt will begin to diminish; but I contend it all takes time! You may stumble at times but don’t give up, when you stumble confess it and renounce it. Cast doubt out of you and continually receive faith. As you begin to believe without doubting that Christ not only atoned for your sins but he also atoned for your healing your faith will increase. Over time sickness, disease and pain will not be able to take hold of you like it used to. How much time will it take, you say? Time is up to you and how eager you are to have faith and believe what God has already revealed.

“Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases.”

(Psalms 103:2-3, ESV)

“He sent out his word and healed them, and delivered them from their destruction.”

(Psalms 107:20, ESV)

“That evening they brought to him many who were oppressed by demons, and he cast out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick.

This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: “He took our illnesses and bore our diseases.”

(Matthew 8:16-17, ESV)

“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.”

(1 Peter 2:24, ESV)

“My son, to my words give attention, to my sayings incline thine ear,

Let them not turn aside from thine eyes, preserve them in the midst of thy heart.

For life they are to those finding them, and to all their flesh healing(a).

(Proverbs 4:20-22, YLT)

(a) Healing [marpe'] {mar·pā'}: Health, a cure, produces a healthy and sound mind.

Strong's H4832 - marpe'

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