Excerpt: The article explores the concept of healing from a Biblical Christian Worldview, emphasizing both physical and spiritual healing. It highlights how the Bible offers insight and guidance for those seeking healing, showcasing God’s power to heal the body and restore the soul.

Author: Dr. Samuel Shamaun

Restoration is a profound process that resonates across all aspects of humanity. Both physical and spiritual healing are essential for the recovery of body and soul, and the Bible offers insight, support, and guidance for those seeking healing. This paper will explore the dual aspects of healing — physical and spiritual — drawing on Scripture to understand the full scope of healing available through faith.

The Physical Healing: the Power of God at Work

The world must have physical healing as one of the most desirable. At some point in time, all people seek recovery of their health, be it due to illness, injury, or disease. The Bible speaks a lot about the ability of God to heal the body and restore the sufferers. The repetition of the healing narratives throughout the Scripture assumes the presence of a God who is gracious and benevolent to introduce hope to those who need to recover physically.

The Old Testament represents God as the Supreme Healer. It is also written in the book of Exodus 15:26: “God heals you,” promises the Israelites. This simple and yet significant statement reveals the position of God in the form of the supernatural Healer, who provides comfort to his people when they are sick. God not only cures the physical in the physical sense, but He also guarantees that His people will be thrown back and they will be able to withstand the difficult moments and the illnesses.

One of the attributes of the ministry of Jesus Christ in the New Testament is physical healing. Jesus had performed so many miracles where He healed the sick, blind, deaf, and lame (Matthew 4:24). The word went abroad round Syria; people brought all the sick unto Him, all who were sore, possessed by the devil, those in convulsions, and the lame; and He healed them. God loved and cared about His people, and this love is what manifested itself in Jesus through His healing ministry. God broke into the world through His kingdom; the presence of God identified through physical healing was a manifestation of the power of God.

One of the most emotional healing records is found in Mark 5:34 when Jesus heals a woman who has had a bleeding disorder lasting twelve years. To her, Jesus says, “Daughter, you have healed due to your glory. Go and lead a life without your suffering.” This is a verse in which the connections between faith and healing are emphasized. It is the faith in Jesus that helped the woman to be cured of the physical sickness, which she desperately needed.

Healing also occurs by way of restoration and recovery. The Bible assists the believers in James 5:14-15 when they are praying to the sick: “Is any of ye sick (in James 5:14-15)? And may I invite the elders of the church to pray and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And prayer done in faith will be to him that is sick; the Lord will raise him.” This reading provides an optimistic feeling to the believer that the process of healing is attainable by praying and having faith in the power of God. The curing process will either involve God Himself or the treatment.

Spiritual Healing: The Soul Recalling

Spiritual healing holds significant importance in the Christian faith, distinct from physical healing. It addresses the restoration of the soul and the healing of emotional and mental wounds caused by sin, shame, brokenness, and guilt. According to the Bible, sin separates individuals from God, and spiritual healing is necessary for reconciliation and peace with Him.

Spiritual healing was discussed by the prophet Isaiah even prior to the coming of Jesus. In Isaiah 53:5, He said: “But he was stained with our iniquities and with his blood was stricken with our works, and thou succumbed in punishment that we might be made whole fell upon him and by his blood stole did we cleanse and heal ourselves.” This emotionally charged verse is alluding to the sacrificial ministry of Jesus Christ on the cross, which would not necessarily be healing of the physical body, but rather, of more significance, spiritual healing. The suffering and death of Jesus were the only ways that the broken relationship between man and God could be mended, leading to the healing of the soul.

New Testament Apostle Paul discusses the need to have spiritual healing and transformation. In the book of 2 Corinthians 5:17, Paul says, “So that when any in Christ is the new creation: The old one has passed and the latest is present!” This verse is being preached about spiritual rebirth when a person makes Christ his/her Savior. Christ heals an individual’s past wounds of sin and brokenness and renders a new creature in him. The process of permanent growth and development in Christ is, therefore, not a one-off event but spiritual healing.

Another verse, Psalm 147:3, deals with the healing of the soul: “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” Healing people through God is not only a concern for their bodies, but He is also close to their hearts. In cases where an individual is grieving or depressed, God promises to comfort and heal the broken-hearted. The Psalms are full of cries for help and a desire to be restored by God.

Moreover, spiritual healing brings about a feeling of tranquility. The believers are positively urged by Paul in Philippians 4: 6–7: “Pour unto God your fears; by prayer and supplication, being thankful, submit to God your requests, on all. And peace of God, bringing all the conception will make thee.”