[This book was found on our library
shelves and is as applicable today as it was in 1925. It provides a solid refutation of
the false claims of the so-called "faith-healers." The book is copyrighted;
however, the book is out of print and the copyright is over 50 years old. "We feel
assured the truth as set forth in this volume is greatly needed, and we believe the Lord
will graciously use this testimony for His Word, and the witness against this present-day
healing delusion." - A.C. Gaebelein, 1925]
The Healing Question
An examination of the claims of
Faith-Healing
and Divine Healing systems in the
light of the Scriptures
and History
By
ARNO CLEMENS GAEBELEIN
Editor of "Our Hope"
CHAPTER IV
What the Epistles Teach as to Physical Healing
The Epistles of the New Testament were written by the inspired pens of the Apostles
Paul, Peter, John, James; and the servant of Jesus Christ, Jude, who was not an Apostle.
The Pauline Epistles contain the fullest revelation of the Truth of God. The highest of
all revelation is found in the Epistles to the Ephesians and Colossians. Paul also is the
writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews. The Epistles of Peter, John, James and Jude are
known as the General Epistles. We shall take up each Epistle separately and examine each
to learn what they teach as to the healing of diseases.
Before we do this we call attention to a very significant fact. Not one of the
writers of these documents has anything to say about the miracles our Lord Jesus
Christ performed while on earth. Not once are we reminded by the Holy Spirit that the
Lord Jesus Christ healed all manner of diseases, that He healed miraculously and
instantaneously those who were born blind, the deaf, the dumb, the lame, and all manner of
diseases. Nor is there to be found a single promise which holds out the hope that, if the
believer trusts the Lord, he will be exempt from diseases and infirmities; or that the
Lord will continue to exercise His divine power in the same manner and degree as He did
while on earth. Only once did the Apostle Peter refer to the healing of Christ while on
earth (Acts 10:38). Then only once is mention made in an Epistle of the miracles which
happened in the beginning in Jerusalem. The significance of this fact will be pointed out
later in this chapter. [page 37]
Romans
We begin with the Epistle to the Romans. This Epistle unfolds the salvation of God.
This salvation is threefold (1) salvation from the guilt of sin; (2) salvation from
the power of sin, and (3) salvation from the presence of sin. The latter will come when
the believer is with the Lord. This salvation is the result of the work of redemption
which the Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, procured when He died for our sins on the
cross. This redemption includes the body of the believer, but that redemption does not
come till the Lord comes and then changes "our body of humiliation, that it may be
fashioned like unto His glorious body" (Phil. 3:21). Now if it were true, as is
claimed by "divine healers," that Christ died for our bodily ills, just as He
died for our spiritual ills, our sins, the Epistle to the Romans would be the Epistle in
which this physical salvation should be revealed. In vain do we look for it. There is not
a single verse upon which that invented theory that Christ died "for our
sicknesses" and that "He bore our diseases as He bore our sins" could be
built. The Epistle to the Romans makes it Perfectly clear what the salvation of God is,
and that it does not include "the healing of our diseases." There is a passage
in the eighth chapter which is misunderstood and misapplied to support the "divine
healing" theory. A later chapter will show the fallacy of such an interpretation
(Romans 8:11).
First Epistle to the Corinthians
The Church, constituting the fellowship of the saints on earth, its place
and testimony in the world; its order, membership, spiritual gifts and manifestations,
discipline, and other instructions, are the truths mostly dealt with in this Epistle. The
Epistle reveals the deplorable condition of the Corinthian Church. Sectarianism had its
origin in Corinth. Gross immorality was being tolerated in their midst; law-suits
were being submitted [page 38] by them to courts over which pagans presided. They had
degraded the blessed memorial feast, the Lord's supper, on account of which some had been
judged by the Lord with illness, while others had died. There were other abuses besides.
The chapter which interests us the most in connection with our study is the twelfth
chapter, in which the gifts of the Spirit of God are enumerated. Among these gifts we find
the gifts of healing and of working miracles. Nine gifts of the Spirit are given.
