There are many Christians who claim that it is always God’s will
to heal believers of every illness or other ailment. Like all other real Christians, they accept
that Jesus atoned for sin by His suffering and death. But they claim too that by His atonement He
also made it possible for Christians to be healed of any ailment when they take
hold of their healing by faith. Those
who take this view often refer to it by saying that they believe that healing
is in the atonement.
It is true that a time will come after the resurrection of
Christians, when we will all be in perfect health. And I think it would be a good way of
understanding things if we say that we will be perfectly healed in the time
between our death and resurrection, or when Jesus returns for those on earth at
the time. If the basis for this healing
is the crucifixion of Christ, as it surely is, then I think too that we can say
that the complete healing of all Christians is in the atonement.
So healing is in the atonement.
And Christians will experience perfect healing of body and soul when
they are resurrected. (The idea of
spending eternity without a body is not a biblical one. See 1 Corinthians 15:35-49 and Philippians
3:21.) But to say that healing of every ailment is available to every Christian
before death is another matter entirely.
And it is certainly wrong.
I am sure that God often heals supernaturally today. And I am convinced too that much more healing
would take place if more Christians were open to it. I believe that healing ministry is something
every local church should be seeking from the Lord.
Nevertheless, it is surely not God’s will to heal Christians of
every ailment before death. And those
who claim that it is have made a mistake.
Either they have not thought through what they are saying. Or they have an extremely implausible understanding
of the Christian life in this world.
The ageing process
To begin with, there is the ageing process of human beings to
consider. As we age, various negative
things happen to our bodies. Our bones
become brittle. Our muscle tone
decreases. Our skin becomes saggy. Our hair falls out or loses its colour. Our hearing and eyesight become impaired. And our brain function becomes slower and more
unreliable. Basically, as we get older our
bodies become less and less like God originally intended them to be before the
Fall. Instead, they become more and more
damaged. And it is important to
recognise that the ageing process is in a real sense the opposite of healing.
If healing of every ailment before death is God’s will for
Christians, it would have to mean that it is His will for the ageing process
not to take place in us. It would be His
will, among other things, to prevent any believer’s hair going grey! However, nothing in the Bible even remotely
suggests that we should expect anything like this. Rather, it everywhere leads us to expect that
we will age as all people do.
I think some who are reading this might think that describing grey
hair in an old person as an ailment is not really accurate. However, that would be a big mistake. God designed us to be absolutely perfect with
eternally perfect bodies. And that is
how things would have remained if we had not sinned. Grey hair is undoubtedly a corruption of His
plan for us.
The healing of our bodies that is in the atonement that Christ
accomplished on the cross is perfect. And
it certainly includes perfecting our hair.
After we have been raised to eternal life, every redeemed Christian will
have perfect hair. But it is completely
unrealistic to suppose that it is God’s will for us to experience this before
death. And the same is true of similar
ailments caused by the ageing process.
I am not saying that it is never God’s will to heal before death
something that is damaged by the ageing process. Surely it will suit His purposes sometimes. And if the problem is causing significant
distress, it will doubtless often be His will to heal.
However, in the vast majority of cases where the ageing process is
happening He surely has no intention of intervening. Instead, the intervention will take place in
power and perfection between our death and resurrection.
The implications of this are very significant. It means that the healing gained by Jesus’
atonement is not automatically available to Christians before death. Instead, a whole new dimension is introduced into
the issue of healing, which is whether healing a given ailment before death is
or is not God’s will. Therefore the theory
which says that healing of any ailment just needs to be claimed in faith is clearly
far too simplistic.
Minor ailments
We can also be certain that it is not usually God’s will to heal Christians
before death of things that cause us very little or no distress.
Here is an example of what I mean.
If I put my hands together and look closely, I can see that my left hand
is fractionally longer than my right hand.
This causes me no distress whatsoever.
Nevertheless, it would be right to say that it is a defect and that
Jesus died to fix this defect. When I
have my resurrection body, I have no doubt that my hands will be exactly the
same length. And this healing of my
hands will be based on the atonement.
However, I think it is extremely unlikely that God wants to heal
me of this defect before death. Whenever
we read about healing in the Bible and any detail of the situation is given,
the healing is always of things that cause people significant distress. It seems very foreign to Scripture to expect
God often to heal very minor things that we hardly even notice.
So, if someone’s hands or feet are of slightly different lengths,
if they have a wisdom tooth missing, if their ears are not perfectly
symmetrical, etc., it is surely a mistake to routinely expect healing. Instead, the Bible teaches us that we live in
a world that is badly damaged by the Fall in all sorts of ways. And it also encourages us to look for perfection
after death or when Jesus returns.
Little problems like these can also be spiritually useful for
Christians. They help to keep us humble. And they also help us to remember that this
world is not our home.
It would be wrong to say that it must never be God’s will to heal Christians
of very minor things. His ways are too
mysterious for us to rule that out. But we
can be confident that it is not usually His will. Instead, perfection will come when we have
our resurrection bodies.
