Christ the Healer: An Analysis (part 11)

A study of the book, Christ the Healer, by F. F. Bosworth:

• Part 1 (Introduction)
• Part 2 (Interpreting the Scriptures)
• Part 3 (Where Sickness Comes From)
• Part 4 (Healing and the Will of God 1)
• Part 5 (Healing and the Will of God 2)
• Part 6 (Paul’s Thorn in the Flesh)
• Part 7 (Healing and the Atonement 1)
• Part 8 (Healing and the Atonement 2)
• Part 9 (Healing in the Present Age 1)
• Part 10 (Healing in the Present Age 2)

VI. Healing in the Present Age 3

Some comment needs to be offered on Mark 11:24, since Bosworth makes use of it (p. 97-98). The verse says, “Whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.” This is indeed a great prayer promise. But, as with passages on other themes, it cannot be taken in isolation from the remainder of the Bible’s teaching on prayer. It presupposes, for example, the condition that the request is in accord with God’s will (compare Mk. 14:36 and I Jn. 5:14).

The other thing which must be kept in mind, regarding Mk. 11:24, is that the power to believe comes from God (Phil. 1:29; Eph. 2:8-9, and maybe Gal. 5:22). Faith is stirred in the heart, in preparation for the appropriation of God’s grace. But any attempt to work up faith for that which is outside God’s will and purpose is presumption. The stopping point, in our prayers, must not be our faith but God’s sovereignty – as Jesus Himself shows in Mk. 14:36.

It seems to me that there is an extreme view of prayer that does more to glorify faith (and thus the self) than to glorify God. Such a view takes this verse in isolation and places the burden on the individual to somehow believe enough. But, rather, in our praying, our motivation should be the glory of God, and we must come to Him with the absolute conviction that only the accomplishment of His will will bring Him glory. Then, prayer becomes an exercise in submission and dependence. Christians may know much of God’s will in general principle, but we rarely have a clear understanding of it in the specific. We must humbly seek it and depend on God to fulfill it.

Though some refuse to consider it, it is wise to think of the dispensational limitations of this promise in Mark. Jesus is speaking to His earthly people (the Jews) in anticipation of an earthly Kingdom which could be theirs, if they will accept their King. (Even the illustration, in vs. 23 of mountain-moving, relates to husbandry of a physical domain.) Such purposes are generally foreign to the Church and we who are citizens of heaven.

Further, the Apostles were given special powers to confirm the work and word of God through them. We need not conclude that all Christians, throughout the present age, will have such powers (compare Lk. 10:18-20).

To sum up: Nothing in the Bible guarantees healing to all, in every situation, in the present day. However, nothing in the Bible excludes the possibility of healing. We can approach God’s throne as suppliants, in utter confidence that whatever He gives will be best for us. And we must keep in mind that He is a God of infinite variety. No answer will do for everyone, in every situation. To say “God always…”, without the clear support of Scripture, is just as lacking in insight and faith as it is to say “God never…”

James 5:13 and following was referred to earlier. It is a passage often appealed to with regard to the possibility of bodily healing in our day. But how should it be interpreted and applied? One view was offered in a prior section. Here is another, taken from The Bible Knowledge Commentary, published by Victor Books (and based on the NIV). Without being dogmatic about it, this approach has much to commend it and is worth considering.

The heart of the problem lies in just what James meant when he referred to the “sick.” Actually there is no reason to consider “sick” as referring exclusively to physical illness. The word asthenei literally means “to be weak.” Though it is used in the Gospels for physical maladies, it is generally used in Acts and the Epistles to refer to a weak faith or a weak conscience (cf. Acts 20:35; Rom. 6:19; 14:1; 1 Cor. 8:9–12). That it should be considered “weak” in this verse is clear in that another Greek word (kamnonta) in James 5:15, translated sick person, literally means “to be weary.” The only other use in the New Testament (Heb. 12:3) of that word clearly emphasizes this same meaning.

James was not referring to the bedfast, the diseased, or the ill. Instead he wrote to those who had grown weary, who had become weak both morally and spiritually in the midst of suffering. These are the ones who should call for the help of the elders of the church. The early church leaders were instructed (1 Thes. 5:14) to “encourage the timid” and “help the weak” (asthenon).

James said that the elders should pray over him and anoint him with oil. It is significant that the word “anoint” is aleipsantes (“rub with oil”) not chrio (“ceremonially anoint”). The former is the “mundane” word and the latter is “the sacred and religious word” (Richard Chenevix Trench, Synonyms of the New Testament, ninth ed. Reprint. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1950, pp. 136–37). “Therefore James is not suggesting a ceremonial or ritual anointing as a means of divine healing; instead, he is referring to the common practice of using oil as a means of bestowing honor, refreshment, and grooming” (Daniel R. Hayden, “Calling the Elders to Pray,” Bibliotheca Sacra 138. July/September 1981: 264). The woman “poured” (aleipho) perfume on Jesus’ feet (Luke 7:38). A host “put oil” (aleipho) on the head of his guest (Luke 7:46). A person who is fasting should not be sad and ungroomed, but should “put oil” (aleipho) on his head, and wash his face (Matt. 6:17). Thus James’ point is that the “weak” (asthenei) and “weary” (kamnonta) would be refreshed, encouraged, and uplifted by the elders who rubbed oil on the despondents’ heads and prayed for them.

For the fallen, discouraged, distressed weary believer, restoration is assured and the elders’ prayer offered in faith will make the sick person (lit., “weary one”) well (i.e., will restore him from discouragement and spiritual defeat), and the Lord will raise him up.

That the restoration is spiritual, not physical, is further clarified by the assurance, if he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Many physically ill Christians have called on elders to pray for them and to anoint them with oil, but a sizable percentage of them have remained sick. This fact suggests that the passage may have been mistakenly understood as physical restoration rather than spiritual restoration.

The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 2, pp. 834–835)

Careful scholarship and a love for God’s Word stand behind this commentary. Whether or not we agree with the conclusions, when godly men differ, it should caution us to move slowly in dogmatizing on narrow interpretations.

That God can and does heal today is not in question. The methods He uses and the absolute availability of physical health are – and justifiably so.

To insist on the position taken by F. F. Bosworth, one must ignore many passages of Scripture and read into many others. Further, one must rationalize and explain away much that takes place in so-called healing meetings.

When a claim is made for miraculous healing, one of several things may have taken place:

1. God may, indeed, have brought about a supernatural restoration.
2. The recipient may be mistaken. Temporary relief of symptoms or temporary remission of certain diseases is not unknown.
3. The individual may be the victim of a deceiver or may, himself, be perpetrating a fraud.
4. “Mind over matter” has relieved many sufferers. (The Mayo Clinic has estimated that higher than 70% of those who believe they are sick are suffering from psychomatically induced symptoms. When such people are convinced they have been healed, they are! – without any miraculous power necessarily being involved.flict
5. Satan can inflict people with disease. We know that from the Word of God. And if it will lead people into a deception, it is not unlikely that he will perpetrate “cures” as well. Many demonically inspired healings are claimed by those involved in spiritism.

With the possibility of doubt as to what has happened, and why, it is clear we cannot be dogmatic about what it proves. Modern miracles are not identified by inspired revelation. They are based on the somewhat subjective conclusions of those involved. Christians should thank God for His blessings in this area, without insisting that a genuine miracle has occurred.

To be cautious about such claims is not to be unspiritual. It is to show wise discretion. We are to “test all things; [and] hold fast what is good” (I Thess. 5:21). “Do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits whether they are of God [confirming to the truth of His Word]; for many false prophets have gone out into the world” (I Jn. 4:1).