 |  |  | | What Does the Bible Teach Regarding Divine Healing?
By James Wenger
The Biblical doctrine of healing is one of the more difficult doctrines of the Bible to understand, like its closely related doctrine of suffering. “Why do bad things happen to good people”, has been and continues to be the subject of numerous books and articles.
The question must be asked, is there a form of health and wealth theology taught in the Bible? However for brevity, the focus in this article will primarily be on subject of healing and health. All Christians do believe in divine healing in some form or another. To attend the prayer meeting of an average Evangelical church could almost make one think that the church is nigh unto a spiritual medical clinic. It is praying for Uncle John’s tests next week for probable liver cancer which he probably acquired from years of alcohol abuse and of course he is not a Christian. Please pray for his healing and that he will come to know the Lord through this experience. This is ignoring the fact that uncle John has not darkened the door of a church since he was a child. Now that he is sick, we expect God to show mercy upon him in healing and salvation, which of course God in His infinite mercy can do. “My Husband has come down with the flu please pray he will get over it and we do not get it, especially the baby.” “I have minor surgery coming up and need your prayers, pray that God will guide the Doctor’s hands as he operates.” To say that Christians do not believe in divine healing is to say they do not believe in God Himself. There are also those who teach that there is healing promised in the atoning work of Christ, if the Christian is not being healed it is because of a lack of faith or sin in the life. Identifying and tying to tie together all the Biblical strains of teaching on this subject is not as easy as some would suppose. This is yet another attempt at this difficult task.
The Sovereignity of God as it Relates To Healing
First, we must never lose sight of the fact that God in His infinite goodness, power and mercy could with the utterance of one word alleviate all suffering, suspend the curse of the fall, and impose a state of perfect healing and restoration to the whole of fallen, dying humanity. As hard as this may be for some to accept we must maintain that ultimately this fallen world with all it’s suffering and death is a part of God’s ultimate plan through which He is glorifying Himself. To maintain anything less is to make God less then sovereign, all-powerful, all wise and all knowing. It would leave us with an unthinkable dualism between good and evil. The outcome of this struggle would be left in the balance and nothing that God has promised is sure, because He may lose in the end. God must be completely sovereign and omnipotent, working all things according to the counsel of His own will or He is not God at all and our faith is in vain.
The Bible clearly teaches the absolute sovereignty of God over all things, Daniel 4:34-37, Psalm 115:1-3, Isaiah 14:27 “For the LORD of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul [it]? and his hand [is] stretched out, and who shall turn it back?” He works all things after the counsel, of His own will, including our Salvation, Ephesians 1:11 Romans 9:13-24. His sovereignty extends to the length of the days of our lives: and the time and means of our death, Psalm 31:14-16, 89:48, Psalm 90:10-12, Psalm 116:15 and Hebrews 9:27, “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:” The Bible also teaches that all of God’s creation and works are for His own glory including the wrath of unregenerate men and their judgment, Revelation 19:1-4.
Romans 11:36 For of him, and through him, and to him, [are] all things: to whom [be] glory for ever. Amen.
Revelation 4:11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.
Psalm 76:10 Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee: the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain.
Proverbs 16:4 The LORD hath made all [things] for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.
The Bible also teaches that He sovereignly elected and saves His people for His own Glory:
Ephesians 1:3 Blessed [be] the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly [places] in Christ:
Ephesians 1:4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
Ephesians 1:5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
Ephesians 1:6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
We must assume that sickness and death, living and dying, suffering and healing are all a part of the mosaic by which God is glorifying Himself in our lives. To assert that suffering and sickness for the Christian is excluded from this mosaic is to deny that indeed all things do work to our ultimate good and His consummate glory.
Romans 8:28 says “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to [his] purpose.”
To approach the subject of healing from the perspective that God’s chief purpose in all that he does is the ultimate welfare and preservation of man will not pass the test of present and historic reality nor the teaching of the Bible itself. To maintain this basic thesis one must in essence declare God an abysmal failure to live up to His professed goodness or to leave him in charge of a world which must be out of His control. The real explanation for our world’s history of global misery, sickness and death is the fact that it is a fallen world subject to the curse and judgments which God Himself pronounced upon our first parents in the Garden of Eden. He said to Adam and Eve:
Genesis 2:16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
Genesis 2:17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
Genesis 3:17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed [is] the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat [of] it all the days of thy life;
Genesis 3:18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;
Genesis 3:19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out if it wast thou taken: for dust thou [art], and unto dust shalt thou return.
