Is Healing in the Atonement?
And if it is, why doesn't everyone get healed?
One of the fundamental doctrines in most Pentecostal and Charismatic churches is divine healing. Just as Jesus died for our sins, so He also died for our sicknesses. Therefore, when we have faith, we will be healed.
But is this biblically sound? If healing is in the Atonement just as much as forgiveness of sin is, then it should be natural and automatic that everyone gets healed when they believe — since everyone certainly is saved when they believe the Gospel.
However, we all know from experience that everyone does not get healed. I’ve had the privilege of personally interacting with some highly gifted healing evangelists over the last few decades. While they did see many sick people receive healing, in the end, the vast majority of the people they prayed for were not healed.
Does that mean those people were in unconfessed sin of some kind? Or perhaps those who did not get healed lacked faith? And if they lacked faith for healing, how could they know that they have faith for salvation?
Moreover, if so many — actually the majority — do not get healed, is healing even in the Atonement in the first place?
To answer these questions, we must go back to the beginning.
Sickness and Disease Were Part of the Punishment of Man’s Sin
In the beginning, when God created the world, it was “very good.”
And God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good … (Genesis 1:31)
There was no sickness or disease in the Garden of Eden. But when man sinned, the world came under the curse of sin, or “death.”
And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (Genesis 2:16-17)
The curse of sin included physical death and eternal death. This curse also included sickness and disease, as well as many other kinds of suffering in this life.
Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned (Romans 5:12)
This is confirmed by the many Scriptures in both testaments that show the direct relationship between sin and sickness:
Then the Lord sent a plague on the people, because they made the calf, the one that Aaron made. (Exodus 32:35)
Then they yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor, and ate sacrifices offered to the dead; they provoked the Lord to anger with their deeds, and a plague broke out among them. (Psalm 106:28-29)
Some were fools through their sinful ways, and because of their iniquities suffered affliction … (Psalm 107:17)
Therefore I strike you with a grievous blow, making you desolate because of your sins. (Micah 6:13)
Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.” (John 5:14)
For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. (1 Corinthians 11:29-30; see also Num. 12:1-15; Deut. 28; 2 Chron. 21:12-15; 26:18-21; Ps. 38:1-8; 39:10-11)
Sickness is part of the punishment of man’s sin. But, thank God; He did not leave us in this miserable condition!
Jesus Died to Pay the Penalty for Our Sin
On the Cross, Jesus shed His precious blood and satisfied God’s demands for punishment of our sins.
But He was pierced for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His wounds we are healed. (Isaiah 53:5)
Since God’s justice has been satisfied and sin has been fully punished, all the benefits of the Cross are now available to those who are no longer under the curse. This includes physical healing. Therefore, many Scriptures teach the relationship between the forgiveness of sins and the healing of the body:
“… to make atonement for the people of Israel, that there may be no plague among the people of Israel when the people of Israel come near the sanctuary.” (Numbers 8:19)
As for me, I said, “O Lord, be gracious to me; heal me, for I have sinned against you!” (Psalm 41:4)
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits … (Psalm 103:1-2)
And the Lord will strike Egypt, striking and healing, and they will return to the Lord, and He will listen to their pleas for mercy and heal them. (Isaiah 19:22)
And no inhabitant will say, “I am sick”; the people who dwell there will be forgiven their iniquity. (Isaiah 33:24)
“But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” – He then said to the paralytic – “Rise, pick up your bed and go home.” (Matthew 9:6)
Is anyone among you sick? 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 will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. (James 5:14-16; see also Num. 12:11-13; 16:46-48; 25:7-13; 2 Sam. 24:25; 2 Chron. 30:18-20; Ps. 30:2, 5-12; Is. 38:17; 57:18-19; Jer. 33:6-8; Mark 4:12 with John 12:40)
So yes, healing is in the Atonement!
We see this dramatically displayed in the Gospels when Jesus healed all the sick.
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)
This passage quoted by Matthew refers to Jesus’ sufferings on the Cross (Is. 53:4). On the basis of Jesus’ imminent death on the Cross, He forgave the sins of those who sought Him in faith and He healed them. Healing is in the Atonement.
However, does that mean that if we have faith we will always be healed? In many Pentecostal and Charismatic churches the answer is, “Yes, if you have faith you will always be healed.” As one teacher said, “There are no exceptions to the promises of God, but there are conditions. If you meet the conditions, you will always be healed.”
But is this true? Of course, our experience overwhelmingly teaches us that many who do have faith are not healed.
This is because we are currently living in a time of transition — and with this transition there are a variety of tensions.
A Time of Transition
In Christ we have already been fully redeemed at the Cross — spirit, soul, mind and body. But we have not yet experienced the full redemption of the body. This will happen at the resurrection when we receive our eternal, glorified bodies.
Notice Paul’s words in Romans 8:
… we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. (Romans 8:23)
According to Paul, we are “waiting for” the redemption of our bodies.
The redemption of our bodies has already been fully accomplished at the Cross, but it has not yet been fully applied in our experience.
This same idea of a transitional period is found in 2 Corinthians 5:
For in this tent [physical body] we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling [our eternal glorified body], if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened — not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. (2 Corinthians 5:2-4)
Again, we are waiting for the redemption of our bodies.
The complete fulfillment of Jesus’ redemption at the Cross will happen at the resurrection. That is when our bodies will be finally redeemed — when they are transformed into eternal, glorified bodies (1 Cor. 15:35-58). Those bodies will never suffer sickness or disease, or death.
Thus, while we are redeemed now, we have not yet experienced the fullness of that redemption which will not be revealed until the “last time” (1 Pet. 1:5).
