Critical Issues CommentaryA monthly commentary on Biblical concerns that impact you

1Peter 2:24 and Healing

“Confessing” One's Healing

Physical Healingand the Atonement

written by Bob DeWaay

Matthew 8:16b,17“. . .and He cast out the spirits with aword, and healed all who were ill in orderthat what was spoken through Isaiah theprophet might be fulfilled, saying, `HeHimself took our infirmities, and carriedaway our diseases.'”

1Peter 2:24“And He Himself bore our sins in Hisbody on the cross, that we might die tosin and live to righteousness; for by Hiswounds you were healed.”

A teaching that has been popular sincethe nineteenth century says that Jesus diedfor our sicknesses as well as our sins.Matthew 8:16,17 & 1Peter 2:24 are thepassages cited as proof. The doctrine iscalled “physical healing in the atone-ment.” The implications of this are thatChristians should have just as much con-fidence that God will heal their bodies asthey have that God will forgive their sins.Also, Christians should not expect it to beGod's will for them to be sick any morethan it would be His will for them to con-tinue in sin. Some take the First Peterpassage to mean that we are alreadyhealed and we must merely confess thefact and deny the “lying symptoms” thatappear to be in our bodies. Matthewquoted Isaiah 53:4a and Peter Isaiah53:5b, both of which are in the context ofIsaiah's prophecy about Messiah's atoningwork.

A.B. Simpson, founder of the Christianand Missionary Alliance, chooses 1Peter2:24 to show healing through the atone-ment for us now.1 After quoting 1Peter2:24 he states:

In His own body He has borne allour bodily liabilities for sin, and ourbodies are set free. In the one cruel“stripe” of His - for the word is sin-gular - was summed up all the aches

and pains of a suffering world.There is no longer need that weshould suffer what Christ has su-fficiently borne. Thus our healingbecomes a great redemption rightthat we simply claim as our pur-chased inheritance through theblood of Christ's cross.2

The fact that A. B. Simpson called heal-ing a “right” to be “claimed,” could possi-bly lead to a rather insolent attitude to-ward our Lord. It is better to ask God for“grace to help in our time of need” (He-brew 4:16b) than to claim our rights. The“claim your rights” approach has beenaccentuated by some modern healingpreachers.

Another writer from early in the twenti-eth century also uses 1Peter 2:24 to showhealing in the atonement. Dr. T. J.McCrossan wrote Bodily Healing and theAtonement in 1930, which was repub-lished by Kenneth Hagin in 1982. Hestates, “We can, therefore, be fully as-sured that when Peter declares, `By . . .[His] stripes [bruise] ye were healed,' heis referring to our bodily healing, and notto any spiritual healing.”3 McCrossanclaims that “iaomai” (The Greek wordfor heal used in 1Peter 2:24) alwaysspeaks of physical healing. Contrary tothis assertion, The Theological Dictionaryof the New Testament states about thisGreek word translated “healed” in 1Peter2:24, “In the literature of the apostolicage the figurative use of the terms isrestricted to OT quotations apart from thesingle instance at Hb. 12:13. . . In 1 Pt.2:24, Is 53:5 is referred to the atoningwork of Christ. In such passages `iasthai'denotes the restoration of divine fellow-ship through the forgiveness of sins, andall the saving benefits which accompanyit.”4

Modern writers and teachers also use1Peter 2:24 to teach bodily healing in theatonement. Dr. Paul Yonggi Cho writesreferencing Isaiah 53:5 and 1Peter 2:24,“Quoting this scripture, Peter writes elo-quently that our Lord redeemed us fromour sins and sicknesses at the same time:`who his own self bare our sins in hisown body on the tree, that we, being dead

to sins, should live unto righteousness: bywhose stripes ye were healed.'”5 He alsoreferences this passage to teach that, “. . .we proclaim the truth that as many as aresaved should also experience healing.”6

Dr. Cho deals with Isaiah 53:4 and its usein this connection: “Accordingly, if webelieve that Christ redeemed us from oursins, we should believe that He redeemedus from our sicknesses also. If we cannotbelieve in both kinds of redemption, wemust not believe in any kind of redemp-tion, for Jesus carried away both our sinsand our sicknesses.”7

I am concerned that this position couldhave a detrimental effect on some whoaccept it. It backs us into a corner, forcingus to adopt this stringent version of physi-cal healing or question our redemption.Can the Christian who is suffering withphysical illness still rest assured that hehas been redeemed by the blood ofChrist?

