Healing and Personal Perfection
2 Chronicles 30:18-20:
For a multitude of the people, even many of Ephraim, and Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, yet did they eat the passover otherwise than it was written. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, The good LORD pardon every one
That prepareth his heart to seek God, the LORD God of his fathers, though he be not cleansed according to the purification of the sanctuary.
And the LORD hearkened unto Hezekiah, and healed the people.
While it is important to live a life consecrated to God and to His service, healing is not just a matter of works. You can forfeit healing by resisting God’s working in your life by deliberately clinging to known sin, as explained in the section Mistake: Disobedience. However, you do not have to live in sinless perfection for God to heal you. God is more interested in your heart than He is in finer points of the Law. Jesus made this clear to the Pharisees, whose hearts were corrupt even though they scrupulously tithed on the herbs in their gardens (Matthew 23:23). God desires mercy more than He desires sacrifice, as Jesus taught (Matthew 9:13 and Matthew 12:7, quoting Hosea 6:6).
We see this even under the Law in the passage above. The people had not kept the Passover (symbolic of Christ) for a long time. King Hezekiah decreed that the Passover should be re-instituted, but it was on short notice. The people did not have time to get themselves ready and did not really understand this ordinance, not having done it before. Thus, some of the people partook of the Passover contrary to the requirements of the Law. This was done in ignorance, not in an attempt to defy God.
Look what God did. Hezekiah prayed that the Lord would pardon those who “prepared their hearts to seek God” even though they were not cleansed properly. God did, and He healed the people who partook of this symbol of Jesus Christ. God looked at the hearts of them that sought Him, and overlooked the minor technical violations of cleansing rituals. (You can read the account in the passage at the beginning of this discussion.)
If God could overlook legal technicalities and extend mercy under the Old Covenant, surely He can do so under our new and better covenant. “For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ” – John 1:17. We are under grace and truth today. We are not under the Law of Moses.
Technically, the lepers and the woman with the issue of blood who came to Jesus could have been stoned to death for going out in public contrary to the Law of Moses. However, Jesus did not pick up any rocks but instead healed these people. He looked past the legal violations and saw their faith.
God does not condone sin, but He is not a nitpicker, either. God was able to use Peter despite his faults, which are documented for all to see. Peter wasn’t perfect, but he sought God and God honored him for it. The same can certainly be said about King David. God has used men in healing ministry who were proud, alcoholic, short-tempered, jealous, vindictive, greedy, and more. Although many were judged eventually because they would not judge themselves, God still did mighty miracles through them for a season. They weren’t perfect; but they were available.
The devil is a legalistic nitpicker. He’s the kind who would walk out through a front door at a superstore that has a sign, “Do Not Enter” and say that he was OK because he was exiting, not entering. (This would be after he informed the cashier that “20 items or less” is grammatically incorrect and should be “20 items or fewer.”) He will always find something to accuse you of, hence his title, “The Accuser of the Brethren” (Revelation 12:10). That’s why the cross nullified his nitpicking by providing complete forgiveness for you (Ephesians 1:7 and many other verses), leaving nothing left that he can legally “get” you for.
If your idea of God is that He searches the Bible looking for technical violations in your life, you don’t know Him very well. God loves you and is for you (Romans 8:31). He wants you to enjoy His blessings. He expects consecration, but He will overlook your current imperfections if you are seeking Him. You don’t need to be perfect to get healed. If you had to have all the sin out of your life before you could get healed, nobody on earth would ever get healed! Yet a LOT of people got healed in the Bible, imperfections and all!