What about the gift of healing?

In our pursuit of true Bible teaching, and also attempting to dispense with the sometimes questionable doctrines we have been taught from the pulpit, we now turn to healing.

Unfortunately, not only do errant sermons unduly color our thoughts, but also the claims made by certain Bible teachers, as well as televangelists. So, we will neither accept what we've been taught, nor what we have observed on TV, until we have taken the opportunity to explore Scripture ourselves.

The gift of healing is linked to the wider issue of other "supernatural" gifts, so the scope of our discussion will necessarily broaden at times.

The Case Against the Gift of Healing

Those who would refute the gift of healing are usually careful to distinguish between God's ability and willingness to heal (how ever rare that might possibly be), and the personal supernatural gift of healing. Most cessationists accept the former and reject the latter.

Our example will be Pastor Dennis Kiszonas, who writes:

But we have also seen that with the close of the Book of Acts, the gift of healing ceased to operate. Paul could no longer heal anyone—not Epaphroditus in Philippians 2, not Timothy in 1 Timothy 5:23, not Trophimus in 2 Timothy 4:20. The gift of healing had ceased to operate, along with the other sign gifts.

Today God no longer gives the gift of healing, and there are no “healers.” There is healing today, but there is no gift of healing, there are no “divine healers.” There is no gift of healing today but God still heals… sometimes.

He continues:

It is clear that the gift of healing has ceased because, as in Philippians, Paul was no longer able to heal, even his co-workers.

Pastor Kiszonas' methodology is to arrange Paul's letters in chronological order, and deduces from that an increasing inability for Paul to heal. So because there is an observed lack of mention of people being healed, and/or a supposed inability to heal, it is presumed that the healing gift must be fading away per God's intent.

But rather than present an affirmative case, Pastor Kiszonas presumes the supposed absence of healing is sufficient.

Examining the Argument

As we have noted in many of our other posts, the lack of mention in the text is nothing more than an Argument from Silence. What Paul or Peter did not write is not evidence. The writers of the epistles cover a wide range of topics, specific to there purposes for writing, therefore there is no requirement that any of them mention the topics required by Pastor Kiszonas. 

After all, Paul does not mention the cross in Romans, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Timothy, and Titus. Does this mean that Paul thought the cross was unimportant, or that he no longer need to preach the cross? Of course not.

More egregiously, Pastor Kiszonas artificially restricts his discussion to the writings of Paul. By inference he is attempting to plant the idea that Paul is all there is to say on the matter.

But Paul is not the only author of NT letters. So we need not accept the author's characterization.

Hebrews was written later, approximately A.D. 65:

He. 2:4 God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.

He. 12:13 “Make level paths for your feet,” [Prov. 4:26] so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.

 James was also written later, approximately AD 60, and we find these passages:

Ja. 1:17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

Ja. 5:14-18 Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. 16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. 17 Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. 18 Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops. 

Now, why would James say that the elders praying in faith would cause healing to happen if the gift of healing had ended?

1 Peter was written between A.D. 60 and 65:

 1Pe. 4:10 Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.

What gifts would Peter be referencing, if gifts like healing were indeed fading?

In addition, part of the premise that healing was fading out is based on the idea that everyone gets healed early on.

Ac. 5:16 Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by evil spirits, and all of them were healed.

However, we read just a little while later:

Ac. 8:7 With shrieks, evil spirits came out of many, and many paralytics and cripples were healed. 

Many were healed, but not all.

It is particularly ironic that cessationists claim the apostles healed everyone and then want to impose that standard on contemporary charismatics, but simultaneously assert the power was fading and Paul couldn't heal everyone. So which is it, was Paul an apostle by virtue of the fact he healed everyone, or was he a victim of the fading power to heal? 

Cessationists want to have it both ways. "The apostles healed everyone" except when "the ability to heal was fading."

Charisma Comes Via Charis

Ro.12:6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given us.

Definition: Strong’s exhaustive concordance defines the word “gift” (charisma), as extraordinary powers, distinguishing certain Christians and enabling them to serve the church of Christ, the reception of which is due to the power of divine grace operating in their souls by the Holy Spirit.

Definition: "Grace" is charis, the Lord's favor – freely extended to give Himself away to people (because He is always leaning toward them…) reaching (inclining) to people because He is disposed to bless (be near) them.

So an amplified version of Ro. 12:6 would be 

We have different extraordinary powers for serving the church, according to the Father's desire to be near us as He leans toward us.

God gives His freely extended grace, and that flows in us in the form of the spiritual gifts. Every gift is supernatural, whether it is hospitality, prophecy, mercy, or healing. That is, the source, character and expression of any and every spiritual gift is always supernatural.

Therefore, we should not allow a distinction between various gifts based on a presumed supernatural content. 

