Subject

Key Statement/Teaching

Paragraph

Bible

Few healings recorded in Old Testament

3

Bible

Healing scriptures should be taken in full biblical context.

14

Bible

The blessings and cursings of Deuteronomy 28 are national rather than personal.

18

Bible

Healing as such is not really promised in these verses except as it is implied in a general way in the promise to remove sickness. (Deuteronomy 28)

18

Bible

Psalms 103:3 is no more a blanket promise for unconditional physical healing than any of the other promises in the psalm, as other scriptures and the experiences of the Church show.

21

Bible

Several examples of non-healing are also recorded in the New Testament.

22

Bible

Not everyone is healed.  2 Tim. 4:20 and 1 Tim 5:23

23

Bible

Paul had a "thorn in the flesh" that was not healed.

24

Bible

James 5:14-20: Although this one statement appears to be written without qualification, the condition, "if it be God's will," was no doubt tacitly understood.

25

Bible

"save" [sozo] used mostly in the spiritual sense of eternal salvation.

26

Bible

"raise" [egeiro] used mostly to represent the resurrection from the dead.

26

Bible

[James 5:14-20]: Thus, while James is primarily speaking of physical healing upon anointing by the elders, he is also alluding to spiritual salvation and the resurrection from the dead.   It may have been James' intent to show that God will probably heal the faithful sick person, but certainly shall grant him salvation through the resurrection.

26

Bible

[James 5:14-20]:  The promise of physical healing is conditional.  The promise of the resurrection of the dead is unconditional.

26

Bible

It is true that the Bible often condemns ancient practitioners who relied on pagan gods, amulets, incantations or other forms of magic.

27

Bible

2 Kings 1:2: This passage does not mean that Ahaziah went to Baalzebub for healing.   He was only trying to figure out if he was going to die.

29

Bible

Isaiah 38:21:  Hezekiah seeks both God and medical science in dealing with his sickness.

30

Bible

Jeremiah 8:22: There is no sense of condemnation of medical science.

31

Bible

2 Chronicles 16:12: Asa is censured for not seeking God in his illness.  He is not condemned for seeking physicians.

31

Bible

Luke was a physician, yet there is no reference to him giving up his practice.  He is called the "beloved physician".

32

Bible

Jeremiah 30:13, 51:8 and Ezekiel 30:21: The metaphors involved here allude to medicines but are nowhere condemned.

33

Bible

Ezekiel 47:12:  Shows positive use of medicines.

34

Bible

Revelation 22:2: Healing preparations shall still be used after new heaven and new earth.

34

Bible

3 John 2:  "Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth."  This verse shows God's overall desire for mankind.

35

Bible

The Bible gives basic principles of health which, counted with common sense, experience and modern knowledge, would prevent many of the health problems plaguing modern man.

35

Bible

Healing is not part of His spiritual, moral law, as it were; and not being healed, therefore, is not a sin.

41

Bible

Anointing for the sick - James 5:14:  The oil is a symbol of God's Holy Spirit (cf. Ex. 30:23-25; Matthew 25:lff; etc.); the act of one having hands laid upon him shows the person's desire to be set apart by God through His Spirit for the special miracle of the divine healing of his body.

42

Bible

James 5:14:  If sin is involved in sickness, the sin shall be forgiven and the person healed.

44

Bible

John 9:  Jesus confirms that physical debilities are not necessarily caused by sin.

45

Bible

Luke 13:1-5:  Not all sickness is the result of sin

47

Bible

The Bible nowhere speaks of "physical sin."

48

Bible

Luke 5:24: Jesus has the authority on earth to forgive sins.

63

Bible

Luke 5:20:  The power to forgive sin is proved by the healing.

64

Bible

Luke 5:20:  The healing is differentiated from the forgiveness of sin.  They were two separate acts, with the former being used to prove Jesus' power over the latter.

64

Bible

John 11:25:  Jesus is the resurrection and the life.

65

Bible

1 Peter 2:24:  Healing can take various forms including spiritual, mental, physical and even environmental.

71

Bible

1 Cor 11:27-30: Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord.

73

Bible

1 Cor. 11:30: Physical ills do result from spiritual problems.

74

Bible

1 Cor 11:27-30:  A Christian must discern the body of the Lord which was wounded so that we could be healed.  We must also identify with the sufferings and sacrifice of Jesus Christ which are vital elements in the healing Process.

75

Bible

1 Cor. 12:  The initial surge of miracles and healings ended.  Though there are indications that some had a gift of healings, those in higher levels of responsibility in the church did not necessarily have the gifts of healing.

81

Bible

We are able to study God's Word and develop real spiritual faith without depending on the external crutch of physical evidence through miracles.

