The preachers quoted here affirm that God heals, and that healing flows from Christ's atoning work as every blessing does. They call for balance, noting that divine healing is more than healing by faith and that answers do not always come at once. Some go further and teach that healing is the right of every Christian now.
God names himself as healer. "I am the LORD that healeth thee" (Exodus 15:26).1 David blesses the Lord "who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases" (Psalm 103:3). Healing filled the ministry of Jesus, who went about "healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people" (Matthew 4:23), and Matthew saw in this the fulfilment of Isaiah: "Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses" (8:17).
It continued in the early church. Peter said to the lame man, "In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk" (Acts 3:6). Paul lists "gifts of healing" among the Spirit's gifts (1 Corinthians 12:9). James gives a standing instruction: "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: and the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up" (James 5:14-15).
The New Testament also records sickness that was not removed. Paul asked three times for his thorn in the flesh to be taken away and was told, "My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:9). He left Trophimus sick at Miletum (2 Timothy 4:20), advised Timothy about his "often infirmities" (1 Timothy 5:23), and nearly lost Epaphroditus (Philippians 2:27). None of these is blamed on lack of faith.
The reason is that the full redemption of the body is still to come. Believers are "waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body" (Romans 8:23). Only in the new creation will there be "no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain" (Revelation 21:4). Healing now is a foretaste, given as God wills.
Christians have drawn the lines differently. In the nineteenth century A. B. Simpson argued that God has prescribed healing in the name of Jesus "and provided for it in the atonement, appointed an ordinance to signalize it, and actually commanded and enjoined it."2 Others have held that miraculous healing belonged to the apostolic age, while affirming that God answers prayer for the sick through his providence. Most evangelicals today hold that God does still heal in answer to prayer, sometimes remarkably, but has not promised to heal every illness in this life.
The practical counsel of Scripture is plain. The sick should pray and ask for prayer (James 5:13-16); they may use means, as Paul advised Timothy; and they may trust that the Lord who heals is also the Lord who sustains when healing is delayed.
- Strong's Hebrew 7495, râphâʼ: "properly, to mend (by stitching), i.e. (figuratively) to cure".
- A.B. Simpson, The Gospel of Healing, "Popular objections".
In their own words
Each line below is quoted exactly from a sermon on this site. Follow the link to hear or read it where it was said.
Divine healing is more than healing by faith.
Samuel Chadwick
in Praying for Divine Healing
Read in context
Divine healing is a subject upon which we need to remain balanced.
David Servant
in Jesus Raises a Dead Girl and Heals a Sick Woman Mark 5:21-43
Read in context
Healing is included in the atonement in the same way that every blessing is provided for in the atonement.
Philip Powell
in By His Stripes We Are Healed
Listen at 7:41
Healing is a journey and answers don't come right away.
Shane Idleman
in A Fresh Perspective On Healing
Listen at 41:26
Where they differ
Some Pentecostal preachers go further, teaching that healing belongs to every believer as a present right.
Divine healing is the heritage of every Christian.
Charles S. Price
in How to Keep Your Healing
Read in context
Healing is for the children of God; it is their bread.
Charles S. Price
in How to Keep Your Healing
Read in context
What Scripture says
- James 5:14-15 the prayer of faith shall save the sick
- Exodus 15:26 I am the LORD that heals you
- Matthew 8:16-17 himself took our infirmities, and bore our sicknesses
- 2 Corinthians 12:9 my grace is sufficient for you
- Romans 8:23 waiting for the redemption of our body
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