Christ the Healer: An Analysis (part 9)

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)

VI. Healing in the Present Age 1

Since, contrary to what the author wishes us to think, healing is not guaranteed now, in every case, in the atonement, we need to ask: what is God’s provision for our physical wholeness during the Age of Grace? If we reject Bosworth’s claim that “By believing and acting on the Word of God, everything that belongs to us in Christ becomes available at once” (p. 134), what is the biblical alternative?

Mr. Bosworth vehemently rejects the suggestion that the age of miracles is past (pages 165, 177, and many other places in the book). Instead, he boldly proclaims, “The age in which we live was intended by our Heavenly Father to be the most miraculous of all dispensations” (p. 177). He can offer us no relevant Scripture for such an assertion. There is none. And even if there were, we must not assume that an outburst of miracles at one point, during a particular period, will mean that these continue at the same intensity throughout. We have abundant evidence in the Word of God that they, in fact, do not.

C. S. Lewis has observed:

God does not shake miracles into nature at random as if from a pepper caster. They come on great occasions. They are found at the great ganglions of history– not of political history, but of spiritual history.

Miracles, by C. S. Lewis

When we take the time to scan Bible history, we discover that most of the miracles recorded occur in three very precisely patterned time periods: The time of Moses and Joshua, the time of Elijah and Elisha, and the time of Jesus and the apostles. Each time, the flourishing of the miraculous lasted roughly seventy years. And each time it came at a point when God’s people needed to hear from Him, in a special way.

There is a further interconnection of the three periods. On the Mount of Transfiguration, Moses (from Period #1) and Elijah (from Period #2) and Jesus (from Period #3) met together. And the next promised outburst of the supernatural is prophesied for those events connected with Christ’s return, when: two witnesses will appear in the city of Jerusalem who will be able (#1) to turn water to blood, as Moses did; and (#2) to shut up the heavens so that it will not rain, as Elijah did (Rev. 11:3-14); in preparation for the coming reign of Christ (#3) when health and prosperity will abound (Isa. 65:18-25, etc.).

To see such an arrangement is not to suggest that no miracles occur at other times. It simply indicates that God’s activity is not without variation, though His power remains the same. We can even see a dramatic change during the earthly life of Christ. John the Baptist did not perform so much as a single miracle, though Jesus calls him the greatest of the prophets (Jn. 10:41; Matt. 11:9-11). And Jesus did not perform miracles for thirty of His thirty-three years. So that, even were we to grant this to be the greatest period of miracles so far (i.e. the New Testament era), we need not see the miracles extending through all time till Christ’s return, without diminishment.

Mr. Bosworth says that “In previous discourses we have seen that God has worked miracles in each of the centuries since the closing of the Scriptures, down to our day” (p. 178). But we have certainly not “seen” that in the book under discussion. Nor does a careful examination of history bear him out. Miracles since the first century have been a pale shadow of those the Lord and the apostles performed.

A word needs to be said about Jn. 14:12, “He who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.” Is the Lord saying that we, in the present day, will perform more spectacular miracles than He did?

It is difficult to imagine a more potent exhibition of supernatural strength than what we see in Jesus. He stilled stormed, cast out demons, raised the dead, healed people instantly– even from a distance, fed thousands with a handful, transformed water into wine, withered a tree by a word, and so on. Even the most ardent faith healer hesitates to claim that he can work greater miracles than Christ.

One possible explanation of Jesus’ words is that He was referring to the miracles of the new birth and the expanded work of evangelism. He and the disciples worked for a short period in a confined geographical area. But now, by radio and other means, thousands all over the globe are being swept into the kingdom. And what could be “greater” than seeing lost sinners won to Christ and becoming a part of His spiritual Body, the Church?

I now take a few quotations from Bosworth, relating to the working of miracles in the present day, and offer some comment on them.

1. The book of Acts shows us how He [the Holy Spirit] wants to act throughout “all the days, even unto the end of the age” (p. 53) [Does it? Says who? And is the phrase in quotation marks intended to impress us with biblical support? Where is it taken from? -presumably Matt. 28:20, which says nothing about this.]
2. God’s all-inclusive promise is to pour out His Spirit upon all flesh during “the acceptable year of the Lord”, which is the dispensation of the Holy Spirit (pages 19, 177). [Again, where is this taken from? Isa. 61:2 speaks of the “acceptable year of the Lord” but says nothing about the Spirit being poured our upon all.]
3. Some ministers are trying to relegate bodily healing to the Millenial Day, but Jesus said “this day (not the Millenial Day) is this scripture fulfilled in your ears (p. 18). [Who are these “some ministers”? I, for one, believe that God can heal individuals today, in a supernatural way– though the intensity of the supernatural will increase, in the Millenium, as previously shown. That, in itself, provided a reason for Christ to do as He did. He was demonstrating His power to rule as the Messiah-King. And He made His point.]
4. Since Jesus in the Gospels never commissioned anybody to preach the Gospel without commanding them to heal the sick, how can we obey this command if there is no Gospel (good news) of healing to proclaim? (p. 211). [In answer, it has been shown why Jesus’ followers needed to duplicate what He had done. But that aspect had a very limited application. (Paul does not instruct Timothy, for example, to engage in a ministry of healing.)]
5. Similarly to the previous quotation, Boswell points out that “Christ’s promise for the body (‘shall recover’) is in the great commission (Mk. 16)” (p. 34). [He is speaking of Mk. 16:15-18. The passage also promises deliverance from the bite of poisonous snakes– a promise that Paul realized in experience (Acts 28:3-6), But nothing necessitates these things continuing beyond the accreditation of the Apostles, as has been indicated before.]
6. “In the Lord’s Supper the bread is eaten ‘in remembrance’ of His death for our bodies (I Cor. 11:23-24)… The wine is taken ”in remembrance’ of His death for our souls (I Cor. 11:25).” So says the author on p. 35. Please! Let us be biblical! The references mentioned say absolutely nothing of the kind. Nor does such a strange teaching appear anywhere within the covers of the Bible. This is an invention of the writer attributed to God, in violation of the warning not to add to Scripture (Rev. 22:18).]
7. “‘Glorify God in your body’ (I Cor. 6:20)…. Is remaining sick the way to glorify God in your body?” (pages 33, 60-61, 104). [This is an “old chestnut” of the faith-healing folk. The answer of course, is “Yes”. At times we are sick for the glory of God. (That was even true, in one instance at least, in Jesus’ day, Jn. 9:3– though that case had some special features.) But, in response to the author’s question, I hope to suggest over fifty ways in which a physically suffering saint can in that experience glorify God. (We shall tackle that in the last section.)]

But we must not put God in a box and suggest that He must always heal, or that He will never heal, today. Both extremes are unscriptural and do not coincide with reality. God still has all power at His disposal. He is fully able to heal anyone at any time He chooses.

(continued tomorrow)