83

Bible

Isaiah 66:2:  God is looking for he that is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at His word.

92

Bible

Romans 14:23: The scripture which states that "for whatsoever is not of faith is sin" does not refer to a lack of faith as sin. It rather means that when one violates his conscience, his own sense of right and wrong, then that is sin.

100

Bible

Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord. –Rev. 14:13

For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's. –Rom 14:8

114

Bible

1 Cor. 13:13:  Faith is not the greatest aspect of the Christian life.  Love is.  Therefore one weak in faith but strong in love is the far greater Christian in God's sight.

116

Bible

Matthew 4:5-7:  Asking God to do something supernaturally for us that we could do for ourselves is a form of tempting God.

121

Bible

Luke 8:43-48 records the story of "a woman having an issue of blood twelve years, which had spent all her living upon physicians, neither could be healed of any. Note that Jesus in no way unbraided the woman for having gone to the physicians.

124

Bible

Luke 8:43-48: Jesus did not withhold healing from the woman with an issue of blood because she used medical science or because she came to Him as a last resort.  Indeed, He said she had faith to be healed.

124

Cause of sickness

Physical sickness and illness can be caused by different factors.

43

Cause of sickness

Much if not most illness is self-generated through ignorance, error or neglect.

48

Cause of sickness

To be sick, therefore, is not necessarily to have sinned. Sickness is sometimes the result of sin and healing sometimes includes the forgiveness of sin.

50

Cause of sickness

The Body of Christ has members remaining weak and ill and some even having died due to having a wrong manner or attitude toward the body and blood of Christ.

72

Disciples - 1st century

In the work of the disciples, healing was linked to and corroborated the preaching of the coming kingdom.

78

Disciples - 1st century

Many healed of disease during the work of the apostles.

79

Disciples - 1st century

The healings they performed gave the apostles the opportunity to preach the gospel boldly and proclaim it loudly before large, hostile crowds.

80

Effect of healings

Built faith into those witnessing them.

4

Effect of Healings

The healing miracles of Jesus stimulated His disciples' own human faith.

76

Faith

Divine healing is according to faith, as well as other factors.

1

Faith

Faith of the sinner and the mercy of God are intrinsic to the forgiveness of sin.

61

Faith

Jesus often responded positively through people's faith in Him.

67

Faith

Jesus healed according to an individual's faith.

67

Faith

Faith is essential to the cleansing of sin at conversion and the transformation of our bodies at the resurrection.

67

Faith

Regardless of the number and types of healings today, what we can know for sure is the awesome spiritual meaning that Jesus' healings have for us today—the confidence that they generate, the faith that they give us.

85

Faith

We can know for sure that the same Personality who healed the sick, cleansed the lepers and raised the dead has promised, and has the power to forgive our sins, cleanse our bodies and spirits, and eventually resurrect us from the dead. This, in reality, is the ultimate miracle, and this, indeed, is the ultimate faith.

85

Faith

It is through our faith in the reality of Jesus' healings that we can be assured that, through this same power, God has promised to forgive us of our sins, cleanse our minds and, ultimately, to resurrect our bodies from the dead.

88

Faith

Faith is not the sole criterion for determining whether a person shall be healed.

90

Faith

The Bible shows that there are different "kinds" of faith, or at least different levels of faith. There is a faith which all Christians are required to have for salvation, but this is not necessarily the same kind of faith needed for healing.

96

Faith

It is impossible to "work up" faith.  Only God can supply this faith.

96

Faith

Faith is the belief that God shall heal.

97

Faith

The lack of faith is not sin, nor is the lack of healing a sin.

98

Faith

We all, in some manner, lack faith. This is no more an indictment than to say that we are all human.

99

Faith

If seeking external help in any way indicates a "lack of faith," then such lack of faith is in no way a sin, because it is God's responsibility to give us this special faith, though we certainly have our part in it.

100

Faith

Faith is total belief.  However, there is also the will and purpose of God and anything held in faithful belief will not come about if it is contrary to God's will in the specific situation.

101

Faith

Healing is an extension of God's mercy; it is not an absolute promise according to one's faith.

102

Faith

A Christian must walk in continual faith.

109

Faith

If God allows a person to die, this may be a demonstration of faith.

109

Faith

If one can live many long and useful years in God's service through an operation, rather than be debilitated by disease or even die in agony, that cannot be condemned as a lack of faith.

109

Faith

One of the biggest factors that blocks a person from receiving more faith is his own erroneous belief that he already has enough faith when he does not.

110

Faith

One reason people are not healed is because they do not have the appropriate faith.

110

Faith

Death may in some cases be a greater sign of faith than life and healing.

114

Faith

Going to a dentist, taking medicine or tending to a wound is not an affront to God as our Healer; nor do they contradict faith.