Paul often speaks of this in his letters. For example, in Ephesians 2, Paul writes that we are already seated with Christ in the heavenly places:
But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ — by grace you have been saved — and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages He might show the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:4-7)
We are so closely united in Christ and identified with Him that when God raised Christ to the heavenlies we were raised also — in Him.
That we are now already seated with Christ means that we are participating in His superiority over the old order and the old authorities. We have been delivered from the power of the world, the flesh and the devil.
Moreover, whereas we were once entirely entangled in the things of “this world” (Eph. 2:2), now we are united with Christ in the heavenly places. “Our citizenship is in heaven” (Phil. 3:20).
If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. (Colossians 3:1-3)
Since we have been raised with Christ, we must seek the things that are “above.” We must pursue the Kingdom of God, holiness, truth, making disciples, building healthy churches, and not the things of this world (Matt. 6:33).
While it still remains a future experience for us to bodily be seated with Jesus in the heavenlies, yet by the indwelling Holy Spirit we can draw on the spiritual power of that position now. We are still in a daily battle here, but we battle from a place of victory in Christ!
We were buried therefore with Him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. (Romans 6:4)
Because we are in Christ, we can walk in victory in our lives and in our churches!
Again, we see the idea of a time of transition. We are already seated with Christ in the heavenlies, yet we are still waiting for this full experience.
In another place, notice Paul’s words in Ephesians 1:
In Him you also, when you heard the Word of Truth, the Gospel of your salvation, and believed in Him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of His glory. (Ephesians 1:13-14)
The Greek word for “guarantee” means down payment or first installment. In a down payment, that which is given is part of the complete whole; it is of the same kind as that whole, and it functions as a guarantee that the whole payment will eventually come.
The word occurs in only two other places in the New Testament. In 2 Corinthians 1:22, Paul says that God sealed us and gave us the Holy Spirit in our hearts as the “down payment” of more to come.
And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, and who has also put His seal on us and given us His Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee. (2 Corinthians 1:21-22)
In 2 Corinthians 5:5, Paul explains that believers, while in their present earthly home, are given the Spirit as a deposit or guarantee of our future heavenly dwelling.
He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. (2 Corinthians 5:5)
The fact that we have the Holy Spirit now is the absolute proof that we belong to God and that we will one day enter our eternal home in the Presence of God.
Using a different metaphor, in Romans 8:23, Paul says we have the “firstfruits” of the Spirit.
And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. (Romans 8:23)
In the Old Testament, the “firstfruits” were the first part of the crop — they were of the same nature as the rest of the coming harvest but they were only a part, and their harvesting was the foretaste of the rest of the crop. Similarly, we enjoy the firstfruits now of the Presence of God by His indwelling Spirit.
For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. (1 Corinthians 13:12)
In eternity we will know the fullness of our redemption and the fullness of the Holy Spirit; now we experience only a foretaste of the “powers of the age to come” (Heb. 6:5). But that foretaste is the guarantee that the fullness is coming!
Thus, we have already been fully redeemed. Jesus’ death was sufficient to pay the full penalty of our sins — spirit, soul, mind and body. Consequently, when we turn to Jesus in repentance and faith, we are saved immediately. We have the forgiveness of sins and eternal life now! However, it is not the same with the physical healing of the body. The full experience of our bodily redemption is still future (Rom. 8:23).
In the meantime, God still does heal people today and we should expect Him to do so!
How to Pray for the Sick
It is not helpful to tell people that since healing is in the Atonement, they will therefore always be healed if they have turned from sin and have enough faith. It is not an automatic formula.
If we teach that idea to people, then when many of them are not healed, they will experience deep condemnation, believing that either there is some unconfessed sin in their life or they do not have enough faith. This will actually undermine their faith in God!
At the same time, we should confidently expect God to heal the sick today.
Is anyone among you sick? 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 will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. (James 5:14-16)
Of course, God can and does heal people today. Jesus’ death on the Cross has paid the whole price for our sins. Accordingly, while we wait for the final redemption of our bodies at the resurrection, we can still receive healing of our physical bodies now on the basis of Jesus’ work on the Cross.
However, it is not a mechanical formula and must not be treated that way. We must hold the tension that comes with this transitional time.
Perhaps the greatest and clearest expression of faith in the entire Bible is found in Daniel 3. Daniel’s three friends refused to worship the idol and were threatened with being cast into the furnace. Their response was magnificent:
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.” (Daniel 3:16-18)
First, they said, “Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us”! Then they added, “And He will deliver us”! Of course, God is able to do anything. But their faith said that God will do it. This is strong, aggressive faith.
However, then they added one more declaration of even greater faith, “But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”
They fully expected God to deliver them, yet at the same time, they recognized that God is sovereign, and they submitted themselves to His ultimate wise purpose, even if that meant not delivering them.
This is true faith! True faith holds the tension between the promises of God and the reality that we are in a time of transition. True faith holds both at the same time.
This is difficult for Western logical minds that demand simplistic, logical, formulaic answers: “Either God will always heal us if we meet the conditions, or healing must not be in the Atonement.” The reality is that true faith in God is not that simplistic. Just ask Job! He was a righteous man of deep faith in God, yet he suffered greatly.
Thus, during our current transitional time in this life, we should pray for the sick using the profound declaration of the three Hebrew boys who knew and deeply trusted their God: “Our God whom we serve is able to heal us. And He will heal us! But, if not, we will serve Him anyway.”
We should pray with confident expectation toward God and surrender to His sovereign purposes — at the same time.
And we should rest in the faithfulness of God, knowing that Jesus will soon return, and then we will experience the fullness of His glorious redemption.
This is true faith!