Popular faith teacher Kenneth Haginstates:

The best method by which you canbe healed is to know for yourselffrom our text Scriptures (Isaiah53:4,5, Matthew 8:17, and FirstPeter 2:24) that healing is in God'sredemptive plan; it belongs to you;and by His stripes we are healed.We refuse to allow disease of sick-ness in our bodies, because we AREhealed. We know that the pain,sickness, or disease that seems to bein our bodies was laid on Jesus. Hebore it. We do not need to bear it.All we need to do is agree with Godand His Word and accept the factthat “himself took our infirmities,and bare our sicknesses” and “withhis stripes we are healed.” . . . Allbelievers should thoroughly under-stand that their healing was con-summated in Christ. When theycome to know that in their spirits -just as they know it in their heads -that will be the end of sickness anddisease in their bodies.8

This approach to healing is forceful andseemingly very positive if true. Christiansneed not be sick because 1Peter 2:24says that we are already healed. If we aresick it is because of a lack of the rightkind of knowledge. However, it is notclear what differentiates “head” knowl-

1Peter 2:24 in Context

Matthew 8:16,17 and Healing

Atonement is for Sins

edge and “spirit” knowledge. These cate-gories could possibly be construed interms of Greek mysticism or gnosticismin which the material realm is illusory orless real than the spiritual realm. This isnot the view of the Jewish writers ofScripture.

Another example of the “Word ofFaith” approach is shown in the followingquotation of popular faith preacher Fred-erick Price:

Jesus said if I'd believe it in myheart and say it with my mouth, Icould have it. And the reason I canhave it is, when He died on Calvary,He healed me then. “. . . Himselftook our infirmities and bare oursicknesses” (Matthew 8:17). “. . . bywhose stripes ye WERE healed”(1Peter 2:24). The Bible says that. Italso says the Word is nigh me, evenin my mouth. So I just start saying,“Praise God, I'm healed.” When thedevil comes and tries to put a symp-tom on me, I say, “You can't putthat on me, I'm healed. Didn't youknow that? Read the Bible, devil.I'm healed.”9

Millions of books, tracts, and audio tapeshave been published in the last twentyyears promoting this approach to physicalhealing. Many Christians have placedgreat hope and expectation in the teachingthat they are healed and must confess theirhealing no matter what the condition oftheir body. Some testify that this ap-proach works and others that they havebeen disappointed by it.

The problem is that there is a self-fulfilling aspect to claiming healing as aredemption right and then steadfastlyconfessing it without regard to apparentsymptoms. If one is not healed and even-tually admits it or the condition becomestoo severe to hide, it is easy to say thatthey did not have the proper faith and usethe fact that they are now “confessing”their sickness as proof of inadequate faith.In my own experience I have seen peoplefrustrated and afraid to admit that theyneed help with a sickness for fear of dis-appointing their Christian friends who areconfessing healing. “If I am supposed tobe healed,” they reason, “then somethingmust be wrong with my faith or God mustbe displeased with me because I am obvi-ously sick.” Peter said that we “arehealed.” What is the problem?

The problem is that 1Peter 2:24 is notabout physical healing. Not only is thefirst part of the verse about the forgive-ness of sins, the next verse also explainsPeter's meaning: “For you were continu-ally straying like sheep, but now you havereturned to the Shepherd and Guardian ofyour souls” (1Peter 2:25). There is nomention of bodily sickness anywhere in1Peter 2. Simon Kistemaker states, “Theexpression healed [in 1 Peter 2:24] means`to be forgiven.'”10 The phrase “you havereturned to the Shepherd” shows whatPeter means by “healed” in verse 24.

