DOES GOD HEAL?

In some churches, members are discouraged from seeking medical assistance and rely solely on prayer for healing. Other churches encourage us to seek medical assistance and to also pray to God for healing. Some claim that God has promised to heal us if we only ask in faith. Some churches will offer prayer cloths to those who are sick. Can God heal today? Does He heal today? Has He promised to heal us, if we only have enough faith? What about those prayer cloths that we see some promoting on television to assist in healing?

Can God heal us today? If we believe that He is all-powerful and will raise us all from the dead and give us eternal life, of course He is capable of healing us. Does He heal today? Sure, there are stories of people being healed without the intervention of medical treatment. But has He promised to heal us? One passage that is widely used by those who claim that God has promised to heal us is found in I Peter 2:24 which says, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.” This passage is a quote from Isa 53:4-5 which says, “Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgression, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him and by his wounds we are healed.”

Notice that this passage is not dealing with physical healing, but healing from spiritual illness, SIN. It says he was pierced for our TRANSGRESSION and crushed for our INIQUITIES.

Another passage that is sometimes used to teach that God has promised us whatever we pray for, including healing, is found in John 15:7 which says, “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.” This sounds like Jesus is giving us a blank check to pray for whatever we want and He will give it to us. But there is another piece of the puzzle to consider. What if what you prayed for is not the will of God? In James 4:15 we read that rather than being presumptuous in stating what will happen to us in the future, we should “Instead, you ought to say, “if it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” 

Another passage that some use to claim that we can ask anything and God is obligated to answer our prayers is found in Matt 17:20-21 where Jesus said, “Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.’” This last statement is a proverbial statement, a figure of speech, not to be taken literally. 

Another passage that is used to claim that God has promised us healing and good health is found in 3 John 2 where it says, “Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as our soul is getting along well.” This is not a promise of healing or of an easy life. It is more of a greeting as we might say today, “Have a nice day” or “I hope you have a great vacation and love the new job you are going to start when you return.”

What about the Apostle Paul? Didn’t he pray for healing? In 2 Cor 12:9 we see Paul praying three times to have a “thorn in my flesh” removed and yet God responded by saying “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Could God have healed Paul? Sure, but He decided that Paul was more valuable to Him without a healing.

Later Paul gave young Timothy some medical advice. In I Tim 5:23 he wrote, “Stop drinking only water, and use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses.” Here we see Timothy with frequent illness, yet Paul couldn’t simply heal him. 

Another person who Paul couldn’t heal was Epaphroditus. In Phil 2:25-27 Paul wrote, “For he (Epaphroditus) longs for all of you and is distressed because you heard he was ill. Indeed he was ill and almost died.” If Paul could heal at will, why did Epaphroditus get so sick that his life was in danger? Why did Timothy have to rely on wine for treatment of his many illnesses?

Still another person who Paul couldn’t heal was Trophimus. In 2 Tim 4:20 Paul wrote, “I left Trophimus sick in Miletus.” Again, God can heal, but He gives us no promise that He will.

What about prayer cloths?

In Acts 19:11-12 we find this statement: “God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them.”

This passage is sometimes used by ministers to encourage you to send them money for the cloths with the promise that if you have enough faith, God will heal you. Is this what the passage really says? Did God promise all of us healing through the use of these cloths?

Notice that these miracles of healing were extraordinary miracles, not to be expected through all people at all times. We don’t see these miracles done through any other person in the New Testament. And there is no mention of these pieces of cloth being anointed with oil. What we have here is a statement that special miracles through Paul were performed but there is no instruction for the church regarding the use of anointed cloths. We can’t assume that what God did through Paul, He will do through the rest of us. Keep in mind that Paul was not only a Christian, but an Apostle. God wrote Scripture through Apostles, but that doesn’t mean he will do it through me. This and other miracles were designed to prove that these men were sent by God. These miracles were “signs of an apostle” (2 Cor 12:12). There was no inherent power in the cloths themselves anymore than there was inherent power in the staff of Moses when he parted the Red Sea or the mud Jesus used to heal a person who was blind.

If we insist that prayer cloths are to be used to bring healing to people through us today, then we would also have to believe that we should have our shadows pass over the sick to heal them. In Acts 5:15 Luke wrote, “As a result, people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by. Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, brining their sick and those tormented by evil spirits, and all of them were healed.

This is not to say that God can’t and doesn’t heal people. But He doesn’t need prayer cloths to make healing possible. The miracles of healing which involved Peter’s shadow or cloths from Paul were signs of their apostleship, not normative for today.

So what are we to do when we get sick? James 5:13 says, “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. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well: the Lord will raise him up. It he has sinned, he will be forgiven.” Notice, when we are sick we should ask for prayer. The “anoint with oil” is an expression meaning medical treatment. In the New Testament time there were few medicines available. Oil was used therapeutically, as well as wine. It appears to me that this passage would mean for us to seek medical treatment and seek prayer for forgiveness of sin. Seek medical treatment for physical ailments and prayer for spiritual ailments. 

God can heal, in some cases He does heal. The ultimate promise of healing is spiritual healing, the forgiveness of sin. When we get sick we should seed medical treatment and pray that the will of God will be done in our lives. For some of us, physical healing is not in the will of God at this time. For some of us the will of God is that we deal with sickness and death as Christians who realize that our real lives haven’t begun yet and that death is not the end, but a transition to something better.

God has promised us something that is even greater than a healthy life-ETERNAL LIFE.