They are the following: "The Word of Wisdom; the Word of Knowledge; Faith; the Gifts
of Healing; the Working of Miracles; Prophecy; Discerning of Spirits; Tongues and
Interpretation of Tongues." Foremost are the gifts needed for the edification of the
Body, the Church of Jesus Christ, gifts which supply the spiritual need of the members of
that Body. In the secondary place we have the gifts which are called "sign
gifts," and they are given not for those who believe, but to them that believe not (1
Corinthians 14:22). These sign gifts possess an evidential character. They are "the
gifts of healing, or working miracles, discerning the spirits, tongues and interpretation
of tongues." They were the prominent gifts in connection with the preaching of the
Gospel to the unbelieving Jews, "for the Jews require a sign." They were the
signs in the beginning of Christianity, bearing witness to the supernatural character of
the message proclaimed, and that at a time when the written Word of God, as we possess it
now in the New Testament, was in process of production.
We read in this chapter that "God hath set some in the Church, first Apostles,
secondly prophets, thirdly teachers." These are evidently the permanent gifts, as we
shall find them mentioned again in the Epistle to the Ephesian,:. Then we read what comes
after that, "Miracles, then gifts of [page 39] hearings, helps, governments,
diversities of tongues" (Verse 28). But are these gifts bestowed upon all? "Are
all Apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all workers of miracles? Have all
the gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? But covet earnestly the
best gifts; and yet I show you a more excellent way" (Verses 29-31). From this we
learn that the Lord does not bestow all these gifts upon one individual; they are
distributed as it pleases Him. Evidently the Corinthians in their puffed up
condition had a selfish ambition to have all these gifts, especially those for outward
manifestation. Therefore when persons claim, and especially if these persons are
women, that they have the gift of wisdom and knowledge, the gift of faith, the gifts of
healing, the gift of speaking in tongues and the gift of interpretation of tongues, we
have a perfect right to look upon their claims as spurious. They are contrary to the Word
of God. The Spirit of God has commanded, "Let your women keep silence in the
churches, for it is not permitted unto them to speak." If therefore women claim, as
they do today in Pentecostalism, to possess the gift of teaching, the gift of speaking in
tongues and the gift of interpretation of tongues, we can rest assured that it is a
counterfeit manifestation.
Nor is there any intimation whatever here, or elsewhere in the New Testament, that
these sign gifts, the gifts of healing, of miracles, of tongues and their interpretation,
were to be permanently present in the Body of Christ. There are evidences that show they
were limited. The exercise of these gifts was never discretional. They were manifested
only in their fitting season, and could only work effectually by the immediate will of
God. Power belongs to Him and is always in His hands. In the next chapter we have the
intimation that these special sign gifts [page 40] would cease (Chapter 13:8). In two
other passages (Romans 12 and Ephesians 4) we read of the gifts of the Spirit; in both
passages the gifts of healings, of miracles and tongues, are omitted.
It is interesting to note that while we have no record that a single miracle of healing
ever took place in the Corinthian assembly, though we read that the signs of an Apostle
were wrought among them by Paul. They had the gift of tongues and evidently misused it, so
that the pen of the Apostle Paul had to caution against it.
Nor is there a promise in the Word of God that these extraordinary gifts are to be
restored to the Church before this age ends. The only signs and miracles mentioned in the
end of the age are the lying signs and miracles of the Antichrist (2 Thessalonians 2). In
the light of all this, anything which claims today the restoration of these sign gifts, a
return to apostolic days, must be looked upon with grave suspicion.
Second Epistle to the Corinthians
In the Second Epistle to the Corinthians we find no mention made of the gifts of
healing. The second Epistle is more personal and less doctrinal than the first Epistle.
