Holy Communion: Key to Spiritual Healing

Chronically-ill Christians who do not believe in spiritual healing of the sick today should examine their participation in Holy Communion as to why they remain sick.

The Lord's Supper (Eucharist or Holy Communion accordingto your tradition) consists of two elements: The cup representing Jesus' shed blood, and the bread representing His broken body (I Corinthians 11:23-26).

Traditional doctrine teaches us that the Lord's Supper isto keep us mindful that, as Christians, we are part of theBody of Christ, that we are one in Christ through theGospel (I Corinthians 15:1-4), and that He shed His bloodfor atonement of sin, and rightfully so.

But Paul had grave concern for something more in partaking the Lord's Supper that was killing his brethren. It lies at the very root of God's Scheme of Redemption, which is inclusive of healing body, spirit, and soul (salvation).

Paul states that the lack of discernment of the Lord's body(I Corinthians 11:29) is cause for damnation and is why manyof us are sick today. The Greek word for body (soma) literallyrefers to the physical fleshly body of Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ, by His perfect life, sacrificed His body for our healing and blood for atonement of our sins. These two realities both occur on the Cross.

Through the shedding of His blood, Jesus redeemed usfrom the curse of the law of sin and death (Galatians 3:13).But the broken body of Jesus is not for the forgiveness ofsin-It is for healing to be made possible. For without Hisbroken body, there could be no healing of any kind(Romans 11:36; Colossians 1:15-18), either before or afterthe Cross. This is where many Christians lack discernment.

It is through His shed blood that we find forgiveness, not Hisbroken body (Hebrews 9:22; Leviticus 17:11). And it isthrough His stripes (His suffering and torment in the flesh)that we are healed today (Isaiah 53:5; I Peter 2:24).

With this understanding in mind, consider the words ofPastor Henry Wright, Author of A More Excellent Way:

"If we come to a Communion service and partake of thecup and the bread but we deny healing and deliveranceas part of the atonement today, we eliminate the provisionof God in our lives as a human being apart from salvationand eternal life in that day. For that reason, because weeliminate the broken body, but we celebrate it, and wedon't believe it, then we cannot partake. For that reasonmany of us are filled with disease and insanity todaybecause we have said in our heart that it (miraculoushealing) passed away two thousand years ago, yet westill participate in the sacrament of Communion whichrepresents its reality for today."

Celebrating the Lord's Supper can either deny or provideus healing by how we accept or deny the spiritual healing power of the fleshly body of Christ. Could it be many of God's people are chronically-ill today because they have eliminated half ofthe sacrament of Communion?

Think on this matter the next time you partake of theLord's Supper. Our salvation is made complete in body,spirit and soul through both the literal blood and flesh ofour Savior. But, Paul said many of us are weak and sickbecause we fail to recognize (have faith in) Christ's body(soma).

This means those of us who are sick, while werecognize (have faith in) the blood of Jesus Christ to saveour souls, we do not recognize (have faith in) His literal body(soma) to heal our literal bodies of disease-here-now.Friends, I did not say that, the inspired Apostle, Paul, did!

Jim Lynn, a minister in the church of Christ, is the author of The Miracle Of Healing In Your Church Today, available on Amazon.com and http://godshealingword.org