"Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed" (1 Peter 2:24).

This Scripture is a New Testament portrait of redemption - a picture of what Jesus did for us. One day when I was teaching on this verse, I made the comment, "To me, this Scripture proves healing belongs to anyone who is saved, because it covers both sides of redemption in one verse."

A person attending the meeting spoke up, saying, "Apparently, you consider this Scripture to be referring to physical healing. But it's talking about spiritual healing."

Before I realized what was happening, I heard these words coming out of my mouth: "When you were saved, what happened in your spirit?"

The person replied, "God took out the heart of stone and put in a heart of flesh. He gave me a new spirit."

"Why did you have to be born again?" I asked.

"Because I was spiritually dead."

"Well, why would you need spiritual healing then?" I asked. "You can't heal something that's dead - it has to be reborn."

You see, when we're spiritually dead, we don't need to get spiritually healed. That won't do the job. We must be born again. The Bible says, "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new" (2 Cor. 5:17).

God gives us brand-new spirits. And our re-created spirits don't need healing - our physical bodies do!

So live in the fullness of your redemption - your spirit man reborn, your mind renewed and your body healed by the power of God!

Confession:
I am born again. I have a brand-new spirit, and my body is healed because of the stripes Jesus bore for me. His sacrifice was more than enough to totally redeem me from the dominion of darkness and bring me into the kingdom of light!

Source: 365 Days of Healing by Mark Brazee
Excerpt permission granted by Harrison House Publishers