Again we see that the idea that the healing gained by Jesus’
atonement is automatically available to every Christian before death is fundamentally
flawed. There is a whole other dimension
to this issue, i.e., whether healing something is or isn’t God’s will.
More significant
ailments
There are some Christians who would agree with what I have said so
far, but who claim that it is always God’s will to heal a Christian who has an
ailment that causes more than a little distress.
Even this view, however, fits poorly with what we find in
Scripture. In 2 Corinthians 12:7-10,
Paul tells us about the ‘thorn in the flesh’ which was given him to ‘hurt’ him. We can’t be sure exactly what this problem
was. Nevertheless, it is highly likely
that it was something that affected his health in some way. Importantly, when Paul prayed to be released
from this problem, God refused to do so.
Instead, He told Paul that He wanted it to remain because it was so
useful in humbling him. In all
probability, then, the Bible tells us of at least one occasion when it was not
God’s will to heal a Christian who had an ailment that caused more than a
little distress.
There are also other passages in the New Testament where we read
of Christians who experience medical problems that are more than minor. See Acts 9:36-37 (Tabitha); Galatians 4:13-15
(Paul); Philippians 2:25-27 (Epaphroditus); 1 Timothy 5:23 (Timothy); 2 Timothy 4:20 (Trophimus). I think it could well be true that in some of
these cases it was God’s will not to heal, at least for a while.
However, none of these texts actually tells us that it wasn’t His
will to heal. So the argument could be
made that in each case healing didn’t occur, or was delayed, because of lack of
faith. And I can’t really prove that
this argument is wrong. So I won’t try
to use these passages to support my points in this article.
Texts used by those
who say God always wants to heal
Those who claim that it is God’s will to heal every Christian of
every ailment, or at least of every ailment that causes more than a little
distress, use a number of biblical texts to try to make their case. Let’s look now at the most important of
these.
Isaiah 53:4-5
Isaiah 53:4-5 is the main text that is appealed to. This passage reads:
‘4 Surely He has borne our sicknesses and carried our pains. Yet we considered Him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted. 5 But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our sins. The punishment for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His wounding we are healed.’
Those who appeal to this passage point to the words ‘He has borne our
sicknesses and carried our pains’ in v. 4 and ‘by His wounding we are healed’
in v. 5. They also point to the quotation
of these words from v. 4 in Matthew 8:17, which we will look at in a moment. Let’s begin, however, by looking directly at
the passage in Isaiah.
Discussion of the meanings of the Hebrew words underlying
‘sicknesses’ and ‘pains’ in v. 4 is quite complex. And there is the equally complex issue of
whether these words and ‘we are healed’ in v. 5 should be taken literally or
not. It is possible, although admittedly
rather unlikely, that in this passage there is no thought of healing other than
spiritual healing from sin. It is worth
noting that in 1 Peter 2:24, where Isaiah 53:4-5 is partially quoted, Peter
applies Isaiah’s words to Jesus’ delivering from sin but says nothing about
freeing from illnesses.
Most importantly, however, even if physical, mental healing etc. is in view in vv. 4-5, the passage doesn’t
say when those who benefit from this
healing do so. What this text says fits
with the idea that Jesus provides perfect healing for Christians that we will
possess when we have our resurrection bodies.
It certainly doesn’t tell us that healing of every ailment is available
to us before death.
Matthew 8:17
Matthew 8:17 is another verse that
is often said to show that it is always God’s will to heal Christians. This verse, which follows an account of Jesus
healing all who were ill, states:
‘This was to fulfil what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: “He Himself took our infirmities and took away our diseases.” ’
It is often argued that this verse promises Christians healing of
any infirmity or disease when they claim their healing in faith.
It is true that Matthew clearly interprets Isaiah’s words as
referring to healing of physical diseases etc.
(This in no way has to mean that he has the same interpretation as in
the book of Isaiah, however. In the New
Testament there are many quotations of the Old Testament where the writer –
under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, no doubt – takes an interpretation that
is quite different from the meaning in the Old Testament.)
However, whereas in Isaiah the Servant takes sicknesses and pains
(however literally these should be understood) on Himself, in Matthew Jesus
seems just to remove infirmities and diseases, without taking them on Himself. Matthew’s purpose seems to be simply to show
that Jesus healed people as Isaiah had predicted He would. It is therefore doubtful that Matthew applies
Jesus’ taking of infirmities and taking away of diseases to Christians in
general.
Importantly too, even if Jesus’ healing in Matthew 8:17 should be
understood to apply to Christians in general, this doesn’t have to mean that healing
of every ailment is available to every Christian before death. It doesn’t even mean that healing of every
ailment causing more than a little distress is available. Biblical language often allows for
unexpressed exceptions to a principle that is being outlined.