It is hard to see how an honest readingof 1Peter 2:24 and the context (followingChrist's example through bearing upwhile suffering in an unjust situationverses 19-23) could lead one to the con-clusion that Christians should not be sickbecause they have already been healed.Peter said, “Christ also suffered for you,leaving you an example for you to followin His steps” (1Peter 2:21). This is thevery opposite of the modern notion thatChrist suffered so we should not have to.The passage is addressed to Christianslaves (1Peter 2:18) who may have beenmistreated by their owners. A. T. Robert-son comments about the word “wounds”in verse 24, “Writing to slaves who mayhave received such stripes, Peter's word iseffective.”11 There is much consolation inthe fact that Christ went through a cruelbeating (like those mistreated slavesmight endure) for the redemptive purposeof bringing them to God. God does healthe sick, but 1Peter 2:24 is not aboutphysical healing.

A better case can be made for Mat-thew 8:16,17 since it is clearly a refer-ence to supernatural, physical healing.Jesus healed sick people during his earth-ly ministry and Matthew quoted Isaiah53:4 to show that He fulfilled Old Testa-ment prophecy in doing so. The issue tobe resolved is whether this implies thatthe death, burial and resurrection ofChrist pays for the sicknesses of Chris-tians.

A.B. Simpson bases healing in theatonement on his exegesis of Isaiah53:4,5. He reasons, “Christ literally sub-stituted His body for our body. That is themeaning of the words, `surely he hathborne our sicknesses.' He took them uponHimself and relieved us of the load by His

atonement.”12 He then refers to the com-monly repeated notion that Christ died ofa “rupture of the heart,” and concludes:“He died from the disease which He borefor us. So there is a sense in which Christwas really sick, but it was in our place,for it is added in the next verse, ̀ And withhis stripes we are healed' (Isa. 53:5).”13

The next passage cited is Matthew8:16,17 from which he argues that Mat-thew confirms that Isaiah meant physicalhealing.14

Dr. T. J. McCrossan presents a mostextensive analysis of Matthew's use ofIsaiah 53:4 to show that Christ died forour sicknesses as well as our sins.15 Themain problem to be overcome is the factthat the phrase “in order that it may befulfilled” is found six other times (Mat-thew 1:22; 2:15; 2:23; 12:17; 13:35;21:4) in Matthew to show that prophecywas fulfilled during the life of Christ onearth, before His ascension into heaven.Though Matthew 12:27 does in a senseconcern future matters, the context con-cerns why Jesus did not want those hehealed to make Him known (Matthew12:16) - so that these future things wouldhappen. The Jews elsewhere sought tomake Him king in a nationalistic sense(John 6:15) and if that happened theGentiles would not hope in Him asprophesied by Isaiah (Matthew 12:21).

In spite of Dr. McCrossan's argumentsto the contrary,16 Matthew 12:17 is aboutthe fulfillment of prophecy during Christ'searthly ministry as is every other use of“pl‘rÇth‘” (that it might be fulfilled) inMatthew. Therefore it is reasonable toconclude that Matthew 8:17 is about thefulfillment of Old Testament prophecy,showing that Jesus is the Messiah.

That all of the Messianic passages andworks of Christ that demonstrate HisMessianic mission are applicable toChristians through out the church age isclear. The very fact that Jesus is theChrist makes many claims upon modernreaders, not the least of which is HisLordship and the necessity of our sub-mission to Him. However, Matthew 8:17does not demonstrate that Christiansshould expect to never be sick or thatthose who are have not lived up to thepurpose of the atonement.

Merrill F. Unger emphasizes the sover-eign act of God in physical healing:

Physical Healing

Likewise, healing in the case of aChristian is a direct and sovereignact of God's gracious power, flowingfrom the cross of Christ, as all God'sblessings to fallen man, but inde-pendent of it and subject to the dis-pensation of an all-wise HeavenlyFather. This is the reason why Mat-thew declares Isaiah's prophecy thatChrist would bear `our sicknesses'and carry our `sorrows' (Isa. 53:4)was fulfilled in Christ's ministry ofphysical healing (Matt. 8:17), not inHis atoning death on the cross.Christ's miracles of healing servedto certify Him as the Redeemer andwere signs of the spiritual healingHe came to bring. At the same timethey were pledges also of the ulti-mate full deliverance of the re-deemed, not only from sin, but fromevery evil consequence of it in thebody as well as the soul. In thissense only did Christ atone for ourphysical sicknesses.17

This point is important. There are manyconsequences of sin and Christ's atoningdeath ultimately delivers believers fromall of them, though not totally until afterthe resurrection. We have the “earnest” ofthe spirit now that includes His gifts(including “healings” 1Corinthians12:9) working in the church.

