2 Co 5:21God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that
in Him we might
become the righteousness of God.
First, we must remember repentance is turning toward a truth. And the truth sets us free.
Next, we will look at the sin and sickness connection. This doesn't mean sick people sinned. It does mean sickness entered the world through sin. But now we are the righteousness of God in CHRIST.
Iniquity and healing:
Psalm 103:
2Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits,
3who forgives all your iniquity,
who heals all your diseases,
James 4:
14Is 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.
15And 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.
16Therefore,
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.
We know James is talking about healing (not spiritual healing in this context) and he links it to confessing sins to each other.
Jesus says after healing a man:
John 5:14
14 Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “
See, you are well! Sin no more, wthat nothing worse may happen to you.”
Sickness for unworthily discerning the body of Christ:
1 Co 11:30 That is why many of you are weak and
ill, and some have died.
Make a special note that when referring to sickness, Paul uses the word "ill" not weakness no matter what anyone might try to tell you. Weakness is not sickness. It CAN be a symptom of it.
After James warns us to confess our sins and be healed he says the following:
19My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back,
20let him know that whoever
brings back a sinner from his wandering will
save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.
This doesn't mean all sickness is from personal sin. Scripture tells us that's not the case, but sickness did enter the world through sin. Paul calls it "sinful flesh".
[SUP]Matt 8:2 [/SUP]And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.”
[SUP]3 [/SUP]Then Jesus put out
His hand and touched him, saying, “
I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.
Please note Jesus' willingness to cleanse Him. And Jesus only does what the Father does. This mean the Father was willing for the man to be cleansed, but it was Jesus who made it so. Also special note: the leper didn't ask for forgiveness for any sin so it wasn't a case of God putting leprosy on the man for disobedience, etc. Sickness is a tool of the enemy.
A disability is called a bond of Satan by Christ here:
Luke 13:16And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom
Satan bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?”
Special note: Jesus says who is the one who has kept her bound. And it's not God.
Luke 11:
20But if it is by the
finger of God that I cast out demons, then the
kingdom of God has come upon you.
The finger of God casts out demons. This is the KINGDOM of God coming upon people.
Let's talk about what the commission of Jesus is:
Matt 10:7 And proclaim as you go, saying, ‘
The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’[SUP]
c[/SUP]
8Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers,[SUP]d[/SUP] cast out demons. You received without paying; give without pay.
Note: We see Jesus call His disciples to proclaim the Kingdom not just words, but also with demonstration as He has done. The connection is now made the Kingdom of God removes sickness and casts out demons.
Connection with Kingdom and healing here also:
Luke 9:2 And He sent them out to
proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.
We were not healed spiritually. We died with Christ and were reborn.
Sickness is not simply physical. It's connected spiritually also. Jesus, James, Peter,and Paul showed us this connection.
He cast out demons and people were made well.
Jesus rebuked colds, flu's, etc.
Why did He rebuke them? Because His Kingdom (Authority) doesn't allow them.
Peter says our sins are forgiven, by His stripes we are healed.
Paul says spiritually not discerning the Body of Christ lead to sickness
James says confess sins if needed and be healed.
The 12 were sent, then 70 were sent, Philip was sent, Paul was sent, and Jesus said those who believe in Me will do the same and commanded us to proclaim the gospel of the Kingdom. The idea that only "apostles' or the "original 12" were the only who could heal or are called to heal is incorrect Scripturally.
So where do we land with this? Exactly where we started.
We start knowing ourselves by HIS righteousness not by our sin:
2 Co 5:21God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that
in Him we might
become the righteousness of God.
And the Kingdom of God which is RIGHTEOUSNESS...
And the prayer of the righteous has great power....
Righteousness, right-standing, is when we say yes to the will of God in our life. As it is in Heaven, so shall it be on Earth, in us. We agree with His written word which leads us to His spoken word. And His spoken word produces faith that comes only by hearing the word that proceeeeds out of His mouth (which is bread) not the word that proceeded (past tense). We need the continual bread that all men LIVE off of... (we live not on bread alone, but on His words, spiritual bread).
And we agree with His Words (Amen), His Kingdom manifesting in us and through us, the Kingdom of God according to Scripture is in the Holy Spirit, and Holy Spirit is in us.
Sin is taken care of for those who believe it. And are now IN CHRIST.
Now we are His righteousness.
C.
