THE FAITH HEALING CONTROVERSY |
The World, the Word & You!
Broadcast
Commentary by Dennis L. Finnan
“WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE CHURCH? WHAT CAN
ANYONE MAKE OF THE MIRACLE CLAIMS OF HEALING THESE DAYS? WHAT ABOUT REPORTS OF
THE TRAGIC LOSS OF LIFE FROM FAITH HEALING?”
I’m Dennis Finnan, host and speaker on the World, the Word & You! Broadcast and in a moment we’ll talk about it…
…Recently in our broadcast headquarters community of Grand Junction, Colorado, we’ve seen in the news the tragic headlines of a young teenage girl, Amanda Bates, dying for lack of medical care. The reason she died was her parents, members of the “General Assembly and Church of the First Born,” a small denomination that believes in the power of prayer rather than any medical treatment to cure illnesses and disabilities, was denied critical medical attention by her parents. As a result, this 13-year old girl tragically died of complications from untreated diabetes. The press reports that since 1974, 11 other children of the First Born Assembly in Colorado have died or been stillborn after not receiving urgent medical care.
According to news reports, Colorado among 45 other states, have had laws protecting parents of any prosecution in such cases on “religious” grounds. But with evidence mounting that dozens of deaths of other children around the nation, state legislatures have taken action. The debate now has been rekindled on the power of prayer vs. doctors and known medical care.
Now, after this second musical moment, I want to talk with you about Divine Healing in light of the Christian faith and try to sort through that which is error and that which is truth, so that our listening audience might understand where true Christianity lies in this difficult matter. So stay tuned and we’ll enter the controversy for the glory of God…
…A couple of weeks ago the Colorado House of Representatives voted to ensure legal protection of children who are denied serious medical care in favor of faith healing by prayer alone. Parents who deny life-threatening care, will under this bill be liable for prosecution for such negligence.
Other states are considering similar legislation too. Now the issue is this. Do parents have the right to defend the practice of their faith in their families, especially when it comes to “faith healing,” rather than accept medicine and a doctor’s care? Well, our Supreme Court of the land has ruled “no,” when it comes to the life of children. They have ruled while adults are free to engage in whatever faith healing they choose, their helpless minor children are entitled to medical treatment whenever necessary and available.
After reading much of the press on the issue, and seeing the ongoing flamboyant faith healer’s TV programs these days, it is no wonder the non-Christian has come to believe that this “faith-healing,” is the norm for all Christians these days… I therefore want to set the record straight and give you a glimpse into what the Bible says is the truth about Divine Healing and the Christian. So let’s begin by exploring the Word of God on this issue, for this alone is our benchmark and standard by which we judge any action.
First, let me state this ¾ there is no sickness, no
injury, no deformity, curable or incurable by human standards, which is beyond
the reach and ability of God’s divine healing! I believe that with bone in my
body. Rightly so, every Christian must also believe this, for that is what the
Bible teaches about our Creator God who appeared in human form in the Person of
Jesus Christ. So that is not the issue, but the question is “how and
when does God choose to heal or not heal us,” and “what are we to do
when the need for healing comes?”
As we examine the Bible, we discover that at various times throughout biblical history God choose to exhibit miraculous divine healing. Sometimes He performed this through an individual, others times because of their request or prayers. In the Old Testament we have an example of Moses’ sister Miriam. We read,
Num 12:10-16 (NIV) “When the cloud lifted from above the Tent, there stood Miriam—leprous, like snow…. 13 So Moses cried out to the LORD, “O God, please heal her!” 14 The LORD replied to Moses.. Confine her outside the camp for seven days; after that she can be brought back.” 15 So Miriam was confined outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not move on till she was brought back [healed].
Moses prayed for divine healing and God answered his prayer, its that simple. Of course there were many examples of this in the earthly life of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the apostles who followed. The divine healing they performed even extended to raising the dead! But today the issue is some Christians are teaching that this “power,” the Lord Jesus exhibited, as did the apostles of Christ, is something for Christians today, and in extreme cases as the Assembly of the Church of the First Born teach, that medicine and doctors are not for the Christian, just “faith and prayer” healing. Sadly, we’ve seen the results of this aberration of Christian truth and belief. While I greatly respect and sorrow for the families of those who practice faith and prayer healing and fail to see the answers, I must proclaim God’s truth in light of such error, which is so abundantly and blatantly promoted these days.