We all know the rest of the story. God cast Adam and Eve out of the Garden and it was all down hill from there. The Bible does teach that there will indeed come a day when God will end all of this present world’s misery, suffering and death. The curse will be lifted and the Garden of Eden restored (Revelation 21:1-3, 22:1-3). However, in the meantime we must maintain that this present state of the curse of the fall is a part of God’s grand plan by which He is magnifying Himself.
Psalm 145:10 All thy works shall praise thee, O LORD; and thy saints shall bless thee.
Still the question must be asked, is there no mercy in God’s judgment? Has God made no provision for any relief from the ravages of the fall? Though there is no exemption from the ultimate curse of aging and death, are there His mercies and provisions for relative health and length of days under that curse for those who fear Him? Here lies the focus of the true doctrine of Biblical health and healing. Divine healing is not a matter of whether or not you wear glasses, catch a cold, or have gray hair as some mistakenly understand it. It addresses the question, can God preserve your life to be old enough to require glasses, have gray hair, even if only the hair dresser knows, and require the assistance of a cane for walking? Can He cause you to survive the latest outbreak of influenza or even a more serious life threatening disease? And yes, can He even heal you from poor eye site if He so chooses? Has He made provisions in His Word and through His Spirit to even expect His extraordinary intervention to preserve your life when all other means of healing has failed? What spiritual and practical provisions has He made for His people’s healing and preservation to achieve a length of days in relative good health?
Healing In the Old Covenant
In the Old Covenant there were many provisions for the health and preservation of God’s people included in God’s promises, commandments and precepts. In Deuteronomy 27 & 28 God promised His covenant people boundless blessings if they would keep His commandments and dreadful cursings if they did not. One of the curses was the inflection of pestilence and diseases.
Deuteronomy 28:21 The LORD shall make the pestilence cleave unto thee, until he have consumed thee from off the land, whither thou goest to possess it.
Deuteronomy 28:22 The LORD shall smite thee with a consumption, and with a fever, and with an inflammation, and with an extreme burning, and with the sword, and with blasting, and with mildew; and they shall pursue thee until thou perish.
Deuteronomy 28:27 The LORD will smite thee with the botch of Egypt, and with the emerods, and with the scab, and with the itch, whereof thou canst not be healed.
Deuteronomy 28:28 The LORD shall smite thee with madness, and blindness, and astonishment of heart:
As Moses gave His parting words he reminded them for the last time, “…I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live”, and this life is both physical and spiritual.
Deuteronomy 30:15 See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil;
Deuteronomy 30:16 In that I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it.
Deuteronomy 30:17 But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them;
Deuteronomy 30:18 I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, [and that] ye shall not prolong [your] days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it.
Deuteronomy 30:19 I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, [that] I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:
Deuteronomy 30:20 That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, [and] that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he [is] thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.
Healing and The Law
Many of the prohibitions of the ceremonial law were designed to protect His Covenant people from the practices of the pagan nations which were unhealthy and inherently disease ridden and destructive. This is even apart from those sinful practices that resulted in God’s direct judgments. For example, in Deuteronomy 14:1-21 the Children of Israel were given a list of “clean and unclean animals, birds and fish that they could and could not eat. The beasts of the field they could eat had to be a “…beast that parteth the hoof, and cleaveth the cleft into two claws, and cheweth the cud…”(Deuteronomy 14:6). It meant they could only eat animals that were not carnivores and scavengers, animals that eat other unclean dead things or creatures. They were allowed to only eat those that had a more sophisticated digestive system such as those that “chew the cud” and who’s flesh type was dissimilar to human flesh unlike that of the swine. One can become infected with Trichinosis from eating uncooked pork as well as literally having the meat attach itself and grow on the inner walls of the intestine. Some internal body parts of pigs are used as substitutes for human parts such as a pig’s heart valve because of its similarity to human flesh type and function (and they say we came from monkeys!). The fish they were allowed to eat had to have “…fins and scales…” (Deuteronomy 14:9). Such fish at least in fresh waters are what is called “middle and upper fish” that live and feed on things in the middle and upper surfaces of the water. Most scavenger fish are “bottom fish” and feed on garbage and dead matter at the bottom of the lake such as the Catfish and the Eel which do not have scales. In the case of all the clean animals, foul and fish God permitted His people to eat, their meat was and still is less apt to be contaminated with disease and is more compatible to the human digestive system. Also the prohibition of not eating anything that died of itself is self evident. You do not know why it died and could become infected with the same thing that killed it (Deuteronomy 14:21). They were not to eat anything that died of itself themselves nor were they to give it “…unto the stranger that is in thy gates, that he may eat it…” or “sell it unto an alien: for thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God, (Deuteronomy 14:21)”
Other laws of “cleanness”, “uncleanness” and “separation” were all designed to inhibit the spread of disease and infection. Examples of this are laws of uncleanness for women in childbirth, (Leviticus 12), leprosy (Leviticus 13&14), the “Issue of blood” (Leviticus 15), dead bodies (Numbers 19:11-22) and not seething a kid (goat) in his mother's milk (Exodus 34:26).
