In Reply to: Re: it is not like he has to TRY.. posted by ray on November 23, 2004 at 10:52:15:
Isaiah said, "And by his stripes we are healed," but I believe that in the context it was talking primarily about spiritual healing. It was used in the NT once in application to physical healing but I believe that it was truly in application, not that that was the only or even main interpretation.
I believe in miraculous healing and that we can ask for it, but I don't believe that we can say it is as 100% guaranteed as salvation. The Bible says, "all they that call upon the Lord shall be saved" (spiritual healing, if you will), but it never says "all they that call upon the Lord shall be physically healed." Nor do I think the perponderance of Scriptures implies it.
When Jesus was physically present in Israel, it says, "as many as touched him were made perfectly whole" and many people add to that, "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today and forever." So he can still heal, but does adding these two verses up together really mean that he will heal everyone who comes within touching distance of him, justas happened when he was physically here? I think that's an interpretation but may not be an entirely solid foundation to build the entire building upon.
I don't really believe the "healing for the soul and the body" doctrine is implicit in Scripture. I know Grandmother Berg preached that, but even she wasn't able to heal all she touched, no more than the most outstanding faith healers today can do even tho many of them claim, "the works that I do shall ye do, and greater." Only Jesus, when he was physically present on Earth, had a perfect record.