1. Do you consider yourself to have the spiritual gift of healing? (I Cor 12) Do you know of anyone who does have that gift?

2. How do you feel about doctors? Specifically, what do you think about a believer taking up a medical profession? Would that career be inconsistent with your take on healing?

My last comment isn’t about healing, but rather about faith. I’ve been doing quite a bit of thinking about faith in recent months, and your third section brought up one specific thing that has been rolling around in my head: “belief” after one sees proof is really isn’t belief at all. For instance, Jesus seemed happy that Doubting Thomas finally accepted the truth of who Jesus was and what he could do after he was confronted with physical proof. But Jesus said it was even better when people would accept/believe without the physical proof. It almost seems to me that what Doubting Thomas had really wasn’t faith–I mean, what kind of faith does it take to accept something that is proven right before your own eyes and something you can touch?

Another example of what I’m trying to say is in the expression “I’ll believe it when I see it.” Well, if you see it, then there is nothing to “believe” because it has been proven by its coming to pass–no faith needed there, only common sense.

My own thoughts about this don’t really have to do with healing, but Jesus did use miracles, signs, wonders, and healings to “force” people to accept who he was, or at least to make them without excuse if they didn’t, and many didn’t accept it even with apparently compelling proof. We don’t have the physical Jesus here on earth doing miracles any more. Instead, we have to accept Jesus’ message with less than physical proof. We who have faith have gotten it via the hearing the Word of Christ.

“There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons. But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.”
(1 Corinthians 12:6,7)

“But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills.”
(1 Corinthians 12:11)

So the manifestations of the Spirit are attributes of the Spirit manifested through individuals according to His will. Therefore, if a gift is manifested through a person, it isn’t really accurate to say that he “has” that gift. And if the gift consistently works through such a person, it is for the “common good” (verse 7) of all and should not be used to promote one’s self in any way; it should only promote Jesus. But to answer your question more directly, yes such a gift has been manifested through me and many others. But since these gifts work as the Spirit wills and not as I will, I don’t carry it in my hip pocket. So neither I or anyone else can make it work on command.

With respect to doctors, I do not think it is wrong to seek medical advice as long as one keeps in mind that doctors are fallible human beings while Jesus is the Great Physician. Personally, I am very distrustful of mainstream medical science. Essentially, I think it is a racket and more often then not treats symptoms rather than root causes of disease. I haven’t been to the doctor for about 7 years, and I don’t plan on going any time soon. I think more Christians should be doctors. I would rather have a Christian doctor than an unbelieving one.

I respect your opinion, but I do want to address a quote from the above post.

“My own thoughts about this don’t really have to do with healing, but Jesus did use miracles, signs, wonders, and healings to “force” people to accept who he was, or at least to make them without excuse if they didn’t, and many didn’t accept it even with apparently compelling proof. We don’t have the physical Jesus here on earth doing miracles any more. Instead, we have to accept Jesus’ message with less than physical proof. We who have faith have gotten it via the hearing the Word of Christ.”

I partly agree with what you have said, namely that our faith is the result of hearing and not seeing. However, I believe our faith should result in seeing and not the other way around. And like Paul said, the miracles that accompanied his preaching of the Gospel caused people to have faith (yes, faith) in the power of God rather than the wisdom of men (1 Corinthians 2:4,5). So there is a faith that comes by witnessing the power of God. Although we expect Christians to be more mature and receive a truth purely on the hearing of it, we cannot hold unbelievers to the same standard. Jesus never did and neither did Paul.

“So there is a faith that comes by witnessing the power of God.”
There is such a thing as the “burden of proof” and maybe that is where you and I could agree. Back to the example of Doubting Thomas, yes, he had tons of physical proof right in his own hands, but there were things about Jesus that he still had to accept with “blind” faith. He had physical proof of resurrection that he could observe with his senses, but it would still take faith to accept the idea of eternal life in heaven, for instance. The amount of evidence that a given person requires before he can believe may not be the same for all people. “Child-like” and “blind” faith would be on the opposite end of the continuum than what Doubting Thomas required.

That is precisely what I believe.

With Thomas and the other doubting disciples, they had no excuse. They had plainly heard Jesus tell them that he would rise again after the third day. Plus they had been with him long enough to know that what he said would come to pass. Jesus rebuked all of them (not just Thomas) for their unbelief (Mark 16:14). The NIV translates “unbelief” as “refusal to believe”.

Contrast this group of inexcusable disciples with the nobleman to whom Jesus spoke saying, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you simply will not believe” (John 4:48). What was the difference? The disciples had both heard and seen the wonders of God. The nobleman was just being introduced to Jesus’ ministry. When Jesus healed this man’s son, the whole family of them believed (John 4:53). From this point forward they would have to accept a greater degree of accountability, because they had tasted and seen the goodness of the Lord. To whom much is given much is required.

Never. Terminal illness glorifies the devil, not God. Jesus came that we might have abundant life because he is the resurrection and the life. I believe the idea that sickness glorifies God comes from a misunderstanding of a passage in John 11.

1 Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 It was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. 3 Therefore the sisters sent to Him, saying, “Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick.”
4 When Jesus heard that, He said, “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”

Question: How was God glorified in the midst of this? The answer is clear. He was glorified when Lazarus was raised from the dead. Therefore, God was glorified in the miracle of his resurrection rather than his terminal illness. Now look at verses 40-44.

40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?” 41 Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. 42 And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.” 43 Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” 44 And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.”

FaeGiN, thanks for stopping by. I know your questions were mostly aimed at ChrisA, the author of the article, so I’ll let him respond to them. But I will say that those of us who are Christian believers do not at all assume that, because we love and worship God (the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), he will grant us anything more than the direct things he offers to us in the Bible, particularly, the forgiveness of our sins.

I’m sorry that it was because of your illness that you found us here, but we’d be happy to have you join the conversation if you’re so inclined.

As for it making sense, I’m with you on that! It makes no sense at all for an omnipotent God to care in the least about us sinful humans, but I believe that he does–he is not just a supreme being watching his creation from afar, but a supreme being who is involved in this world. I find that fact amazing!

Have you ever heard of the author CS Lewis? He wrote a little book called Mere Christianity that you might find useful.

I enjoyed reading all your Healing Articles, I have some questions. In your personal healing experience how long did it take from the time you believed God until the answer was fully manifested? Did the healing come gradually or instantly?

Thanks

Bill

It took a few weeks. Let me explain in more detail how it happened. On the basis of Mark 11:24 I prayed the prayer of faith, believing that I received healing when I prayed.

“Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you.”

From that point on I did not waiver in faith, even though the symptoms persisted. I was specifically led by the Spirit not to use the medication I was using to alleviate the symptoms. I knew that as long as I used the medication, I would lose the motivation to stay in faith. I intentionally neglected to mention this in the article because I did not want people to get the impression that I was against medicine, although I am admittedly distrustful of medical science in general. Gradually the symptoms just left.