There is the first commandment of the prohibition against idolatry and the worship of other Gods with the attached promise of “shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments” (Exodus 20:3-6; 12). The fifth commandment to “Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee (Exodus 20:12). There is the promise given to His people that if they obeyed His law they would be kept from the diseases with which He afflicted the Egyptians.
Exodus 15:26 "And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I [am] the LORD that healeth thee."
Though we are no longer under the Old Covenant and subject to the laws of “touch not, taste not”, there is still health and length of days and healing in the precepts and wisdom of the law.
Proverbs 3:1 My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments:
Proverbs 9:10 The fear of the LORD [is] the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy [is] understanding.
Proverbs 9:11 For by me thy days shall be multiplied, and the years of thy life shall be increased.
Extraordinary Healing
The Old Testament also bears abundant testimony of God’s healing and preservation of the lives of His people, and even those who were not His Covenant people. Elijah the prophet raised the son of the widow of Zarephath, of Zidon, back to life and provided for all their sustenance with the barrel of meal that did not waste, and the cruse of oil that did not fail (1 Kings 17:9-24). There is the healing of Naaman the leper, the captain of the host of the king of Syria, who obeyed the instructions of Elisha the prophet (2 Kings 5:1-16). King Hezekiah had his life extended for an additional fifteen years in response to his own prayer for healing, which was confirmed to him by Isaiah the prophet (Isaiah 38).
David says in Psalm 103:
Psalm 103:1 <[A Psalm] of David.> Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, [bless] his holy name. Psalm 103:2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:
Psalm 103:3 Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;
Psalm 103:4 Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies;
Psalm 103:5 Who satisfieth thy mouth with good [things; so that] thy youth is renewed like the eagle's.
Healing In the New Covenant
In the New Covenant healing takes on greater, more dramatic dimensions as is seen in the earthly ministry of our Lord followed by the Apostles and than the gift of healing and miracles manifested in the church. Though there are aspects of our Lord’s miraculous ministry that are unique to our Lord, yet there are also things that can be learned from it. What can we observe about the healing ministry of our Lord as well as the Apostle's that bear a pattern and an example from which we can learn?
First the performance of the miraculous can and must be through the power of the Holy Spirit. We must remember that even our Lord himself in His state of incarnate humiliation performed the miraculous through the power of the Holy Spirit. Our Lord’s Baptism of the Spirit with out measure was His empowering to fulfill His public ministry (Matthew 3:16, Luke 4:14, 18-21; John 3:34&35). Jesus said in Matthew 12:28, “But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you.” Anyone who claims to have the power and authority to heal apart form a credible Biblical confession of faith in Christ is of the Evil one (1 John 4:1-3). There are only two sources of spiritual power in this world, God and the Devil. Make sure all claimed supernatural healing is based upon and associated with a credible confession of Biblical truth or one may get more then they bargained for. It is understood that no one has the corner on all the truth, but the more and the closer we are to it, the safer and the better it is.
Healing Is an Act of Divine Sovereign Mercy
The importance of the truth that all healing is an act of divine sovereign mercy cannot be emphasized enough. To ignore the sovereign character of divine healing is to presume upon God where we should not and can result the serious wounding of people’s faith. Does the Bible teach there is a sovereign character to divine healing? It has already been shown that God could end all sickness and death with the utterance of one word; however it is not His sovereign will to do so. It is also evident that there was a sovereignty conversant about the healing ministry of our Lord that He alluded to in the synagogue at Nazareth. Our Lord stood up and read form Isaiah 61:1-3. Luke says:
Luke 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord [is] upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
Luke 4:19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
Luke 4:20 And he closed the book, and he gave [it] again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.
