Healing the Sick Soul - I Peter 2:24

"He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.” The Bible teaches us that we are born with a sinful nature, which means separation from God and generally results in bad behavior of varying degrees. Our sinful nature is not an excuse for bad behavior, but it does indicate that we have a problem that needs to be addressed. God addressed the problem for us when He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the the cross as atonement for our sinfulness. So from God's perspective our sinfulness was hung upon the cross (tree) with Jesus that it might die and so that we we might begin to live in union or association with God (live to righteousness). So each person who accepts this gift from God by believing in the work of Jesus on the cross, then himself or herself crucifies the sinful nature and is endowed with the power of the resurrected Christ to live a new life. Peter, quoting from Isaiah 53, emphasizes this putting off of the sinful nature and taking on a new nature as healing or deliverance. By the wounds Christ received at His crucifixion, the sickness of your soul and spirit--your sinful nature, your separation from God--has been healed!