PRAYING FOR HEALING

PRAYING FOR HEALING

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March 20, 1996 (David W. Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061-0368, fbns@wayoflife.org) - James 5:14-15 contains the only instruction in the New Testament Epistles for the healing of the sick. "Is any sick among you? 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 shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him."

THE PLACE OF HEALING: Note that the context for healing is the church. The instrumentality for healing is the ministry of the elders of the assembly, not an outsider supposedly gifted for healing. There is no mention here of spiritual gifts or of healing ministries or of healing crusades. The healings mentioned in the book of Acts were apostolic signs which authenticated the unique ministries of the Apostles (2 Co. 12:12; See also Mk. 3:14-15; Ac. 2:43; 4:33; 5:12,15; 19:12). These sign gifts ceased with the death of the Apostles. Even in the early churches, all Christians could not do the sign miracles of the Apostles. The only exceptions were a few men upon whom the apostles had laid hands. There was no general miracle-working experience among the first churches. If there had been, Paul could not have pointed to his miracle-working ability as a special sign. His would have been just another miracle-working Christian ministry if all could have performed such things; but all could not. If all could have performed miracles as a matter of course, the Christians would not have called for Peter to come and raise Dorcas from the dead (Acts 9:36-42). Peter's miracle that day was the "sign of an apostle."

THE INSTRUMENTALITY OF HEALING. The means of healing is said to be the prayer of faith by the elders. The prayer is accompanied with anointing with oil, but note that the passage says it is the "prayer of faith" which shall save the sick. It does not say the anointing of oil saves the sick. We believe there should be anointing of oil because the Bible says so. The Apostles anointed with oil (Mark 6:13). But we do not believe James is referring to oil as a medicinal remedy. While it is true that oil was used in Bible times medicinally (Isa. 1:6; Lk. 10:34), there is no indication in this passage that the oil is to be so used. Rather, we believe it is used symbolically to indicate the healing power of the Holy Spirit. "Oil was a fitting symbol of the Spirit, or spiritual principle of life, by virtue of its power to sustain and fortify the vital energy; and the anointing oil, which was prepared according to divine instructions, was therefore a symbol of the Spirit of God, as the principle of spiritual life which proceeds from God and fills the natural being of the creature with the powers of divine life" (People's Bible Encyclopedia).

THE PROMISE OF THE HEALING. "This must be understood, as such promises are everywhere, with this restriction, that they will be restored to health if it shall be the will of God. It cannot be taken in the absolute and unconditional sense, for then, if these means were used, the sick person would always recover, no matter how often he might be sick, and he need never die. The design is to encourage them to the use of these means with a strong hope that it would be effectual" (Barnes). To say that this passage GUARANTEES healing in every circumstance is contrary to other New Testament teaching on the subject. The New Testament shows cases in which God did not heal Christians of their sicknesses. 1) THE CASE OF TIMOTHY. 1 Timothy 5:23 tells us that Timothy was sick frequently, and the Apostle Paul told him to use a little wine for his stomach's sake and his often infirmities. God did not heal Timothy supernaturally or permanently from his sickness. 2) THE CASE OF TROPHIMUS. In 2 Timothy 4:20 we learn that another of Paul's coworkers, Trophimus, was left behind in Miletum sick. He was not supernaturally healed even though an apostle, Paul, was with him when he had to be left behind because of illness. 3) THE CASE OF PAUL. In 2 Cor. 12:7-10 we read of a situation in which the Apostle Paul was afflicted with some sort of infirmity. Three times he asked God to take away this problem, but the Bible says God refused to do so. He was told that this infirmity was something God wanted him to have for his spiritual well being. Upon learning this, Paul bowed to God's will and wisely said: "Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong" (2 Cor. 12:10). This is a perfect example for Christians today. We should pray for healing and release from trials, but when God does not heal, we must bow to His will and accept that sickness or trial as something from the hand of God. This is not lack of faith; it is obedience to the sovereignty of God.

CONFESSING FAULTS ONE TO ANOTHER. The Greek word translated "fault" in Jam. 5:16 is paraptoma, which refers to "a side-slip, lapse, deviation, or error (Strong). Elsewhere it is translated "fall" (Rom. 11:11), "offence" (Rom. 4:25), "trespass" (Mt. 6:14), and "sin" (Eph. 1:7). Many new translations (such as the NIV and NASV) erroneously read "sin" instead of "faults" in Jam. 5:16 because they follow the Westcott-Hort Greek text which replaces the word paraptoma with hamartia, the Greek word most commonly used for sin in the N.T. This, of course, gives support to the false Catholic idea of confessing one's sins to a man instead of directly to God.

"This passage is one on which Roman Catholics rely to demonstrate the propriety of 'auricular confession,' or confession made to a priest with a view to an absolution of sin. The doctrine which is held on that point is, that it is a duty to confess to a priest, at certain seasons, all our sins, secret and open, of which we have been guilty; all our improper thoughts, desires, words, and actions; and that the priest has power to declare on such confession that the sins are forgiven. But never was any text less pertinent to prove a doctrine than this passage to demonstrate that. For, (1) the confession here enjoined is not to be made by a person in health, that he may obtain salvation, but by a sick person, that he may be healed. (2) As mutual confession is here enjoined, a priest would be as much bound to confess to the people as the people to a priest. (3) No mention is made of a priest at all, or even of a minister of religion, as the one to whom the confession is to be made. (4) The confession referred to is for 'faults' with reference to 'one another,' that is, where one has injured another; and nothing is said of confessing faults to those whom we have not injured at all. (5) There is no mention here of absolution, either by a priest or any other person. (6) If anything is meant by absolution that is scriptural, it may as well be pronounced by one person as another; by a layman as a clergyman. All that it can mean is, that God promises pardon to those who are truly penitent, and this fact may as well be stated by one person as another. No priest, no man whatever, is empowered to say to another either that he is truly penitent, or to forgive sins. 'Who can forgive sins but God only?' Who can put himself in the place of God, and presume to pardon the sins which his creatures have committed against him? (7) The practice of 'auricular confession' is 'evil, and only evil, an that continually.' Nothing gives so much power to a priesthood as the supposition that they have the power of absolution. Nothing serves so much to pollute the soul as to keep impure thoughts before the mind long enough to make the confession, and to state them in words. Nothing gives a man so much power over a female as to have it supposed that it is required by religion, and appertains to the sacred office, that all that passes in the mind should be disclosed to him. The very thing shich a seducer would desire would be the power of knowing all the thoughts of his intended victim; and if the thoughts which pass through the soul could be known, virtue would be safe nowhere. Nothing probably under the name of religion has ever done more to corrupt the morals of a community than the practice of auricular confession" (Barnes).

[This study is excerpted from an unpublished book entitled THINGS HARD TO BE UNDERSTOOD: A HANDBOOK OF BIBLICAL DIFFICULTIES, by David W. Cloud, copyright 1997, Way of Life Literature, 1701 Harns Rd., Oak Harbor, WA 98277. See the Online Catalog for ordering information.]