This post is a biblical theology discussion on healing today. If you are fighting for your or someone else’s healing, I counsel you to skip this post. Read it later when the outcome of your fight is final, and you need to understand what the Bible really teaches about healing.
Let’s begin.
I.. Introduction
A.. Healing in and through the atonement?
Yes, healing is “in” the atonement, like every biblical benefit. So why not 100% healing right now? Maybe we should say it is through the atonement.
B. One goal
The goal here is not to put doubt in the reader, but to explain to people why their prayers were not answered and their beloved family member died.
C. Your kingdom come
What about his kingdom coming and his will being done on earth as it is in heaven (Matt. 6:10)? Why doesn’t that prayer–part of the Lord’s Prayer!–guarantee healing all the time without one exception?
Those are questions that have plagued Renewalists for decades. Teachers and preachers, particularly the Word of Faith teachers, have not been effective in answering this harsh reality–healing simply does not happen 100% of the time. Why not?
D. My attempt to answer the question
Here is my attempt to answer the question. It is an essay (meaning “attempt” or “try”). It is my best tentative answer, at this time in my understanding of Scripture and in my practical theology of actually praying for the sick. Yes, I believe healing is still going on today.
E. Outward bodies waste away.
Here are two main verses that say our (outward) bodies are wasting away and were born (sown) perishable:
Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. (2 Cor. 4:16)
The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable. (1 Cor. 15:42).
We were sown or born with perishable bodies, and outwardly they are steadily perishing or wasting away. Inwardly, our spirits are being strengthened with the gospel and the Spirit. Only at the final resurrection will the body be raised imperishable. It’s the way of nature–our present bodies are not eternal but will die.
In the meantime, let’s believe that God will heal our bodies when they get sick or attacked. But when the healing does not come?
Let’s explore any possible answer to that difficult question.
II. Atonement Theology
A.. Healing and the Atonement
First, let’s ask a question as it is commonly phrased: Is healing in the atonement?
Here is 1 Peter 2:24, quoting Isaiah 53:6:
24 “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.” (1 Peter 2:24)
The context of the verse is his unjust trial and persecution, all the way to the cross, where the atonement was effected or brought about. The context therefore is the atonement.
Matthew 8:16-17 (quoting Isaiah 53:4):
16 When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick. 17 This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah:
“He took up our infirmities
and bore our diseases.”
In his healing ministry, before the cross, he healed many people, and Matthew connects Jesus’s healing ministry with Isaiah, which speaks of the suffering servant, a single man, not the entire nation. A righteous man can die for the sins of the unrighteous. But Matthew 8:17 proves beyond doubt that this healing was not only the spiritual healing of the soul, as 1 Peter 2:24 implies, but of the body.
I do not see why this healing ministry should stop at the cross. Now his healing ministry continues on, after his resurrection, ascension and exaltation. He still heals from heaven.
Every biblical benefit is “in” the atonement, like salvation and authority over demons and redemption. Every item in the long list in the next, linked article flows out of the atonement, even healing.
That is the intention or purpose of the atonement, but what about the extent and then its application to specific cases–your and my cases?
B. Intention, Extent, and Application of the Atonement
The atonement is intended for everyone. It extends to everyone. However, the specific application of healing through the atonement is up to God and his will. After the ascension, gifts of healings are distributed as the Spirit determines (1 Cor. 12:11). Thus we have to distinguish the intention of the atonement (it has been purposed for everyone); its extent (it reaches everyone); and its application (it applies to those who believe in Christ).
The question people should ask is this: Is healing guaranteed in the atonement? Or, will people always get healed in the atonement? The intention of atonement can include healing. The extent of healing in the atonement is that it potentially reaches everyone. The application of the atonement for healing is that it potentially applies to those who have faith in God.
C. The body and soul are not equal
However, caution must be used because God’s will must also be factored in, for healing.
Let’s take an analogical or comparative example. Does everyone who professes salvation get saved? Matthew 13:1-23, the Parable of the Sower (or Soils), teaches us that an individual can have the word planted in him, but the evil one, persecution, or the worries of life rob or choke it. In modern terms, he heard the word, prayed the “sinner’s prayer,” something may (or may not) have happened, but then later on he walks away from it all. Salvation is “in” the atonement, but it is not guaranteed. There are too many factors for why the seed of the word did not take hold.
Also, in the atonement we have victory over sin, which no longer dominates us (Rom. 6). Yet we still sin, don’t we? Yes. So Christ paid for our victory over sin, but the sin problem is not completely solved and won’t be solved until we shuck off this mortal body. Likewise, our physical healing or our victory over sickness is paid for on the cross, but we still get sick, don’t we? We do.
And so, healing is “in” the atonement, but it is not guaranteed 100% of the time. Our bodies simply wear out. We cannot figure out why some people are healed and others are not, for there are too many factors in the life of the sick person, the lives of the people praying for him, and God’s sovereign will.
D. Objection and reply
However, what about Matthew 4:23? “Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.”
To reply: in context, that is a summary verse. Here’s another summary verse in the same section of Scripture. Matthew wrote: “The people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned” (Matt. 4:15). Fulfilling the rest of the prophecy (vv. 13-15), Jesus moved to the town of Capernaum. He did mighty miracles there: “At sunset, the people brought to Jesus all who had various kinds of sickness, and laying his hands on each one, he healed them” (Luke 4:40). But did everyone living in his adopted hometown respond to the light (Jesus)? No. Here he denounces his adopted hometown: “And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted to the heavens? No, you will go down to Hades. For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day. But I tell you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you” (Matt. 11:23-24; see Luke 10:15). Even his adopted hometown did not receive the kingdom and salvation. And so we should not over-interpret summary statements that characterize his ministry overall. And overall his ministry included healing, and he was very successful at it.
