The Gift of Healing.
It's important to note that the gift of healing is healing through human agency. It's not when God sometimes answers faithful prayer, even sometimes miraculously. That would be a redefinition of the gift of healing and is unbiblical. Everyone has the right to cry out in prayer and ask for anything. Sometimes God answers those prayers and sometimes, though very rarely, it can be answered in a miraculous manner. But mostly those prayers are answered through providence. That being non miraculous means. God providentially governs everything. It doesn't need to be a miracle for it to be from God.
Here is the Biblical gift of healing...
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Luke 4:40 When the sun was setting, all those who had any that were sick with various diseases brought them to Him; and He laid His hands on every one of them and healed them.
Jesus healed them all.
Acts 5:12-16 And through the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were done among the people. And they were all with one accord in Solomon's Porch. so that they brought the sick out into the streets and laid them on beds and couches, that at least the shadow of Peter passing by might fall on some of them. Also a multitude gathered from the surrounding cities to Jerusalem, bringing sick people and those who were tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all healed.
Peter healed them all.
Acts 28:9 So when this was done, the rest of those on the island who had diseases also came and were healed.
Paul healed them all.
That's the Biblical standard for the gift of healing.
The gift of healing was limited to Jesus, the Apostles, the seventy, and a few close associates like Phillip. It was never meant for the purpose that is wrongly being taught today. It was meant to confirm the message and the messenger. We now have the faith once for all delivered. People are quick to point out that healing and miracles are listed as gifts for the Church in some books from the Bible, but what they fail to realize is that Apostles are among those listed as the gifted because they were part of God's plan at that time and therefore also part of His Church.
Of the whole history of man in scripture, miracles through human agency were performed in three brief periods of time, each being about one hundred years. You can confirm this in your Bible if you do a study about when the miracles were happening. With the exception of a very few miracles like Samson's, the rest of them are clustered together in three one hundred year periods. In each of those one hundred year periods God was speaking to His people and that always resulted in what He said being recorded (His written Word). But now we have the faith that was once for all delivered.
Healing in the atonement.
Many charismatics claim that Isaiah 53 is proof that there is healing in the atonement, and therefore that results in the gift of healing for today. Let's take a closer look at Isaiah 53 and see what God was saying. The correct context of that chapter must be considered.
Isaiah1:4-6 Alas, sinful nation, A people laden with iniquity, A brood of evildoers, Children who are corrupters! They have forsaken the Lord, They have provoked to anger The Holy One of Israel, They have turned away backward. Why should you be stricken again? You will revolt more and more. The whole head is sick, And the whole heart faints. From the sole of the foot even to the head, There is no soundness in it, But wounds and bruises and putrefying sores; They have not been closed or bound up, Or soothed with ointment.
In Isaiah 1, God was using physical sickness as a analogy for spiritual sickness from sin when speaking of Israel. Considering that context, Isaiah 53 makes perfect sense.
Isaiah 53:3-6 He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
The right context doesn't allow modern charismatic interpretations of Isaiah 53.
Now...still not convinced?
1 Peter 2:24 who 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.
The apostle Peter applies Isaiah 53:5 to salvation from sin.
Again, lets look further into the context,
1 Peter 2:25 For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
The expression healed (In 1 Peter 2:24) Means "to be forgiven." The phrase "but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls." shows what Peter means by "healed" in verse 24.
Now, to the question "Is there healing in the atonement"?
There is a sense in which physical healing took place in the atoning work of Christ, but that healing waits to be realized in the future. The physical part of salvation (a physical wholeness) is something we look forward to, not something we possess today.
Rev. 21:4 And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.
The healing ministry of Jesus...
Matthew 8:16 When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick,
8:17 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: "He Himself took our infirmities And bore our sicknesses."
Now, you say that this means we're to claim healing in the atonement, and in a sense that is correct. Other than the authentication of the message and the messenger, Jesus healed people to illustrate the healing in the glory to come. But that's not yet realized. If the healing of the atonement were fully realized now, no Christian would ever be sick or die. The atoning work of Christ spiritually transforms us now and will physically transform us in the future.
--------------
Note: This is not to say that God cannot and does not heal today, even miraculously if He so desires. What it does mean is that He heals according to His will in answer to faithful prayer and no longer heals through the gift of healing (through human agency). It is not God's purpose that all Christians live in perfect health and many times God has a purpose in sickness. Never the less, it is all from God.
Miracle in the Biblical sense of the word...."a miracle is an extraordinary work of God that involves His immediate and unmistakable intervention in the physical realm in a way that contravenes natural processes.
Providence....."Providence is Gods faithful, moment-by-moment control over everything He has made to ensure that everything He has created achieves the end He has chosen."
Many people today confuse providence with miracles (In the Biblical sense of the word). I believe what is happening today is that people are being taught to see Him only in miracles, and as a result, they are trying to make everything into a miracle. But God does not need for us to try to make everything into a miracle to be glorified. He did not create the universe and wind it up like a top just let go, occasionally intervening with a miracle here and there. He created the universe and governs it by His providence. He is intimately involved in every aspect of our lives. All of it. We will glorify God most if we see this. God is sovereign over all things, not just in miracles.
The gift of healing is not for today. The Bible, and the [lack of] evidences prove this overwhelmingly.