For instance, some of our Charismatic brethren today go to extremes in presenting to the public the power of God to heal in and through their faith ministry. Men like Benny Hinn. I was watching one of his crusades a while ago, as he cried out to individuals, “Be healed,” and people fell over backwards as a sign they received the healing power of God through His cry. One time he got so carried away, he cried out to one section of the entire audience in the stadium and all there fell over in their seats, I presumed healed of something! Then Benny Hinn look at another section and cried, “be healed,” and they fell over in droves. I tell you this is charlatanism at its worst! Yet so many Christian are silent about it and the non-Christian public looks at us with disbelief and disgust knowing it is all nonsense.
Let me tell you, that the true divine healing of power God is not nonsense. The problem is sinful man’s interpretation of the Bible’s teachings on healing. So, what does the Bible say? Well here in the shortness of time let me give you some guidelines…
1. GOD CAN AND DOES HEAL ALL KINDS OF SICKNESS
EVEN TODAY, EXCEPT RAISING THE DEAD -
(Exo 4:11; 15:26; Psa. 103:2-3; 147:3; 1 Cor. 12:9).
2. GOD DOES NOT
ALWAYS HEAL IN ANSWER TO PRAYER OR FAITH – (1
Tim. 5:23; 2 Tim. 4:20; Phil. 2:25-27; Gal. 4:13-15; 2 Cor 12:7-9).
3. SICKNESS, ILLNESS AND INJURY SOMETIMES ARE GOD’S WILL FOR US TO BEAR, FOR HIS GLORY AND OUR ETERNAL GOOD – (John 9:2; 11:4; 2 Cor. 12:7-9; Gal 4:13-15).
4. IT IS WRONG AND UNBIBLICAL TO DENY ONESELF OR OTHERS QUALIFIED MEDICAL CARE,
WITH THE DEMAND THAT GOD HEAL US DIVINELY - (Mat. 9:12; Luke 5:31)
5. SOMETIMES SICKNESS, AND ILLNESS ARE A RESULT OF SIN AND DISOBEDIENCE TO GOD
AND ARE THEREFORE A RENDERED JUDGMENT
– (Num. 12:10-16; 1 Cor. 11:27-30; James 3:13-16).
6. ANY HEALING DIVINE OR NOT, MUST BE
SOUGHT FIRST FROM GOD THROUGH PRAYER, SELF-EXAMINATION OF ONE’S SPIRITUAL LIFE,
BY THE PRAYERS OF CHURCH LEADERS, AND SEEKING ALL THE MEDICAL CARE AVAILABLE
THESE DAYS - (James
3:13-16)
Surely no person who believes in the God, who created all things, believes that
He cannot and will not in His sovereign will, heal any and all illness,
sicknesses and injuries of His children whom He created. This is not the issue.
The issue is does God heal through prayer only, by-passing medical doctors and
their care today and or individually called healers?
Today, some teach that one can tap this miraculous power
of God, through prayer, by mustering up enough faith to believe. Yes they say
one must have enough faith for God to act. Charismatic healers say, “If you
have faith, God will heal you, you must only believe and pray.” But my
friend, this teaching is unbiblical, for it says it is ALWAYS God’s will to
heal by prayer and faith. Yet, if one examines the New Testament times of
divine healing they will, find “faith” was not necessarily a condition for it.
Will anyone accuse the great apostle Paul of being faithless? Scripture says
Paul couldn’t heal even Timothy’s stomach problem (1 Tim. 5:23), nor could he
heal Trophemus or Epaphroditus his faithful friends and co-laborers for Christ
(2 Tim. 4:20;Phil. 2:25-27).