However, he did not heal everyone in his hometown where he grew up, Nazareth: “He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. He was amazed at their lack of faith” (Mark 6:5-6). Yes, yes, they did not have faith, but that only shows there are too many moving parts in needy people. It’s too complicated for us to answer thoroughly the larger question of why there is no 100% healing.
E. Life in the Spirit
Further, life in the Spirit clarifies why healing being in the atonement is meaningful but not the whole picture. First Corinthians 12:7-11 says that one of the gifts of the Spirit is the gifts of healings, which the Spirit distributes as he determines.
7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8 To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10 to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues,[a] and to still another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines. (1 Cor. 12:7-11, emphasis added)
So we have to listen to the Spirit (Gal. 5) to find out whether God wants to heal someone at this time. We are called to life in the Spirit. He may say to wait. A delay is in order. He is not distributing the gifts of healings right now. (He may distribute this gift later, so keep praying until the Spirit says stop.)
Next, Jesus healed only one man at the pool of Bethesda (John 5:1-15). So if the mighty Son of God, God manifested in the flesh, did not heal everyone, then how can we guarantee 100% healing?
Therefore, yes, healing is in and through the atonement, but the application of healing depends on God and his Spirit distributing the gifts of healings as he wills.
Healing is not guaranteed, but it is available.
F. Summary
Our bodies and souls are broken and need healing through salvation–both physical healing and spiritual healing. Our spirits can be saved, but our bodies are “wasting away” (2 Cor 4:16). Our spirits can be renewed through salvation, but our bodies, though refreshed through healing and rest, are ultimately doomed.
In the big picture, God’s Redemptive Global Project is to rescue his groaning, weak creation from its present degraded condition, ranging from the planet itself to our puny bodies (Rom. 8:18-22). Everything will be put right, at that time. In the here and now, the Project is going on gradually, as the kingdom of God and his redemptive work surge forward, person by person, life by life. In this present age, our bodies will have to give out, because we all die. It’s a gradual process of decay and aging. Upon our death, however, we will be with Jesus in a sort of spiritual form, until on the Last Day we shall reunite with our glorified and transformed bodies, which shall never get sick or experience decay or suffer death.
So healing is “in” the atonement, but the total and 100% guarantee of complete, nondegradable health awaits the full manifestation of his kingdom. That’s where we’re all heading.
Healing is not guaranteed, but it is available. We need to seek God for it.
Let’s explore kingdom theology more thoroughly.
III. Kingdom Theology
A. Brief intro.
How does the theology of the kingdom impact the harsh reality that healing does not happen 100% of the time?
B. Definition of Kingdom
In the first post in the kingdom series, I said that the kingdom of God means his rule or reign, his kingship, his sovereignty. It encompasses both his realm over which he exercises his rule and his authority and power by which he exerts his kingship. He is the monarch—the sole ruler—with absolute power.
His kingdom is universal and everlasting. “Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations” (Ps. 145:13). By his mighty acts (already here), his kingdom is proved to be glorious and splendid (Ps. 145:9-12). “The Lord has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all” (Ps. 103:19).
C. Already Here in Part But Not Yet Fully
And yet the kingdom is not yet here in its visible and full display, for all to experience and submit to. Jesus prayed, “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt. 6:10, NIV). The kingdom of God is in process and in progress.
Some critics have rebuked teachers for saying that people can call down the good things of heaven to earth. The critics say that evangelism, salvation of souls, demon expulsion, death, sex and marriage are not in heaven, so how do we call them down? How does that make sense? Therefore, don’t call down the kingdom and his will in heaven on earth (even though Matt. 6:10 says we should!).
This criticism, however, fails to understand the already-and-not-yet aspect of the kingdom. We are permitted to call down those things we need the most, like harmony in marriage and evangelism and salvation and healing and demon expulsion, all done through the power of the Spirit. We have plenty of Scriptures to support those things, besides one verse (Matt. 6:10). Immediately, at the Second Coming, there will no longer be the need for evangelism, salvation, demon expulsion, healing, and sex and marriage, and so on. Death will be defeated. But that time is not yet here. Therefore at this time in the history–the Church Age–we need the kingdom to come and his will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. And there is nothing wrong with praying for those listed things and other things.
So we are not calling down nondeath or non-demon expulsion, for example, neither of which exists in heaven. Nor are we calling down “no marriage” to come down to earth. because marriage does not exist in heaven. Instead we are praying for God’s kingdom to empower us to be victorious over the effects of death (by raising the dead) and sickness and demonic oppression and bad marriages. We ask God to give us our daily bread; that is, in our modern economy, we can have successful jobs to pay for our daily needs.
D. Summary
So this theology of already-and-not-yet of the kingdom explains to a large degree why healing does not always happen 100% of the time. We live in the kingdom that is already here in part, but not yet fully manifested. When it is fully manifested, we will no longer need evangelism and sex and marriage and demon expulsion and the other good things and victory over the bad things down here on earth. We will have complete and total healing in our new, glorified body, for example. Right now, however, we may not.
Even Jesus himself did not arrogate this much power to himself. He clarified that he does only what he sees his Father doing (John 5:19). He lives because of the Father (John 6:57). He speaks only what the Father taught him (John 8:28). He does what he sees the Father do (John 10:37). What Jesus says is just what the Father told him to say (John 12:49-50, John 12:57). Perhaps the most important verse about miracles: “Many good works I have shown you from My Father” (John 10:32 NIV). (“Good works” in John’s gospel = miracles.)
And so the Father through his Son, anointed by the Spirit, performed all miracles during his Son’s ministry. The Son obeyed and followed his Father.
We too should develop life in the Spirit so we can ear from the Father through the Spirit. We will never heal as Jesus did, because he is the Anointed One, but the Spirit can distribute the gifts of healings as he determines (1 Cor. 12:11).
