Are not these I have said REALITIES ? How should we face or confront these realities rightly ? So what would you say to those Christians who harbor negative thoughts and feelings about HEALING ? what would you say who share openly their thoughts and feelings about healing ?
In my case, miraculous healing has been declared by a number of fellow Christians in my social sphere as an event common to believers, by some even held up as a proof of the genuineness of one's salvation and the depth of one's walk with God. "Every Christian should be healing," they say, "It's in the Atonement, you know." And so, if one is not healing others, one is not walking by faith with God and does not really experience God properly. As a result, healing has become a rather divisive thing among believers as some take up this thinking and begin to look darkly upon those who don't show the same enthusiasm for healing that they do. The natural reaction of those not as sold on the healing in the Atonement stuff is resentment at being regarded as spiritually lacking - especially on such a faulty, unbiblical basis.
God does heal people physically. Absolutely. Should we expect Him to do so
every time we ask Him to? Do we have some sort of spiritual right to miraculous healing? Not from what I can see in God's word. I wrote some notes on this issue in preparation for an Elders meeting on it. Here's what I wrote:
Notes on Healing in the New Testament
I. In the New Testament, miraculous healing is commonly connected to the preaching of the Gospel and as evidence of divine authority.
Matthew 10 (
Mk. 3:13-15; Lu. 9:1-6; [
10:1-20 - seventy disciples are sent out]) – Christ commissions and empowers the twelve disciples to preach the coming kingdom of God, healing the sick as they do so, and exorcising those possessed of evil spirits. The emphasis of the chapter, however, is on preaching (vs.
7, 14, 19, 27, 32) and on Christ preparing his disciples for the persecution and conflict that will arise as a consequence of preaching the truth, not on healing and exorcisms.
Luke 5:21-26 – Healing is done by Christ to demonstrate his divine authority.
Matthew 4:23 (NKJV)
23 And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues,
preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people.
Luke 9:11 (NKJV)
11 But when the multitudes knew
it, they followed Him; and
He received them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who had need of healing.
Acts 3 – Peter heals a lame man and then uses the ensuing excitement to preach the Gospel.
Taken before the rulers and high priests of Jerusalem and questioned about their healing of the lame man, Peter (accompanied by John) shares the Gospel with them.
Acts 4:8-12 (NKJV)
8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, "Rulers of the people and elders of Israel:
9 If we this day are judged for a good deed
done to a helpless man, by what means he has been made well,
10 let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole.
11 This is the
'stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.'
12 Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."
Acts 4:29-31 (NKJV)
29 Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they
may speak Your word,
30 by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus."
31 And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and
they spoke the word of God with boldness.
Acts 14:8-18 – Paul heals a lame man and the people of Lystra proclaim Paul a god (Hermes). Paul responds to their pagan reaction to the healing of the lame man by preaching to them the one, true God:
Acts 14:11-17 (NKJV)
11 Now when the people saw what Paul had done, they raised their voices, saying in the Lycaonian
language, "The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men!"
12 And Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, because he was the chief speaker.
13 Then the priest of Zeus, whose temple was in front of their city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates, intending to sacrifice with the multitudes.
14 But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard this, they tore their clothes and ran in among the multitude, crying out
15 and saying, "Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men with the same nature as you, and preach to you that
you should turn from these useless things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and all things that are in them,
16 who in bygone generations allowed all nations to walk in their own ways.
17 Nevertheless He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good, gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness."
II. The gift of healing.
Not all believers will be gifted to heal.
1 Corinthians 12:4-11 (NKJV)
4 There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.
5 There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord.
6 And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all.
7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit
of all:
8 for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit,
9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit,
10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another
different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.
11 But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.
Healing is among the lesser of the gifts of the Spirit.
1 Corinthians 12:28 (NKJV)
28 And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues.
III. Healing not guaranteed in the Atonement.
Isaiah 53:4-6 (NKJV)
4 Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
1 Peter 2:24-25 (NKJV)
24 who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness--by whose stripes you were healed.
25 For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
These are two of the three primary passages upon which the doctrine of healing in the Atonement rests. In both the emphasis is not upon healing of physical disease but upon atonement for sin and our consequent reconciliation to God. Sin fractures our fellowship with God, it divides or separates us from Him (
Isa. 59:1, 2) and we become like sheep wandering dangerously from the Shepherd. The wounding and death of Christ on the cross, the laying of our iniquity upon him, heals
the fracture that our sin has created between us and our holy Maker, not the diseases that have resulted from our sin. This is emphasized by Isaiah at the end of chapter 53:
Isaiah 53:11-12 (NKJV)
11 He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, And He shall divide the spoil with the strong, Because He poured out His soul unto death, And He was numbered with the transgressors, And He bore the sin of many, And made intercession for the transgressors.
It is not our
physical diseases primarily in view here but our
transgressions, iniquities and sin. Isaiah is not teaching that there is
guaranteed healing of our physical sicknesses in the Atonement of Christ on the cross but a certain and effectual healing of the rift between ourselves and God that our sin has caused. The apostle Peter makes this clear, too:
25 For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
Since sin is the root cause of sickness and death, it stands to reason that one of the benefits of Christ's atonement for sin
may be the healing of physical illness. But again, this benefit is not a
guaranteed one. Our sin is atoned for perfectly and permanently – this
is a guaranteed consequence (really, the entire point) of Christ's work on the cross - but the effect of that atonement is never guaranteed to extend to the eradication of all our physical ailments. This is contested, though, by way of a passage in
Matthew 8 that quotes
Isaiah 53:4.
