The Gifts of the Holy Spirit: - Vital Christianity

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Because the fullness of the kingdom has not yet come divine healing is only partial. While it is
present it is not fully completed. While our souls are saved completely in this age we still long for
the time when
“. . . we will be changed . . . [and] the perishable [will] clothe itself with the imperishable,
and the mortal with immortality” (I Cor. 15:52-53; see also II Cor. 5:4).
The “redemption of our bodies” still lies in the future (Rom. 8:23). Then, and only then, are
we assured of perfect health pictured for us in Rev. 21:4:
“He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or
crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
Only when the “old order of things has passed away” are we promised such perfection. In this
age “we know in part” but then we are assured that “we shall know fully” (I Cor. 13:12).
The Holy Spirit is not yet our full inheritance, only a “deposit” guaranteeing our “inheritance
until the redemption of those who are God’s possession” (Eph. 1:14). The day for our glorified
bodies is still in the future. The day of our “full inheritance” is still in the future. Healing,
therefore, is not a guarantee, but a benefit of Calvary.
The physical healing that Christ secured for us in or through the atonement therefore, is not
always experienced today. Since it is God’s sovereignty, lordship and kingdom that bring any
benefits of the “age to come” it is our responsibility to pray “Your kingdom come” and graciously
and gratefully receive whatever healing God may choose to give knowing that in the age to come
we will experience His kingdom in all its fullness.
The teaching that obedient Christians ought never to be sick, therefore, is false. Not only is
this false teaching based on the failure to distinguish between the “already and the not yet,” the
“deposit” and the “full inheritance” of the Holy Spirit; it is also the result of the erroneous idea
that sickness is the result of personal sin. The Rabbis used to teach that dropsy was due to
immorality, jaundice to hatred, poverty to pride, liver trouble to backbiting, and leprosy to an evil
tongue. Though disease and death have come to the human race in general because of Adam’s sin,
it is a cruel hoax to claim that individual sickness is always the consequences of personal sin or
that a person with sufficient faith will be healed. Illness is not necessarily the result of personal sin
(Job; Lk 13:1-5, Jn. 9:1-3).