Part 2 of 4 in the series: Testing Modern Church Teaching by Scripture

There is a teaching heard in many churches that says if a Christian has enough faith, God will heal every sickness. When healing does not come, the person may be told that his faith was too weak, that he spoke negatively, or that he somehow prevented God from healing him.

That teaching can place a terrible burden on someone who is already suffering. More importantly, it does not agree with the whole counsel of Scripture.

God Does Heal

God heals. There should be no question about that. Jesus healed the sick, the blind, the lame, and those suffering from disease. God is still able to heal today. Christians should pray for the sick and believe that God has the power to restore them.

James wrote, “Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him.” James 5:14

Prayer for healing is biblical. Expecting God to hear prayer is biblical. Believing God is able to heal is biblical.

But believing that God must heal every Christian who has enough faith is something different.

Paul Prayed for Healing and God Said No

Paul gives us one of the clearest examples. He suffered from what he called a “thorn in the flesh.” We are not told exactly what it was, so we should not pretend that we know. What we do know is that Paul asked God three times to remove it.

God did not remove it.

Instead, the Lord told Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” 2 Corinthians 12:9

If physical healing were guaranteed whenever someone had enough faith, Paul would present a serious problem. Few Christians would accuse the apostle Paul of lacking faith. Yet God chose not to remove his suffering. God had a purpose for allowing it to remain.

Paul eventually understood that purpose. He wrote, “Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.” 2 Corinthians 12:9

Paul did not conclude that his faith had failed. He learned that sometimes God displays His power by removing our weakness, and sometimes He displays His power by sustaining us through it.

Faithful Christians Still Became Sick

We see something similar with Timothy. Paul wrote to him, “No longer drink water exclusively, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments.” 1 Timothy 5:23

Notice the words “frequent ailments.”

Timothy was a faithful servant of Christ, yet he apparently suffered recurring physical problems. Paul did not tell Timothy to confess healing, claim a promise, or increase his faith. He gave him practical advice concerning his health.

Paul also wrote, “Trophimus I left sick at Miletus.” 2 Timothy 4:20

That is a very simple statement, but it says a great deal. Paul had been used by God in remarkable miracles, yet Trophimus was still sick when Paul left him.

Epaphroditus became so ill that Paul said he was “sick to the point of death.” God eventually had mercy on him and restored him, but his sickness was real and severe. Philippians 2:27

None of these passages describe men who lacked faith.

Sickness Does Not Always Mean Someone Lacks Faith

Jesus Himself warned us against assuming that every physical problem can be explained by a person’s spiritual condition. When the disciples saw a man who had been blind from birth, they asked whether the man’s sin or his parents’ sin had caused his blindness.

Jesus answered, “It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him.” John 9:3

Sometimes sickness is connected to the consequences of sinful choices. Sometimes it is not. We live in a fallen world where bodies become sick, grow weak, and eventually die.

Even the strongest Christian is not exempt from that reality.

What Does “By His Wounds You Were Healed” Mean?

Some point to Isaiah 53:5, “By His scourging we are healed,” as proof that every Christian has been promised physical healing in this life.

But Peter uses that same language when speaking about Christ bearing our sins.

He wrote, “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live for righteousness; by His wounds you were healed.” 1 Peter 2:24

Christ’s work on the cross certainly guarantees the believer’s complete redemption. But our complete physical redemption has not yet happened.

Paul explained that believers are “waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons and daughters, the redemption of our body.” Romans 8:23

There is a day coming when every believer will be completely healed.

Complete Healing Is Coming

There will be no cancer, heart disease, arthritis, blindness, chronic pain, weakness, or death in the resurrection body.

Revelation says that God “will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain.” Revelation 21:4

That healing is guaranteed.

Healing in this present life is not.

How Should We Pray for the Sick?

We should pray boldly because God is able to heal. We should pray with faith because God hears His children. We should ask Him for healing and restoration. But we should also trust His wisdom when His answer is different from what we hoped.

Biblical faith is not believing that God must do what we ask.

Biblical faith is trusting God even when He does not.

That is the difference modern healing teaching sometimes misses. Faith is not a tool we use to force God’s hand. Faith places us in God’s hands.

Sometimes He heals immediately. Sometimes He heals through doctors and medicine. Sometimes He allows an illness to continue while giving grace to endure it. And eventually, for every believer, He will bring complete and permanent healing in the resurrection.

Our confidence is not that we will always understand what God does.

Our confidence is that He remains good, faithful, and worthy of our trust.

The Christian who remains sick has not necessarily failed in faith.

Sometimes the greatest display of faith is not getting up from the sickbed.

Sometimes it is trusting God while still lying in it.