“But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.” (Isaiah‬ 53‬:5‬ NIV‬‬). I listened (not for long) as a preacher used the last part of that verse to claim that God will heal any and all Christian’s of their physical maladies.  He stated that when we say that if God doesn’t heal us here, in this life, He will heal us in heaven…we are speaking gibberish (his words). He claimed it was just a lack of faith. Honestly, he said if you are sick God will absolutely heal you.  Really?

I know lots of Christians that got sick and the sickness resulted in death.  Did they die because of weak faith?  Did they pass away simply because they didn’t believe God would heal them? Absolutely not.  If you read the whole verse of Isaiah 53:5 you will see that Isaiah is clearly speaking in the spiritual sense. It is for our spiritual self…our sinful nature… that Christ was pierced, crushed, punished, and wounded.

Can God heal physical sicknesses? Yes! He has done it in the past and He will do it in the future.  He is, indeed, the Great Physician. But God heals whom He chooses and for what reasons He chooses.  You will never convince me that the Christians that I have known only tasted death because their faith was weak and they didn’t believe the Word of God. 

When Eve took that first bite of forbidden fruit our eventual death was sealed.  “Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many…” (Hebrews‬ 9‬:27‬-28‬ NIV‬‬) Christ’s sacrifice, His death on that cross, was about sin, not sickness.

Say good things about your Savior and His Church on the Bluff.