Luke 4:21 And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.
Luke 4:22 And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, Is not this Joseph's son?
Luke 4:23 And he said unto them, Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself: whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country.
Luke 4:24 And he said, Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country.
Luke 4:25 But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land;
Luke 4:26 But unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, [a city] of Sidon, unto a woman [that was] a widow.
Luke 4:27 And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian.
Luke 4:28 And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath,
Luke 4:29 And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong.
Luke 4:30 But he passing through the midst of them went his way,
The Lord told the twelve in Matthew 10:5&6, “…Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into [any] city of the Samaritans enter ye not: But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” How many Gentiles died in misery and sickness just “over the border” while our Lord only ministered to the lost sheep of the house of Israel? However, there were a couple of notable exceptions because of their faith. The Centurion who partitioned our Lord to heal his servant, (Matthew 8:5-13) and the woman of Canaan who pleaded with our Lord for her daughter. Our Lord put her off by refusing to answer her directly and said “…I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel” and “It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast [it] to dogs”. However she pleaded, “Lord, help me”, “...Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table”. Jesus was deliberately drawing out the beautiful flower of her faith and finally said to her, “O woman, great [is] thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt”. Matthew says “And her daughter was made whole from that very hour”. Indeed all who recieve healing and salvation form the hand of the Lord recieve it as an act of sovereign mercy and grace.
Though God’s mercy in healing is sovereign, it is also willing and not stingy. The willingness and compassion of our Lord to heal and minister is abundantly evident throughout His entire public, earthly ministry. Peter said in Acts 10:38, “How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.” As we read the gospels there had to be a willingness to perform the miraculous, first on the part of our Lord and in many cases a faith and willingness on the part of those being healed. In Luke 17:12-19 our Lord healed ten lepers knowing only one would come back and thank Him, but He still did it. In reference to Nazareth, Mark’s Gospel says “And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed [them] (Mark 6:5).” Jesus said to the man who's son was possessed by a dumb spirit which was trying to destroy the child, “If thou canst believe, all things [are] possible to him that believeth”. The disciples could not cast out this same demon because of a lack of prayer and faith. In Mark 1:40-41 a leper requested healing and Jesus willingly granted it.
Mark 1:40 And there came a leper to him, beseeching him, and kneeling down to him, and saying unto him, If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.
Mark 1:41 And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth [his] hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou clean.
In a Mark 5:24-34 a woman was healed by faith when she touched the hem of our Lord’s garment.
Mark 5:24 And [Jesus] went with him; and much people followed him, and thronged him.
Mark 5:25 And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years,
Mark 5:26 And had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse,
Mark 5:27 When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment.
Mark 5:28 For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole.
Mark 5:29 And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in [her] body that she was healed of that plague.
Mark 5:30 And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes?
Mark 5:31 And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me?
Mark 5:32 And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing.
Mark 5:33 But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth.
Mark 5:34 And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.
Healing In the Church
One of the gifts he gave to the church was the persons and miraculous ministry of the Apostles that began under His earthly ministry and continued on through out the establishment of the early church. The Apostles exercised the authority given to church by our Lord in the great commission of Mark 16:15-18, over sickness, disease and the power of the demonic.
Ephesians 4:8 says, “…When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.”
He also gave the blessings and gifts of healing to the church mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12:9 and James 5: 14 & 15.
James addresses three ways we can be healed in the church. First there is healing by the prayer of faith and anointing of oil by the Elders, or spiritual leaders of the church.
James 5:14 Is any sick among you? 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:
James 5:15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.
The prayers offered by the Elders should also include asking God’s forgiveness of the sins of the sick, especially if the illness is the result of divine chastisement or sinful behavior and habits. Some in the church at Corinth had come under divine chastisement because of their irreverent abuses of the Lord’s table.
1 Corinthians 11:30 For this cause many [are] weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.
1 Corinthians 11:31 For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.
1 Corinthians 11:32 But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.
The Bible also teaches that God chastises all His children and this chastisement can come to us in the form of sickness. Some times the Lord just allows us to reap the consequences of our foolish sinful behavior. When we end up sick, injured or even have our life threatened, it is like the Lord is sticking His finger under our noses and saying “see, I told you so!” God has ways of getting our attention and a bed of sickness, convalescence or a near death experience can be a very “loud and clear”.