Right now, we live in the shadowlands (C.S. Lewis), and we will never get a complete answer down here, when our prayers are not answered.
IV. Introducing Two Tables of Scripture
A. Intro.
Some say it is God’s will to heal everyone who seeks for it. Always, every time. Others say God does not heal supernaturally today, as seen in the phrase “gifts of healings” (1 Cor. 12:9). Those days are over. Still others teach God has two wills in his being–yes and no. What does the Bible actually say? Let’s look into this. I also get into the debate over “many” were healed and “all” were healed.
Whenever I pray for the sick, I start off believing it is God’s will to heal the sick person. But I have also seen unanswered prayer (and so has everyone else who prays regularly for the sick, if the prayer ministers are honest). People have died later on, from the illness they prayed against. What then? I don’t give up my default position of healing, because the New Testament evidence is overwhelming. God wants to heal. Everyone who came to his Son was healed (coming to him is key). Jesus treated the sickness of those who came to him as an enemy.
But heal everyone bodily down here on earth, every time?
B. Statement of the problem
Let’s state the dilemma more clearly.
Concerning the salvation of our souls, Paul writes:
God our Savior […] wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth (1 Tim. 2:4).
Is there the exact same promise in Scripture worded so clearly about the healing of the body? That is, does God want all bodies to be healed here and now, every time?
We may as well say it from the beginning: there is no promise worded exactly like the one in 1 Timothy 2:4, about the healing of our bodies.
C. Questions
Did Jesus and his apostolic community heal everyone, or did they heal only some people at various times? Also, were people always healed instantly, on the spot, or was there sometimes a gradual healing? Then, does Paul prescribe a natural home remedy, and what does this mean for healing? Is this remedy equivalent to modern medicine today? Are the healings of some illnesses left unstated in the New Testament?
D. An honest Bible study
Before anyone accuses me of spreading unbelief or doubt, I say no, I am not. Rather, I am attempting to do an honest Bible study. What does the Bible actually say about bodily healing, without an overlay of hype, presumptuous faith, and bad interpretations that omits or seems to explain away certain verses?
V. Two Tables
A. Brief intro.
To explore this complicated issue of healing / some healing / no healing, let’s take a look at two tables divided into two columns with Scriptures. The first table is about Jesus’s ministry. The second is about the ministry of the broader apostolic community, including Philip the evangelist and elders. Each column is labeled as follows:
Everyone Is Healed / Everyone Is Not Healed
In the second column, some people are healed or one person is, while the others are not.
Each row is numbered, which I call a unit. The layout will be clear once you get there.
I include a brief commentary below each table, unit by unit.
B. Table One: Ministry of Jesus
|
Ministry of Jesus |
||
|
Everyone Is Healed |
Everyone Is Not Healed |
|
| 1 | When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick. (Matt. 8:16) | Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?” (John 5:3-6) |
| 2 | […] A large crowd followed him, and he healed all who were ill. (Matt. 12:15) | He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. He was amazed at their lack of faith. (Mark 6:5-6) |
| 3 | And wherever he went—into villages, towns or countryside—they placed the sick in the marketplaces. They begged him to let them touch even the edge of his cloak, and all who touched it were healed. (Mark 6:56)
|
“Who touched me?” Jesus asked.
When they all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the people are crowding and pressing against you.” But Jesus said, “Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me.” (Luke 8:45-46) |
C. Commentary
Unit 1: Jesus healed everyone in a crowd / Jesus did not heal everyone in large crowd at Pool of Bethesda in Jerusalem
The Pool of Bethesda was a primitive hospital, where sick people gathered. He did not empty it out with healing. In cities around the Greco-Roman world, the sick and lame also gathered at temples, looking for healing. These temples were also primitive hospitals. When the apostles and evangelists went out to these cities, there is no record that they emptied out these temple hospitals with healings.
Jesus does only what he sees his Father doing (John 5:19). Also, “many good works I have shown you from My Father” (John 10:32). (In John’s Gospel, “good works” = miracles, at a minimum.)
Evidently, at the Pool of Bethesda, the Father did not guide his Son, the Anointed One, by the Spirit to break open a teaching and then heal them all. So, can we say that sometimes God does not empty out a hospital with healing because he does not want to do this?
In the all / not all dispute, see Unit 5, where I discuss all v. many.
Unit 2: Jesus healed all in a crowd / He did not heal everyone in Nazareth.
Nazareth was his hometown, and the context says that people there were skeptical that he was the Messiah. Therefore they doubted his divine status as the Anointed One. Therefore not many miracles were done there. The Greek says that Jesus could not work many miracles.
So we have a combination of people’s lack of faith (skepticism) and God not willing to heal those who doubt his Son, except a few.
Unit 3: Everyone who touched the edge of his cloak got healed / Only one person (woman with issue of blood) who touched the edge got healed.
In the first column, the healed column, the crowd reached out to him with their need and faith and got healed. In contrast, evidently the crowd in the second column did not reach out to him in faith. The Father did not guide his Son, the Anointed One, by the Spirit to encourage them with a teaching to touch his cloak. People have to be hungry on their own sometimes. Or maybe it was God’s will that only one woman got healed that day in the second column. Faith and God’s will have to work together.
I have a multipart series on all the healings and deliverances in the four Gospels and Acts. Go to the Healings and Deliverance category on the front page.
Now let’s transition to the apostolic community, after Jesus’s ascension, where he guided his church from his heavenly throne, by His Spirit living in his redeemed people.
These next examples come from the Book of Acts and the epistles.
