God sent His Son to bear our sins, though Jesus Himself was without sin. Through disobedience, mankind lost the eternal life that God intended for us, and the law declares that the wages of sin is death. Therefore, Christ carried our sin, endured death on our behalf, and overcame it—precisely because He was sinless. In this way, God offered Jesus on the cross as the atoning sacrifice for our sins, granting us forgiveness through His obedience.
With this in mind, there are differing understandings of the phrase “by His stripes we are healed.”
Some hold that this healing refers only to spiritual restoration—the forgiveness of sin—rather than physical sickness. Others, believing that Jesus bore both sins and sicknesses, conclude that seeking medical treatment shows a lack of faith. Sadly, this has led some to neglect treatment, resulting in unnecessary suffering or even death, not realising that medical care is also part of God’s grace, for where sin increased, grace increased all the more (Romans 5:20).
There are also those who believe that if a person walks rightly before God, they will not fall ill, and that sickness is a sign of spiritual failure. Yet Scripture reveals that while sickness is often attributed to the work of the enemy, God Himself may, at times, permit or even use illness—not to destroy, but to correct, discipline, and draw His people back to Himself.
Healing And Forgiveness
When Abimelek took Sarah, mistaking her for Abraham’s sister, God afflicted his entire household with barrenness. However, when Abimelek repented and sought God’s mercy, Abraham interceded for him. God heard Abraham’s prayer and brought healing to Abimelek, his wife, and his female servants, restoring their ability to bear children.
Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelek, his wife and his female slaves so they could have children again, for the LORD had kept all the women in Abimelek’s household from conceiving because of Abraham’s wife Sarah. – Genesis 20:17–18 (NIV)
Following this event, several instances of God’s healing are recorded throughout the Old Testament. One of the most remarkable is the healing from snake bites in the wilderness. When the Israelites sinned against God, He sent venomous serpents among them, and many perished from their bites. Moses then prayed—not for the removal of the snakes, but for healing from their deadly venom. In response, God instructed Moses to perform an act that foreshadowed the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus—who would one day take away the poison of sin and bring life to His people.
The LORD said to Moses, “Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.” So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, they lived. – Numbers 21:8-9 (NIV)
Jesus elucidated the distinction between healing and the forgiveness of sin, emphasizing that healing occurs due to the compassion of His Father, while forgiveness transpires as a result of our Father’s abundant love, which bestowed His own Son as atonement for our sins.
Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? – Matthew 9:5 (NIV)
Healing By His Stripe
Jesus knew no sin, yet He bore our sins. This does not mean that Jesus Himself committed sin, but that He became sin for our sake. Though He lived among sinful people, He remained spotless and undefiled, carrying our sins without being tainted by them.
Moreover, by bearing sin, Jesus did not eradicate sin from the world—for we know that sin still exists. So, what exactly did Jesus accomplish on the cross? He took upon Himself the consequences of human sin and delivered us from its power, enabling us to live in the freedom of righteousness.
As the Scripture declares, “The last enemy to be destroyed is death” (1 Corinthians 15:26). Then the passage continues to say that…
When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. – 1 Corinthians 15:54-57 (NIV)
It is evident that Jesus dealt with the ultimate consequence of human sin—death itself. Yet before death, there are its forerunners: troubles, confusion, depression, and sickness, all leading toward eternal death. Since sickness is also a result of sin, Jesus bore it on our behalf, and God removed it through Jesus. Through the prophet Isaiah, God proclaimed this complete and holistic healing for His people in the following verse:
But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. – Isaiah 53:5 (NIV)
It was a prophetic promise of God that His Son would die bearing the wounds and the punishment inflicted upon Him by the Roman soldiers’ whip—suffering on our behalf. Jesus was then buried, but on the third day, God raised Him from the dead. He rose again, still bearing the marks of the wounds He had received for us.
Thus, the prophecy also points indirectly to the resurrection of Jesus. For if the Father had not raised Him from the dead, there would be no living proof of those wounds—the marks would only testify to His death. We understand this even in human terms: when a surgery is successful and the patient recovers, the scars and stitches remain as signs of both the suffering and the healing.
In the same way, the wounds in the resurrected body of Jesus signify healing from the consequences of our sin—bringing restoration to our body, mind, and soul.
Why Does God Heal Us?
God heals us because He does not desire the demise of the unrighteous; rather, He seeks that all individuals strive for righteousness during the brief duration of this life and ultimately inherit His Kingdom (Ezekiel 33:11).
In the beginning God created everything and found that all those were good. But as Adam and Eve disobeyed God, they invited trouble for themselves and for the whole mankind a difficult task of discerning good from evil but attracted towards evil even before they came to know what is good. Because of this, mankind assumes the evil as good as they do not have a chance to compare the evil with the goodness of God. But God wants to shape the mankind as He has created in the beginning and formulated every remedial action to redeem His creations.
When our transgressions reject the healing of God, God placed our transgressions on His Son, to heal us. He heals us because at the end, He is creating a New Jerusalem, where three will be no sin, no tears, no sicknesses and God will transform our mortal body into an immortal one.
Offering Our Body As A Living Sacrifice
For us, it may be difficult to discern whether every sickness is the result of sin or not. Yet, it is easy to understand that—whatever the cause of the sickness or the seriousness of our sin—God desires to heal everyone from sin, regardless of our guilt. At times, God forgives sin to bring healing to a person; at other times, He heals physical sickness to awaken faith in the heart.
True healing occurs when a person comprehends and embraces the love of God in its fullness. This agape love leads a believer to offer his body as a living sacrifice to God. In every way, God longs to heal us from all the consequence of sin.
During His earthly ministry, Jesus healed everyone who came to Him; none returned still bearing their affliction. This reveals that all who were healed by Him were also set free from their sin too.
Great crowds came to him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others, and laid them at his feet; and he healed them. – Matthew 15:29 (NIV)
In the Old Testament, our sins were merely covered by God’s compassion; but in the New Testament, they are completely washed away by His grace. If healing took place even when sins were only covered, how much more should it abound now that our sins are entirely cleansed? For those who have been forgiven, sickness can no longer bring despair or weaken their faith—for the experience of Paul has become their own as well.
I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. – Philippians 1:20-21 (NIV)
The Jordan Valley 
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