Hebrews 12:5 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:
Hebrews 12:6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
Hebrews 12:7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?
Secondly we are to pray fervently for each other’s healing. Again it is important that our prayers for one another include the forgiveness of our sins and our sanctification. This is why James tells us to confess our faults one to another, because sometimes sickness is the result of our sin and disobedience to God. As we confess our faults and sins to each other we can also admonish and encourage one another in holiness and obedience.
James 5:16 "Confess [your] faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much."
We are also commanded in Philippians 4:6 not to worry, but pray with earnest gratitude. This includes praying and not being anxious about our health. If we do get sick pray but don’t panic and pray for others in the same manner.
Philippians 4:6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
The third means of divine healing available to the church is the gift of healing mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12:9 & 30.
1 Corinthians 12:7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.
1 Corinthians 12:8 For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;
1 Corinthians 12:9 To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;
1 Corinthians 12:10 To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another [divers] kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:
1 Corinthians 12:11 But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.
1 Corinthians 12:27 Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.
1 Corinthians 12:28 And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.
1 Corinthians 12:29 [Are] all apostles? [are] all prophets? [are] all teachers? [are] all workers of miracles?
1 Corinthians 12:30 Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret?
God, according to His sovereign will, has given to the church through the Holy Spirit, those who exercise a greater measure of faith and spiritual authority in the area of miracles and healing. This is also the exercise of the same authority given to church by our Lord in the great commission of Mark 16:15-18, over sickness, disease and the power of the demonic. Some have used this passage to justify the practice of “snake handling” and other similar practices, which is just an abusive tempting of the Lord. The threat and possibility of poisonous insect and reptile bite while traveling was very real in New Testament times and places, as it is in some parts of the world today. The promise is to be immune from a poisonous insect bite when God’s servants are accidentally bitten, not deliberately handling or being bitten. A good example of this is the Apostle Paul in Acts 28:
Acts 28:1 And when they were escaped, then they knew that the island was called Melita.
Acts 28:2 And the barbarous people shewed us no little kindness: for they kindled a fire, and received us every one, because of the present rain, and because of the cold.
Acts 28:3 And when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks, and laid [them] on the fire, there came a viper out of the heat, and fastened on his hand.
Acts 28:4 And when the barbarians saw the [venomous] beast hang on his hand, they said among themselves, No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he hath escaped the sea, yet vengeance suffereth not to live.
Acts 28:5 And he shook off the beast into the fire, and felt no harm.
Acts 28:6 Howbeit they looked when he should have swollen, or fallen down dead suddenly: but after they had looked a great while, and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds, and said that he was a god.
Nowhere in the book of Acts is it recorded that any Apostle deliberately handled snakes and scorpions as a sign of their spiritual authority over these creatures; nor is there any known practice of such in the early church.
However, it must be understood that one must believe that the extraordinary gifts mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12:9 & 30 are being manifested in the church today, and did not end with the passing of the apostolic church. The Holy Spirit will not manifest the extraordinary gifts of miracles and healing in churches where there is unbelief in the contemporary application and exercise of the extraordinary Charisma of 1 Corinthians 12. We cannot expect to receive any blessing from the hand of the Lord, let alone healing resulting from even our prayers that are not offered in faith. In reference to asking God for wisdom James says:
James 1:5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all [men] liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
James 1:6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.
James 1:7 For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.
James 1:8 A double minded man [is] unstable in all his ways.
Many Christian Churches do not even believe and practice the injunction of James 5: 14 & 15 apart from the exercise of the extraordinary gifts of healing. Is it any wonder why we see so little healing taking place in the church today?
Healing and the Will of God
Is it always the will of God to heal? We have already seen that God could end all sickness and death at any time by the utterance of one word but for His own glory it is not his sovereign will to do so. It was also noted there was sovereignty conversant about healing even in the ministry of our Lord. It was also observed that there are also times that God will chasten his children with sickness and even death. There are other instances in the Scriptures that would indicate that it is not always God’s will to heal and when he does it is an act of sovereign mercy.
Philippians 2:25 Yet I supposed it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, and companion in labour, and fellowsoldier, but your messenger, and he that ministered to my wants.
Philippians 2:26 For he longed after you all, and was full of heaviness, because that ye had heard that he had been sick.