D. Table Two: Apostles, Evangelists, and Elders
| Ministry of Apostles and Evangelists and Elders | ||
| Everyone Is Healed | Everyone Is Not Healed | |
| 4 | Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by impure spirits, and all of them were healed. (Acts 5:16) | 32 As Peter traveled about the country, he went to visit the Lord’s people who lived in Lydda. 33 There he found a man named Aeneas, who was paralyzed and had been bedridden for eight years. 34 “Aeneas,” Peter said to him, “Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and roll up your mat.” Immediately Aeneas got up. 35 All those who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord. (Acts 9:32-35) |
| 5 | His father was sick in bed, suffering from fever and dysentery. Paul went in to see him and, after prayer, placed his hands on him and healed him. When this had happened, the rest of the sick on the island came and were cured. (Acts 28:8-9) | For with shrieks, impure spirits came out of many, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. (Acts 8:7) |
| 6 | For he [Epaphroditus] longs for all of you and is distressed because you heard he was ill. Indeed he was ill, and almost died. But God had mercy on him, and not on him only but also on me, to spare me sorrow upon sorrow. […] because he almost died for the work of Christ. He risked his life to make up for the help you yourselves could not give me. (Phil. 2:26-27, 30) | |
| 7 | As you know, it was because of an illness that I first preached the gospel to you, (Gal. 4:13) | |
| 8 | Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (1 Cor. 12:7-10) | |
| 9 | Erastus stayed in Corinth, and I left Trophimus sick in Miletus (2 Tim. 4:20) | |
| 10 | [Timothy] Stop drinking only water, and use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses. (1 Tim. 5:21) | |
| 11 | Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. (James 5:14-15) | |
| 12 | “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.” (1 Peter 2:24) | |
| 13 | For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves. That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. (1 Cor. 11:29-30) | |
| 14 | […] So when you are assembled and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present, hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord. (1 Cor. 5:4-5) | |
| 15 | Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. […] For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. […] (2 Cor. 4:16, 5:1-4) | |
E. Commentary
Unit 4: Everyone from towns around Jerusalem who was prayed for was healed / Only Aeneas was healed in Lydda.
In the first column, people were hungry for healing. In the second column they heard about Aeneas’ healing miracle and believed in the Messiah–the main purpose of signs and wonders (really just healings and deliverances in Acts). But they did not bring their sick to Peter. Why not? I don’t know exactly, but evidently the Spirit did not prompt Peter to preach the healing of everyone; instead, many people got saved. Mission accomplished: salvation of souls. Does this indicate that saving souls has priority over healing bodies (recall 1 Timothy 2:4)? See Unit 15 for a possible answer.
Unit 5: On Island of Malta, all were apparently healed / in Samaria, many were healed and delivered.
All v. many. In the second column, do we take “many” to mean “all” or “everyone”? Probably so. If you don’t, though, then apparently God did not will to heal everyone in Samaria. Is it possible that the apostolic community did not have a one hundred percent success rate in every circumstance?
But then this option leaves the door open that God does not want to set people free from demonic attacks, which is a defective option. The mind / soul must be free from demons. So maybe it is best to say that many = all.
To support the conclusion that many = all, in Matthew’s summary verses about Jesus expelling demons and healing everyone (after he healed Peter’s mother-in-law), Matthews says Jesus expelled demons from “many,” while he healed “all” (Matt. 8:16). It seems therefore that the two words are synonyms. Mark says he expelled demons from “many” and he healed “many,” without “all” (Mark 1:32-34). Luke says that he laid hands on each one and healed them (meaning “all”), and demons came out of “many” (Luke 4:40-41). It seems that “many” is the same as “all” in these contexts. In other contexts “many” just means a large number of people (see BDAG, 1β, p. 848, which is a thick Greek lexicon of the NT, which many consider authoritative).
To further show that many = all in some contexts, BDAG cites Mark 10:45 and Matthew 20:28 (ransom for “many”) and 1 Timothy. 2:6 (ransom for “all”). Yet Mark 10:44 says that a disciple must be a servant of “all.” The lexicon also cites Matthew 12:15 which says a large crowd (“many”) followed him, and he healed all who were ill. BDAG calls this an “ascensive all.” So combining those three verses theologically, they could be translated as follows: give his life “a ransom for many, even all.” Note how “many” ascends to become “all.”
Bottom line: in many instances, “many” and “all” are interchangeable, or in other contexts “many” means a large number as distinct from a “few.” In the healing and deliverance summary verses, we should see “many” and “all” as synonyms and take the fuller, ascensive “all” as the meaning of those verses.
You can decide on your own, though, after your own study.
See Unit 1 for a variation on all v. many.
Unit 6: Epaphroditus was healed eventually.
There are no verses in the second column because there is no clearly corresponding case.
Epaphroditus was eventually healed, but there is no record that he was healed immediately by supernatural means after he got his illness, which was caused, so it seems, by over-exertion and taking risks for the gospel. If Paul laid hands on him to be healed instantly, then it did not work. In fact, it looks like Paul acknowledged that no instant healing took place because he was grateful for Epaphroditus’ recovery, as if his healing was out of Paul’s hands. Paul had to depend on God’s sovereignty. It looks to me that Epaphroditus was healed after rest. His healing was gradual and natural, with a supernatural element.
God had mercy on him (and Paul), so God willed to heal him. Epaphroditus had to complete his mission. If you’re sick with a fatal illness but want to live longer, ask God to give you a mission. He sees the needy world and is looking for missionaries to meet its needs. But ultimately, healing is in God’s hands.
Unit 7: Paul preached in Galatia while he was bodily ill.
The Greek is clear: “fleshly weakness” = “bodily illness.” Why couldn’t Paul lay hands on himself and heal himself? Or maybe the apostle Barnabas (or another apostle or elder) could have done this. It looks like Paul got over his illness–completely or in part–because we see that he lived many years after this mission trip to Galatia. Evidently, God willed to heal Paul because the apostle had more missions and assignments to accomplish. But he had to recover naturally and presumably with prayer. His healing was not instantaneous.
