Surely He has borne our
griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God,
and afflicted. 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. Isaiah 53:4–5
One of the most evil
teachings that I have heard is that God will chastise His own with sicknesses,
diseases, accidents, and tragedies. When I was a teenager, one of the youth
leaders in my previous church was involved in a horrible accident that nearly
killed him. A church leader gathered some of us youths to go visit that youth
leader and began to lament, “Why did this happen to him? What did he do to
cause God to chastise him this way?”
Can you imagine how I felt
when I “realized” that God was behind the accident? Honestly, it frightened the
living daylights out of me to think that God would chastise a believer using
such a harsh method! I remember praying, “God, please don’t ever chastise me
this way. Whatever it is, please, just tell me, all right? I will listen, I
promise!” I didn’t want to draw near to Him also because I was afraid of Him,
afraid that if I made a mistake, He would not hesitate to chastise me with an
accident that could leave me crippled for life or even dead!
Do you know that this erroneous
teaching is actually based on the old covenant and not the new covenant? In
Leviticus 26:28, God says to those who fail to obey His commandments, “I will
chastise you seven times for your sins.” But guess what? You are no longer
under the covenant of law. You are under the covenant of grace! Jesus
has already borne all your chastisement and punishment on the cross. Read it
for yourself in today’s Scripture, then reread it and reread it once more.
The prophet Isaiah saw a
prophetic vision of our Lord Jesus on the cross, bearing the punishment for our
transgressions. He declared that the chastisement that we deserved came upon
Jesus so that you and I will never have to go through what He endured on our
behalf. And by the stripes laid on Him as He bore our chastisement, we are
healed! Hallelujah!
So how can anyone have the
audacity to say that God will still chastise us with sicknesses, diseases, and
accidents today? To say this is to negate the finished work of Jesus Christ!
Under the new covenant, God will never again chastise the believer for his
sins!
Whatever condition you have
today, it is not from the Lord! Look to Jesus on the cross. See Him beaten and
scourged for you, and receive healing and wholeness from Him. He has paid the
price for your total healing. By His stripes you are healed! (Article
& Picture; courtesy of Joseph Prince Ministries used with kind permission).
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