Did Christ Redeem Us From Our Diseases?-- Part 3

There are those who carry the agonies of physical infirmities into the Calvary experience of Jesus Christ, and they press the argument that on the cross the Son of God “…TOOK OUR INFIRMITIES, AND CARRIED AWAY OUR DISEASES” (Matt. 8:17b NASB). They further state that Christ not only takes away by His power the diseases of mankind which arise from sin, but He has the power to accomplish this achievement. However, if physical healing in the atonement is true, then there is nothing else in salvation to be desired. Paul knew nothing of such teaching. Therefore, if we can find in Scripture where Christians were allowed to be sick and were not healed, then the whole theory fails to harmonize with Scripture.

Christ’s sin offering at Calvary was absolutely perfect and finished GODWARD, but its application to our bodies remains yet to be accomplished. If Christ stood in the place of the sick as He stood in the place of the sinner, our sicknesses would be as far removed from us as our sins. Furthermore, when the Holy Spirit makes alive one of the elect given to Christ (Eph. 1:4), there is no change in the flesh. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, You must be born again. The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit” (John 3:6-8 NASB). The body of the born-again person remains unchanged, but the body is subject to the will of the new man. The old man is the Adamic man, and the new man is the person in Christ. The body of the Christian remains unchanged, but the old, vile body has to be buffeted and made the believer’s slave, or he will be disqualified as a bond servant of Christ (I Cor. 9:22-27 NASB). The Christian is concerned about his testimony.

In one’s new birth, the body remains unchanged, but it is subject to the will of the new man. The contrast between the old man and the new man is between the past and the present. Sin in the life of the believer is attributed to the new man. The terms “new” and “old” are used to signify the qualities, not the essentials, of our nature as Christians. The believer has not become a different substance. Substance remains the same in both the old and new man. There is nothing changed but the quality of the man. (Study Romans 7:14-25. Note that Paul was a saved man when he experienced and wrote this.)

Paul gives a picturesque description (interesting qualities) of what the elect are in Jesus Christ by His redemptive work on their behalf. In Colossians, the apostle not only exposes false teaching concerning the Person of Christ, but he reveals what we have presently in time and what we will have eternally.

Wisdom and knowledge are linked together in the ones to whom Christ has been made wisdom (I Cor. 1:30). What is wisdom outside of Christ? Its best efforts are like the things of the world that soon pass away. Its light is like the flickering candle in comparison to “the sun of righteousness” (Mal. 4:2). Paul spoke of “the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ Himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Col. 2:2, 3 NASB).

The main thrust of faith healers is twofold, healing and wealth. In reality, their main drive is money, but they camouflage it with a “healing service.” They will not mention Paul’s “thorn in the flesh” (II Cor. 12:7-10), as if that would make any difference with deceived people. Scripture says, “But evil men and imposters will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived” (II Tim. 3:13 NASB).

Where the subject is oneself, it is a delicate and difficult thing for a man to speak properly. However, Paul was the kind of person who not only had received grace, but he had grown in grace to the extent that he could discuss it, whether it was a sense of unworthiness or whatever. Paul revealed the following about himself: “And because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet me—to keep me from exalting myself!” (II Cor. 12:7 NASB). A true minister must have compassion for the ignorant, sympathy for the afflicted, comfort for the feeble, and discipline for those who are not walking in the revealed truth. Men in the assembly should have learned similar lessons as leaders of their families.

Paul’s preservation is found in the statement, “…there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet me—to keep me from exalting myself” (II Cor. 12:7b NASB). The thorn was some piercing affliction to the flesh. Affliction is designed to prevent, as well as to recover. God saw the future in the present, and the effect in the cause. The recipient of the discipline comes to the conclusion that prevention is better than the cure.

This is the answer to Paul’s request: “…My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness” (II Cor. 12:9a NASB). We observe two important lessons in Paul’s discipline. First, the answer does not correspond with the request. Paul prayed to have it removed. God said nothing about Paul’s request, but He gave him something better. The lesson we should have learned from this is that God gives us what we need, not what we want. Second, God said, “My grace is sufficient for you.” This means God’s sufficiency is sufficient for whatever is the Christian’s need. Therefore, Paul was not the victim but the master of his circumstances. He could be exalted without pride and abased without despair. Furthermore, Paul was used, regardless of his affliction, to give us fourteen of the books of the New Testament.

In Christ, the elect are complete. “For in Him all the fulness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete [perfect passive participle of pleroo], and He is the head over all rule and authority” (Col. 2:9, 10 NASB). The verb pleroo means to fill, make full, or bring to completion. The perfect passive looks at both ends of the action which is permanent. God’s fullness dwells bodily in Christ in order that it may be communicated to the elect.