There is much in this Epistle relating to the personal character of Paul. He defends his
Apostolic authority, his motives and his ministry. But there is something in this Epistle
which has a definite bearing upon the healing question. In this Epistle Paul speaks of the
thorn in the flesh. We quote the text. "And lest I should be exalted above measure
through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the
messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. For this thing I
besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And He said unto me, My grace is
sufficient for thee; for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly [page 41]
will I therefore rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon
me" (2 Corinthians 12:7-9). The Apostle had great supernatural revelations with which
the danger of self-exaltation was connected. To keep him humble and in the place of
dependence, the Lord had permitted Satan to afflict him with the thorn in the flesh, just
as He had permitted Satan to afflict job.
Many opinions have been expressed as to what the thorn in Paul's flesh was. Some teach
that it consisted in evil suggestions, thoughts of unbelief and blasphemy. Luther held
this view. Others suggest remorse over his past life as the persecutor of the Church, or a
form of melancholy. Destructive critics have invented a cunningly devised fable. They say
the thorn in the flesh consisted in a form of epilepsy, called by the Greeks "the
holy disease." These fits put him into a trance, and it was such a spell that he had
on the road to Damascus, when he imagined to have seen Christ. How utterly absurd! Roman
interpreters find in the thorn a precedent for the stories of the monkish temptations -
incitements to lust.
The thorn in the flesh was unquestionably a physical and very painful affliction. The
malady was not only extremely painful but it also humiliated him in the presence of those
to whom he ministered (2 Corinthians 10:10). We are not left in doubt about the nature of
this bodily affliction. He suffered from a serious and very painful eye-disease. That he
had weak eyes may be learned from the fact that he did not write the Epistles with his own
hand but employed an amanuensis. Only one Epistle he wrote himself, and he did so writing
to the Galatians in large letters (Galatians 6:11). Acts 23:1-4 shows that he was
nearsighted. The Galatians had pity for him in his affliction and were ready to pluck out
their own eyes, and give them to him (Galatians 4:15). [page 42] An ancient description of
Paul, dating back to the second century, mentions the fact that his eyes were inflamed;
the genuineness of the tradition cannot reasonably be doubted. He suffered from that
painful disease ophthalmia, which is still prevalent in the Orient. The word
"infirmity" means sickness. Then he prayed thrice to be delivered from this
disease. He prayed for healing; but as far as healing is concerned there was no answer.
But the Lord told him, "My grace is sufficient for thee." This means, in other
words, "It is better for you, Paul, to suffer this affliction than to be delivered
from it." It was the will of the Lord that this physical ill should remain upon him.
This case of Paul's affliction disposes completely of that vicious teaching that the
reason why true Christians who are sick suffer and are not healed, is because they have
not sufficient faith to be healed. Or as one, Bosworth, puts it, the lack of
"discerning the Lord's body." Of this, more later.
We find nothing in the Epistle to the Galatians which is related to the question
before us. Only once in this Apostolic defense of the Gospel is the word
"miracles" used, and then only incidentally, without any explanation what
miracles they were (Galatians 3:5).
Ephesians
The Epistle to the Ephesians is the culmination of God's revelation to man. It is
the high-watermark of all revelation. In this great Epistle the glory of the Body of
Christ and the Bride of Christ is wonderfully unfolded. The Church is the fullness of Him,
who filleth all in all. It is built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets,
Jesus Christ Himself being the Chief Cornerstone, in whom all the building fitly framed
together groweth unto an holy temple of the Lord (2:21). Here we are told that
Christ [page 43] loved the Church and gave Himself for it. Here is the precious revelation
that we are members of His Body, His flesh and His bones. But where in this Epistle of the
most glorious Old and New Testament revelation do we find a single statement, like those
constantly used among the advocates of "divine healing," that Christ died for
our sicknesses; that the Church must heal the physically sick? Where in this Epistle or
any other Epistle is even the faintest suggestion of healing meetings, in which the sick
present themselves for a demonstration in public that Christ can heal the sick? Where?
There is not even a hint.
