The Healing Model: Evidence From Scripture

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Let us examine the scriptural mandate for the healing model. Every enduring program must pass this critical test. The healing model for evangelism grows out of many scriptures. Not only does it meet the textual demands of in­dividual pas­sages, it captures the divine attitude and spirit toward soulwinning.

1. The Old Testament uses the words for heal and healing in both a physical and a spiritual context.

• “So Abraham prayed unto God: and God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his maidservants; and they bare children.” Gen­esis 20:17
• “Turn again, and tell Heze­kiah the captain of my people, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: be­hold, I will heal thee: on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the LORD.” II Kings 20:5
• “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” II Chronicles 7:14
• “I said, LORD, be merciful unto me: heal my soul; for I have sinned against thee.” Psalm 41:4

2. While physical healing demonstrated God’s power and compas­sion in both testaments, spiritual healing is His eternal purpose.

• “And if thy right eye of­fend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profit­able for thee that one of thy members sho­uld perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
• “And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.” Mat­thew 5:29-30.
• “But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.” Malachi 4:2
• “In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yie­lded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.” Revelation 22:2

3. Throughout the Bible, sin is characterized as disease, sickness and injury resulting in death.

• “Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.
• “From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no sound­ness in it; but wounds, and brui­ses, and putrifying sores: they have not been clo­sed, neither bound up, neither mollified with oin­tment.” Isaiah 1:5-6
• “Come now, and let us reason to­gether, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” Isaiah 1:18
• “There is no soundness in my flesh because of thine anger; neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin.” Psalm 38:3
• “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sin­ned.” Romans 5:12
• “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 6:23

4. Sin, as a spiritual malady, causes pain, guil­t, loneliness and many other kinds of symptoms affecting the soul and spirit.

a. Adam and Eve were im­mediately struck with guilt and a sense of shame when they disobeyed God’s com­mand:

• “And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themsel­ves aprons.
• “And they heard the voice of the LORD God wal­king in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid them­selves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.” Genesis 3:7-8

b. Pain was the consequence of their sin.

• “Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy concep­tion; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth child­ren; and thy desire shall be to thy hus­band, and he shall rule over thee.
• “And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hea­rkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I com­manded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
• “Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;
• “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat brea­d, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.” Gen­esis 3:16-19.

c. Loneliness, shown by man­kind’s separa­tion from God, also resulted from sin.

• “Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.
• “So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims , and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.” Genesis 3:23-24.

5. The ministry of Christ reinforces the healing model of evan­gelism.

a. The parable of the Good Samaritan teaches that a man’s neighbor is the one who cares about him most.

• “But a certain Samaritan, as he jour­neyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him,
• “And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. Luke 10:33-34

b. In His lesson on forgiveness and healing in Matthew 9, He seems to make little difference between sin and sickness in terms of the divine re­sponse.

“And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee. “And, behold, certain of the scribes said wit­hin themselves, This man blasphem­eth. “And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts? “For whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk? “But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to for­give sins, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house.” Matthew 9:2-6.

c. The beatitudes focus on hur­ting and de­prived people.

• “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
• “Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be com­forted. “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
• “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteous­ness: for they shall be filled. Matthew 5:3-6.

d. Christ’s self concept was one of a healer of the soul.

• “And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,
• “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the broken­hearted, to pre­ach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, “To preach the accep­table year of the Lord.
• “And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.
• “And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.” Luke 4:17-21.
• “And Jesus answering said unto them, They that are whole need not a physi­cian; but they that are sick. “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” Luke 5:31-32

e. A healing ministry characterizes Christ’s mandate to the church.

• “For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a strang­er, and ye took me in: “Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
• “Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee dr­ink?
• “When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
• “Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
• “And the King shall an­swer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” Matthew 25:35-40

6. The essence of the Gospel is redemption.

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. “And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; “To wit, that God was in Christ, re­conciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath com­mitted unto us the word of reconciliation. “Now then we are ambas­sadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” II Corin­thians 5:17-21

7. Physical healing was primarily used to show God’s power and to bring attention to the Gospel.

“And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. “And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? “Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. “When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay, “And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpreta­tion, Sent.) He went his way there­fore, and wash­ed, and came seeing.” John 9:1-3; 6-7.

8. Healing more fully represents the entire scope of salvation than does any other definition of soulwinning: The prior condition, the act of salvation, the nature of the soulwinner, the positive intent and pur­pose of God, and the generally holistic approach.

“He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. “Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. “But he was wounded for our trans­gressions, he was bruised for our ini­quities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are heal­ed. “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” Isaiah 53:3-6.

The Healing Model: Scriptural Evidence

• Healing is both physical and spiritual.
• Spiritual healing is God’s eternal purpose.
• Sin is a disease which results in death.
• Christ’s ministry reinforces the healing model.
• The essence of the gospel is redemption.
• Physical healing proves God’s power to save from sin.
• Healing represents the entire scope of salvation.