In Christ, the elect are circumcised: “and in Him you were also circumcised [aorist passive indicative of peritemno, meaning to circumcise] with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ” (Col. 2:11 NASB). This was heart circumcision by the sovereign God (Rom. 2:29; Gal. 6:15). Do not overlook the passive voice of this circumcision. It harmonizes with Romans 6:4, a once-for-all act by the sovereign God, which enables Christians to walk in newness of life. Therefore, spiritual circumcision is not a rite or ceremony but a Christian reality. It speaks of a new principle of life, not a working of the flesh, because it is performed by the Spirit of God.

Subsequent to spiritual circumcision, the elect are raised up with Christ through the faithfulness of God who raised us out from among the dead. As both death and burial with Christ are spiritual, so is our resurrection. The death of Adam killed us, but the death of Christ assures the elect of being made alive. Therefore, recipients of grace go from the grave of death to the new life from God in our spiritual resurrection.

In this doctrinal section of Colossians, we have in chapter two and verse twelve a hotly debated text. However, an honest investigation of the Greek text, plus laying aside denominational prejudice, will give the Christian great joy. Heart circumcision is the work of God, because it is a spiritual cutting off of sin in the flesh. Therefore, all Christians have been spiritually circumcised. Surely, no one is so ignorant that he cannot see that the language of Colossians 2:12 is to be taken figuratively. However, there are those who use verses 11-13 to teach that children should be baptized as heirs of the kingdom of God and of His covenant. In their comments on Colossians 2:12, others say, “The Christian’s circumcision takes place in baptism.” This statement comes from those who believe in baptismal regeneration. Finally, those who believe that baptism is by immersion say the ordinance gives a picture of the change already wrought in the heart through faith. This text does not teach covenant theology, baptismal regeneration, or water baptism.

With the help of Greek grammar, let us make a sincere study of what only “appears” to be a controversial text. The difficulty arises from differing views of the ordinance of baptism. The text about which there is controversy is Colossians 2:12—“having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead” (NASB).

The clarifying of the text can be seen from a closer look at two participles, a verb, and two nouns. They will be listed as they occur in the text: (1) suntaphentes, an aorist passive participle nominative masculine plural of the compound verb sunthapto, meaning “to bury with” which can be translated “having been buried with”; (2) baptismati, locative of sphere masculine singular of the noun baptisma, meaning “baptism” which in this case is spiritual rather than physical; (3) sunegerthete, aorist passive indicative plural of the compound verb sunegeiro, meaning “to raise up with”; (4) pisteos, genitive of description of the noun pistis, meaning “the faithful working of God”; (4) egeirantos, aorist active participle genitive masculine singular of egeiro, meaning “to raise up or bring into being.”

According to the rules of Greek grammar, Colossians 2:12 can be translated as follows: “Having been buried together with Him in baptism, in whom also you were raised up with Him through the faithfulness of God, who raised Him out from the dead.” Can any person doubt that Christ’s statement in Luke 12:50 is talking about a spiritual baptism? Christ said, “I have come to cast fire upon the earth; and how I wish it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is accomplished! Do you suppose that I came to grant peace on the earth? I tell you, no, but rather division” (Luke 12:49-51 NASB).

The circumcision “made without hands” refers to the spiritual cutting off of the sinful flesh in Romans 7. Paul said, “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the wishing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I wish, I do not do; but I practice the very evil that I do not wish. But if I am doing the very thing I do not wish, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me” (Rom. 7:18-20 NASB). Just as Paul dealt with justification in Romans 3:21-5:21, he then turns to the subject of sanctification in Romans 6-8.

All Christians have been circumcised, but it must be understood that such circumcision is spiritual, the spiritual cutting off of sin in the flesh. Truth and experience cannot be separated. There can be some knowledge without experience, but there cannot be a true experience without some knowledge. Because fruit survives for a time when removed from the tree, shall we say that it is independent of the tree? Without the sovereign God, the Father, the historical Christ, and the life-giving Spirit, theology would be reduced to nothing in these apostate days.

Consider the meaning of the Cross! The cross has been suggested to be the refuge for those chosen by God the Father, the sepulcher for the old man, and the risen Christ as the residence of the new man. The following is a five-fold answer to the question, What is the Cross?

1. The cross is the representation of the elect before God.
2. The cross is the satisfaction of God for the guilt of the elect.
3. The cross is the substitution of the Savior for the elect.
4. The cross is the identification of the elect with the Savior.
5. The cross is the revelation of God in Christ to the elect.

Spiritual circumcision gives a new principle of life through the faithfulness of God’s operation. The descriptive genitive energeia speaks of the supernatural power that works through the omnipotent God’s faithfulness on behalf of the elect. How shall we who died to the principle of sin live in its realm? Death to sin is set out in contradiction to living in sin. As Christ died for sin, the believer died to sin. Therefore, the believer, being dead to the principle of sin, cannot live in sin because he is dead to its practice.