Divine Healing - Part 1 - It’s God’s Will
[original text in italics]
Healing is provided in Jesus’ sacrifice, when he became our propitiation [sin offering, pardon, atonement]. It is God's will to heal all who are sick and oppressed of the devil. As we saw in the topic of communion, Jesus bore upon himself our sicknesses, weaknesses, pains, and infirmities of all kind. Jesus bore upon himself our sicknesses, weaknesses, pains, and infirmities of all kind. We also know that God has entrusted us with the ministry of reconciliation. In this ministry, we are instructed on how to receive and administer healing. Below are some of these instructions.
First, we as believers are instructed to receive healing during communion. Upon partaking of the bread, we recognize and believe that by the beating Jesus endured we are healed of every sickness. For more on this, see the topic of Communion.
Second, we receive healing by releasing the life of the Holy Spirit within us. Out of our will and faith, we release the life of God, the Holy Spirit, to flow from our spirit and permeate our body and soul:
ROMANS 8:11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
JOHN 7:38-39 “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart [belly, womb, inner man] will flow rivers of living water.’” Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
Third, believers are given instructions in the event they remain sick. As shown above, a sick believer should pray to be healed. But if a believer has a lack of unwavering faith and is not healed, he should call on the elders of the church to pray over him (this implies that elders should have unwavering faith to heal). When the elders pray for the sick person, the prayer of faith will heal him. Additionally, if the sickness came from sin, he will be forgiven. Therefore, the sick person should confess their sin, if any:
JAMES 5:13-16 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. Is anyone among you sick? 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 will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous [state of approval and acceptance] person has great power.
Note that the oil is a sign of the anointing and the Holy Spirit is the healer. The oil does not heal, but the prayer of faith does.
Fourth, healing is a sign to unbelievers, that they may believe and repent:
MARK 16:15…17…18…20 And he [Jesus] said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim [herald with a suggestion of formality, gravity, dignity, honor, respect, and with an authority which must be listened to and obeyed} the gospel to the whole creation… And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.” …And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by accompanying signs.
MATTHEW 4:23-24 And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every DISEASE [typically an incurable ailment, affecting body, physical & internal] and every AFFLICTION [disease or condition that weakens, ailment that disables, debilitating infirmity] among the people. So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the SICK [misery from experiencing grievous harm, affliction], those afflicted with various DISEASE [typically an incurable ailment, affecting body, physical & internal] and OPPRESSING [seized, constrained like a prisoner] PAINS [torment from demonic spirit on body or soul], those DEMONIZED [possessed, influenced by demons], those being EPILEPTIC [having seizures, brain/mental illness, lunatic or lit. moonstruck as in someone controlled by the moon rather than reason], and PARALITICS [paralysis, physical manifestation of physical injury or results of disease, deformity of some sort], and he healed them.
In summary, all that is required for divine healing is that one believes, obeys and not doubt. We will discuss this along with various manifestations of healing in the next sections.