We call attention to chapter 4:11-14. The Apostle speaks of the gifts which the Lord
has given to His Body, the Church. These are of course the same as the gifts of the Spirit
in 1 Corinthians 12. Here we read of the gifts necessary for the "perfecting of the
Saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the Body of Christ (the
Church)." Here we have the gifts which are permanent, till the state of perfection is
reached (Verse 13). Paul speaks of the Apostles (their doctrine), of Prophets, those who
tell forth the Truth of God, of Evangelists who go forth to preach the Gospel to the
unsaved; the Pastor and Teacher, who follows the Evangelist to shepherd the flock and
teach them the Word. These ministers possess the gifts of wisdom and knowledge of 1
Corinthians 12. But there is no mention made here of the sign gifts. Not a word of the
gifts of healing, of miracles, not a single word about speaking in tongues. Why not?
Because these sign gifts were for the beginning of the Church. but are not needed for the
completion of the Church, nor for the edification of that Body. When God revealed all He
means to reveal, sight and signs end and "we walk by faith and not by sight."
In the sister Epistle to Ephesians, that is Colossians, nothing [page 45] is
found which has any bearing whatever on the healing of the body of the believer. But we
call attention to the following. Here we have the glory of the Head of the Body. He is
revealed in the glory of His Deity and the glory of His work is beautifully unfolded. Here
we read of the peace which was made in the blood of the Cross; of the reconciliation which
has been effected; of the blotting out of the handwriting of ordinances, which was against
us; of His triumph over principalities and powers. We read of what the believer has in
Christ, that he is perfect and complete in Him. But why do we not read in this magnificent
testimony to the Person and work of Christ, that He also died for our diseases, that He
bore our diseases in His body on the cross in the same manner as He bore our sins? Why is
there nothing said about healing in this next greatest Epistle of the New Testament? The
answer is simple. The teaching that Christ died for our diseases as He died for our sins
is a human invention, and not a Bible doctrine. Nor is there a word said in this Epistle,
nor in any other Epistle about "divine healing," a term which is nowhere used by
the Holy Spirit. Why not? Because "divine healers" are self-appointed and not
God appointed.
Philippians
We turn to Philippians. This is the Epistle of true Christian experience. Surely
here we are going to find faith healing and the assertion that a Christian when sick will
be speedily healed and fully restored, and if he is not, it is an evidence that he is not
right with God and lacks true Christian experience, as "divine healers" teach up
and down the land. Again we are disappointed in our expectation. Not a word of all this is
found anywhere in this Epistle of true Christian experience. But there is something in the
Philippian Epistle which deals the whole system of "faith healing" an almost
fatal blow. The Philippians sent a messenger to [page 45] Paul, the prisoner of the Lord,
in Rome. He did not only bring their greetings but brought financial fellowship to the
beloved Apostle. He came to Rome a very sick man; yea, he was sick nigh unto death. From
this we conclude that it was a very serious illness which ran its course. The Apostle
states that God had mercy on him. He recovered and got well. There is not a word said
about a miracle of healing being performed. Epaphroditus exemplifies self-forgetfulness.
In his zeal for God he did not regard his life, and for the work of Christ he was nigh
unto death (Phil. 2:25-30). It shows how a true believer, an earnest self-sacrificing
servant of the Lord, can be sick unto death, and then be restored to health, not by some
"divine healer" anointing him with oil, but by the mercy of God, in whose hands
all His servants are. According to the teaching of these modern healers the story of
Epaphroditus should read this way, "He was sick nigh unto death; but Paul produced a
bottle of oil, anointed him, the power came upon him, and he arose perfectly well."
Thessalonians
In the two Epistles to the Thessalonians nothing is said about physical healing.
The Thessalonian Church was a model Church. But they had no healing manifestations
whatever in their midst. Paul spent three weeks in that city, preached the Gospel and
instructed them in prophecy concerning the future (2 Thessalonians 2:5). Yet not a word
about "divine healing." In the second Epistle there is a warning that when the
end of the age is reached signs and lying wonders are to be manifested by the
counterfeiting power of Satan.
