Healing by the Stripes and Blood of Lord Jesus

Question: What does the Biblical phrase “By His stripes we are healed...” mean? Are we healed, both spiritually and physically, by the blood of Jesus Christ?

        The most common error in interpreting Scripture is to take a particular passage or verse, or even a portion of a verse (as here) out of its context, give it meanings and interpretations according to one’s liking, and then not only accept but also share those interpretations with others as ‘truths’; even when those meanings do not stand up to the requirements and evidence of the context, and are therefore unrealistic, untrue, and unacceptable. God’s Word, the Bible exhorts us to “diligently present ourselves approved to God (not to any man)” and to “rightly divide the Word of Truth” (2 Timothy 2:15); and not fall for the trap of following teachers who do not teach Biblically sound doctrine but things that the audience want to hear (2 Timothy 4:2-4). To avoid falling for Satan’s ploys to misuse God’s Word (which he had the audacity to do so even with the Lord Jesus – Matthew 4:1-11), we all need to take heed to do according to 1 Thessalonians 5:21 “Test all things; hold fast what is good” and be like the Berean Christians, who have been commended in the Bible for first cross checking everything from the Scriptures and only then believing in what was taught (Acts 17:11-12) – even though it was Paul who was teaching them.

        The Bible verse from which this phrase has been taken is Isaiah 53:5 “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.” Peter too quotes this verse in his first epistle – “who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness--by whose stripes you were healed” (1 Peter 2:24). Incidentally, other than these two verses, there is no other verse in the Bible containing the terms “stripes” and “healed” together. In both of these verses we see that the ‘healing’ being mentioned is the spiritual healing from effects of sin; and not a physical healing of the body from any disease, or sickness, or deformity, or any other physical ailment.

        Since in common usage, the word ‘healing’ is predominantly associated with physical infirmities, with ailments of the body, hence without giving it much thought, it is taken for granted that the ‘healing’ mentioned in these verses is physical healing as well. Unfortunately, many preachers and teachers who would like to have us believe it to be so, continue to emphasize and teach the misinterpretation, basing it upon verse portions taken out of context and continuity with the actual text of the Scriptures. They neither themselves pay heed to the context and related things in appropriately interpreting the verse or passage, nor encourage and allow their audience to study the context and related things of the complete verse and its passage, before accepting or coming to a conclusion about it.

        Another very pertinent fact to be considered is that nowhere in the whole of the Bible, have either of the phrases “by His stripes we are healed” and “by whose stripes you were healed” ever been used or alluded to in any form of miraculous healing, by any Prophet, Apostle, or Man of God – and there is no dearth of instances of physical healings in either the Old or the New Testaments. Consider some examples related to physical ailments and healing from the New Testament: Paul instructing Timothy says to him, “No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for your stomach's sake and your frequent infirmities” (1 Timothy 5:23). Clearly, Timothy was distressed because of some recurrent physical ailments, and Paul is asking him to use “a little wine” as a medicine – why has he not asked Timothy to use and claim healing on the basis of the stripes of the Lord Jesus? Consider Paul’s own “thorn in the flesh” – Paul says “And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me” (2 Corinthians 12: 7, 8). Why did Paul have to plead with the Lord to deliver him from the problem of the flesh; instead, why did he simply not claim the healing made available through the stripes of the Lord? And the “faith” of Paul and Timothy in the Lord and the Lord’s ability to heal in answer to prayer cannot be doubted! We see in the book of Acts that when Peter healed the lame from birth person sitting at the entrance to the Temple, in Acts 3, he did not say to the lame man “by the stripes of the Lord Jesus you are healed and made whole;” rather, “Then Peter said, "Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk"” (Acts 3:6). Is there any instance of physical healing through applying or claiming the phrase “by the Lord’s stripes you/we have been healed” recorded anywhere in the Bible? If not then, why is such a usage and interpretation being so enthusiastically preached, taught and accepted? More importantly, why are people being so gullible and not asking the purveyors of untruth to either justify their stand from God’s Word about it, or to stop preaching and teaching these wrong things?

        The plain and simple fact of the matter is that these verses are referring to the suffering Christ endured in our place, for our sins, which He had taken upon Himself (1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 2:2; 1 John 3:5). Because of His taking up our punishment, He had to bear those stripes and the agony of suffering on the cross for us, and by the Lord’s bearing all this for us we have received deliverance from our sins, and the healing that was required for our spirits broken down by sin, which had been prophesied by Isaiah and its fulfillment was claimed by the Lord (Isaiah 61:1; Luke 4:18). The phrase “By His stripes we are healed...” is not referring to physical healing from diseases and infirmities, but to being healed from the deleterious consequences of our sins.

        Similarly, nowhere does the Bible say that the blood of Jesus heals us from physical diseases and infirmities. The blood of Jesus is said to be efficacious for other things, and is the one and only remedy for them – all of them are spiritual and related to our relationship with the Lord God, e.g. – our propitiation (Romans 3:25); our justification (Romans 5:9); bringing us near to God i.e. reconciling us to God (Ephesians 2:13); cleansing of our conscience from dead works (Hebrews 9:14) and giving boldness to enter the Holiest (Hebrews 10:19); our redemption (1 Peter 1:19); cleansing of our sins (1 John 1:7); washing away of our sins (Revelation 1:5). But there is no mention of any physical healing through the blood of Lord Jesus Christ, and neither have any of the Apostles or writers of the New Testament at any place claimed or taught the use of “Blood of Jesus Christ” for any healing or recovery from physical ailments. 