Why even Paul himself, suffered an apparently debilitating illness which He
sought God’s divine healing for, but was unable to obtain it (Gal. 4:13-15; 2
Cor 12:7-9). \
The point of the matter is, divine healing although God can do it, it is not tied to any faith we must “muster,” or pray through for. Anyone who teaches this is goes beyond Scripture and teaches error. Those who follow this and reject medical care depending solely on an act of divine healing are disobeying God and as a result suffer the awful, and sorrowful consequences. My heart goes out to the Bates family and others who lost a dear child I believe they sincerely loved. They were the victims of false teachings that are not Christian at all, as are many others these days.
True Christianity teaches that today, God no longer works healing through individuals such as the apostles. Why did He do it then and not now? The answer is the purpose of healing went beyond helping sick people get well. The Lord Jesus and the apostles performed miracles and healing to identify them as genuine representatives of God and the official establishment of the church (2 Cor. 12:12; Act 2:43; 4:33; 5:12,15;19:12). Secondly, God’s divine healing through individuals waned as the first century closed because the second reason for granting such power to human beings was to authenticate the NEW REVELATION they were bringing. But after the New Testament was completed and the apostles died off the scene, God clearly established the ongoing recognized plan for healing the sick. It is found only in James 5:13-16. We read,
James 5:14-16 (NASB) “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; 15 and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him. 16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.”
Right here in the New Testament, God gives the only
prescription for healing. Let’s examine it.
1.
If you are sick, you should first of all seek the
help of God. This should be sought through the church, by contacting
the Pastor(s) or elders of the church to come and pray with you for God to
reveal His will concerning the illness, sickness or injury. This is NOT a call
for the elders to perform faith healing, or to pray only…Rather, it is a call
for the church to rally around you in prayer, first of all.
2.
The Pastors or church leaders are to “anoint the sick
with oil.” This is a much-confused passage. The Greek word for
anoint here is a word that refers not to a spiritual ceremony (Aleipho), rather
a physical workout! In other words, the oil was to be actually “rubbed” on and
into the body of the ill person. It was in effect, a medicinal action to
relieve the soreness, or injured part of many who suffered. This indicates
after we pray we should seek all the medical care available to us that God has
given the world we live in. Doctors are a part of God’s healing process.
Remember, they can do nothing if God doesn’t allow the body to heal. They can
sew up a gaping wound, they can cut away disease, but they cannot cause the
body to grow together and heal ¾ that is GOD’S work, and He does work through doctors
and medicine today. Why even Jesus recommended the doctors of His day (Mark
2:17).
3.
In the process of praying, and seeking all forms of
physical and medicinal care, the sick one is to examine their own heart, life
and actions, to see if their sickness is not the result of sin. By
asking the elders to come and pray also is a request for them to examine their
life and tell them if they see anything in it that might have caused this
illness. It could be something simple as gluttony, overeating that brought on
an overweight condition that weakened the body and brought illness. Or, it
could be sinful indulgence such as tobacco, alcohol, or drugs that can bring
liver, brain, and multiple body damage, or it could be sexual sins that brought
some type of sexually transmitted disease. Or simply, it could be NONE OF THESE
THINGS. After careful personal examination, you all conclude that there is no
sin in your life that could have caused the illness or sickness, then this
brings one to the last conclusion,
4. IF THE SICKNESS OR ILLNESS, AFTER TREATMENT BY AVAILABLE MEDICAL MEANS, IS NOT CURED OR HEALED, THEN IT IS TO BE ENDURED FOR THE GLORY OF GOD. In other words, God has sovereignty ordained that you may experience this illness and through it God will meet your needs, and enable you to bear it. And, through bearing it in a fashion to glorify God, He will one day reward you for what it will bring in your life, in others and for God’s glory for eternity. Case in point is the well known, Joni Erikson, and others who bear their injuries and illness and use them for God’s glory.