Since all spiritual gifts are supernatural, on what basis would we exclude some and accept others? This question probes deeper into what is called cessationism. The reader may wish to refer to our cessationism series, which thoroughly examines the topic.

For our purposes today, we shall simply offer our theory on why some gifts are excluded, which is two-fold:

• Cessationists are uncomfortable with the excesses of certain charismatics
• Cessationist need to find a reason for the powerlessness they see in the Church
• Cessationists need to harmonize their beliefs with their spiritual heroes

Charismatic Excesses

Many cessationist writers make their case against the charismata mostly or even exclusively based on contemporary expressions. That is, they are rightly concerned with the sometimes crazy stuff that happens in charismatic churches and labor diligently to refute it.

Such excesses do need to be refuted. Unfortunately, most cessationist writers are content to stop there, rather than make an affirmative biblical case for their own doctrine. What does or does not happen in charismatic churches has nothing to do with the biblical case for or against the charismata.

And we have been dismayed at the paucity of biblical presentation made available by cessationists.

Powerlessness in the Church

The average churchgoer has a very routine, unremarkable church experience, Sunday after Sunday. There are no healings. There is nothing at all the even hints of a supernatural occurrence. He presumes that this is normal. But he reads the NT and there are supernatural things happening practically on every page.

This creates a disconnect. Why is his own church experience so at odds with the NT church? He examines church history, and finds a similar situation. The last 2000 years seem to be much the same. It would be easy to presume this to be the way it should be.

So our average churchgoer is faced with a choice:

• conform his doctrine to account for the powerlessness
• conform his doctrine to what is presented in the NT

We personally have chosen the latter. We believe the Bible clearly teaches the persistence of the all the spiritual gifts, including healing.

Spiritual Heroes

What Calvin, MacArthur, Edwards, and others have taught is certainly important and worthy of consideration, but we should not elevate their teaching to a level just short of Holy Writ. These men can be in error. Therefore, we should not build our altar on what they or any man has taught, and simply accept it as truth.

History is not silent 

What if the powerlessness of the historical church is because of apostasy? Waning faith? Lack of persecution? The influence of heretics? The false teaching of the Catholic church? What if history itself is being selectively read by those with a cessationist worldview?

We risk being accused of Appealing to History ourselves:

Justin Martyr (100-165): “For the prophetical gifts remain with us even to the present time. Now it is possible to see among us women and men who possess gifts of the Spirit of God.”

Irenaeus (125-200): “In like manner we do also hear many brethren in the church who possess prophetic gifts and through the Spirit speak all kinds of languages. ... Yes, moreover, as I have said, the dead even have been raised up, and remained among us for many years.”

Tertullian (150-240): “For seeing that we too acknowledge the spiritual charismata, or gifts, we too have merited the attainment of the prophetic gift ... and heaven knows how many distinguished men, to say nothing of the common people, have been cured either of devils or of their sicknesses.”

Novation (210-280): “This is he [the Holy Spirit] who places prophets in the church, instructs teachers, directs tongues, gives powers and healings, does wonderful works ... and arranges whatever gifts there are of the charismata; and thus making the Lord’s church everywhere, and in all, perfected and completed."

Origen (185-284): “Some give evidence of their having received through this faith a marvelous power by the cures which they perform, invoking no other name over those who need their help than that of the God of all things, along with Jesus and a mention of his history.”

Augustine (354-430): In his work The City of God, Augustine tells of healings and miracles that he has observed firsthand and then says, “I am so pressed by the promise of finishing this work that I cannot record all the miracles I know.”

We would therefore suggest that the church should have persisted in first century practices, including healing, prophecy, and other "supernatural" expressions. We believe that the church fell away from the apostles' teaching relatively quickly, within a century or so after the apostles died. It doesn't take long for political and social forces to start infiltrating the Church, as we have seen in our own century.

In fact, Paul himself observed this very thing in the Galatian church:

Ga. 1:6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel...

We therefore should not be surprised at all that rapid advancement of aberrant doctrines and practices. It is on this basis we would suggest that the "supernatural" gifts should not have faded out.

Conclusion

We would say that the gift of healing is part of the greater issue of the persistence of all things supernatural in the Church. This in fact is the logic of the cessationist. If there is no tongues, there is no healing. If there is no prophecy, then there are no words of knowledge. If the "supernatural" has ceased, it all has ceased.

And in fact, if there is no supernatural for today, neither is there any spiritual gift at all, including

Serving: Ro. 12:7
Hospitality: 1Pe. 4:9
Teaching: Ro. 12:7
Encouraging: Ro. 12:8
Giving to the needs of others: Ro. 12:8

However, we have made the case that the supernatural activities of God have not ceased. All the gifts of the Spirit continue to operate. We think that all gifts of the Spirit ought to be embraced in today's church.