      Therefore teaching people that we ask for or claim some portion of the Bible, in a manner or for something that the Word of God neither teaches about nor asks us to claim, is certainly not in accordance with God’s Word, is extraneous to it, does not stand up to 2 Timothy 2: 15, therefore doing these things is quite unacceptable and ought to be rejected.

Lord's Table and Baptism

Question: Is it mandatory or necessary to take baptism before participating in the Lord’s Table?

 Answer:

        The Lord’s Table and related matters are a very big subject, and it is not possible to deal in detail about them here. This is an attempt to answer this question quite briefly through some Biblical references and examples.

        Take note that the Lord Jesus established the Holy Communion or the Lord’s Table while participating in the Passover feast with His disciples. We find the description of the Passover feast in Exodus Chapter 12 and it says in 1 Corinthians 5:7 that the Lord Jesus was that sacrificial lamb of the Passover. In Exodus 12:3-4 we see that God had instructed that one lamb was to be sacrificed for one household or family, and in case the family is small the Passover can be celebrated with the neighbor’s family. The implication is that, the people who would gather to eat one lamb, they were one family or household – that is to say that any outsider on seeing them eating from one Passover lamb would infer that the participants all belong to one family or household. But it was not essential that the ‘apparent’ family had to actually be a blood related family – two different families could also get together to fulfill the requirements of this feast. When the Lord Jesus asked for the Passover feast to be arranged, He did not do so with His ‘immediate’ or ‘blood-relation’ family nor did He invite them to be with Him in the participation, instead He celebrated the Passover with those of His disciples who stayed with Him night and day. The families of those disciples were also not invited to participate. The Lord Jesus Christ became that ‘sacrificial lamb’ and those who participated in that feast were considered His ‘family,’ the members of His Church; even though they were not physically related to the Lord, but now because of their coming to faith in the Lord now they are all one family – the family of God (Ephesians 2:17-19)।

        Participating in The Lord’s Table is not a formality or ritualistic observation that can be carried out by anyone calling himself a “Christian” or a “Believer.” Besides those twelve disciples the Lord had other disciples as well; in Luke 10:1 में we have the mention of 70 other disciples, and in Acts 1:15 a 120 disciples used to gather together to pray; but the Lord had not invited them to be with Him in this Last Supper, and neither did He instruct the disciples to also “distribute it among the other disciples too.” Then, while instituting the Lord’s Table He said to those disciples present there with Him: “…With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer” (Luke 22:14-15). All this shows us that in the Lord’s eyes, only those are worthy of participating in the Lord’s Table who in practical day-to-day life maintain a continual fellowship with the Lord Jesus, and are members of His family/household by coming to faith in Him.

        It is necessary to keep another very important thing in mind – The Lord’s Table was not served to Judas Iscariot; at the time when the Lord distributed to bread and the wine saying this is my body and blood, by then Judas had left the place. We see in John 13 that on gathering together for the Passover, the Lord first washed the feet of His disciples, then they sat down to eat the meal, and then the Lord dipped and gave the first piece of bread to Judas, on accepting that piece immediately Satan entered him and he left the place (13:26, 27, 30). This was not the institution of the Lord’s Supper; rather it was the beginning of the meal. The Lord instituted the Lord’s Supper, while the meal was underway, that is while they were eating the meal: “And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, "Take, eat; this is My body"” (Matthew 26:26), and Judas had already left them by this time.

        Based on all these facts we can draw the conclusion that the Lord instituted the Lord’s Supper only for those who were His closely associated disciples, accepting them as members of His family, those who were fully dedicated to Him, always stayed with Him (even though they were not perfect). Today, the only way we become members of the Lord’s family is by coming to faith in Him and accepting Him as our personal savior (John 1:12-13; Romans 8:14-17), and diligently participating in the Lord’s Table is one way of being in close fellowship with Him; the others are being diligent in studying His Word, Prayer and fellowshipping with His other children (Acts 2:42).  

        Now take note, that when the Lord’s Supper was instituted for the first time, then at that time, no question about any of the disciple’s having been baptized or not baptized came up and neither did the Lord say anything about it. It is also clear from the Bible that baptism neither makes a person a child of God, nor a member of God’s family. The fact of the matter is that those that come to faith in the Lord Jesus, they get baptized (Matthew 28:19; Acts 2:41), and not that those who get baptized they then come to faith in the Lord. Getting baptized is a public testimony of having come into the Christian Faith; nobody becomes a “Christian Believer” by getting baptized, but those who become Christian Believers, they give a public testimony of their having come into the Christian Faith in accordance with the Lord’s commandment, by undergoing immersion baptism. Therefore taking baptism is no pre-condition or necessity for participating in the Lord’s Table.

