Should Christians get Sick?

The New Testament is full of verses that say when Jesus died on the cross, it was to take upon Himself the wrath of God for our sins. He died that we might live forever. This is a clear teaching. His death is our substitute. Because of it, God can forgive and cleanse sin in the lives of those who put their faith in Jesus.

Occasionally I meet someone who claims that there is also physical healing in the atonement. They use the following passage to back up their claim, and say if Christians would only believe this, we would never get sick.

(Jesus) 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. For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls. (1 Peter 2:24-25)

From my own study on this, I’ve asked the following questions. First, if Jesus also bore our sickness, why was He not sick? Why didn’t He die of heart disease or cancer or something that shows this is what He was doing?

Second, if this is what this verse means, why is the entire context around it talking about sin? Also, why are there no other verses that say Christians should never experience sickness? Rather, it seems that God can use sickness. Granted, sometimes it is for chastening His wayward children, but sometimes He uses it to show His sustaining power and even His healing power.

I also wondered how God would take many of us home to heaven if we never became ill. Would we have to experience violence or accidents to get from this life to the next? Depending on how illness is defined, even dying in one’s sleep involves some sort of bodily failure.

As I think about dying and the next life, I know in heaven I will experience perfection. I will not sin ever again, nor will I ever be sick. This is God’s promise. With that, I have come to this conclusion; yes, there is healing in the atonement — I am healed from the penalty of sin because the great work of Christ on the cross secured that for me.

He also gave me the power to overcome sin in this life. I will not succeed totally, but one day I will be sinless as He is. That is the power of His sacrifice for me.

As for sickness, I believe there is a similar thing happening. One day I will be totally free of all ailments, including the aches and pains of aging, but in this life that will not happen. I can take good care of myself and ask for healing when I am sick, but these bodies are not made to last forever. For that, I need a new body and I will not get it until I die, perhaps from sickness.

I’ve wondered why those who claim there is healing in the atonement are often sick. I also wonder why, if is true that complete healing is for this life, why not claim it for sin also? Sickness has the potential to draw me closer to God, but sin always pushes me away. For that reason, being free from sin seems even more desirable than being free from coughs and colds or worse.

The marvel of these verses from 1 Peter is that Jesus bore my sins so that I can die to sin and live for righteousness. I’ve seen amazing miracles in the realm of physical healing, but they do not compare with God healing someone from a life of sin. Physical healing is temporary; everyone eventually dies physically because our bodies are deteriorating, but spiritual healing lasts forever.

This is why death to sin is so fantastic. When someone trusts Jesus Christ and dies to sin, God produces spiritual healing and new life, a new life that is being transformed into the likeness of Christ, a new life that will never die.

In this life, we have trouble. The world is filled with challenges, and because of sin, it is also full of sickness and death. Jesus overcomes the world and offers me perfection someday in a new one. Until then, I must tackle, in faith, whatever comes along. When I pray about my challenges, He might take them away (including sickness), or He might give me grace to face and experience tough times, including sickness. Either way, my goal is to not sin and totally trust Him.

Just say the Word, Lord

For sixteen years before Christ came into my life, I read the Bible almost every day. My mother sat down each morning with her Bible, and at thirteen, I started this habit also. I couldn’t understand what it said, but I thought that this is what I was supposed to do.

Many times I am thankful to my mother for her example. After I became a Christian, daily devotions were easy for me. At times I’ve reduced this to a ritual in the same way they were for so many years, but not often. As I hear God speak to my heart and experience His work in my life, I’m eager to spend time with Him every morning.

In fact, I cannot go forward until I hear from God each day. His Word is powerful and as my father used to say, “heals whatever ails you.” Psalm 107:17-21 describes this process:

Fools, because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, were afflicted. Their soul abhorred all manner of food, and they drew near to the gates of death. Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and He saved them out of their distresses. He sent His word and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions. Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men!

Typically a person waits until they are at the end of their rope to call out to God, and that is what the psalmist describes. How much better to call on Him every day. When He sends His Word, it not only heals whatever ails my spirit, but strengthens my heart and gives me courage to face whatever the day may bring. It also gives me energy, because as I talk back to Him, I feel all my weights and concerns lifted. I know He is in charge and He will take care of everything.

Today’s devotional reading in Ears from Harvested Sheaves is so good that I’m just going to read it again and rejoice that first thing each morning all I need to do, and all I want to do, is call on the Lord. The reading (slightly edited) says:

What an effect a word from God can produce! Be it in reading; in hearing; on the knees; or in secret meditation; when a word drops from the Lord’s mouth with any divine power into the soul, what a change it produces! And nothing but this divine power can ever bring a poor sinner out of his miserable condition. When this comes, it does the work in a moment; it heals all the wounds which sin has made, and repairs all the breaches in the conscience that folly has produced. One word from God heals them all. The Lord does not come as it were with bandages to heal first one sore and then another. He heals now as in the days of His flesh. When he healed then, he healed fully, at once, completely.
The earthly doctor heals by degrees; he puts a bandage on one sore, and liniment on another; and heals one by one. But when the Lord heals, it is done in a moment. The balm of Gilead flows over all the wounds, heals them up, and makes them perfectly whole. It is then with the soul as with the woman with the issue of blood; “she felt in her body she was healed of that plague.”
And this is healing! Any testimony from God, really from God, does it in a moment. If you can get but one word from God into your soul to make you believe you are a child of God, and interested in His pardoning love and mercy, every wound, though there be a million, yet, every wound will be healed instantaneously. This is the only healing worth having. To be healed by evidences is like being healed by bandages. You want an evidence here, and an evidence there, as a man that has his body full of sores wants a bandage upon every wound.
But one word from God is the real panacea, the true, the only “heal-all” and Jesus (who is the Living Word) the only true infallible Physician. To be healed completely, you must look to the Lord.

Amen!