Philippians 2:27 For indeed he was sick nigh unto death: but God had mercy on him; and not on him only, but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow.
Philippians 2:28 I sent him therefore the more carefully, that, when ye see him again, ye may rejoice, and that I may be the less sorrowful.
Philippians 2:29 Receive him therefore in the Lord with all gladness; and hold such in reputation:
Philippians 2:30 Because for the work of Christ he was nigh unto death, not regarding his life, to supply your lack of service toward me.
It also says of the Apostle Paul in Acts 19:11 & 12 “And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul: (12.) So that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them.” Yet in 2 Timothy 4:19 & 20 Paul writes “Salute Prisca and Aquila, and the household of Onesiphorus. (20.) Erastus abode at Corinth: but Trophimus have I left at Miletum sick.”
Also there is Paul’s thorn in the flesh which God refused to removed.
2 Corinthians 12:5 Of such an one will I glory: yet of myself I will not glory, but in mine infirmities.
2 Corinthians 12:6 For though I would desire to glory, I shall not be a fool; for I will say the truth: but [now] I forbear, lest any man should think of me above that which he seeth me [to be], or [that] he heareth of me.
2 Corinthians 12:7 And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.
2 Corinthians 12:8 For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.
2 Corinthians 12:9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
2 Corinthians 12:10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.
The Bible also teaches that God will allow tribulation to come into the life of a believer for their development in grace and sanctification. Sometimes this tribulation can come to us in the form of sickness as well as other distressing circumstances.
James 1:2 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;
James 1:3 Knowing [this], that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
James 1:4 But let patience have [her] perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.
There are circumstances and situations in the lives of God’s people, in which, God in His infinite wisdom and sovereignty does not always deliver us from persecution, distress, sickness and even death. Sometimes afflictions are a necessary part of our life and service for the Lord. Notice the list the Apostle Paul gives in 2 Corinthians 6:4-10.
2 Corinthians 6:4 But in all [things] approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses,
2 Corinthians 6:5 In stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings;
2 Corinthians 6:6 By pureness, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned,
2 Corinthians 6:7 By the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left,
2 Corinthians 6:8 By honour and dishonour, by evil report and good report: as deceivers, and [yet] true;
2 Corinthians 6:9 As unknown, and [yet] well known; as dying, and, behold, we live; as chastened, and not killed;
2 Corinthians 6:10 As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and [yet] possessing all things.
However, having said all this we still have ample reason and biblical bases to call upon the Lord for healing and deliverance.
First, because He is a good God who heals our diseases. Again to quote Psalm 103:1-3 a Psalm of David;
“Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, [bless] his holy name. (2.) Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: (3.) Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; (4.) Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies; (5.) Who satisfieth thy mouth with good [things; so that] thy youth is renewed like the eagle's.”
Secondly, if our Savior healed multitudes in His incarnate public ministry why should we not expect Him to likewise heal His own that He has redeemed with His own precious blood? Is it incorrect to expect the Savior to only redeem us from the spiritual condemnation and judgments of sin and the law but leave us completely at the mercy of it’s physical ravages in our mortal bodies? We know that no one is exempt from the curse of the fall, but is there no temporal and even temporary healing to be expected while we still live under it as redeemed sinners? It is beyond the scope of the language in Isaiah 53:5 to not only expect healing from the spiritual disease of sin but also it’s physical consequences?
Isaiah 53:5 But he [was] wounded for our transgressions, [he was] bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace [was] upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
In the teaching and public ministry of our Lord, He would use the phrase “made whole”, which in some cases referred to physical healing as well as forgiveness and saving faith. Blind Bartimias received more then just His eye sight when he refused to be silenced by the disciples when he cried the louder “Thou Son of David, have mercy on me”. Jesus said to him “Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way (Mark 10:52).” The man born blind of John 9 who Jesus healed likewise received both physical and spiritual eyesight.
John 9:35 Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when he had found him, he said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God?
John 9:36 He answered and said, Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him?
John 9:37 And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee.
John 9:38 And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him.
John 9:39 And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.
Thirdly, the link between the physical body and the spiritual soul is recognized through out the Scriptures. Jesus warns about both the body and the soul being cast into hell (Matthew 5:29&30,18:9 & 10).
