Objection: The Fact That Christians Get Sick Disproves That Healing Is in the Atonement
No, the fact that Christians get sick only proves that not everyone believes in and enjoys all the blessings that were provided by Christ’s atonement. If we follow the objector’s logic, we will reach some really awful conclusions:
“The fact that so many Christians are on antidepressants proves that ‘joy unspeakable and full of glory’ is not part of what Christ paid for us to have. The fruit of joy must not be available to ALL who are saved. If it were, every Christian would be immediately set free from depression upon being saved, and pharmaceutical company profits would be much lower.”
“The fact that so many Christians do not speak in tongues is proof that Jesus did not really send the Holy Spirit after all as He promised, or at least that the Spirit baptism is not available to ALL. If it were, every Christian would be immediately baptized with the Holy Spirit upon salvation, speak in tongues and do miracles, clothed with power from on high.”
“The fact that so many Christians struggle with guilt and condemnation proves that Jesus did nothing about guilt and condemnation in His atonement. If He had done something, every Christian would be instantly free forever from guilt and condemnation the moment he got saved.”
“The fact that Christians do not always walk in love proves that the ability to walk in love is not for ALL. If it were, every Christian would have a perfect love walk the moment he got saved.”
“The fact that so many Christians still sin proves that what Jesus did was insufficient to give them victory over sin. If the atonement bought us that victory, every Christian would stop sinning immediately when he got saved.”
If people’s failure to receive a blessing proves that it is not in the atonement, we could even go so as to extend the objection a little farther:
“The fact that anyone is unsaved disproves that salvation is in the atonement. It would just drop on everyone automatically if it were.”
Surely the objector would not agree with the ridiculous statements above. But if they don’t make sense, why does the same argument make sense when healing is the issue? It still doesn’t. If we don’t expect the other benefits of salvation to drop on us automatically, why should we make healing the sole exceptional case?
The Just Shall Live by Faith
If all blessings were automatic, Paul definitely missed God by praying that God would enlighten the Ephesians to know the inheritance that they had in Christ. After all, if the whole inheritance is automatic, you don’t have to know anything about the Word or believe any specific statements or promises.
That isn’t how it works. The just shall live by faith (Habakkuk 2:4 and elsewhere). Our ability to walk in God’s blessings is proportional to the faith we exercise for those blessings. Some sick people have no trouble believing for financial provision. Some rich people have trouble believing for healing. If we fall short in a certain area, we cannot assume that our failure to receive means that whatever it is isn’t part of the inheritance purchased by Jesus’ atonement.
Experience Doesn’t Determine Doctrine
Though this isn’t as obvious with this objection, it still makes the mistake of letting experience, rather than the Word, prove doctrine. The experience of most Christians, even most of them, does not determine what is so. If it did, we would write off the baptism with the Holy Spirit in some places where most Christians do not speak with other tongues. We would even write off the possibility of being born again if we were in an area where no one else is a new creature in Christ yet.
Rather than letting our experience drag down our doctrine, we need to let our Word-based doctrine improve our experience.