The Process for Healing
“He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.”
In the scriptures there are many examples of people getting healed. Some are instant. Some took time. Some required your participation. Some didn’t. No matter how healing takes place, as a member of the body of the Messiah, we are entitled to receive our healing.
In order to do this, we have to follow the two-step process. The first step is to know what the word of God says. The second step is to apply in our lives what the word of God says.
Today, we’ll look at 1 Peter 2:24. It is a powerful verse we can claim as part of our inheritance. However, most people only focus on the latter part of the verse – “by his wounds/strips you were healed.” Sometimes, they’ll even quote the first part – “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree.” But rarely do I ever hear the middle part quoted – “that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.”
I often wonder why this was so. Could it be because parts 1 and 3 allows us to receive from the Messiah, while part 2 requires us to give to the Messiah and to our fellow human beings? I’m not real sure, so let’s get into it.
First Peter 2:24 shows us a three-step process for our healing.
The Weight of Our Sin
This verse starts out letting us know the Messiah bore the weight of everyone’s sins committed against God, against mankind, and against ourselves. The Greek word for sin is “hamartia.” It means “to miss the mark, to miss or wander from the path of uprightness and honor, to do or go wrong, to wander from the law of God, and to violate God’s law.”
What mark are we missing? The mark set forth by God Himself. He created a whole set of rules and statues that show us how to approach Him and treat others. We don’t follow them though. Instead, we do our own thing and declare ourselves right in His eyes. We’re no different than the people in Isaiah’s time. (See Isaiah 53)
Yet, in spite of all of this, Yeshua still took our punishment in his own body, causing him the worst feeling he’s ever felt in all of his existence. Our sins, our mistakes, our nonchalant attitudes, our hatred, our greed, and our compromises caused him to disconnect from the Father of all Creation. That agonizing, gut retching cry to God asking why He had forsaken him rippled throughout the universe. On earth it caused the ground to shake, rocks to split, and the Temple curtain (an extremely thick cloth) to be torn from top to bottom. This is what our sins did to him.
Yet, he took it upon himself to complete the first step in our healing process in every area of our lives.
Dying to Sin and Living for Righteousness
The second step must be completed by us.
The verse goes on to say, “so that we might die to sin and live for righteousness.” When we trust in Yeshua and accept his forgiveness, we have a responsibility to change our ways, to walk the way he did, to speak like him, and to treat people like he did. We are to follow his example.
Dying to sin means letting go of the old habits, the selfishness, and the choices that go against God’s will. Both books of Peter are a great start to show you how to walk in the ways of God, if you’re not sure.
Living for righteousness means making choices that reflect God’s love and goodness. It means pursuing holiness (being set apart in our ways), seeking justice, loving mercy, and embodying God’s values in all areas of our lives.
It’s not about being perfect. It’s about having a heart to grow and become more like the Messiah. It’s about getting to know the Father and His son, Yeshua the Messiah so much you become His mini me.
It’s an invitation to live out the change that he’s brought into our hearts, to reflect God’s love and righteousness in the world.
His Wounds Heal Us
The final step is to believe what he says.
The last part of the verse says, “by his wounds you were healed.” His wounds give us complete healing from the inside out. We receive spiritual healing from the forgiveness of sin, and we receive physical, emotional, and relational healing from his wounds.
His wounds allow us to be mentally free from fear, panic attacks, anxiety, and other mental conditions, such as depression. Because of what he did, we can have hope when it looks hopeless.
The healing Yeshua offers doesn’t always come instantly or the way we expect. Sometimes it’s a process. But His promise is that healing is available—now and in the future, in this life and in the next.
All we have to do is believe what he says. Trust him to do what he says. It doesn’t matter what the doctor says or the people around you. What matters is what God says in His word.
There are many accounts of God healing people after the doctors had given up on them. Some were instantaneously. Some were a process after making life changes. It didn’t matter what symptoms displayed; they kept their faith in a healing God.
And that’s where we need – an unwavering trust in God, who heals.
What Does This Mean for Us?
As a child of the Most Holy God and a disciple of Yeshua the Messiah, we are afforded so many blessings. One of those blessings is healing.
So this means we can have hope in the midst of a healing crisis because Yeshua paid a heavy price for us to be healed. It doesn’t matter where we need healing. It could be in our minds or our bodies. It could be in our relationships. It could be in our finances. Whatever we need healing from, Yeshua can heal it.
It means we can live in freedom. When we stop sinning (doing wrong) against our own bodies by eating healthier foods, moving our bodies, and radiating love, which covers a multitude of sin/mistakes we can live in the freedom of health.
It means when we live according to God’s ways we have an advocate who will hear our cries concerning His word. He is a God of honor, and His word will not go out and return to Him void. It must accomplish what it was sent to do.
Lastly, it means only God through Yeshua has the final say in our healing. No one else can give us a death date because Yeshua conquered death through his resurrection.
What are your thoughts? Share them in the comments below.