Now apart from this, there is no other biblical call or teaching concerning illness, injury, or sickness in this life. Don’t seek faith healers, or divine healing apart from using what God has given us through the modern medical technology available to us today. Yes trust God, pray, acknowledge God is Lord of your sickness and He can choose to heal you, directly of course, but after all these things are considered and done, then allow God to be God in your life and know He will meet every need. Paul the apostle after doing this said this,
2 Cor 12:9-10 (NIV) “But [God] said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
Yes, God can heal and He does, even miraculously at times. It is not wrong to seek His divine healing through prayer, but we must not demand it, and refuse His general means of healing which is through qualified medical doctors and technology. Nor, should we seek healing through those today who supposedly claim to represent Him for healing. We must also not reinvent the Bible and begin to bring in all sorts of our own ideas and desire concerning healing. God is not obligated to answer prayers of people who command and demand Him to work miraculously when he has made available to us other means for healing. Such is the poor case with Amada Bates who died of complications of Diabetes left untreated. Doctors could have clearly saved her life and given her a long life too. God is not responsible for this, but sinful humanity is for denying God’s Word and seeking to establish one’s own religious ideas. My heart is heavy for this family who I believe has been sincerely misled. I do pray they will turn from the erroneous teachings claimed to be Christianity and true to the truth. God will forgive them and comfort them as well.
However in all this is the greatest promise of all. God is in the healing business right now, and His greatest desire is to heal all human beings of their greatest sickness ¾ sin sickness. Yes, the Bible says,
Isa 1:5-6 (NIV) … Why do you persist in rebellion? Your whole head is injured, your whole heart afflicted. 6 From the sole of your foot to the top of your head there is no soundness—only wounds and welts and open sores, not cleansed or bandaged or soothed with oil.”
Rom 3:23 (NIV) “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”
Rom 6:23 (NIV) “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Sin sickness is suffered by all the human race because
we are born spiritually ill, and until we seek God’s only cure, Jesus Christ,
we shall one day succumb to this disease and suffer the worst result,
banishment into a place called Hell. Friend are you still sick? You are, unless
you have come to the great Physician, Jesus Christ and asked Him to save you
from your sin sickness. He is the only doctor who can help us. What has He
promised to do or us? He has promised to give us a NEW heart, and life that
begins with a brand new sinless spirit that forever cannot become sick again.
This new heart and spirit resides in the fallen sinful bodies we have, but one
day it will shed this body of decay and be given a brand new body that matches
its sinlessness and we shall be whole forever and ever. Today my friend “the
doctor is in,” and He is willing to see you now. All you have to do to get in
and experience His healing is pray a prayer of faith and confession something
like this,
“Dear Lord Jesus, I confess I
am sick, sin sick, and my life has testified to my failure to love and seek
you. Come into my life and heart and cleanse me of my sickness and sin, forgive
me all my sins on the only account which is,
you died in my place on a cross. Lord Jesus I believe you are my God and
my Savior, I confess this now and ask for your free gift of eternal life that
You’ve promised to give upon confession of my faith in You as my God. I pray
this prayer in Jesus, Name. Amen.”
If you prayed this prayer, and you meant it with all your heart, God promises you His cleansing from sin-sickness and the promise of eternal life. Please write to me for helpful literature that explains more about this. Meanwhile it will be my prayer that the truth about divine healing will help you to be rightly related to Jesus Christ, and if you are a non-Christian you will better understand what true Christianity is all about. May God add His blessing to these words for Jesus sake, Amen…
· Radio talk #1301
· Broadcast date: April 1, 2001
· Speaker: Dennis L. Finnan, Commentator
· Program: The World, the Word & You! Radio Broadcast
· Address: P.O. Box 40133 Grand Junction, CO 81504
The World, the Word & You! Broadcast is a non-denominational ministry based on the historic fundamental evangelical interpretation of the Scriptures. A copy of our doctrinal statement is available upon request. These weekly radio commentaries are not exhaustive studies of any particular subject due to the time limit of broadcasting. Actual broadcasts can be heard in selected areas around the nation, as funding provides. Dennis Finnan has been the speaker for over 22 years, and serves as General Director.
These transcripts are available free of charge to all who desire them. Also available are actual radio cassette tapes and printed booklets of each message. A free listing of recent messages is available upon request also.
For further information, reprints, or a listing of all topics, please write to our speaker, Dennis L. Finnan(dennis@wwy.org),or visit our webpage at http://www.wwy.org/