120

Faith

Faith in God and scientific confidence in man are not in conflict. Faith in God is a matter of the heart between a person and God. It is entirely possible to receive medical help—and even have a positive trust in that technological help—without having this trust or confidence supersede or negate one's faith in God.

123

Faith

The technical utilization of modern medical science is not the factor that must decide where one's faith is. Faith is fully determined by the person's attitude in his private relationship with God.

123

Faith

Faith says that God can heal; it is not a guarantee that God shall heal in every individual situation.

125

Faith

It is surely not a sign of faith to neglect appropriate physical methods which can cure a disease, slow an illness or relieve suffering.

125

Faith

It is also not a sign of faith to seek obscure second-class treatment when competent first-class health care is readily available.

125

Faith

If one can live many long and useful years in God's service through an operation, rather than wasting those years by suffering in agony, how can that be condemned as lack of faith?

128

Faith

Faith in God for healing and the sensible, sagacious use of the most modern medical/health procedures do not clash.

130

God vs. Medical Science

Faith in God does not conflict with use of medical science.

1

God vs. Medical Science

Specialists can aid the body in time of injury or bad health. This human aid in no way hinders God if He decides to intervene miraculously and do what cannot be done physically.

40

God vs. Medical Science

It is entirely within biblical principles and common sense to seek competent medical help and still rely on God for healing at the same time; healing through faith in God and the modern health sciences is not a contradiction or a combination of opposites; indeed, what God can do for man as a special blessing should work together with what man can do technologically for himself.

117

God vs. Medical Science

Only God can "heal"—if we define "healing" as a miraculous, supernatural removal of an affliction or illness. Physicians are only mortal men and can only work with the laws God designed to function in the human body. Medical science can work to speed, enhance or aid recovery.

122

God vs. Medical Science

There is no reason why the judicious use of physical methods should interfere with either one's faith or the ability and desire of God to heal.

125

God vs. Medical Science

With the scientific and technological advances, man should give God the credit; for it was God who created the human mind, empowering it with the creative brilliance to constantly attain to new heights of achievement in the physical world.

126

God vs. Medical Science

Faith in God for healing and the sensible, sagacious use of the most modern medical/health procedures do not clash.

130

God vs. Medical Science

Healing through faith in God and through scientific medicine should, therefore, never be artificially opposed to one another, but should, rather, symbiotically reinforce one another to bring the greatest benefits to human beings.

131

Godly purpose

God is not healing today in same manner as New Testament times.

5

Godly purpose

Most biblical instances are physically oriented on the human body.

7

Godly purpose

Healing is an act of God's divine grace.

14

Godly purpose

God healed for different reasons in different circumstances.

19

Godly purpose

Despite the great powers bestowed and miracles performed through God's spirit, Elisha himself was not healed of some sort of sickness but actually died from it.

20

Godly Purpose

God does desire to heal our diseases, to eliminate our afflictions, and to bring us out of distress. But what He will actually do in any given situation remains unknowably beyond our limited understanding.

21

Godly Purpose

Paul writes that Epaphroditus was very ill, almost to the point of death (Phil. 2:25-27). But God had mercy on him. Healing was here given as an example of mercy, not of faith or obligation (or at least not of these alone).

22

Godly purpose

God's earnest desire is for all human beings to live an abundant life in perfect health.

35

Godly purpose

God has designed the human body to function in good health for the full span of one's allotted years.

37

Godly purpose

The biblical record makes plain that God can intervene on behalf of the sick and heal them according to faith and/or other factors.

41

Godly purpose

Healing is a "special benefit" which God has made available to His Church.

41

Godly purpose

At all times, whether sin is involved or not, healing is a manifestation of God's mercy and an exemplification of God's love.

50

Godly Purpose

Speaking to the decline of miracle healings in the 1st century: it was not part of God's plan for His Church to grow very large—that was not His purpose in that age—so God apparently withdrew His tremendous power to perform spectacular public healings.

82

Godly purpose

God has set up physical life to be temporal.  We all die.

87

Godly purpose

God has healed; He does heal; He will continue to heal as long as there is physical life extant. But the reasons for doing so are always temporal.

87

Godly Purpose

Healing is an example of God's mercy, a product of God's wisdom.

89

Godly Purpose

God sometimes heals the new convert and the spiritually immature, while he may withhold it from the mature Christian.

89

Godly Purpose

God may heal to show mercy (Luke 17:13), to express love, to encourage the spiritually weak, to reinforce faith, as a witness of the gospel.

91

Godly Purpose

The object of God's purpose may not always be the sick person himself:

91

Godly Purpose

God is intensely concerned with an individual's mind and heart.

92

Godly Purpose

In the matter of healing, it may be one's attitude as much as one's faith that may influence what God will do.

