I was once chastised by a friend for daring to declare that healing is part of the atonement package of Jesus Christ. This series of posts will discuss that whole topic, and I will try to explain why not just healing but a whole pile of other stuff is also included, along with salvation, in the atonement package of Christ, and why I believe much of it falls under the label “sozo.” Sozo is the Greek word used in the New Testament, most often translated as “saved” but also translated in many other ways.
During his rebuke, this friend of mine declared sozo as a “Bethel” term. His exact words:
Sorry Jim, I’m gonna have to call you out. Your claiming of “[physical] healing is part of Christ’s atonement”, along with this “sozo” movement from Bethel is all blatantly heretical and has no biblical basis.
In other words, Bethel Church (of Redding, CA) uses this term to denote something that is heretical and not biblical. I had to tell him that sozo isn’t a Bethel movement, it’s a word that’s actually used in the Bible. In fact, it appears in the New Testament 107 times, and is variously translated “saved,” “safety,” “cured,” “made well,” preserved,” “restore,” “recover,” and “bring safely.” It derives from the word “sos” which means safe or well.
Jesus suffered greatly on our behalf. We can’t even imagine what it was like to take the sin of the whole world into one’s being and pay the price of God’s wrath for all the sins of the human race. And it was not just to get us by until we make it to heaven by the skin of our teeth. The Bible is very clear: we are to make disciples of all nations, we are to heal, raise people from the dead, cast out demons, and spread the gospel to the whole world, all through the indwelling power of God through His Holy Spirit.
A good place to start may be to state the fact that the word “atonement” does not actually appear in the New Testament in the New American Standard version. It appears only once in the King James, in Romans 5:11:
“We also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom have now received the atonement.”
This word “atonement” is translated in other versions as “reconciliation.” The point is, it’s not used much at all in the New Testament. So maybe we ought to change our terminology. I am perfectly willing to admit that the disagreement with my friend described above may have stemmed from the word “atonement” itself.
Here’s the dictionary definition of the word atonement:
“Theology: the doctrine concerning the reconciliation of God and humankind, especially as accomplished through the life, suffering, and death of Christ.”
So the question really is, what was included in the process of reconciling sinful man back to the heart of God? What has been provided to us as followers of Jesus, joint heirs with Jesus, and children of the Most High God?
Now the question becomes crystal clear.
A related concept that is used in the New Testament is redemption, which is the act of releasing on payment of a ransom. We were captives of sin. Jesus paid the ransom to purchase us back from the enemy, and now we are his, bondservants of Christ Jesus (Philippians 1:1).
We belong to God, which is why Romans 12:1 urges us to become living sacrifices, which is our “spiritual act of worship.” Other translations of the word “spiritual” here include “rational,” “logical” and “reasonable.” In other words, because we are now God’s property, it makes sense that our logical or reasonable act of worship is to give Him our very bodies in exchange for the amazing things He accomplished for us.
So, this is a roundabout way to get back to the original question, but now with a little different language:
“Since we are now reconciled back to God through salvation, what is included in this new relationship we have with Him?
I believe all the gifts of the Spirit, and the fruits of the Spirit, are freely given for us to use, or shall I more accurately say for God to use through us, in our efforts to spread the love of Jesus abroad and thus expose others to the beauty and truth that is His kingdom.
Here are the gifts of the Spirit:
From 1 Corinthians 12:1-11:
- Word of wisdom
- Word of knowledge
- Faith
- Gifts of healing
- Working of miracles
- Prophecy
- Discerning of spirits
- Tongues
- Interpretation of tongues
From Ephesians 4:7-13:
- Apostleship
- Prophecy
- Teaching
- Evangelism
- Pastoring
From Romans 12:3-8:
- Prophesying
- Faith
- Serving
- Teaching
- Encouragement
- Giving
- Leadership
- Mercy
Before going on, a quick word about spiritual gifts: I have done another series about whether the miracle gifts of the Spirit are for the church today. Those who believe that they are not are called cessationists, because they believe these spiritual gifts have ceased, because they were only for the original apostles in order to validate them as apostles. I won’t go into that here, but I’ll refer you to that series. We are going on now under the conviction that yes, the spiritual miracle gifts are indeed for today’s Body of Christ on earth.
The fruits of the Spirit are also part of our new life in Christ, and are as follows:
From Galatians 5:22-23:
- Love
- Joy
- Peace
- Patience
- Kindness
- Goodness
- Faithfulness
- Gentleness
- Self-control
Fruits are, obviously, different from gifts. The gifts of the Spirit are given on occasion depending on one’s circumstances and the need of the moment. I won’t get into whether each person has a particular gift or whether all Christians have access to all the gifts depending on their circumstances, but my opinion tends toward the latter. I believe the Holy Spirit within us has the right to use any one of His gifts through each individual depending on the ministry that person is involved in at the moment.
Here well conclude part one of this series. As always, please support us at www.dangerousheretics.com and please share these videos far and wide. Thanks for tuning in…