Unit 8: Paul’s thorn in the flesh
Was the thorn a bodily illness (“in the flesh”) or persecution? Either interpretation could be the right one. If it was a bodily weakness / illness, then God did not will to take it away.
Incidentally, I tend to think the thorn was persecution, especially when I read 2 Corinthians 11, which is all about Paul’s persecution and which provides the context for chapter 12. (The nations that harassed Israel were thorns in Israel’s side; see Num. 33:55; Josh. 23:13).
But you can decide on this issue after your own study.
Unit 9: Trophimus was left sick in Miletus.
Trophimus was a beloved and hard-working disciple (Acts 20:4; 21:29). Why did he get sick? We don’t know Trophimus’s back story.
In any case, why could Paul–an apostle–not heal him by laying hands on him? Could it be that God did not want to heal him instantly by supernatural means through prayer? Maybe he had to recover gradually, as Epaphroditus did. Sometimes instant healing does not happen. God does not will it so.
Unit 10: Timothy had to drink wine for his frequent illnesses.
Wine has alcohol in it, so it is an antiseptic, a germ killer. This is a home remedy. I don’t know what his illness was. Paul could not heal him by supernatural means, instantly. Even a body of elders laid hands on Timothy for the impartation of a gift:
Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through prophecy when the body of elders laid their hands on you. (1 Timothy 4:14)
It is safe to believe that the elders knew about Timothy’s frequent illnesses. It’s a sure thing that they prayed for him to be healed, if not at that time of the impartation and prophecy, then at other times, just like James said to do (James 5:14-15). (See Unit 11.) But somehow it did not work. He still had frequent illnesses when Paul wrote to him.
So, Paul advised Timothy to take his medicine. God wanted Timothy healed to complete his mission, but the healing was more natural and medical than supernatural (as far as we know from what the text says).
Unit 11: Call for the elders to pray for the sick.
James seems to imply that healing will happen every time. All the sick person needs to do is gather the elders, let them anoint him with oil, and pray, with the result that the prayer of faith will make him well. We saw already that sometimes God does indeed grant healing to everyone who asks, like the people of Jerusalem and nearby towns (Unit 4) and on the Island of Malta (Unit 5). This is a blessing.
However, the way I see it, James is offering a general rule and church policy and encouragement to expect happy results. The rest of Scripture, as we have seen in this list, allows for many kinds of exceptions to the one-hundred percent success rate. Recall Unit 10, which says that even though a body of elders prayed for and prophesied over Timothy about his gift, and probably for his frequent illnesses, he still had them and had to take wine.
But let’s pray for all to be healed during our meetings! Then let God be God and heal as he pleases.
Unit 12: “By his wounds we have been healed.”
Peter is quoting from Isaiah 53. Forgiveness of sins and the healing of the soul by the Messiah’s wounds is definitely in view here. Yet in Matthew 8:16-17, Matthew the Gospel writer applies Isaiah 53:4 to Jesus’s bodily healing ministry while he was alive. “He took up our infirmities and bore our diseases.” So far, so good.
The context of Isaiah 53 is about the Suffering Servant, the Righteous One, suffering for his people and atoning for their sins through his suffering and even death. Therefore, I see no reason why this application of Isaiah 53 should stop before the Messiah’s death on the cross. Instead, the application continues while he was on the cross. In other words, healing is in and through the atonement. This includes healing the soul and the body.
Yet what happens when this promise of bodily healing does not come instantly through prayer? We have seen the storylines of Timothy and Trophimus and in one case even Paul himself, when he arrived in Galatia while he had a bodily illness. Yes, healing is in and through the atonement, as a general principle, so we should always seek for our healing. The atonement is intended for everyone. But the specific application of healing through the atonement is up to God and his will. After the ascension, gifts of healings are distributed as the Spirit determines (1 Cor. 12:11). Thus we have to distinguish the intention of the atonement (it’s for everyone) and its application (God decides, and it’s a blessing that he has a generous will, so many will be healed).
So the application of healing through the atonement still depends on the Spirit and his gifts. Salvation of the soul is in the atonement, and 1 Timothy 2:4 says God wants all to be saved. But no such clear verse exists for bodily healing. Evidently God has a different and higher perspective on our bodies.
Sometimes we don’t get healed because …. see Unit 15.
Unit 13: Getting sick after eating and drinking from the Lord’s Table unworthily
It is a little-known passage because it is little preached. (Too scary for the modern American church!) But if we regularly take communion (or the Eucharist) unworthily, then we subject ourselves to God’s judgment and may get sick and even die prematurely. So here we see that God is willing to place sickness on people in judgment. Alternatively, maybe it is best to say that in judgment he wills to allow sickness to happen on its own with his permission, but he does not directly place it on us. He allows nature to take its course.
Sad to say, sometimes sickness led to early death, in Corinth.
This is something to ponder.
The Lord’s Supper in Synoptic Gospels + Church Traditions
Unit 14: A sinning young man was about to be judged with death
God through Paul was about to pronounce judgment on a young man who had been having sex with his mother–probably his stepmother (!). To save the man’s spirit / soul, Paul gave the man’s body over to Satan, so it could die, while his spirit / soul would live on in salvation. In this extreme case, God willed to place the man’s body under judgment and kill it, probably by a disease, though we don’t know the how. Certainly the body would wear out by something that would kill it.
Why Did Ananias and Sapphira Drop Dead?
But the man’s spirit would be saved and reach heaven.
It’s possible, however, that he repented and was spared deadly judgment on his body (2 Cor. 2:7).