92

Godly purpose

Healing is not a part of God's spiritual-moral law, and as such is neither commanded nor required by God.  Healing is a special benefit from God.

98

Godly purpose

Faith is total belief.  However, there is also the will and purpose of God and anything held in faithful belief will not come about if it is contrary to God's will in the specific situation.

101

Godly purpose

God will not honor a request contrary to His will, regardless the level of faith the person has.

101

Godly purpose

A person can have "absolute faith" when he asks for healing and still be denied it, because God in His wisdom may think it is better for that person not to be healed.

102

Godly purpose

Healing is an extension of God's mercy; it is not an absolute promise according to one's faith.

102

Godly purpose

God will not heal a person because that person thinks he has faith if he in reality does not. (God may heal him in spite of that fact.)

111

Godly Purpose

Healing and faith are totally private matters between a person and God.

112

Godly purpose

It is possible that that the person not being healed is the stronger Christian spiritually.

115

Godly purpose

God has healed; God does heal, God shall heal. There are no limitations on God's ability to heal any and all sickness and bodily defects—supernaturally, miraculously, completely.

118

Godly Purpose

Faith says that God can heal; it is not a guarantee that God shall heal in every individual situation.

125

Godly purpose of

God has healed in different degrees for different purposes.

2

God's Promise

"If you will diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord your God, and do that which is right in His eyes, and give heed to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases upon you which I put upon the Egyptians; for I am the Lord, your healer."

15

God's Promise

"You shall serve the Lord your God, and I will bless your bread and your water, and I will take sickness away from the midst of you. None shall cast her young or be barren in your land; I will fulfill the number of your days."  [Exodus 23:25-26]

17

God's Promise

One should never forget that the real hope of all true Christians is eternal spiritual life through the resurrection and not prolonged physical life through healing.

88

Gospel

Healing and Christ's message of the coming Kingdom of God were almost inseparable.

53

Gospel

Healing returns the body to its original, pure, wholly sound state; and so it is with the Kingdom of God, which shall return the earth to its original, pure, wholly sound state (referred to as "the times of restitution of all things" in Acts 3:21).

55

Healing

The resurrection of the dead is the ultimate miracle of healing.

65

Healing

Healing foreshadows the resurrection.

66

Healing

Healing is portrayed in the cleansing of our sins at conversion and the transformation of our bodies at the resurrection.

67

Healing Symbolism

Healing is the physical representation of the spiritual cleansing.

68

Healing Symbolism

The healing of the physical body, radically and miraculously altering it from a state of sickness to a state of health, symbolizes what God can do through Christ to our minds, hearts and spirits.

68

Healing Symbolism

In the work of the disciples, healing was linked to and corroborated the preaching of the coming kingdom.

77

Healings today

It is difficult to tell whether God's Church today is experiencing the same type and frequency of healings than the later New Testament Church had.

84

Healings Today

To understand the Practical application of healing today, several complex interrelationships (such as between faith and healing, and faith and medical procedures) need to be considered.

86

Healings Today

We see no evidence of the gifts of healings being bestowed on any individual.

93

Healings Today

The Church vigorously teaches that there is no way of knowing in advance whether any person will be supernaturally healed.

94

Jesus

Healings He performed demonstrate His compassion, forgiveness of sin, resurrection of dead and establishment of Kingdom on earth.

1

Jesus

Healings established His credibility as being sent from God.

4

Jesus

Healing expressed Christ power on earth.

4

Jesus

This paragraph records the scriptural locations of the healings performed by Jesus.

51

Jesus

Healing was one of the foundational signs that God employed to demonstrate the power and to ratify the office of His Son (Matthew 8:16-17; 11:2-6).

52

Jesus

The healings Jesus performed give a physically verifiable demonstration of His spiritual power.

52

Jesus

His fame spread partly because of His healing people.

54

Jesus

His power to heal was a clear demonstration that He could establish the Kingdom of God on earth.

55

Jesus

Healings demonstrated God's power in Jesus Christ. 

56

Jesus

Healings represented to the world the absolute power that God had given Him over the world.

56

Jesus

Healings corroborated Jesus' power over Satan and his demons.

56

Jesus

Healings demonstrated God's power in Jesus Christ. 

58

Jesus

Healings represented to the world the absolute power that God had given Him over the world.

58

Jesus

Healings corroborated Jesus' power over Satan and his demons.

58

Jesus

Healing showed His authority over the Sabbath Day.

59

Jesus

Jesus' healing demonstrated to the world was His power to forgive sin, and, ultimately, to resurrect the body from the dead.

60

Jesus

Jesus' healing of lepers confirms that Jesus is the One who can cleanse sinners in the Spirit.