First Timothy
In the first Epistle to Timothy we discover two passages which demand attention in
connection with our question. In chapter 2:15 we have the promise, "Notwithstanding,
she shall be saved in child-bearing; if they continue in faith and charity and holiness
with sobriety."
[page 46] Divine healers assume, on account of this passage of Scripture, that every
Christian woman, if she and her husband meet the conditions of the text, will always be
brought safely through the perils of child-bearing. If this be true will some one explain
the following: Hundreds of thousands of women, who make either an empty Christian
profession, or are worldly, indifferent, and ungodly in every way, pass through the
travail of childbirth in perfect safety. On the other hand there are many godly women,
living saintly lives, and their husbands are equally devoted, continuing in faith and
charity and holiness, just as the text demands, and these women are taken away by death.
If the text means, as faith-healers teach, deliverance from physical death in
child-bearing, then the thousands of worldly, pleasure-loving women who pass safely
through the ordeal have God's mark of approval on their ungodly walk, while the godly
women, wives of godly husbands, whose life and walk is above reproach, perfectly pleasing
to God, are condemned in their life and walk of godliness. The fact is that the text does
not promise any such deliverance from physical death in child bearing.
In the first place the Greek is not "En," in childbearing, but it is "Dia,"
through childbearing. The question is what do we understand by the word
"saved"? Every believer knows that this word has different meanings in
Scripture. In chapter 4:16 of the same Epistle we read, "Give heed to thyself and to
the teaching, continue in them, for doing this, thou shalt both save thyself and those
that hear thee." That the word saved here cannot mean salvation from sin and eternal
judgment is clear enough. Nor could it mean salvation in the temporary sense of the word,
from physical dangers, from sickness or death. What then does it mean? Timothy had
received a gift. The [page 47] exercise of this gift was the path of salvation in which he
was to walk. In order to have the Lord's continual approval and favor, he must
continue in teaching, not shirking the responsibility connected with it, but bear it-in
season and out of season, preaching the Word. In this way he would save himself from
disapproval and not pleasing in His sight.
And so it is with the Christian woman's salvation. Her calling is not of a public
nature, as Timothy's public ministry, but in domestic duties. She is called to bear
children and rear them in the fear of the Lord. This is the path of her salvation, marked
out for her, and as she continues in it with love and faith and holiness with sobriety,
she has God's approval in it. It has nothing whatever to do with exemption from death in
childbearing. If it meant that it would be a horrible nightmare for every Christian woman,
filling with anticipative fears the hearts of believing women who approach motherhood, and
if death occurs, as it so frequently does, it would send the husband into despair, for he
might be the guilty party on account of whom judgment by physical death came upon the
beloved wife. And the woman who died in childbearing would then have passed away as under
the cloud of divine judgment. Such teaching as based upon this text by "healers"
is not of God.
The second passage is chapter 5:23. "Drink no longer water, but use a little wine
for thy stomach's sake and thine often infirmities." Timothy, the beloved spiritual
son of Paul, the aged, had often infirmities. Will any one charge him with not having had
faith for healing? Will any one say that he had sinned and lived not in the right way?
Paul did not exhort him, as he should have done, according to the present teaching on
healing–let some one anoint you with oil, lay hands on you, and the Lord will heal
you from your often infirmities. Nor did he even tell him to pray to [page 48] the Lord
for deliverance from the spells of sickness. He sent him a prescription. It was given by
inspiration of God just as much as the eighth chapter in Romans. He told him to stop
drinking water and to use a little wine. We have heard fanatics say that Paul made a
mistake in writing such a sentence. In this passage we have the divine sanction of means
in case of infirmities.
Second Timothy
In the second Epistle there is the record of Trophimus. "Trophimus have I left sick
at Miletum" (2 Timothy 4: 20). His name appears in Acts 20:4 and 21:29. For some
reason he fell sick, and Paul had to leave him behind in Miletum. Why did not Paul call
the elders and have a healing service at that time? Paul, who at Corinth and elsewhere
wrought the signs of an Apostle, did not perform a miracle of healing on Trophimus. He
left him sick.
