“Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk?” (Mark 2:9)
Forgiveness of sins in the new birth belongs to everyone. But we’ve tried to make healing a different matter, saying, “You never know whom God will heal.” We’ve taken what God put together in the Atonement and made them two different subjects.
But when Jesus went to the Cross, He took our sin, iniquity, sickness and disease. Forgiveness and healing were purchased together at the Cross, and we can’t take them apart.
Forgiveness and healing are not even two different subjects. Healing is nothing more than the new birth affecting the human body. Certainly, sin takes a toll on the human body. You’ve probably looked at someone and thought to yourself, Boy, that person has lived a tough life! You were saying that the person’s sinful lifestyle had an adverse effect on his body.
Well, if sin can have an effect, righteousness can have an effect as well. When the new birth, which takes place in the inner man, works its way to the outer man, the results are strength, healing and health.
You may ask, “Why haven’t strength, healing and health worked their way to my outer man before now?” Well, perhaps you have not been thinking, believing and talking in line with God’s Word.
Jesus told the religious leaders, “I’ll prove to you I can forgive your sins by telling a sick man to get up well.” Then He turned to the sick man and said, “Get up and walk.” The man got up and walked away completely whole! This miracle proved Jesus’ case, because forgiveness of sins and healing always go together in the kingdom of God.
Whom does God want healed? Anyone who is forgiven. Who is forgiven? Anyone who has received Jesus as Savior. Healing belongs to every believer because forgiveness and healing always go hand in hand.
God’s Word says that both forgiveness and healing are available to me through the new birth. I believe the Word, so I walk in the fullness of all its benefits!
Excerpt permission granted by Harrison House Publishers
For over 40 years, Pastors Mark and Janet Brazee have traveled throughout the world sharing the Word of God and the Spirit of God. Together they've shared the powerful truths of faith and healing in more than 50 nations.
Today Mark and Janet pastor World Outreach Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where they base their ongoing outreach to the world. The Brazees still travel as the Lord leads, and they are raising up a congregation who share their passion to reach Tulsa and the world.