Healing through grace (James 4:6)

Glory be to God!

Healing through grace

But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith,"God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble".  James 4:6

When it is said the sin that God abhors much is pride it is also said that they that are humble in His presence will get grace, as well He will give more grace. We see the same thing as apostle Peter says that be clothed with humility (1 Peter 5:5). It is of no use if we show humility outwardly but do not appear to be truly humble in mind. Instead, we should be those who deliberately and willingly humble themselves so that everyone submits to one another. To be truly humble, we should esteem other better than themselves (Philippians 2:3). We can see that this is true lowliness of mind. In order to understand another experience of humility we need to think also the part of why our God give us grace.

When the Lord says, “My grace is sufficient for thee,” it is because the power we receive through that grace is made perfect in our weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9). It is through the grace that is in Christ Jesus that we are strengthened (2 Timothy 2:1). If so, then the Lord gives grace to those who are truly humble before God, thereby it is happen for them to be delivered from their weakness. Lord says these words amidst some physical sufferings as the thorn in the flesh of apostle Paul's body.

When we study the subject of our physical weakness, some specific things should come to our attention. Jesus heals all the sick who are brought to Him (Matthew 8:16-17). As spoken by Isaiah the prophet that the prophecy concerning Jesus is fulfilled that Jesus took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses (Isaiah 53:4). Therefore, it is said here as weakness is the diseases and illnesses that comes in us and the troubles and difficulties that arise out of it. Our body will become more weak when we have sufferings through diseases. In the epistle to Corinthians, we see as weak and sick (1 Corinthians 11:30). Therefore, Jesus gives us His grace and strengthens us and took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses. He bear our sicknesses and deliver us (Matthew 8:16-17). In the prophecy of Isaiah about Jesus, we see that Jesus surely borne our sicknesses and carried the pain of our sicknesses. When we say that Jesus was acquainted to sickness (in malayalam bible) it does not mean that Jesus was sick in the days of His flesh. Jesus carry our sicknesses in His body and became aquainted to sickness. In further when we read here that Jesus was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon Jesus, and by His wounds or stripes we are healed (Isaiah 53:3-6). We can also see the same thing in the epistle of Peter. Instead of saying that Jesus bore our sicknesses, we read that he bare our sins and went up to the cross. Thus, we also see here that Jesus had made atonement for our sins and by His stripes we were healed (1 Peter 2:24). Therefore by atoning for the sin which is the cause of our sickness, and by the wounds and stripes He heals us which Jesus suffered as punishment for those sins. When sin is resolved, sickness is also healed. (Psalms 103:3)

Apostle James reminds us that we should confess our sins to one another and pray so that we may be healed, thereby after receiving forgiveness of sins by the prayer of the righteous if the sick one is committed sin God will forgive him and gives him healing (James 5:14-16). God heals all diseases by forgiving all our sins (Psalm 103:3). Because of the weakness of our flesh we cannot live by obeying the law and to keep His commandments in order to deliver from it we could read our Jesus came to this world and God condemned sin in the body of Jesus (Romans 8:3) Isn't it for the diseases that Jesus bore in His body given to Him as punishment? (Isaiah 53:4-5) If we follow God’s commandments and keep His statutes it is said that God will heal us without bringing upon us any of the diseases that He brought upon the Egyptians (Exodus 15:26). God also says that if we do not keep His commandments and statutes that He commands us, all the curses will come upon us as punishment (Deuteronomy 28:15). Since these are the diseases that He brought upon the Egyptians (Deuteronomy 28:21-22, 27-28) therefore it is clear that the punishment for sin, which is the transgression of the commandments is sickness. That is why Jesus aquainted to sickness and He bore the sickness by carrying the pain (Isaiah 53:3-4). In other words, when it is said that Jesus went to the cross by carrying sins in His body, in reality He was seen on the cross as the One who bore the sicknesses caused by sin. Therefore, by His stripes we were healed (1 Peter 2:24).

When we study about grace in further, God gives more grace to the humble. God resists those who are proud and exalt themselves. But God gives grace to those who humble themselves and put on humility. We need to think about how this experience of humility will be found in us. Jesus reminds us of the experience of the Pharisee and the Publican who went to the temple to pray. Here, in the prayer of the Pharisee who exalts himself, he stands erect and prays with pride as a righteous man with no shortcomings. But when we listen to the publican he is clearly convinced that he is a sinner and does not even dare to look up to heaven and prays (Luke 18:10-12). Here, when we see the one who is not convicted of his sin exalt himself with pride, but the one who thinks that he is a sinner humbles himself and prays humbly by confessing his sins.

When it is said that God dwells with the contrite and humble in heart to revive the minds of the humble and the hearts of the contrite, we could  see that contriteness and humility will go together (Isaiah 57:15). In other words, only those who are humble will have contrite heart. Since they are not aware of their sin, they will not have contrite heart so that they dont have the experience of humility and contriteness. Therefore, when they approach God with contrite heart by humbling themselves with true humility and pray will get more grace and God will dwell with them. When they humble themselves and pray like Samson in their physical weakness due to their mortal sickness (2 Kings 13:14) God will open the fountain of grace and gives them abundant grace (John 1:16) so that they will  experience the grace of God and will be revived without dying but gain life (Judges 15:19). As they repent of their sins, humble themselves with contriteness and humbly pray to God, God gives them His grace and they are strengthened in their sickness so that they are healed. In the state of weakness during their sickness by the grace of God the power of God is made perfected in them and by that power, God is strengthening them and healing them. In this way even in our life let us also receive healing by grace so that we will have contriteness and humbleness before God. May God help us for that.