We cannot say that in a “perfect”church there would be no sick Christiansbecause they would all be walking in thefull provision of physical health providedin the atonement. In such a case, therewould be no need to call the elders to prayfor the sick (James 5:14-16) or for theoperation of the gift of healing. One couldargue that these provisions are for thecarnal Christians who do not “know intheir spirits” that they are already healed;but to do so is stating what the Bible doesnot say. “Physically sick Christians” and“carnal Christians” are not synonymous.

For Example, Epaphroditus had riskedhis life (Philippians 2:30) by going on adangerous journey while sick to bring agift from Philippi to Rome for Paul. Paulsaid, “God had mercy on him,” (Philippi-ans 2:27) and that the Philippians should“hold men like him in high regard”(Philippians 2:29). If Christians whobecome sick are falling short of God'sprovision in the atonement because ofspiritual ignorance, sin, or unbelief, thenwhy would Paul urge that such a one beheld in high regard?

In an excellent, comprehensive, and upto date article on healing, Douglas Moo

discusses (along with many other issuesabout healing) Matthew 8:17 and itsrelationship to the healing in the atone-ment doctrine. He states, “The problem isthat Matthew says nothing in this contextabout Jesus' death. Matthew may not,then, have Jesus' death in mind at all ashe cites Isa. 53:4: the Hebrew text that heappears to use, may simply have pre-sented itself to him as a useful OT`prooftext' for the healing ministry ofJesus.”18 He doubts this possible interpre-tation because Matthew does link Isaiah53 with the atonement elsewhere in hisgospel and this would have him takingIsaiah 53:4 out of context. He rather rea-sons,

Matt. 8:17 implies that Jesus' deathis the basis for his healing of phys-ical disease. But we should probablyrefrain from speaking of healingbeing “in” the atonement. For, asWarfield points out, “atonement”has to do with the cancellation ofguilt, and should be directly appliedonly to sins. We would prefer, then,to say that physical healing is oneeffect of the atoning death ofChrist.19

This point is well taken. If sicknessneeds atonement and one of the aspects ofatonement is the appeasement or satisfac-tion of the wrath of God against sinners(Romans 3:5,23-26; 5:9,10), then thosewho are sick would have reason to feelparticularly subject to God's wrath be-cause of being sick. It seems incongruousfor the physically suffering to go beforeGod needing atonement for their circum-stances. The sick are not worse sinnersthan the healthy (John 9:2f & Luke13:1-3).

Doug Moo also discusses the relation-ship between sin, sickness and the future:

This being the case, and the effectsof Christ's death being applied topeople through a process of time, itis specious to claim that the believermust have deliverance from sicknessin the same way and to the sameextent that he or she has deliverancefrom sin. The atoning death ofChrist provides for the healing of allour diseases - but nothing in Mat-thew or in the NT implies that thishealing will take place in this life.20

Clearly the fullness of healing will take

place at the resurrection and this is adirect benefit of the atonement. Perfecthealth and healing for eighty plus yearsresulting in an eventual, peaceful step intoeternity when the Lord calls us home islikely the hope and desire of every Chris-tian. This was not what happened forevery saint in the New Testament nor is itfor many today in spite of modern medi-cine.

It is not surprising that the teachingthat every Christian ought to have thisexperience because of the atonementmeets with resistance by some and frus-tration by others. Many do not believe thedoctrine because prima facie it is not theway things are. Others believe it becausethe arguments of those who teach it areconvincing, but they are frustrated be-cause they cannot live up to it. This situa-tion has caused some recent rethinkingand modification of the teaching of divinehealing.