Please don’t believe that your illness was sin-caused (John 9:2-3), unless God tells you it is, like the damaging effects of drugs or unsafe sex, before you were saved. If so, renounce your sins and repent, and then pray for healing (James 5:15). There is hope for you.
Unit 15: Our bodies waste away.
Every one of us will die because our natural bodies do not live forever. They wear out. God wills to take us home to be with him by letting our bodies die. God does not want to heal us every time.
The passage in 1 Corinthians 4-5 is the clearest teaching that God sees a difference between our corruptible bodies and our incorruptible spirits / souls by God’s grace. Those verses tell us why there is no promise about our bodily healing as we see in 1 Timothy 2:4 about God wanting to save the souls of everyone. By God’s grace, souls live on forever; bodies wear out.
E. Summary
This is a quick summary.
Sometimes God does not want to heal us, so we can go home to him.
Then our bodies will be restored to us, perfect and incorruptible, at the final resurrection.
VI. Two Wills of God or Different Purposes?
A. Brief intro.
You may skip or skim this section, if you wish.
In all my 50 years of belonging to the Renewal Movement and observing or participating in healing ministries, I have never heard of the two wills of God in his being to explain why some people are healed while others are not. It looks to me like someone is slipping an unhelpful Calvinist doctrine into God’s healing ministry.
B. Healing is complex
Jesus and the first generation of Christians followed God in every scenario. Then the sick were also in the mix. They had various levels of faith and responses to God. Or we don’t know how God interacted with people and they with him because the text is silent.
Healing is a complex business in Scripture, and injecting the two wills doctrine makes things even more complicated. There are eight billion people on the planet, so does God have eight billion wills in his being? Surely not! This doctrine is unwanted and unneeded. Pastorally, God’s storyline for each person has better explanatory power than the two-wills doctrine.
C. One will but different human storylines
God has one will, but different purposes or storylines for each person.
Each story (purpose) will be different. In our healing ministry, we have to find out what his story is for each individual. Better yet, the sick person in need of healing should seek God for God’s purpose (story).We should not put pressure on ourselves to discover God’s purpose for someone else.
D. Life in the Spirit
So how do we hear from God and pray in accordance with his story (purpose) of our life? How do we know when we should hold on to God’s supernatural healing until it comes or let it go and embrace medical treatment? Or should we embrace our supernatural healing and medical treatment? (We should always seek medical treatment, but only after we seek God first; see King Asa who sought doctors before the Lord and was rebuked for it, in 2 Chron. 16:12.) Paul said to Timothy to take a little wine for his frequent illness. Evidently Paul and the elders praying for him did not see him healed. Or how do we know that it is time for us to go home to heaven, without our bodily healing right now?
In some rare cases or stories, God simply does not always heal our wearing-out bodies right now. And I say that Scripture teaches that in a few cases God does not purpose to heal our bodies by supernatural means, instantly or even gradually.
E. Differences between will and purpose
What is the difference, then, between will and purpose? To me, I don’t like to attribute two wills or twenty wills or eight billion wills to God. I prefer to say he has different purposes.
To resolve this conundrum, I prefer, as I just explained, to say God has a different purpose (or telos [singular] telē or teloses [plural]) for each thing: an ant, a galaxy, a healthy person or an unhealthy person. I prefer the word “story,” but “purpose” also works. God’s purpose for an unhealthy person is to serve him in health, so God heals him. Or God’s purpose for an unhealthy person is to glorify God in a wheelchair, for example. So no healing.
F. No absurd conclusions
However, if you see no difference between God’s purpose and his will, then this is fine (“the will of God” is certainly a biblical phrase). But I still don’t believe God has, for this reason, millions of wills in his being. God single will is expressed differently for each individual case, depending on individual circumstances. He has a different story unique to each individual. Or we may never know God’s will for an individual who died, despite all of our prayers. We may never know the answer to the why question, even when we get to heaven. We have to leave it as a mystery. After all, we should be grateful God accepts us into heaven, in the first place, by his grace alone, our (gospel- and Spirit-inspired) faith alone, and on Christ alone.
G. Quick summary
So yes, God wants to heal everyone (one will and only one will), and sometimes he does this now, while we are in our earthly body. But he will always heal everyone by means of their resurrected body at the Second Coming.
So God’s will–and only one will–is to heal everyone. But we have to wait for his timing and purpose for each individual.
VII. Total Healing in Heaven and New Creation
A. Brief intro.
This discussion at Biola, Talbot Seminary, puts a fresh perspective on the image of God:
The image of God is a status, so it does not change, when the fall happened. (so says the video link).
B. Error
But warning! Dr. Imes seems to believe that the blind and deaf and lame and those with Downs syndrome will keep their disabilities in new creation.
So in my college classroom the Christian girl who had a leg shorter than the other and atrophied will be able to walk upright in new creation without the intense limp.
Wow. No. All genetic defects and disabilities will be healed. Then they will be free and truly understand who they were.
C. Exodus 4:11
Dr. Imes then quotes this verse. God is talking to Moses during God’s call on him to go back to Egypt, though Moses comes up with excuses:
11 The Lord said to him, “Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the Lord? 12 Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.” (Ex. 4:11)
God is speaking from the point of view of the Fall. We have to do battle against those disabilities. So maybe we can say that in the Hebrew Bible what God is said to cause he actually allows. If that interpretation is not true, then we must not fight against God’s will, for he himself imposed those disabilities on people Do not pray for healing or seek medical care. No. It is obvious that something is wrong with this conclusion.
In his day, Jesus was in the process of reversing those disabilities. John the Baptist is in prison, and he sends his disciples to ask whether Jesus is the one, the Messiah:
4 Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: 5 The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. (Matt. 11:4-5)
One sign of the Messianic Age was the healing of diseases and broken bodies. Isaiah 35 describes this age. After God comes with a vengeance to rescue his people, these things will happen:
“Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy” (Is. 35:5-6).