Dave
It's important to note that the gift of healing is healing through human agency. It's not when God sometimes answers faithful prayer, even sometimes miraculously. That would be a redefinition of the gift of healing and is unbiblical. Everyone has the right to cry out in prayer and ask for anything. Sometimes God answers those prayers and sometimes, though very rarely, it can be answered in a miraculous manner. But mostly those prayers are answered through providence. That being non miraculous means. God providentially governs everything. It doesn't need to be a miracle for it to be from God.
Here is the Biblical gift of healing...
-------------------------
Luke 4:40 When the sun was setting, all those who had any that were sick with various diseases brought them to Him; and He laid His hands on every one of them and healed them.
Jesus healed them all.
Acts 5:12-16 And through the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were done among the people. And they were all with one accord in Solomon's Porch. so that they brought the sick out into the streets and laid them on beds and couches, that at least the shadow of Peter passing by might fall on some of them. Also a multitude gathered from the surrounding cities to Jerusalem, bringing sick people and those who were tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all healed.
Peter healed them all.
Acts 28:9 So when this was done, the rest of those on the island who had diseases also came and were healed.
Paul healed them all.
That's the Biblical standard for the gift of healing.
The gift of healing was limited to Jesus, the Apostles, the seventy, and a few close associates like Phillip. It was never meant for the purpose that is wrongly being taught today. It was meant to confirm the message and the messenger. We now have the faith once for all delivered. People are quick to point out that healing and miracles are listed as gifts for the Church in some books from the Bible, but what they fail to realize is that Apostles are among those listed as the gifted because they were part of God's plan at that time and therefore also part of His Church.
Of the whole history of man in scripture, miracles through human agency were performed in three brief periods of time, each being about one hundred years. You can confirm this in your Bible if you do a study about when the miracles were happening. With the exception of a very few miracles like Samson's, the rest of them are clustered together in three one hundred year periods. In each of those one hundred year periods God was speaking to His people and that always resulted in what He said being recorded (His written Word). But now we have the faith that was once for all delivered.
Healing in the atonement.
Many charismatics claim that Isaiah 53 is proof that there is healing in the atonement, and therefore that results in the gift of healing for today. Let's take a closer look at Isaiah 53 and see what God was saying. The correct context of that chapter must be considered.
Isaiah1:4-6 Alas, sinful nation, A people laden with iniquity, A brood of evildoers, Children who are corrupters! They have forsaken the Lord, They have provoked to anger The Holy One of Israel, They have turned away backward. Why should you be stricken again? You will revolt more and more. The whole head is sick, And the whole heart faints. From the sole of the foot even to the head, There is no soundness in it, But wounds and bruises and putrefying sores; They have not been closed or bound up, Or soothed with ointment.
In Isaiah 1, God was using physical sickness as a analogy for spiritual sickness from sin when speaking of Israel. Considering that context, Isaiah 53 makes perfect sense.
Isaiah 53:3-6 He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
The right context doesn't allow modern charismatic interpretations of Isaiah 53.
Now...still not convinced?
1 Peter 2:24 who 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.
The apostle Peter applies Isaiah 53:5 to salvation from sin.
Again, lets look further into the context,
1 Peter 2:25 For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
The expression healed (In 1 Peter 2:24) Means "to be forgiven." The phrase "but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls." shows what Peter means by "healed" in verse 24.
Now, to the question "Is there healing in the atonement"?
There is a sense in which physical healing took place in the atoning work of Christ, but that healing waits to be realized in the future. The physical part of salvation (a physical wholeness) is something we look forward to, not something we possess today.
Rev. 21:4 And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.
The healing ministry of Jesus...
Matthew 8:16 When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick,
8:17 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: "He Himself took our infirmities And bore our sicknesses."
Now, you say that this means we're to claim healing in the atonement, and in a sense that is correct. Other than the authentication of the message and the messenger, Jesus healed people to illustrate the healing in the glory to come. But that's not yet realized. If the healing of the atonement were fully realized now, no Christian would ever be sick or die. The atoning work of Christ spiritually transforms us now and will physically transform us in the future.
--------------
Note: This is not to say that God cannot and does not heal today, even miraculously if He so desires. What it does mean is that He heals according to His will in answer to faithful prayer and no longer heals through the gift of healing (through human agency). It is not God's purpose that all Christians live in perfect health and many times God has a purpose in sickness. Never the less, it is all from God.
Miracle in the Biblical sense of the word...."a miracle is an extraordinary work of God that involves His immediate and unmistakable intervention in the physical realm in a way that contravenes natural processes.
Providence....."Providence is Gods faithful, moment-by-moment control over everything He has made to ensure that everything He has created achieves the end He has chosen."
Many people today confuse providence with miracles (In the Biblical sense of the word). I believe what is happening today is that people are being taught to see Him only in miracles, and as a result, they are trying to make everything into a miracle. But God does not need for us to try to make everything into a miracle to be glorified. He did not create the universe and wind it up like a top just let go, occasionally intervening with a miracle here and there. He created the universe and governs it by His providence. He is intimately involved in every aspect of our lives. All of it. We will glorify God most if we see this. God is sovereign over all things, not just in miracles.
The gift of healing is not for today. The Bible, and the [lack of] evidences prove this overwhelmingly.
Dave
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