61

Jesus

Rather than healing being the forgiveness of sin, Jesus used His power to heal in order to prove that He also had the power to forgive sin.

62

Jesus

Jesus has the authority on earth to forgive sins (Luke 5:24)

63

Jesus

Jesus is the resurrection and the life.

65

Jesus

Healing of the physical body symbolizes what God can do through Christ to our minds, hearts and spirits.

68

Jesus

Christ cleanses our minds and make our spiritual lives righteous before God.  The process is supernatural and immediate.

68

Jesus

Jesus empathized deeply with human misery and suffering that illness and injury brought.  He was moved with compassion toward the sick.  He pitied them and felt deep sympathy.  He loved people.

69

Jesus

He suffered the penalty of our sins through His beating, crucifixion and death that we might be relieved of all our infirmities, whether physical, mental or spiritual.

70

Jesus

He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

70

Jesus

It is by his wounds that you have been healed.

71

Meaning of the word

Healing of:...

6

Meaning of the word

Word in Bible not limited to God.

10

Meaning of the word

Used in reference to what men can do for themselves.

11

Meaning of the word

"Healing" used to describe natural bodily process that can be aided by medicines.

12

Meaning of the word

"Healing" can include the body's normal recuperation and repair.

12

Meaning of the word

13

Meaning of the word

Sozo is the same word used in about 100 passages to represent spiritual salvation.

60

Meaning of the word

The word "cleanse" [in healing lepers] is the same word meaning "cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit (2 Cor 7:1) and "the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin" (1 John 1:7).

61

Meaning of the word

The Greek word used for healing in 1 Peter 2:24, iaomai, is used almost exclusively in reference to physical healing (yet the context of the verse itself would not exclude a spiritual understanding as well).

71

Medical science

Physicians and healers in the Bible are not condemned.

8

Medical Science

Isaiah 38:21:  Neither Hezekiah nor medical science are condemned in this situation.

30

Medical Science

Jeremiah 8:22: There is no sense of condemnation of medical science.

31

Medical Science

Nowhere in the ministry of Jesus do you see Him condemning physicians, though He mentions them a number of times.

32

Medical Science

Medicines used to heal sickness are not condemned in the Bible.

33

Medical science

Certainly we can go to medical sources and take advantage of the scientific advances they have to offer, with the full confidence that this positive act on our part in no way interferes with God's ability to heal supernaturally should that prove to be His will.

94

Medical Science

Physical procedures cannot be evaluated based on spiritual criteria.

132

Medical Science

Surgical interventions, pharmacological prescriptions and other medical procedures (whether diagnostic, preventive or curative) must be evaluated on their own merits and on their own terms.

133

Medical science

One physical method is not more godly than another; one physical method is not necessarily more in harmony with the Bible than another. Physical healing—of any and every sort—must be distinguished from divine, miraculous, supernatural healing.

134

Medical science

–Stitching a gash in one's arm is just as physical as open-heart surgery. 
–Special diets and supplements for cancer just as physical as surgery.
–Fasting is physical
–Cancer treatments are physical
–To extract a decayed tooth is the same as taking out a tumor.

135

Member responsibility

Seek the most competent professional help.

1

Member responsibility

Members able to take advantage of medical science knowing it does not detract from faith in God.

5

Member responsibility

Healing should not be taken lightly

14

Member responsibility

Healing is conditional.  We must diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord our God.  Do what is right in His eyes.  Keep the commandments.

15

Member responsibility

The promise of healing is conditional and predicated on obedience.

16

Member responsibility

A vital component of a good health program is a balanced diet which includes wholesome, natural foods and which excludes (as much as is practical in our society) processed foods such as sugars and starches, and artificially flavored and preserved foods.

36

Member responsibility

The right amounts of exercise, sleep and relaxation are  important.

36

Member responsibility

Maintaining a positive mental outlook and a peaceful mental attitude by eliminating (or at least attenuating) stress and flares of emotion is being increasingly recognized by modern health specialists as an essential health principle, considering the enormous effects (called "psychosomatic") that the mind exerts on the body.

36

Member responsibility

Caution should be taken to prevent accidents and bodily harm (without becoming obsessive or paranoid in the process.)

36

Member responsibility

Member should have a  regular program of routine physical examinations by a qualified doctor is also important in recognizing and solving any potential problems before they become serious.

36

Member responsibility

Individuals must care for their bodies physically, just as they must care for their minds mentally and spiritually.

39

Member responsibility

God expects us to take care of our bodies.

40

Member responsibility

God expects us to make good use of available knowledge about the human body, its functions and processes.

40

Member responsibility

The ill individual should look to man for whatever physical help he can receive but should also look to God to do what man cannot do—supernaturally intervene and divinely remove the illness, sickness or disease.