Peter Masters (who sees danger inmany modern healing teachings) concedesthat, based on Matthew 8:17, the “Sav-iour bore away for us on Calvary both thepunishment for sin and the consequencesof sin, which include all the results of thecurse - disease, suffering, misery anddeath.”21 He agrees that, “. . . there is nodoubt that bodily restoration is purchasedin the atonement. But it does not followthat this bodily restoration is whollyavailable now.”22 He illustrates this withdeliverance from physical death that isprovided in the atonement, but which wehave not yet received. He concludes, “Ifthe Lord, in answer to prayer, grants thatwe recover from an illness, we rememberthat He purchased the right to forgive andheal us by bearing away the conse-quences of sin on Calvary. But the prin-cipal fruit of this aspect of our Lord'satonement lies in the future, when allsickness and bodily decay, includingdeath, will be swept away for ever. . . Thehealings which we may experience noware merely a token of that coming deliver-ance.”23

That healings are provisional and notabsolute is clear from the fact of the agingprocess that leads to death. The atoningwork of Christ primarily concerns oursins because it is sin that separates usfrom the Holy God. It was sin thatbrought about the fallen condition thatmade disease possible. Sicknesses areonly one of the consequences of sin. Theultimate consequence is death, for whichJesus died to deliver us. This deliverance

Implications and Applications

Written by Bob DeWaay, TwinCity Fellowship, P.O. Box 8068,

has its ultimacy in the resurrection thatputs an end to sickness and death.

It is clear that Matthew cited Isaiah53:4 to show that Jesus the Messiahfulfilled this prophecy when He healedsick people during His earthly ministry.This has further implications because ofthe nature of Isaiah 53 and its reference toMessiah's atoning work. Yet it does not,as far as the Matthew passage itself goes,directly address the modern questions thatmany are trying to answer. For example,Matthew was not answering the question,“should every believer whose sins havebeen cleansed by the blood of Christexpect not to become sick?” Neither doeshe answer the question, “Should allbelievers who have become sick considerthemselves having fallen short of the willof God for their lives through neglect, sin,or unbelief?” There is a relationship be-tween these questions and Matthew8:16,17 but it is an indirect one.

Because it is clear that there is prom-ised total deliverance from disease anddeath through the resurrection and be-cause our resurrection is assured becauseof the resurrection of Jesus Christ (a partof the atoning work of the Cross) it isclear that our healing is in the atonement.It is not clear to what extent that, becauseof the atonement, we can expect to experi-ence physical healings of the illnesses thatafflict, in differing degrees, all humanbeings. Can God promise healing to Hispeople even in this life, without the con-verse being true - that those Christianswho are not healed from some physicalmaladies are falling short of the will andplan of God for their lives?

Because the atonement of Christ isapplied to sin and not primarily or di-rectly to the various effects of sin, andbecause the New Testament does notindicate that the absence of sickness andweakness is to be the norm for Christians,and because of the obvious fact that allhumans, including faithful Christians,have some degree of “sickness” or depar-ture from perfect health in their bodies,the physical healing in the atonementtheory as popularly understood is not true.Healing is in the atonement in the sensethat all the benefits of Christ'ssubstitutionary death apply to all believ-ers and will find their complete fulfill-ment at the return of Christ and the resur-

rection. It is because of the atonement thatChristians have been healed, are beinghealed and will be healed. This does notmean that we should expect never tosuffer with an illness in this life or thatGod has guaranteed to remove any illnessthat might come into one's life.

If a Christian becomes sick, he or sheshould faithfully and obediently ask Godfor healing according to the instructionsof James 5:14-16. God's promise to“raise up” the sick person does not haveto be absolute to be valid. We shouldteach the saints about this matter andhave the elders of the church available toanoint the sick with oil and pray for them,with confession of sins as is appropriate.Calling upon the Lord in faith and inobedience to Scripture is clearly the rightthing to do. The presence or absence of aninstantaneous miracle of healing does notdetermine the validity of the prayer andanointing.

Also, the Scripture does not state thatJames 5:14-16 is the only thing the sickChristian can do. For one thing, he or shecan seek medical attention. Ongoingprayer for the suffering in any congre-gation is in order. It is unwise to presentthe matter in such a way that one's par-ticipation in the benefits of Christ's atone-ment is placed in doubt if physical ail-ment persists.

Scripture taken from the New AmericanStandard Bible, © Copyright 1960, 1962,1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975,1977, 1988, The Lockman Foundation.Used by permission.

www.twincityfellowship.com/cic