Matthew 8:16-17 (NKJV)
16 When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick,
17 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: "He Himself took our infirmities And bore our sicknesses."
The following quotation is pertinent here:
“Since Matthew is quoting Isaiah 53, which, as we have just seen, deals with the atonement quite explicitly, and he applies the text to physical healing and deliverance, many feel that this is irrefutable proof that healing is guaranteed in the atonement. However, such thinking overlooks one extremely significant point. Matthew tells us that this passage of Isaiah is fulfilled right there in the healing ministry of Jesus, before the atonement ever took place.
When we examine Isaiah 53, we see that while the atonement is the central theme, the entire life and ministry of Jesus is considered, extending even beyond the Second Coming — “For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty that we should look upon Him, nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.” (verse 2) — “Therefore I will allot Him a portion with the great, and He will divide the booty with the strong; because He poured out Himself to death” (verse 12). The point of verse 4 is that even though the people of Israel had seen Jesus going about their land healing people of their diseases, they still considered His execution to be a judgment against Him from God: “Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.”
That “He Himself took our infirmities and carried away our diseases” is referring to action taken by Jesus in His healing ministry, and not to a passive receiving of diseases and infirmities on the cross, is supported by the Greek text; took—Greek lambano = take, take away, remove; carried away—Greek bastazo = take up, carry, bear, carry away, remove (Arndt-Ginrich, A Greek English Lexicon of the New Testament). Thus it is clear that while Isaiah 53:4 does refer to physical healing, its fulfillment was in the healing ministry of Jesus, as noted by Matthew, and not on the cross, and therefore it offers no guarantee of healing to us today.” (Elliot Miller, Christian Research Institute, “Healing: Does God Always Heal?”)
IV. Biblical commands to heal.
Are Jesus's instructions and empowering of his disciples in the Gospels (
Matt. 10) meant for
all believers in all times? Should all believers expect to heal and cast out demons as a matter of course as they “go into all the world and preach the Gospel”?
- The text is very clear that Christ's words were intended
only for the twelve and did not
constitute a general commission to all other followers of Christ.
- Paul indicates a varied dispensation of spiritual gifts (
1 Corinthians 12:4-11) and not a
universal empowering of all believers to heal and exorcise demons.
- Healing is not mentioned as a fruit of the Spirit (
Ga. 5:22, 23), given to
all disciples of
Christ. The Spirit, we are taught in Scripture, convicts all believers of sin (
Jn. 16:8), is the
Helper and Teacher of all those who are saved (
Jn. 14:16, 26), empowers all who are in
Christ to mortify the flesh and conquer sin (
Ro. 8:4; 11-13), assures the hearts of all
children of God of their adoption into His family (
Ro. 8:16), and produces in each believer
the fruit of love, joy, peace patience and so on, but the power to heal miraculously is never
universally issued as an ability to believers. Inasmuch, though, as every believer
is indwelt
by God's Spirit, each one possesses the
potential to be a vessel through whom divine,
miraculous healing may come, but being used by God this way is by no means mandated of
every born-again person, as are the characteristics of the indwelling Spirit listed above.
Miraculous healing is never commanded of believers in the New Testament save of those disciples Christ commissioned personally (see the beginning of these notes). Those who are ill are advised, though, to seek out the Elders in their community for prayer and anointing with oil.
James 5:14-16 (NKJV)
14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.
15 And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.
16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
There is an implication in what the apostle James writes of a correlation between sickness and sin and that confession of the latter may result in the resolution of the former. This was a connection evidenced at times in Jesus's healing. (
Matt. 9:5; Lu. 5:20; Jn. 5:14)
It is also worth noting, I think, that the passage does not urge Elders to seek out the sick. The onus is upon
the one who is ill to initiate contact with the Elders. I suspect this has to do with the person's faith in God's power to heal and their willingness to confess and forsake the sin that has made them ill – both of which James seems to indicate are vital to healing. (This isn't to suggest, however, that I think all sickness is directly related to some specific sin in a person's life or that the Bible teaches such a thing.)
V. Not all instances of sickness in the New Testament were miraculously healed.
- Paul's “thorn in the flesh” (likely sight-related) was not healed. (
2 Cor. 12:7-9)
- Paul prescribed wine for Timothy's stomach issues, not miraculous healing. (
1 Ti. 5:23)
- Epaphroditus fell deathly ill but was not miraculously healed. (
Phil. 2:25-30)
- Paul did not miraculously heal sick Trophimus but left him behind in Miletus. (
1 Ti.
4:20)
- Dorcas (aka Tabitha) a faithful disciple of Jesus becomes ill and dies. She is not
miraculously healed by her fellow disciples of Christ nor is she able to heal herself. (
Ac. 9:36, 37) Peter, however, arrives and
in his special position as an apostle successfully appeals to God to resurrect her from the dead.
In light of the observations above, I am not persuaded that miraculous healing is something Christians ought to promote and pursue as a staple of Christian living. Certainly, it ought not to be urged upon believers as a way of proving the reality and/or depth of their relationship with God. I also think that any claim of healing, given its remarkable nature, ought to be
very carefully verified and established. No claim of healing should be made without the ability to show that the claim is true. Too often these days, claims of incredible healing – resurrections even – are made without any means of legitimate verification. In our increasingly skeptical western society, made so in no small part because of the enormous fraud that goes on in this area within Christianity, unproveable claims of healing bring the cause and name of Christ into serious disrepute. Having said this, I don't discount miraculous healing wholesale. There are, I believe, very definitely occasions when God does act miraculously to heal. I have, though, no good reason from Scripture to think that such events ought to be expected to be the norm of Christian experience.