41

Member responsibility

The sick person should call for the elders of the Church who will lay hands upon his head, pray over him and anoint him with oil.

42

Member responsibility

It is not wise to become sidetracked by undue concern over whether certain detrimental physical practices under consideration are, or are not, sin.

49

Member responsibility

If the physical practice under consideration is indeed detrimental—as determined by biblical revelation or scientific fact—It should be stopped, as even common sense would dictate.

49

Member Responsibility

Understanding the significance of all these healings is essential to salvation since they are a direct verification that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ.

52

Member Responsibility

Examine yourself before taking the bread and wine.  You are examining yourself to answer one question: "Am I in the faith"...the Salvation Process?  Be definition, if one is in the process, he or she is rightly discerning the body and blood of Christ as it relates to healing and salvation.

73

Member responsibility

A Christian must discern the body of the Lord which was wounded so that we could be healed.  We must also identify with the sufferings and sacrifice of Jesus Christ which are vital elements in the healing Process.

75

Member Responsibility

Anyone who seeks to be healed to show others his righteousness or favor with God, or who desires vindication of his position, or who craves recognition of his spirituality will be sadly and sorrowful, disappointed.

92

Member Responsibility

God is looking for he that is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at His word (Isaiah 66:2).

92

Member responsibility

The relationship between healing and faith is complex, necessitating an understanding of the whole Bible and current, practical experience.

95

Member responsibility

An actual healing or the lack of such a healing must never be viewed as a straightforward indication of an individual's righteousness, spirituality or favor with God.

96

Member responsibility

It is our responsibility to yield to God and His Spirit so that we may grow in this God-given faith. We should beseech God to do what the apostles asked of Jesus in Luke 17:5, "Increase our faith."

96

Member responsibility

We must understand there are factors in our own lives that can sometimes work against our faith and that sometimes it may not be there.

97

Member responsibility

The fact that one person decides to seek anointing for the healing of a physical condition while another suffering from the same condition, does not, can in no way be taken to mean that the first person is necessarily righteous or that the second person is necessarily unrighteous.

98

Member responsibility

We are not to to blame a person who lacks or seems to lack faith since faith comes from God.

99

Member responsibility

Do not overestimate your own faith.   "Hoping" or "wishing" to be healed is not the same thing as having the special faith that God must give to really be healed.

106

Member responsibility

Neglect is not faith, neither is fear of doctors and hospitals.

106

Member responsibility

One should acknowledge his lack of faith if this is the case.

110

Member responsibility

Each must appraise his own faith realistically. But a Christian who is realistic enough to soberly assess his own faith and find it wanting is not a "weak" Christian. He may in fact be quite a strong Christian, who is converted enough to see himself as he really is; such an individual will not bow to stubbornness or yield to pride when his need of external help highlights his physical debilities and spiritual imperfections.

111

Member responsibility

No one should take upon himself the role of spiritual judge or "second guesser" over another's actions regarding healing or faith.

112

Member responsibility

Any reasonable request for anointing should be honored, regardless of the nature of the illness or affliction and regardless of whether the person is consulting a physician or of what treatment he may be undergoing.

112

Member responsibility

It is neither possible nor profitable to determine why God has or has not healed an individual.

113

Member responsibility

 Healing may relate to any number of factors—the person himself, his immediate family, his close friends, his wider acquaintances, the minister involved, the timing, the circumstances, etc.—and it is pointless to try to discern why something did or did not happen with respect to healing.

113

Member responsibility

If God's will is for a person to die, it should be in spite of his best efforts to recover and not because of his stubbornness in avoiding professional aid.

114

Member responsibility

God chooses who His martyrs will be: we cannot and must not make this decision for ourselves.

114

Member responsibility

A Christian has responsibility to help himself if he becomes ill or injured in addition to having trust in God for healing.

118

Member responsibility

 If we can stand on our own feet, we should. If we can do something for ourselves, we are derelict in our responsibility if we do not. God's Church has taught this for years.

119

Member Responsibility

Each individual has the same responsibility to examine alternative proposals, and seek and evaluate advice from several professional sources before making a decision in a serious health matter.

127

Member Responsibility

To refuse the operation may only be the unintended neglect of one's Christian responsibility to God and His Work.

128

Member responsibility

James wrote that "faith without works is dead." This applies to all aspects of the Christian life including health maintenance, health care, disease prevention, regular checkups by a qualified doctor, and healing and/or medical procedures in times of illness or injury.

129

Member responsibility

Christians should avail themselves of the best health care that man can provide and, at the same time, ask God to supernaturally supply what man cannot. This could also include the sick person asking God to bless the skill of the doctor in his diagnosis and treatment.

129

Member Responsibility

It is the responsibility of each Christian to recognize the important distinction between the physical and the spiritual. God's miraculous intervention to heal is spiritual; this healing is God's prerogative. What we do for ourselves is physical, a means of aiding and complementing the natural bodily processes in healing the body. God does expect us to do what we can for ourselves.

132

Member Responsibility

Surgical interventions, pharmacological prescriptions and other medical procedures (whether diagnostic, preventive or curative) must be evaluated on their own merits and on their own terms.

133

Member responsibility

When one chooses a physical procedure or medicine, his concern should be for their effectiveness rather than which method or medicine is more spiritual or biblical.

135

Member responsibility

In evaluating physical procedures in matters of health, the Christian is encouraged to emphasize proper health maintenance and disease prevention: there is minimum expense, little inconvenience and no side effects to a balanced program of health care.

136

Member responsibility

Eat natural foods (as much as logically possible) in a balanced diet and avoiding processed sugars and starches.

136

Member responsibility

Proper health care should include periodic physical examinations for all Christians and their families by a qualified medical doctor.

137

Member responsibility

Care should be taken to select the most able and proficient doctor available as the family physician. He should have a genuine interest and concern about the health of all members of the family. Eminently qualified specialists for particular problems should generally be recommended by the family doctor.

137

Member responsibility

When one seeks professional medical help, he should select the most competent within his means. One is not more "righteous" than another, but one might be more skilled than another.

138

Member responsibility

He will be sound-minded in matters of health, not seeking physically "miraculous" or unorthodox "cures " under the false assumption that they are somehow more righteous than the procedures of a knowledgeable specialist

139

Member responsibility

Christians must never judge one another, nor compare themselves among themselves.

140

Member responsibility

Do not attempt to impose [force yourself on others] your will or opinions on health and healing unto others.  Be respectful of another person's approach to health and healing.

142

Member responsibility

Do encourage your brother in the faith to seek the best care and professional help.  Encourage them to be in the best health they can.  Encourage them to seek the best information and ministerial counseling [see paragraph 143-145].

142

Ministry

The Church teaches that its ministry must not attempt to influence the person in any way regarding what type of action he may wish to take for his health other than to recommend that each person seek the most professionally competent specialists available for consultation or procedure.

94

Ministry

Any reasonable request for anointing should be honored, regardless of the nature of the illness or affliction and regardless of whether the person is consulting a physician or of what treatment he may be undergoing.

112

Ministry

A minister cannot put himself in the position of a medical diagnostician and refuse to anoint because he regards the persons illness as "minor" or "not life-threatening."

112

Ministry

It is not the Church's responsibility to endorse or condemn any particular treatment or procedure.

127

Ministry

–A minister of God is a professional in spiritual understanding; he should be ready to fully explain the purpose of healing—what it is and what it represents—to all who desire to know.

–The minister is the expert in counseling his people and serving his congregation.

–He is not necessarily, by virtue of ordination, a medical or nutritional expert.

–He should faithfully teach what the Bible says about health and healing.

–He should encourage his people to seek the best professional advice available when needed.

143

Ministry

–The minister must be truly neutral on medical matters.

–He cannot tell one person one thing and another something else on the same subject, procedure, medicine, diet, food or supplement.

–He cannot assign fallacious levels of righteousness to physical procedures, as they are all the same in God's sight.

144

Ministry

–The minister is the spiritual leader of his congregation and must take great care not to abuse this position of spiritual power, trust and respect.

–He must be as aware of his physical limitations as he is of his spiritual responsibilities.

–His realm is the spiritual and this is where he must give his counsel and advice.

–He must be sure that members of his church are not judging each other and are not comparing themselves among themselves with respect to health.

–He can be the most effective by emphasizing God's positive instructions on these matters and following up his teaching with encouragement and exhortation.

145

Resurrection

The resurrection of the dead is the ultimate miracle of healing.

65

Resurrection

Healing foreshadows the resurrection.

66

Resurrection

Just as Jesus instantly changed sick bodies into healthy bodies, so shall Christ instantly change mortal bodies into immortal bodies.

66

Resurrection

Since physical healing foreshadows the resurrection to spiritual life, the analogy can be extended by viewing sickness as foreshadowing the resurrection to eternal death.

66

Resurrection

Healing is the physical counterpart to the great spiritual event which is the resurrection to immortality.

66

Resurrections

Healing is portrayed in the transformation of our bodies at the resurrection.

67

Right Attitude

We should have the same attitude Paul had about his infirmities which God chose not to heal, "For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities; for when I am weak, then I am strong (2 Cor. 12:8-10)."

104

Right Attitude

What God knew was best for Paul, He may also know to be the best for many other Christians—that our continuing physical weaknesses are efficacious in continuously building our spiritual strength.