Hebrews
As Paul has nothing to say about healing of diseases in his Epistles to Titus and
Philemon, we pass on to the Epistle to the Hebrews. Paul is the author of
this Epistle also. In this Epistle alone do we find a reference to the signs and miracles
which were done in Jerusalem, after Pentecost, and while the Gospel was preached to the
Jew first. This is found in chapter 2:4. The signs and wonders, the divers miracles and
gifts of the Holy Spirit, by which God bore witness to the supernatural message of
salvation preached by the Apostles, are the miracles recorded in the first part of the
Book of Acts. But we do not find a promise made to the Hebrews to have faith, and
experience, as a result of faith, a continuation of miracles and signs. All this bears out
what we have stated before, that the miracles of healing and other miracles were,
according to God's plan, demonstrations in the beginning in Jerusalem.
James
In the Epistle of James we find a passage of great importance, one of the
most misunderstood passages in the New [page 49] Testament, which is the star text for all
"divine healers." In another chapter a number of pages are devoted to an
analysis and interpretation of this passage, (James 5:14).
Neither the Epistles of Peter, John, nor Jude have anything to say about healing
of diseases, faith healing or gifts of healing.
We do well to restate what we have found in our exegetical investigation of the
Epistles as to the healing question:
1. Not one of the writers ever mentions the Lord Jesus Christ as having done miracles
of healing, none even hints at the possibility that these miracles of healing should be in
order during this dispensation, as they were when the Son of God was upon earth.
2. Only one Epistle, the Epistle to the Hebrews, speaks of the signs and miracles which
were wrought by the Lord through His Apostles in the beginning of the Church in Jerusalem.
3. There is nowhere in these documents of our Christian faith a statement to be found
that the Son of God died for our diseases as He died for our sins. There is no such thing
taught in the New Testament as the "fourfold Gospel," one of the phases being
"Christ our Healer." Where ever the death of Christ is mentioned it is always
and only in connection with our sins, and never are bodily ills and infirmities spoken of.
4. The much used term "divine healer" is never used by an inspired writer of
the New Testament.
5. There are no indications that the Apostolic Churches, those among which the Apostles
labored, ever held "healing meetings" or urged the people to bring the sick.
6. Clear evidence is given that the "gifts of healing, or working miracles, of
speaking in tongues and the interpretation of tongues, were not to remain permanently in
the [page 50] Church. The fact that in the great Church Epistles, apart from First
Corinthians, there is nothing said about the gifts of healing, and the further fact that
in Romans and especially in Ephesians, the sign gifts are omitted, is our evidence for the
cessation of these gifts. That these sign gifts still exist no one denies. But it has not
pleased the Holy Spirit to continue the exercise of them.
7. While there is a very prominent lack of teaching on the healing question in the
leading Epistles, such as Romans, Galatians, Ephesians, Colossians, Philippians, the
Petrine and Johanine Epistles, there is on the other hand much evidence that the gift of
healing was not used by Paul toward the end of his ministry, nor was there any anointing
with oil, nor laying on of hands practiced. The Apostle Paul himself was a sick man. He
suffered bodily infirmity, and when the Lord had spoken and told him that it was His will
that he should continue to have the thorn in the flesh, he gloried in his infirmity.
Epaphroditus was sick nigh unto death. No miracle was wrought in his behalf, in a speedy,
instantaneous cure. Timothy had often infirmities. The Lord permitted these infirmities to
continue. There was no anointing service for Timothy, but a divinely given prescription of
a remedy. Trophimus was left behind sick by the Apostle Paul.
8. The only place in the New Testament where we read of "anointing with oil"
is in the Epistle of James, addressed to the twelve tribes scattered abroad, and not to
the Church.
Chapter 5:
Miracles of
Healing in History
Back to Table of Contents
email