25 OBJECTIONS TO DIVINE HEALING AND THE BIBLE ANSWERS Despite the fact that literally millions of people have received divine healing and have testified to the same, and the Scriptures unequivocally promise healing and deliverance for the believer, there is rising a subtle form of opposition against this great truth that has been so precious to God’s people. The objections raised have a certain plausibility and sometimes succeed in weakening the faith of those who have the greatest need. In this volume we have noted practically all the main objections that have been raised against divine healing and have given the Bible answer to them. Included in these objections are the following: If divine healing is for Christians, why are so many sick? Doesn’t the Bible say that the Lord sends sickness upon His people? Is not sickness divine discipline? Was not divine healing intended only for the apostolic age? Did not Jesus say that some sickness was for the glory of God? Does not the Bible declare that Job was a perfect man, and yet he was sick? Does not the Scripture state that Paul was nearly blind? Did not Paul himself declare that he had a thorn in the flesh? What about Timothy’s wine and infirmities? What about Hezekiah’s poultice? These and many other questions are answered in this volume. It is a concise, comprehensive, and compelling answer to those objections raised against divine healing, and a powerful faith-builder to all those who need deliverance. 25 Objections to Divine Healing and the Bible Answers by Gordon Lindsay Prepared for The World Correspondence Course Published by The Voice of Healing Publishing Co. Dallas, Texas Litho U. S. A. The year 1966 Contents OBJECTION 1: If divine healing is for all Christians, why is there so much sickness among them?...................................................................7 OBJECTION 2: But there are true saints deeply consecrated to the Lord's work that are not healed. Doesn't this prove that it is not the will of God to heal all?...................................................................................9 OBJECTION 3: The healings of Christ were performed instantly. Those who pray for the sick today teach that the healing will take place gradually. If God, who has all power, were to do the healing, He would do it instantly and perfectly...................................................................11 OBJECTION 4: The healing ministries of Jesus and Paul were different from those who pray for the sick today. In these days people are told that they have to have faith in order to get healed. In contrast Jesus could heal as many sick people as He chose at any time, regardless of their faith...............................................................................................13 OBJECTION 5: Those who teach divine healing say that it is the devil that sends sickness. Yet the Bible declares that the Lord brought sickness on certain individuals..............................................................15 OBJECTION 6: God permits sickness to come upon some of His people as divine discipline; therefore, it is the will of God for them to be sick...................................................................................................17 OBJECTION 7: Divine healing was only for the church in the apostolic age.........................................................................................................19 OBJECTION 8: Some who have prayed for the sick have proved to be dishonest. This would suggest that the ministry of healing is not genuine..................................................................................................23 OBJECTION 9: Jesus spoke of those who prophesied and healed the sick, yet in the end they went into perdition:.........................................25 OBJECTION 10: If we are to expect God to heal the sick today through prayer, then we should expect Him to raise the dead............................27 OBJECTION 11: The command in James 5:14 for the elders to pray for the sick is not relevant to the church because the book of James was written only to the Jews.........................................................................29 OBJECTION 12: Even if divine healing is taught in the Scriptures, it was intended for the private ministry only. The practice of praying for the sick in public is not only embarrassing to people, but unscriptural. ...............................................................................................................31 OBJECTION 13: Jesus said concerning the fatal illness of Lazarus, "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God that the Son of God might be glorified thereby" (John 11:4). Does not this show that some sickness is for the glory of God?.................................................33 OBJECTION 14: If Christ heals a person, why in some cases does the sickness come back again? If God has all power, why is not the healing permanent?............................................................................................35 OBJECTION 15: God said that Job was a perfect man. Nevertheless, he suffered a serious illness caused by virulent boils. Does this not prove that it is God's will for even the choicest Christians to be sick?...........37 OBJECTION 16: Theologians generally agree that Paul was almost blind and could not be healed. Is not this proof that it is not the will of God that everyone should be healed?....................................................39 OBJECTION 17: But Paul himself says that he had a thorn in the flesh. Bible expositors generally teach that this means that Paul was sick and though he sought deliverance, God refused to heal him. Does not this prove that it is not the will of God to heal all?......................................41 OBJECTION 18: Paul told Timothy to "Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake and thine often infirmities." Does not this show that Timothy was often sick and that Paul advised him to use the medicinal properties of wine for the alleviation of ills rather than to expect divine healing?...............................................................45 OBJECTION 19: But Paul spoke about Timothy's infirmities. Why did he not encourage Timothy to get healed of his infirmities? Did not the apostle Paul himself say he had infirmities (Il Cor. 11:30; 12:5, 9-10), and had not been able to get deliverance? Why could he not get healed of them?.................................................................................................47 OBJECTION 20: Paul left Trophimus sick at Miletum (II Timothy 4:20). At another time Epaphroditus, his closest companion, was desperately ill and recovered only after a protracted convalescence (Phil. 2:25-30). How can you harmonize these facts with the position that it is the will of God for all true Christians to be well?...................51 OBJECTION 21: God told Hezekiah to put a poultice on his carbuncle. Does this not prove that God intended medical means to be used for healing?.................................................................................................53 OBJECTION 22: But Jesus said, "They that be whole need not a physician; but they that are sick." In saying this did not He mean that Christians should go to the physicians for healing rather than to God? 55 OBJECTION 23: A certain well-known writer against divine healing has stated: "The doctrine that our Lord Jesus Christ, when He died on the cross, made an atonement for the sicknesses and disease of the body, is a false doctrine, a doctrine that cannot be found from one end of the Holy Scripture to the other.".......................................................59 OBJECTION 24: The noted men of God in the past have universally rejected the doctrine of healing's being in the atonement.....................63 OBJECTION 25: If healing is in the atonement and some Christians are not healed, then these must conclude that they are all sinners in the sight of God and under condemnation...........................................................65 A Test Case of Healing.........................................................................67 OBJECTION 1: If divine healing is for all Christians, why is there so much sickness among them? The Bible Answer: Paul said, “For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged” (1 Cor. 11:29-31). Paul did not say that the saints could expect sickness as the normal thing in life. Many indeed were sick in his day as they are in ours, but he said there was a cause. They had not discerned the Lord’s body that was broken for their bodies. Nor had they judged themselves. Consequently, many were sick and weak, and many died prematurely. In addition, since the human body is subject to certain physical laws, it is necessary for Christians to observe these laws. After the Lord gave the covenant of healing in Exodus 15:25-26, He followed it with certain statutes and instructions on the care of the body. In the very next chapter (Exodus 16) we are told that God gave the children of Israel a simple but healthful diet of manna; but they were not satisfied with this, and they gave themselves over to an orgy of gluttony (Psa. 78:18, 29-31). Some Christians eat excessively and many are overweight. As any physician will affirm, excessive weight