105

Right Attitude

Do nothing based on fear.  Understand that fear and faith are not equal. To act based on fear, and convince oneself that it is based on faith, is brutal self-deception which can yield no good result either physically or spiritually.

107

Right Attitude

Do not confuse faith with stubbornness, pride, martyr-complex, self-righteousness or self-image.  Understand that it is possible to confuse these things with real faith.

108

Right Attitude

A Christian must walk in continual faith.

109

Right Attitude

If one can live many long and useful years in God's service through an operation, rather than be debilitated by disease or even die in agony, that cannot be condemned as a lack of faith.

109

Right Attitude

To have the operation may evidence greater commitment to God, because one believes in the importance of service to His Church.

128

Right Attitude

Christians should appreciate both the special blessings of healing that God offers to them and the sophisticated techniques that man has developed to diagnose and cure illness.

131

Right Attitude

Do not consider that your approach to health and healing is better than what is held by another.  Be humble and meek with your knowledge.  Do not go on campaigns or crusades to spread your knowledge.

141

Righteousness

Healing is not an indicator of righteousness or test of spirituality.

89

Righteousness

The roles of God and man do not conflict; in fact, they can complement each other. In the same manner that healing is not a test of righteousness, so also going or not going to a physician is not a test of righteousness.

122

Salvation

Jesus' ability to efficaciously heal in the flesh proved His equal ability to assuredly grant salvation in the spirit, thus showing the profound relationship between Jesus' healings and salvation.

60

Salvation

One's ultimate reward is neither determined nor affected by whether he was or was not healed during his physical lifetime.

88

Sin

Rather than healing being the forgiveness of sin, Jesus used His power to heal in order to prove that He also had the power to forgive sin.

62

Sin

The miracle of healing physically represented a restorative process in which something unclean and broken was supernaturally made clean and whole.

62

Sin/degeneration

Mankind has so polluted the environment and human beings so often ignore the basic rudiments of health that imbalances occur, with sickness and disease the natural result.

37

Sin/degeneration

To the degree that a person disregards the obvious physical principles of health, such as proper nutrition, adequate sleep and rest, a positive mental outlook, etc., is generally the degree to which one suffers ill health.

38

Sin/degeneration

Sickness is the general result of violating the principles of health, or perhaps the direct result of a person's own sin (Matthew. 9:1-7; John 5:14). At other times, sin is not involved; and the illness or infirmity is inherited (John 9:2) or the result of injury or accident (Luke 13:1-5).

43

Sin/degeneration

Whenever sin is involved, healing includes the forgiveness of that sin (Matthew 9:1-7).

44

Sin/degeneration

Not all illness is the result of sin.

46

Sin/degeneration

The Bible nowhere speaks of "physical sin."

48

Sin/degeneration

The biblical subject of sin comes under ethical, moral or mental categories—and are all, therefore, spiritual in nature.

48

Sin/degeneration

It is not always possible, of course, to discern when illness or injury is the result of sin.

49

Sin/degeneration

To be sick, therefore, is not necessarily to have sinned. Sickness is sometimes the result of sin and healing sometimes includes the forgiveness of sin.

50

Sin/degeneration

His healing demonstrated to the world was His power to forgive sin, and, ultimately, to resurrect the body from the dead.

60

Source of Healing

Healing is a miracle of God.

1

Wrong Attitude

Some people's requests for anointing border on superstition. To anoint for every sniffle or mild ache makes a mockery of divine healing and Christ's suffering.

112

Wrong Attitude

It is both offensive and inaccurate to say that one who is not supernaturally healed (or who seeks medical aid) is a "Weak" Christian.

115

Wrong Attitude

To ask God to supernaturally do for us what we can naturally do for ourselves may begin to undermine the vital representational analogy between healing and the forgiveness of sin, conversion and the resurrection from the dead (since no human being can ever do any part of the latter).

121

Wrong Attitude

It is possible to have no faith in God and an almost superstitious faith in man's scientific knowledge.

123

Wrong Attitude

It would be wrong to seek obscure second-class treatment when competent first-class health care is readily available.

125

Wrong Attitude

Far worse than any personal spiritual slips or lapses in faith is the commonplace gossip of judging fellow members of the congregation.

140

Summary

–God can and does heal in ways and manners and at times and for reasons that He determines for Himself.

–Divine healing is totally beyond the scope of medical science

–Seeing the most competent, professional assistance in times of illness or injury will not inhibit God from healing us.

–Healing is a special blessing from God given according to His mercy and our faith.

–His healing represents God's power through Jesus Christ to forgive our sins, cleanse our minds and, ultimately, establish the Kingdom of God on earth and resurrect our bodies from the dead.

146