For example, in Matthew 5:42 Jesus teaches:
‘Give to the person who asks you, and do not turn away the person who wants to borrow from you.’
However, there are clearly exceptions to this principle. For instance, if someone asks us for money to
buy illegal drugs, we should certainly not oblige.
Similarly, in Mark 10:11 Jesus tells us:
‘Whoever “divorces” his wife and “marries” another commits adultery against her’.
But there are unexpressed exceptions to this principle, as Matthew
5:32; 19:9 show. If your husband or wife
commits adultery, you can divorce and remarry legitimately.
Many other biblical examples of unexpressed exceptions could be
added to these two. And it is not forcing
things at all to think that, even if, improbably, the citation in Matthew 8:17
applies to Christians in general, there could easily be exceptions to the
principle outlined.
So we can sum up the discussion of Matthew 8:17 with two conclusions. (1) This verse is probably just teaching that
Jesus was a healer in fulfilment of prophecy.
It is probably not giving a promise of healing to Christians. (2) Even if it is giving a promise, that in
no way has to mean that Christians should expect healing from every ailment without
exception.
James 5:14-16
James 5:14-16 is another passage that is often quoted by those who
claim it is always God’s will to heal Christians. Here James says:
‘14 Is anyone among you ill? He should summon the elders of the church and they should anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord and pray over him. 15 And the prayer of faith will heal the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him. 16 So confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.’
It is often said that this passage clearly promises Christians healing
of any illnesses that are prayed for in faith.
In response, however, we should note firstly that vv. 14-15 seem
to be referring to someone who is so ill that they are housebound. And, in view of this context in vv. 14-15, v.
16 could easily be referring only to serious illnesses too. Therefore, this passage doesn’t provide
strong evidence that it is God’s will to heal every Christian of every minor or
moderately serious illness before death.
But does the passage teach us that it is always His will to heal a
Christian who has an illness that is causing great distress or is very
debilitating? I have already noted that
the Bible often presents a general principle without mentioning legitimate
exceptions to that principle. So might
there be valid exceptions to the principle outlined in James 5:14-16?
Well, to begin with, I think it would be wrong to claim from this
passage that when a Christian becomes seriously ill, it is never God’s will for
that Christian to die from the illness at that time. So I think there will be times when a
believer is not healed because God has decided that their time to die has come.
As for whether it is ever God’s will for a Christian to remain with
a serious condition without dying, personally I am very unsure. If this is ever His will, the powerful nature
of the promise in these verses in James suggests that it is only rarely His
will.
Promises of answered
prayer
Those who say that it is always God’s will to heal Christians often
point to passages which promise us that we will receive whatever we ask for in
faith. For example, in Matthew 21:22 Jesus promises:
‘And whatever you ask for in prayer, believing, you will receive.’
However, promises like this surely have an unexpressed condition
attached to them. They surely only apply
if the things we ask for are in line with the will of God.
However, as we have seen, there are convincing reasons for
thinking that it is not God’s will to heal Christians of some ailments. So we should not think that these promises of
answered prayer suggest otherwise.
Summing up
When all the biblical revelation is taken into account, we can
confidently draw two conclusions. First,
it is very often not God’s will to heal Christians of minor ailments. And second, there are times when it is not His
will to heal ailments that cause more than a little distress.
Whether it is occasionally God’s will for Christians to continue
for a long time with serious illnesses or disabilities is unclear to me
personally. But that is not my main
focus in this article.
We should often seek healing
Although it is sometimes not God’s will to heal, there are some
things that we should have no hesitation in saying He wants to heal. For example, He surely always wants to heal Christians
of depression, emotional problems or serious demonic problems.
Nor must we lose sight of the powerful nature of the promise in
James 5:14-15, cited above. These verses
strongly suggest that if we have an illness or other ailment that is causing us
significant distress or debilitation, the ‘default position’ should be to believe
that God wants to heal. Unless we are
sure we can hear Him saying that He wants the problem to remain for some
purpose of His, we should seek healing. And
we should aim to receive this by praying in faith, along with any relevant ministry
from Christians.
Problems caused by
extreme views on healing
As I have tried to make clear, those Christians who claim that it
is God’s will to heal Christians of every illness or other ailment before death
are making a mistake. Either they have not
thought through what they are saying. Or
they have an extremely implausible understanding of the Christian life in this
world.
Even those who say that it is God’s will to heal Christians of
every ailment causing more than a little distress are in error. This view also fits poorly with what we find
in the Bible.
Christians who take extreme views like these on healing often
serve to put non-Christians off the Christian faith.
I am sure that they also, ironically, put many non-charismatic
Christians off the gifts of the Spirit. Now
is a time when God is pouring out charismatic gifts, including healing, into
His church. Those who don’t seek these gifts
need to be lovingly convinced of their mistake.
And the way to do this is by taking an approach to gifts that is sober,
balanced and thoroughly biblical. Sadly,
this is all too often lacking in charismatic churches today.
See also:
