I’ve been involved in more than one debate with Christians who apparently do not believe that healing is an integral part of our “atonement package” in Christ. I’ve heard many anecdotes from these people about strong Christian friends or family who were praying for healing and still died. Therefore, these people conclude either that miracle healing is not for Christians today, or at least that we should NOT expect miraculous healing.
In fact, as a rule they go further and insist that God guarantees hardships in this life, and this by default includes disease and physical suffering that we can do nothing about. Therefore, we should expect sickness and death, and there’s not much we can do about it.
I believe this is wrong and an affront to God’s truth in scripture.
Further, pretty much as a rule, they also insist that if I believe that healing is predicated on our faith, then I am guilty of condemning anyone who prays for healing but is not healed. They often respond to me like this:
“So you’re saying that those who die after praying for healing are lacking faith? That seems condemning! Shame on you!”
Well, let’s discuss all this together, shall we?
I would like to simply define what I believe is the biblical truth about this matter, so I will present some arguments directly from the bible, but I will also provide some logical/philosophical arguments. In short, my belief is that God wants to heal everyone who asks for healing, every time, but there are many things that can prevent His perfect will from happening.
1. God’s sovereignty does NOT mean that everything that happens is God’s will.
If we define the sovereignty of God as the dictionary defines it, then I’m fine with that: “supreme power or authority.” Of course, God is supreme in power and authority, but many Christians define the sovereignty of God this way: “Everything that happens in the entire world is either caused or sanctioned by God and is therefore ultimately His will.”
Many Christians believe that even horrendous crimes like the abuse of children, murder, horrific sicknesses, and the like, are ultimately caused by God to somehow bring Him some kind of glory. This is absolutely non-biblical and non-sensical, flying in the face of the goodness of God, but it is a logical result of this false “ultimate sovereignty” idea where everything that happens is caused by God.
It is clear from the bible that God does NOT get everything He wants (unless you’re a strict Calvinist, in which case we don’t have much to talk about regarding this topic). God is not willing that any should perish (2 Peter 3:9) but we know that many do. God has given mankind certain responsibilities and authority, and He expects us to do things for Him on this earth. We are his hands and feet. And, he has given us free will.
What all this means is that we have something to say about our lives and things that happen to us. Of course, many unexpected and sometimes very painful and damaging things happen to those who trust and love God. That’s because we live in a world of sin. We live on a battlefield. We have an enemy that hates us with a passion, and wants to destroy us, and sometimes he succeeds.
But this does not mean that we must blindly accept anything the enemy throws at us. We can, indeed, experience victories in Jesus in all of our life circumstances. And sometimes that includes miraculous healing.
2. Healing is part of Christ’s atonement package.
Jesus commanded us to “heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those with leprosy, cast out demons” (Matthew 10:8). He would be unjust to command us to do such things if He did not also give us the power and authority to do so.
He also told us that we would experience miracles:
“These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover” (Mark 16:17-18).
He also commanded us to not only expect that we can do His miracle work on His behalf, but that we ought to ask for it and expect it:
“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father. Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it” (John 14:12-14).
God receives glory when His will is done through His people:
“If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples”
(John 15:7-8).
And Paul makes it clear that we ought to be pursuing and desiring the spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 14:1), and among them the gift of healing is clearly included (1 Corinthians 12). A quick note to the cessationists out there who believe that these miracle gifts were only for the apostles and not for us today, look at who the book of Corinthians was addressed to: “To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours” (1 Corinthians 1:1). That’s a pretty all-inclusive list! It’s crystal clear that the miracle gifts are for us today, not just for the early apostles.
3. It is always God’s will to heal us.
The bible says “[Jesus] is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature” (Hebrews 1:3). What Jesus did and who He was (and is) is an exact representation of God and the Father’s character and will.
In Matthew 15:30 and Luke 4:40, we learn that Jesus healed everyone brought to him. He did not turn people away, nor tell them that it might not be God’s will to heal them. It was always the will of Jesus (and therefore God’s will) to heal ALL that were brought to Him. And He has given us the same mandate.
4. I have prayed for miraculous healing. Sometimes it happened, sometimes it didn’t.
Last week we buried my wife’s father. We prayed for his healing. He was almost 99 years old, he had lived an amazingly full life, full of love and generosity, but he died in the hospital.
A while back my family prayed for a young boy who was scheduled for surgery the following morning. His hip tendons had been torn away completely and the hip joint would dislocate. After we declared healing over his body, the very next morning they called off the surgery telling us “The doctors are amazed, it’s a miracle, they cannot get it to dislocate.” He was truly, miraculously healed. And a couple weeks later he was playing basketball with my son at the Y.
Sometimes my prayers for healing result in a miraculous healing, often they don’t.
So where do we go from here?
I continue to stand by the truths in items 1 through 3 above, but you may look at all those times my prayers did NOT result in healing and make some conclusions about that. The million dollar question is, what conclusions should we draw?
We’ll dive into the answers next time.
Concerning the whole “God is in control” mindset so prominent out there. What you’re saying is spot on. It seems like we often forget the importance of free will and how that comes into the picture of what goes on in the world. God very rarely steps in and subverts our free will choices. There are times he must in order to prevent us from completely destroying ourselves, but if there is hope for redemption and good coming out of a situation he allows it. Biblical stories are packed full of this. Almost every bad decision people make can be turned around for the ultimate good.
Concerning healing, we live in an imperfect world where disease, sickness, and injury are a part. Of course, we must also exercise our free will in this as well. It really comes down to our expectations and mindsets. If our culture was full of faith and expectations of God healing we would see a lot more of it. As it is we are currently more full of doubt and unbelief and thus we see fewer miracles than we would otherwise.