I 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.”
We believe that divine healing was provided in the atonement. Isaiah 53:4-5 says, “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.” We serve a healing Jesus. When He was beaten by the Roman soldiers it was for our healing. I Peter 2:24 says, “by whose stripes you were healed.”
The first mention of healing in the Old Covenant is in Exodus 15:26, “If you will diligently heed the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I brought on the Egyptians. For I am the Lord who heals you.”
The word heals comes from the Hebrew word, rapha. It means “to cure, heal, repair, mend, and restore health. The main idea of the verb rapha is physical healing. Some have tried to explain away the biblical teaching of divine healing, but all can see that this verse speaks of physical diseases and their divine cure.”(i) The Lord reveals Himself to Israel as Jehovah our Physician.
This is the Old Covenant of healing, but what about healing in the New Covenant? Healing in the New Covenant is prophesied by Isaiah in the Old Covenant. James, the half-brother of Jesus wrote in James 5:13-15, “Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. 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 sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.”
Dr. Jack Hayford writes, “Just as Exodus 15:26 is called the Old Testament Divine Healing Covenant, James 5:13-18 is viewed as the New Testament Divine Healing Covenant. The inspired apostle affirms that sick persons whom the elders of the church anoint with oil, and for whom they pray will be healed.”(ii)
What is my declaration of faith? I still believe in divine healing.
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