Matthew 10:28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
To completely separate God’s work of salvation and sanctification of the soul from the body is neither Biblical nor realistic as the soul and body are one in our present unglorified state. Also the Holy Spirit indwells the body of the believer and it is His very temple. To infer that God is not concerned with the physical condition and well being of the believer’s body and health is simply not the case. Because our bodies are the temples of the Holy Spirit we are to do all we can to keep them pure, sanctified and healthy. We should avoid life style habits that threaten our health such as over eating, lack of proper exercise, the abuse of alcohol and tobacco or forms of risky behavior that threaten our health and well being.
John 14:16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
John 14:17 [Even] the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
1 Thessalonians 5:23 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and [I pray God] your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 6:13 Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats: but God shall destroy both it and them. Now the body [is] not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body.
1 Corinthians 6:15 Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make [them] the members of an harlot? God forbid.
1 Corinthians 6:16 What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh.
1 Corinthians 6:17 But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.
1 Corinthians 6:18 Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.
1 Corinthians 6:19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost [which is] in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
1 Corinthians 6:20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.
In short, to abuse our health and neglect our bodies is to denigrate and abuse the temple of Holy Spirit. It can also be likewise inferred that God wants His children to be pure, sanctified and healthy and that health could include healing when and if necessary.
Fourthly, is faith essential for healing? Yes, in every case, someone must have faith. In the ministry of our Lord it was the Lord who in some cases acted unilaterally such as in the case of infirmed man waiting by the pool of Bethesda, of John 5:2-9 and in John 9 the man who was born blind. Other times He responded to the faith of the one requiring healing. Examples of this are the women of Matthew 9:20-22, which was diseased with an issue of blood for twelve years who in faith touched the hem of His garment and also there is blind Bartimaeus of Mark 10:46-52 and Luke 18:35-43. Others were healed by the faith of those acting on their behalf. There is the centurion of Matthew 8:5-13 acting on behalf of his servant, the woman of Canaan on behalf of her daughter, Matthew 15:22-28, and the men who tore up the roof of Peter’s house in Capernaum to let down the man sick of the palsy, Mark 2:1-12. If it is the Elders of the church who pray and anoint with oil or other believers praying for our healing, it is “the prayer of faith” that “shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up.” Again James also says “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much”, citing the example of Elijah, James 5:13-18. If it is the exercise of the gifts of healing, at least the healer must have faith and better if both. The gifts of healing is the bestowing by the Holy Spirit of authority and faith that operates in the areas of infirmity, sickness, disease and death as the Spirit directs, 1 Corinthians 12:9, Acts 3:1-8, 5:15-16, 8:5-7, 14:8-10, 20:7-12, 28:8-9.
Fifthly, what relationship does healing have to the practice of the medical arts and modern medicine? We can be thankful for modern medicine and it’s life saving benefits. To live in a modern society with the availability of good medical care is the blessing of God indeed. Though the gifts of healing may or may not include the practice of medicine there should be no conflicts between the two in our minds. The doctor should confirm all healing and approve the suspension of the use of prescribed medicines, nor should we refuse to seek medical treatment for sickness. We must also realize that God can and does heal through the means of medicine, and/or by extraordinary healing when medical treatment fails. Some feel that James’ injunction to anoint the sick with oil in James 5:14 is itself a medical practice. There might be merit to that interpretation if the anointing of oil was and still is a universally tried and proven method of healing. It is true that the use of oil and wine was commonly applied medicinally as was applied by the good Samaritan to the wounds of the man who fell among thieves in Luke 10:33-34. However, it is common knowledge they have limited healing benefits at best. It is true that wine would cleanse and sanitize a wound and oil soothe the pain and seal it to a certain extent but olive oil even with other herbs added cannot cure cancer or heart diseases. The anointing of oil is best understood as representing the healing power of the Holy Spirit. It is the Lord who heals in response to the “prayer of faith” not the oil. If we are seriously ill we should see the doctor and get the diagnoses, take the medicine and also call the leaders of the church for prayer and the anointing of oil. If there is someone in the church with the gift of healing they also can lay hands on us. In most cases we will find that God uses all of this to heal us and raise us up.
In conclusion, healing is an act of God’s sovereign mercy but His mercy is great and He is a willing and good God. Psalm 23:6 "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever." He has given to the church the gifts of healing through the prayers of it’s spiritual leaders, the priesthood of other believers and the powerful gifts of the Spirit upon those whom he has chosen. With all this on our side we should expect an abundance of healing and help from the hand of the Lord.
James Wenger
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