Is. 26:19 says of the Messianic Age: “But your dead will live, LORD, their bodies will rise—let those who dwell in the dust wake up and shout with joy” (Is. 26:19).
The phrase “in that day” refers to the age that the Messiah ushers in: “In that day the deaf will hear the words of the scroll and out of gloom and darkness the eyes will see” (Is. 29:1).
The ministry of Jesus in his day corresponds to the already and not yet. The Messianic Age was introduced while he was here on earth. It was already here in him. But it will be revealed in its fullness at new creation.
D. Entering life with maimed and blind?
Jesus is telling his disciples to deal ruthlessly with sin. Note the comparison (“it is better”):
8 If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. 9 And if your eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell. (Matt. 18:8-10)
Jesus is describing two scenarios and pressing home the point of the seriousness of sin. In the torah, the severity of punishment indicates how serious the crime is. It was not often applied in real life. And so it is in Matthew 18:8-10. If you had to choose between two scenarios–entering life with disabilities or hell fire with all body parts, it is better to choose disabilities. But it is a blessing that we do not have to choose either one because both scenarios are hypothetical–if.
E. Misunderstanding many and all
And just because Jesus did not heal everyone who came to him (he did because the word “many” confuses people) does not mean that not everyone will be healed at new creation.
Here is my exegesis of Mark 3:7-12, which says Jesus healed “many”:
It is interesting that the verse does not say “all,” but the word “many” in Greek can be ambiguous, so that it could mean all, if we stretch out its meaning. In their comments on 1:34, these commentators write: “The term ‘many,’ in the statement that Jesus healed ‘many that were sick,’ is used inclusively and is equivalent to the ‘all’ of v. 32; it reflects upon the large number of those who came for healing” (Lane). Garland agrees: “The ‘many’ is a Semitism for the ‘all’ (see 10:45: cf. Matt. 8:16; Luke 4:40)” (p. 73, note 13). That is also inclusive, meaning “all.” But literally it reads many. If it is unclear why Jesus may not have healed all of them, read Mark 6:5-6. They denied he was the Messiah.
Source (at this website):
And here is my exegesis of Mark 1:32-34, which says “all” were brought and “many” were healed and had demons expelled from them:
“many”: “The term ‘many,’ in the statement that Jesus healed ‘many that were sick,’ is used inclusively and is equivalent to the ‘all’ of v. 32; it reflects upon the large number of those who came for healing” (Lane). Garland agrees: “The ‘many’ is a Semitism for the ‘all’ (see 10:45: cf. Matt. 8:16; Luke 4:40)” (p. 73, note 13). Note that Jesus expelled “many” demons. That is also inclusive, meaning “all.” It is not likely that some demons were not expelled, just “many” were. No. He expelled them all.
Source (at this website):
Jesus Heals Peter’s Mother-in-Law and Many Others
Here’s is Matthew’s parallel summary passage (my translation):
14 When Jesus entered Peter’s house, he saw (Peter’s) mother-in-law laid up and having a fever. 15 Then he touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she got up and began to serve him. 16 When evening came, they brought to him many demonized people, and he expelled the spirits with a word, and he healed all those having sicknesses, 17 so that the word spoken through the prophet Isaiah would be fulfilled:
He took our diseases,
And he carried our sicknesses [Is. 53:4] (Matthew 8:14-17)
In v. 16, he expelled demons from “many” but healed “all” those having diseases. The “all” and “many” are parallels or synonyms, unless we believe that he did not expel demons from everyone and left some people demonized, a terrible thought. But it is clear that he expelled (all of them) them with a word.
Source (at this website):
(I now see my title should have read “Jesus Heals Everyone.”)
Also see: Is the Atonement for ‘Many’ or ‘All’ People?
F. Summary
So “many” means “all” in those passages. He healed everyone who came to him. This is a foretaste of new creation.
In short, segments of the Carmen Imes video are misguided. New creation includes new creation of the body, too, all of it, even all genetic defects and all disabilities. No wheelchairs in heaven and then new creation. No Downs syndrome, no limps, no palsy, no blind or deaf or mute people. No cancer or leprosy.
VIII. Practical Guide to Prayer
A. Introduction
After all that theology, let’s get practical. We should still pray for healing and not use the “not-100% thing” as an excuse. Let’s pray for God to grant us the gift of faith (1 Cor. 12:9), so that we can then pray in faith for healing.
14 Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. (James 5:14-15)
Verse 15 says the prayer offered in faith or literally “the prayer of faith.”
B. Simple Formulas
Faith ≠ Doubt
Faith ≠ Skepticism
Faith ≠ Mild Skepticism
Faith ≠ “Maybe yes, maybe no, who really knows?”
Faith ≠ Paralysis of Analysis
In the next equation, the arrow means “leads to”:
Faith the Size of a Mustard Seed → Results
Jesus never said, “Your skepticism makes you whole!” If you fit in the other items of the list, don’t spread your unbelief around in the presence of the sick person. But I like what this man honestly told the Lord: “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” (Mark. 9:24). Pray silently with an open heart for God to give you faith and overcome your unbelief.
C. My Healing Prayers
Personally, I pray this way for the diseased in body.
1.. I pray until healing comes.
I’ve been praying for a vital organ in my body since January 15, 2010, and I will never stop. I found out recently that it has gotten much better. Looking at the results, the doctor said “amazing!” twice in one session. It doesn’t cost me any effort to pray for it: I put Matt. 7:7-8 in the present continuous tense).
2.. I pray for medicine to be effective and the doctors to be successful. (I exercise and eat healthily.)
3.. I pray until God reveals to me that it is time to stop praying for healing because God is using (not causing) the sickness to take the sick person home to be with Jesus, forever.
