PART FIVE IN THE SPECIAL SERIES
THE HOLY SPIN
AND PHYSICAL HEALING
by Robert L. Saucy, Professor o f B ible and T h eo logy Ta lbot T h eo log ica l Seminary
T here is a strong desire in contemporary Christianity to witness again the power of the apostolic church. Apparently discouraged with the general powerlessness of the professing church during the past decades, some of the major denominations are professing to experience the Pentecostal power of the Holy Spirit even as some of the peripheral groups have always claimed. Included in the evidence of this resurgence of the ministry of the Holy Spirit in power is the miracle of so-called “ faith healing.” Since almost everyone would agree that the Biblical teaching on this subject has been prostituted by certain individuals and groups throughout the history of the church, the question is raised anew as to the authenticity of the contemporary manifestations. The terminology of “ faith healing” or “ divine healing” is misleading. Cer tainly God can and does heal .through the prayer of faith. That this healing may be miraculous cannot be refuted Scripturally. But do the Scriptures lend cred ence to physical healing as purported in the modern healing movements? Are these genuinely similar to those of apostolic times? Are they in reality a manifestation of the Holy Spirit? THE BASIC FOUNDATION OF FAITH HEALING The underlying argument of the healing movement is that Christ bore our sins and their consequences of physical infirmity; therefore a gospel can be preached, yes, should be preached, not only of forgiveness of sin, but also of bodily health. Dr. A. B. Simpson based his belief in faith healing squarely upon this doctrine. “ . . . our healing becomes a great redemption right, which we simply claim as our purchased inheritance through the blood of His cross” ( The Gospel of Healing, p. 35). Dr. A. J. Gordon, although more hesitantly, concurs: “ In the atonement of Christ there seems to be a foundation laid for bodily healing” ( The M inistry of Healing, p. 16). One of the most popular contemporary evangelists, Oral Roberts, lays the basis for his healing ministry on the same foundation. “ One of the great provisions of His atonement is for our healing and health” (Seven Divine Aids for Your Health, p. 8 ) . Is this the basis and purpose of Scriptural healing? Can faith healing based upon this foundation claim the mantle of the miraculous healings of Christ and the early church? THE HEALING MINISTRY OF CHRIST AND THE APOSTLES An examination of the ministry of our Lord reveals
that bodily healing was but one of a great variety of miraculous works. With the same power with which He healed the sick, Christ turned the water into wine, stilled the Storm, fed the five thousand with the little boy’s lunch, and raised the dead. As the record does not seem to indicate any distinction between these miracles (ef. Jn. 20:30; Acts 10:38), it must be assumed that all were accomplished on the same basis and for the same pur pose. The significance of these works is clear. They were not part of the gospel of the kingdom which Christ was preaching (Matt. 9:35), but rather evidence to authen ticate the messenger. This is plain from explicit Scriptur al statements. John characterizes the miracles of Christ as “ signs” (20:30) which Trench explains as “ a kind of finger-post of God . . . valuable, not so much for what it is, as for what it indicates of the grace and power of the doer . . .” (Synonyms of the New Testament, p. 343). These miracles, including healing, were not then the message, but the credentials of Christ demonstrating His Deity (Jn. 5:36; 14:10-11; 20:30-31) and His Messiahship (Matt. 11:1-6). A further evidence of their nature as signs is seen in the procedure of their use. Although in many instances Jesus healed in response to faith and at least on one occasion could heal only a “few sick folk” (Mark 6:5-6) because of the unbelief of the people, certainly the great majority of the healings cannot be said to have been through a saving faith on the part of the individuals involved. Matthew relates how Jesus “ went about all the cities and villages, teaching . . . preaching '. . . and healing every sickness and every disease among the peo ple” (9:35). Again he tells how “ great multitudes came unto him, having with them those that were lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and man} others, and cast them down at Jesus’ feet; and he healed them” (15:30-31). It is impossible to place a faith which heals on the same basis as that which receives the forgiveness of sins to each sick individual in these multitudes. There are also several instances where the persons healed obviously did not have faith. A servant who lay home sick of the palsy was healed through the request of his master (Matt. 8:5-13). On another occasion Jesus healed the absent nobleman’s son (John 4:46-54). From the conversation of Jesus with the man blind from birth, it is seen that he was healed before he even knew the identity of Jesus (John 9:25, 35, 36). This evidence from the healing min- (continued on next page)
25
SEPTEMBER, 1963
Made with FlippingBook - Online Brochure Maker