Poor Isaiah, no one would believe his message given by God. Jesus, who’s that? It is said that literally all who came to Him were healed. All. Every last one of them. Luke in Acts, says Jesus healed “ALL” who were oppressed by Satan.  Yet it is said, as a whole, they did not believe Jesus. Isaiah prophesied of it. They did not believe the message. Jesus performed the message in their faces, and they did not believe Him either. Matthew (8:17) says this is a fulfillment of Isaiah 53; yes, the one about Jesus being an atonement in our place, as a high priest.

If you use this passage to rebuke religious legalism, but not failure to receive healing, then you negate forgiveness of sins, because both are produced by the same substitutionary atonement and same Jesus as high priest. God has defined what a substitutionary death is by His word. There is no other definition of it that is an accurate description of reality. Isaiah 53 puts healing as something Jesus mediated between God and man in His substitutionary atonement.

Some might suggest the temporary healing of the body is not as important as forgiveness of sins. First, Jesus (and the Father) was fixated with healing people. It is God’s nature. Do you even know Him? Second, a promise produced by the bloodshed of Jesus is still a blood purchased promise, regardless of the priority of importance. To make little of any of them is to make little of the blood of Jesus and the faithfulness of God to sovereignly uphold God’s Word.

God has been from the beginning of Genesis giving definitions to the world He created and directly controls.  He has given definitions about categorical reality, such as that all plants will produce seeds after their own kinds or species. God has defined new-creations in Christ, as those who “by His wounds are healed.” This definition God etched upon the back of His only Son in stripes. And yet people will look at the scarred back, and still not believe God’s message.

“Who has believed our message…

Surely he took up our [sicknesses] and bore our [pain],
But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities…
and by his wounds we are healed,” (Isaiah 53:4-5, NIV).

 

At least King David believed this ancient message that was preached even before Isaiah. Even a Canaanite dog, who was outside the timing to receive the atonement benefits, still believed the message. Yet, to those who it was preached to, rejected it.

“Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits—
who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases,” (Psalm 103, NIV).

Did you know that the prayer offered in faith will save a sinner? They will be forgiven! Not maybe, but they will be. Do you know why? Because God is sovereign in keeping His promises. Because Jesus has already finished the substitutionary atonement in our place. Thus, you have no problem with me saying that, the prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, right? They will be raised from the sick bed, right?

This is God’s nature, it is the fulfilled atonement, and it is His faithful promise. Yet, who has believed our message?

“And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven,” (James 5:15 NIV).

Vincent commenting on this topic says,

“Settle clearly in your mind the various topics. With something like healing, decide why it is wrong to say that it happens “if it is God’s will.” Your spouse never says, “I know that God promised salvation to anyone who has faith in Christ, but even when there is faith, it happens only if it is God’s will. So it is possible for someone to have more faith than Jesus himself and still be damned to hell.” Your spouse never says this. But the healing of the body stands on the same basis as the forgiveness of sin — the atonement (Matthew 8:17). Therefore, for someone to say that healing happens only “if it is God’s will” regardless of our faith is also a logical repudiation of salvation by faith. In principle, this person cannot be a Christian. The least we can say is that there is a gross inconsistency, and it comes from unbelief. It is the opposite of reverence for God’s will. God was the one who sovereignly sent Jesus to bare our sins and diseases. [1]

The Bible teaches that deliverance from damnation is not the only benefit of the atonement, but among many other things, it also offers healing for the body. Matthew 8:16-17 says, “When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: ‘He took up our infirmities and carried our diseases.'” This applies Isaiah’s prophecy about the atonement to the healing miracles of Christ. Thus it is certain that the atonement offers healing for the body, and that this benefit is manifested in miracles of healing, and not in natural remedies. Since verse 16 also mentions the “demon possessed,” this means that verse 17 – the atonement – applies to both those who are afflicted by physical sicknesses and those who are afflicted by demonic powers. Anyone who denies this doctrine makes himself an enemy of the atonement, and holds the blood of Christ in contempt…

If someone says, “Since faith for salvation is a sovereign gift, I will not come to Christ, but wait for faith. If God wills, he will save me.” We would realize that he is making an excuse for his unbelief, uncertainty, and rebellion. We would answer, “Now he commands all people everywhere to repent” (Acts 17:30), and “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Acts 2:21). Likewise, although God is sovereign over healing as he is sovereign over everything, this is not an excuse for unbelief, uncertainty, and rebellion. We relate to God on the basis of his precepts, not his decrees. He says, “The prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up” (James 5:15), and “Everything is possible for him who believes” (Mark 9:23).[2]

——–Endnotes————

[1] Vincent Cheung. Fulcrum 2017. P.28

[2] Vincent Cheung. Biblical Healing. 2012. P 8,12.