Healing for the Body

Scripture says that Jesus “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” (1 Peter 2:24).

On the cross, Jesus took our sins in His own body, which became the sin offering. He took the curse that we deserved upon Himself in His body on the cross that we might be released from sin. The Scripture also says, “He Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses” (Matthew 8:17) in His own body, that by His wounds we might be healed (see 1 Peter 2:24 NASB, NIV). As far as God is concerned, our release from sin is already accomplished. As far as God is concerned, it is already done.

It is interesting to note that the New Testament does not put healing in the future, but in the past. We have been healed ever since the death of Jesus, “by whose stripes you were healed” (emphasis added). Healing has already been provided. Christians sometimes ask me, “How can I know if it’s God’s will for me to be healed?” I usually answer, “If you are a committed Christian, redeemed by the blood of Jesus, I think you’re asking the wrong question. The question is not, ‘How can I know if it’s God’s will for me to be healed?’ The question is, ‘How can I appropriate the healing that God has already provided for me?’” God’s purpose is to preserve the whole of us: spirit, soul, and body, as Paul said:

“Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely [make you completely holy]; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thessalonians 5:23)