This seems unlikely simply because all suffer deterioration and die. Nevertheless, a conglomerate of Word of Faith (WF) folks—the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) and the Prosperity Ministry (pejorative called Name-It-Claim-It)—argue that God does want to heal all and that we are all potential healers:
• John 14:12 “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.”
Was Jesus referring to all believers or does the “whoever” refer His Apostles, those who were being addressed? There are several reasons to conclude that Jesus was only referring to His Apostles:
1. Only certain believers had been granted the gift of healing (1 Corinthians 12:29-30). There is no indication that any believer could perform healings.
2. The Apostles were the ones performing the miracles: Acts 2:43 And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. (Acts 5:12)
Besides, even under Paul’s ministry many weren’t healed—Timothy’s stomach problems (1 Timothy 5:23), Trophimus who had to be left behind because of his illness (2 Timothy 4:20, Epaphroditus who had been near death (Philippians 2:25-27), and even Paul who suffered with his thorn-in-the-flesh (2 Corinthians 12:7-10) and his other undisclosed illness (Galatians 4:13). Nor would God heal the unrepentant (James 1:6-8). Therefore, we have to conclude that it is not God’s intention to heal all.
The WF movement also invokes Exodus 15:26 to support their claims:
• Exodus 15:26 …“If you will diligently listen to the voice of the LORD your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, your healer.”
However, this verse has nothing to do with healing but of God inflicting disease. The WF claims that we have power to heal by speaking words of faith:
• Proverbs 18:21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.
However, there is no indication here or anywhere in the Book of Proverbs that we can exercise supernatural power through the words we speak. Instead, we can use of words to build up others in the faith or to tear them down. Likewise, we lack the power to call things into existence as God had. Some WF ministers invoke Romans 4:17 to prove that we do have this power:
• Romans 4:17 as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.
However, there is no indication here that God has given us this power. Instead to assume this is evil. We are no more than a passing mist:
• James 4:13–16 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.
The WF makes similar boasts and damns churches that lack signs and wonders, claiming that this is evidence that the Holy Spirit has departed from these churches. This too is evil.
The WF also claims that Jesus, having been crucified, has given us the authority to heal:
• Matthew 8:16–17 That evening they brought to him many who were oppressed by demons, and he cast out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick. This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: “He took our illnesses and bore our diseases.”
From these verses, the WF argues that since Jesus had taken all our illnesses upon Himself, there is no reason to now have illnesses anymore. However, we have not yet received everything that Jesus had earned for us on the cross. For some things we’ll have to await His return:
• Romans 8:23–24 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees?
Instead, sometimes God ordains illness for His beloved. Job and Paul are good examples of this:
• 2 Corinthians 4:8 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair.
However, the WF counter that Jesus had healed all comers, and His disciples had been given authority to heal, when He sent them out to evangelize (Matthew 10). Shouldn’t this be so today!
Not necessarily! Many of Jesus’ commands had later been changed. For example, He told His Apostles:
• Matthew 10:5 These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans,
Later, however, Jesus instructed them to take the Gospel out into all the world (Matthew 28:18-20). He had also instructed them:
• Matthew 10:9–10 Acquire no gold or silver or copper for your belts, no bag for your journey, or two tunics or sandals or a staff, for the laborer deserves his food.
However, later Jesus rescinded these instructions:
• Luke 22:35–36 And he said to them, “When I sent you out with no moneybag or knapsack or sandals, did you lack anything?” They said, “Nothing.” He said to them, “But now let the one who has a moneybag take it, and likewise a knapsack. And let the one who has no sword sell his cloak and buy one.
In view of these changes, do we still have the authority to heal all diseases? Evidently not! If we did, the WF movement would simply send their healers into the hospitals and clear all their beds of their sick patients.
However, our Lord is still a miracle-working God who answers our prayers according to His will. Nevertheless, we mustn’t ignore that our God uses illness and other forms of suffering to accomplish His purposes. Jesus had even been taught obedience through what He suffered:
• Hebrews 5:8–9 Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him,
He too must have had an obvious ailment:
• Luke 4:23 And he said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘Physician, heal yourself.’ What we have heard you did at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.”
King David had thanked God for His afflictions:
• Psalm 119:67, 71 Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word…It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes.
The WF leaves out the most important element—the will of God (1 John 5:13-14) who has even determined our days according to Job:
• Job 14:5 “Since his days are determined, and the number of his months is with you, and you have appointed his limits that he cannot pass.”
God has even determined the boundaries of the nation (Acts 17:26), and He will establish us in His appointed time but not according to the claims of the super-evangelists:
• 1 Peter 5:10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.
God is sovereign over if and when we are healed. Consequently, there are hundreds of verses recognizing that He reigns. They mention waiting, persevering, enduring, hoping, and the need for patience—things barely appreciated by the WF movement, which guarantees immediate results. Instead:
• Romans 8:24–25 …Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
However, if a healing doesn’t take place, the WF healer may suggest that there is something in us that is blocking the healing, nailing the sufferer with an extra burden. The WF is also a sure prescription for discouragement and division within the Body of Christ.
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