Forgiven People Can Be Healed
Forgiveness and healing always go together. We see it throughout Scripture. If you are forgiven, you can be healed! So we’ll deal with this in two parts. In the first part, you’ll see the strong connection between forgiveness and healing. In the second part, you’ll see definite proof that you are forgiven if you are a Christian.
The Connection between Forgiveness and Healing
Psalm 103:2-3:
Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:
Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;
Here David made it clear that God forgave all his sins and healed all his diseases. What would make you think that under a better covenant (Hebrews 8:6), God would forgive only some of your sins and heal only some of your diseases?
You can read the account in Numbers 21:5-9 of deadly serpents sent as judgment against Israel when the people spoke against God and against Moses and complained about the food God had supernaturally fed them. The solution was for Moses to put a serpent on a pole, and anyone who looked at that serpent could live. He would obviously be forgiven and also be healed. The serpent on the pole symbolized Jesus Christ. Don’t take my word for it, take His in John 3:14! Looking at the mere symbol of Jesus could get you forgiveness as well as healing.
You may wonder why Moses didn’t put a spotless lamb on the pole to represent Jesus. It is because Jesus did not look like a spotless lamb on the cross; He looked like a snake. He looked like sin. He became sin for us. He bore our sins on that cross.
You can read the account of the Passover in Exodus 12:12-13. The Israelites had to sprinkle the blood of a slain lamb on their doors. In fact, Exodus 12:7 specifies how it was to be done – it was to be spread across and up, which is fairly obviously a symbol of the cross of Christ. The killer plague that took out the firstborn of Egypt everywhere else passed over houses that had this sign on the door. You can then note in Psalm 105:37 that there was no one feeble in their tribes after partaking of the lamb and sprinkling the blood. This is probably the biggest mass healing in history. They did not have to carry Granny out on a sedan chair (with all due respect for the original Ten Commandments movie) because Granny wasn’t feeble. (Be sure to get your theology from the Bible and not from Hollywood films; it will save you a lot of deception especially when it comes to demon-related matters.)
Israel later forsook God and forgot about His command to celebrate the Passover in a certain way every year. In Hezekiah’s day, they rediscovered the Law and realized they had been negligent. When they celebrated the Passover, even though they didn’t get everything technically right, God answered Hezekiah’s prayer and healed the people (2 Chronicles 30:18-20). So once again healing went along with the symbol of Christ. Again, don’t take my word that Passover was a symbol of Christ; take God’s Word on it in 1 Corinthians 5:7 where He says that “Christ our passover is sacrificed for us.”
Another symbol of the cross appears in Exodus 15:25-26 after Israel faced dying of thirst because the water at Marah was undrinkable. Once again, a symbol of the cross (also known as a tree) provided healing. (When the tree was cast into the water, the water became sweet and drinkable.)
Before we move on to some other illustrations involving forgiveness and healing, consider this question: Is God the biggest false advertiser ever? If everyone could receive healing when a mere symbol that pointed to Christ was presented, but no one can receive healing because of what Christ Himself did, then God would be guilty of false advertising, and the symbols of Christ would be better than Christ who was symbolized! In this world, we are used to misleading advertising. “All items in the store up to 70% off!” can mean that one stick of gum is 70% off while everything else is 0% off. “GOING OUT for BUSINESS” and “ALL ITEMS 5.99 OR LESS Selected Section” speak for themselves. A car dealer promotion where you are “guaranteed to win up to $2500” at which almost everyone gets $5 is another example. “All cars $3000 off today only” sounded like a good enough deal that I went only to find that the stickers on all the cars had been marked UP $3000 that day only so that the net price was the same as any other day. “Everyone gets one of these big prizes or 2 gold coins” meant that you got 2 dollar coins that had been rolled in gold-colored goo. You expect that kind of nonsense when you get car dealer promotions in the mail. But God is not a man that He should lie (Numbers 23:19) or even mislead! If the symbols of Christ got you healed in the Old Testament, surely Christ Himself can get you healed in New Testament times!
Now let’s consider some other examples. These are expounded upon a little more in the Healing and Atonement discussion.
In Numbers 16:44-50, anyone who looked at a serpent on a pole (a symbol of Christ on the cross) was both forgiven and healed.
In Job 33:19-25, we see that a forgiven person has the right to have his youth restored.
In Jeremiah 17:14, being saved and being healed are mentioned together.
In Jeremiah 33:6-8, being forgiven and being healed are mentioned together.
In Luke 5:17-26, Jesus said that He would prove that He could forgive sins by healing someone. In other words, the fact that the man was healed showed that his sins were forgiven – God was not holding those sins against him, so he did not have to suffer the physical punishment that he deserved for his sins.
In the forthcoming 1000-year reign of Christ, people will be forgiven, enabling them to be healed (Isaiah 33:24).
So if a person is forgiven, he can be healed. So now you have to ask yourself whether or not you are forgiven. If you’re a Christian, the Word is very clear on this subject.
You Are Forgiven for Everything!
The passages below show you that you already HAVE redemption and you already ARE forgiven for all your sins:
Ephesians 1:7:
In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
Ephesians 4:32:
And be ye kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.
Colossians 1:14:
In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:
Colossians 2:13:
And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;
Colossians 3:13:
Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.
1 John 2:12:
I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name’s sake.
You are not going to get forgiven at some future point if you are a Christian. You ARE forgiven for all your sins, past, present and future, NOW. (All your sins were future sins when Jesus died on the cross!)
(If you have been taught that you can’t receive forgiveness until you confess individual sins, please see What 1 John 1:9 Really Means to learn the liberating truth.)
Forgiveness and Healing through Intercession
Several Scriptures allude to a situation where the law of sowing and reaping for one or more particular sins is suspended due to the intercession of a believer. In this case, the sickness that the person deserves is canceled. It does not mean that the person ceases to be guilty, but rather that he does not have to pay the price for a particular wrong, at least for a season. This is a big enough topic that it merits a separate discussion of its own, Temporary Cancelation of Sin’s Consequences Through Intercession.
Putting It All Together
Because forgiven people can be healed, and you are forgiven, you can be healed! NOW!