No, I don’t tell the sick person my new conviction or belief, because I could be wrong. Instead, I shift my prayers for spiritual healing and strength and peace and faith in the ill person. (I pray this in the other lettered points, as well.) Heaven and a new body are the ultimate healing.
God wants to heal in so many situations; we see this in the ministry of Jesus, who never put diseases on people, but lifted diseases and deformity off of them. He wants us to ask for healing with faith.
D. God’s sovereignty
Yes, God wants to heal, but he is also sovereign. We can trust him when we do not get our healing right now. He still loves us and wants us to come home. And going to his heavenly home is no punishment!
16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. (2 Cor. 4:16-18, ESV)
Yes, our bodies really are wasting away right now, little by little. But our momentary light affliction “ain’t nothin'” in contrast to eternity–the eternal weight of glory. We are headed for eternity, so let’s not weep and wail when someone we prayed for dies. He or she just got crowned!
IX. Application
A. Healing is complex
As alluded to, above, healing in Scripture is a complex business, probably because God and humans interact!
Our faith … our lack of faith … our corruptible bodies … one person gets healed, others don’t … all get healed, only few or one gets healed … instant, supernatural healing … gradual healing … medical treatment … God is behind all healing … God uses illness to call people home … judgment through illness … judgment through death … ultimate healing in heaven and then at the final resurrection … God’s sovereignty …
These things are difficult to untangle! There is a mystery to all of this.
B. Avoid two extremes
One thing is certain. We must avoid two extremes. One extreme says that God does not supernaturally heal anyone at this time. The gifts of healings in 1 Corinthians 12:9 have ceased in our day. The other extreme says that God wants to heal everyone now. If we are not healed, then it is our fault. We lack faith or don’t have the right confession or not enough word in us or something.
The first extreme is called under-realized kingdom presence and power (or under-realized eschatology), and the second extreme is called over-realized kingdom presence and power (or over-realized eschatology). The so-called cessationists advocate for the first extreme, and the Word of Faith Movement pushes the second one.
C. Learn from Jesus
Let’s look at the ministry of Jesus to learn some things about God’s purpose.
God the Father through his Son who was anointed by the Spirit performed miracles of healing. Jesus clarified that he does only what he sees his Father doing (John 5:19). He lives because of the Father (John 6:57). He speaks only what the Father taught him (John 8:28). He does what he sees the Father do (John 10:37). What Jesus says is just what the Father told him to say (John 12:49-50, 57). As noted at Unit 1, perhaps the most important verse about miracles: “Many good works I have shown you from My Father” (John 10:32). (In John’s Gospel, “good works” = miracles, at a minimum.) The dominant image of the four Gospels is that Jesus healed everyone who came to him.
And so the Father through his Son who was anointed by the Spirit performed all miracles during his Son’s ministry (Acts 10:38). While on earth ministering, the Son obeyed and followed his Father.
D. Seek God
Jesus and the apostolic community sought God for his purpose when they met sick people. Does he want to heal in this case? If so, how? As to other sick people, sometimes Jesus and his apostolic community walked right past them. Timothy’s story was not the same as Epaphroditus’s story, and Trophimus had his own story. One crowd responded, and all got healed because the Anointed One was with them. In contrast, the people at Nazareth harumphed and disbelieved that he was the Anointed One. Very few got healed.
E. Life in the Spirit
We too should develop life in the Spirit (Gal. 5; Rom. 8), so we can hear from the Father through the Spirit, in Jesus’s name and receive the authority granted to us. We will never heal as Jesus did, because he is the Anointed One without limits (John 3:34). And after the cross and the Son’s ascension, the Spirit distributes the gifts of healings (plural) as he determines (1 Cor. 12:11). We don’t own them and heal on command every time.
F. Encouragement
Nonetheless, when healing does not happen at first, don’t be discouraged, because healing is for you. Jesus healed many, that is, all people who came to him. In some summary verses, he healed them all. Let’s start by believing that he wants to heal you too.
G. The Dying
However, he may confirm in your heart that it is time to go home to him. You have to hear from God for your own story, with loved ones and prayer warriors at your side. To hear from God clearly, you need to live the crucified life and give your entire body and life to him (Luke 9:23). When he whispers to your heart that it is time to go home, then let him bless you with your homegoing. In this final stage of your storyline, “the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:7). The peace of God will confirm in your heart and mind that it is time to go.
H. The big picture
In the big picture, the long game, before Christ returns, we shall all die, one day. The heavenly homegoing is the wonderful and glorious destiny of all of our stories. It is the climax and then the resolution of the plot. In Christ, death is not to be feared (Heb. 2:14-15), nor to be seen as demonstrating a lack of faith. To God, death looks like this:
Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his faithful servants. (Ps. 116:15)
Bottom line: The dominant message of the NT is that disease is an enemy. Fight it. Healing is for you. It is your friend. Let the Spirit work, and you listen and obey. And then rebuke a disease and pray for healing. Always seek medical treatment, as well. Then let God be God. He is the one who heals you or not.
I. Final passage for our growth in Christ
Paul writes that while we are in this body or tent (or tabernacle), we groan, implying that it is wearing down:
For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. 2 Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, 3 because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. 4 For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5 Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. (2 Cor. 5:1-5)
So in vv. 1-4 he says that our bodies or tents will be destroyed one day, whether by decomposing in the grave or in the sea or somewhere else. However, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven. We long to be clothed with it. Our mortality will be swallowed up in by life (eternal). We wish to be clothed with our eternal dwelling.
The best news is v. 5. The Spirit lives in us and is the down payment or deposit of what is to come. Which is what? It is heaven and eternal life or living in our new tents or bodies at the final resurrection. For now, our earth-tents wear out and die; then our healing will be 100% and forever!
Dr. Jim's Essential Bible Teaching 