        When the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul, in 1 Corinthians 11 taught about the misconceptions and gave instructions regarding the wrong behavior in context of the Lord’s Supper, then in writing about those errors and their rectification nowhere was it written that ‘the people should examine themselves whether or not they have been baptized, and only those who have been baptized can participate in the Lord’s Table.’ There is no such restriction mentioned in the Bible. Neither does baptism provide salvation for us nor does it make us members of God’s family. Instead, a valid baptism is only of those who are first saved by repentance and faith through the grace of the Lord; and they become members of the Lord’s family from the very moment that they repented of their sins, asked for the Lord Jesus’ forgiveness or their sins and submitted their lives to Him.

        Therefore all who have been saved by voluntarily and with a honest heart repenting of their sins and have accepted the Lord Jesus as their personal Savior can participate in the Lord’s Table; as per the Bible they are under no compulsion to first get baptized and only then participate in the Lord’s Table. But in order to fulfill the Lord’s command, they should get baptized by immersion at the earliest possible opportunity to do so. To be baptized and to participate in the Lord’s Table are both commandments of the Lord, and they both have to obeyed, they both are required of a Christian Believer. But the Bible does not speak of the necessity of being baptized to participate in the Lord’s Table.

Where does it say in the Bible that one has to go to the Church?

Question: Some people say that it is not necessary that we have to go to the Church; we listen to God’s Word through You Tube and say our prayers while at home. Is this correct?

Answer:

        To understand the answer to this question it is essential that we understand the meaning of the word “Church” according to the Bible. The word from the original Greek language translated as Church is ecclesia. According to the Bible the Church is not a physical building made of bricks and stones, but a gathering of the people of God’s household (1 Timothy 3:15), it is the dwelling place of God (Ephesians 2:22). The definition of the Church as given in the Bible is: “To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours” (1 Corinthians 1:2).

        At the time of the establishing of the first Church the Christian Believers regularly daily gathered together, and the purposes of their gathering together were: “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers” (Acts 2:42). At that time they did this either in the place of worship or in house-holds, and it was the Lord who joined those who were saved into His Church “So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved” (Acts 2:46-47). In other words, the gathering together of the members of the ecclesia was a daily event, and its purpose was to learn the Word of God, to Fellowship together, to Pray together, to participate in the Holy Communion together, and to Worship the Lord together – and they “continued steadfastly” in this, i.e. their gathering together like this was taken very seriously, and had a great importance in their lives.

        Wherever the Gospel of salvation through faith in the Lord Jesus went, and the people accepted this Gospel, and they incorporated the Word and life of the Lord into their own lives, there this gathering together was also accepted and emulated, and Churches started to gather in the houses of the Christian Believers (Romans 16:5; 1 Corinthians 16:19; Colossians 4:15; Philemon 1:2). Therefore, it is apparent that for a Christian Believer it was expected and necessary to gather together in this manner, as something according to and in the will of the Lord. In the Epistle to the Hebrews we find another instruction from the Lord about this that as the second coming of the Lord approaches, the gathering together of the Christian Believers should not diminish but increase even more: “not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching” (Hebrews 10:25).

        Hence going to the Church is not a ritual or a formality that can be fulfilled this way or another and considered as accomplished. But this is gathering in the House of God, it is coming into the presence of God so that we may increase in His nearness, learn of His Word, and being members of God’s spiritual household we need to fulfill our part and responsibilty towards God’s family; and by doing so we get the opportunity to learn about and take care of the other members of our spiritual family and grow together with them, and it is also essential to ensure the spiritual growth and progress of a Christian Believer.

        The Lord is not in the least interested in every person who comes in and records his or her presence in the physical building made of bricks and stones, called as the Church, because He is not pleased with fulfilling of formalities and rituals but by obedience to Him (1 Samuel 15:22-23; Job 35:7; Isaiah 1:11-20; Malachi 1:10), and as shown from Hebrews 10:25 above, it is the Lord’s command that Christian Believers gather together more and more. Listening to a message on the You Tube and saying prayers may fulfill a formality or a ritual, but can never be seen or accepted as fellowshipping with other Believers. And, as is stated in Acts 2:42 it is not possible for Christian Believers to gather together for the “breaking of bread” i.e. participating in the Holy Communion through the You Tube.

        Therefore going to Church is not a ritual or formality, rather, because of growing in the nearness of the Lord, of learning His Word, of being a member of His family it is a way of fulfilling our responsibilities towards our spiritual family, a means of knowing, learning about and taking care of the members of our spiritual family, it is essential for the spiritual growth and progress of of a Christian Believer. Therefore it should be a priority for every Christian Believer to come to Church or the House of God and they should eagerly look forward to the opportunities to be in the House of God and fellowship with the other children of God (Psalms 84:1-2, 10; 122:1). But those who only think and care about fulfilling the requirements of the christian ‘religion’, they are not serious and sensitive towards the instructions and commandments of God, rather they are only interested in fulfilling the rituals and formalities of a ‘religion’, for which they have made their own concepts and remain entangled only in them – which Biblically is wrong, and unacceptable.