faith healing – La Vista Church of Christ

He Had Faith to Be Healed

Jeffrey Hamilton — Wed, 26 Mar 2025 15:28:26 +0000

by William J. Stewart

It is a common perception in the religious world that one must have adequate faith for one to be healed. This false idea has allowed many fake healers to save face when their hypnotic advantage over a would-be recipient has failed. And as sure as it has been a refuge for the charlatan, it has no doubt been the breaking point in the faith of those accused of failing to believe in God's power.

The destructive work of these spiritual con-artists brings to my mind a faith-healing service several years ago in Kingston. The pretender boasted of the wonderful deeds he'd done in Jesus' name across the country for what seemed like hours.

After he finished patting himself on the back, some who had been healed that week during his revival were invited to come and pat his back some more.

A young man sat not 10 feet away from him on the front row. I knew him, for we studied the Bible occasionally that summer. Maybe I am wrong, but I think some go to such events simply for the show. But others are there because they seek healing. He was of that sort, for he was troubled with Cerebral Palsy. One row back sat another whom we knew. She would have also sat in the front row, but her interpreter needed to sit there. She was deaf.

After stroking his ego, he began to heal those who came forward. Neither of those whom I knew got into line to be healed. I can only speculate on why they didn't. Was it because they were pre-screened and disqualified? Was it because they were in line earlier that week and were not healed? Had they been told that they lacked faith to be healed?

I've not seen either of them in several years. It would not surprise me if the self-righteous fraud who graced the stage that week trampled their faith so severely that they turned away from it entirely.

It is a false claim that the one seeking to be healed must have faith to be healed. The Lord went to Bethany after the death of His friend Lazarus (Luke 11). From outside the tomb, He called for his friend to come forth. How much faith did this dead man have?

In John 5, Jesus found a man sitting by the pool of Bethesda. Several believed that an angel stirred the water from time to time, and whoever got into the pool first would be healed. The Lord asked this man who had been lame for 38 years, "Do you want to be made well?" His presence at the pool said "yes," but his answer to Jesus sounded skeptical. There was no expectation that he would be healed. He had no one to help him into the water. I wonder how many he had seen hobble into this pool and then walk away whole. But it was never him.

Jesus gave seven simple words: "Rise, take up your bed and walk" (John 5:8).

It is a false claim that one seeking to be healed must have faith to be healed. He was made well! Now, how much faith did this man have? We already saw that he clung to no expectation of being made well. Further, John 5:13 reveals that the one who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn. How much faith did this man have? When the religious leaders asked him who had told him to take up his bed, he did not know. He had no faith in Jesus at all, but he was healed.

Jesus revealed that it was necessary for the healer, not the healed, to have faith. In answering his disciples about why they were unable to cast out a particular demon, He said to them: "Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting" (Matthew 17:20-21).

If a miracle fails, it is because of a lack of faith on the part of the miracle worker! The healer, not the healed, must have adequate faith.

And yet we read in Acts 14 of a man crippled from birth, of whom it is said that "Paul, observing him intently and seeing that he had faith to be healed, said with a loud voice, 'Stand up straight on your feet!' And he leaped and walked" (Acts 14:9-10). Ah, see, he had faith to be healed! So the faith healers are right when they say that some do not have faith to be healed, right? No!

The woman with the issue of blood was like this man. She thought: "If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well" (Mark 5:28). She did, and she was!

The Lord commended her faith. She knew without a doubt that He could make her well. As Paul looked at this man, he saw the same trust in God's power.

It would be wrong to conclude from John 5 or 11 that for one to be healed, they must have no idea who Jesus is or be dead. It is equally wrong to draw from Mark 5 or Acts 14 that a certain level of faith must exist for a healing to be received.

Your Faith Has Made You Well

Jeffrey Hamilton — Mon, 09 Dec 2024 02:14:01 +0000

https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Your-Faith-Has-Made-You-Well.mp3

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by Jeffrey W. Hamilton

Text: Luke 18:35-43

I. While looking at some of the miracles of Jesus in order to answer a question, I noticed something that I had not seen before

A. If you look at the various miracles, you soon realize that faith on the part of the person being healed is not required. People were healed without faith on their part.

1. When Peter and John healed the crippled man, he was expecting a handout, he certainly wasn’t expecting to be healed. Likely, he had no idea who he was talking to - Acts 3:1-8

2. When Jesus healed the blind man, the man knew Jesus’s name - John 9:11

a. But he did not know who he was - John 9:35-38

b. It was only afterward that he came to belief

3. When Jesus raised the young man at Nain, certainly the young man who was dead did not have faith, nor was there faith in the members of the funeral procession. Jesus and his disciples were passing through and were strangers in this region - Luke 7:11-16

4. It is even shown in the Old Testament - II Kings 13:20-21

a. A man dies and as his friends take him to be buried, they see raiders approaching. Quickly they stuff the body in a nearby tomb, which just happens to be Elisha's. And when the body touched Elisha's bones, he was restored to life.

b. No one was asking for a miracle. No one was looking for a miracle. Everyone's focus was on the Moabites and their need to defend themselves.

c. There was no faith involved by anyone in this situation, and yet faith came as a result of the situation.

B. But faith had a role in healing. The disciples tried and failed to cast out a demon while Jesus was not with them - Matthew 17:19-21

II. I began looking at situations where Jesus told the person that his faith made him well.

A. In the healing of the ten lepers, one comes back, after realizing he was healed, to thank Jesus - Luke 17:15-19

1. His faith made him well; yet ten were healed. What made the other nine well?

2. Unless “well” is not talking about physical health, but spiritual health.

3. There were ten who were cured of leprosy, but only one had faith to become spiritually whole.

B. In the case of the woman suffering from hemorrhaging, she believed that if she touched Jesus’ garments, she would be made well - Mark 5:28

1. Jesus felt the power leave him and turned to the woman, telling her that her faith had made her well - Mark 5:34

2. Here you could argue that the woman’s faith healed her, but what if Jesus meant more by this? That she wasn’t just healed, but she had become truly and fully whole – physically and spiritually?

C. One more case of blind Bartimaeus - Mark 10:51-52

1. Notice the clear order: Jesus told Bartimaeus that his faith had made him well (past tense) and then Bartimaeus was healed.

2. (Side note: Luke’s account makes it sound as almost simultaneous with the pronouncement - Luke 18:41-43)

3. But still, the statement is that Bartimaeus was already made whole before he received his sight.

III. The word in all three cases is sozo.

A. It means primarily to save, to preserve or keep safe, or a person’s well-being

B. In the case of the woman, she was looking to be rescued (sozo) from 12 years of bleeding, but it is very likely Jesus was telling her that her faith rescued her from something greater than a mere physical ailment.

C. It can mean rescued from danger

1. Physical danger - Matthew 14:30

2. But it also means to be rescued from spiritual danger - Romans 5:9-10

3. Jesus is able to completely save - Hebrews 7:24-25

IV. True, permanent salvation

A. That salvation is not through men earning it as a wage - II Timothy 1:8-10

B. The means of that salvation is through preaching the gospel - I Corinthians 1:21

1. It is here we learn what God has to offer

2. Paul preached to save people - Romans 11:13-14; I Corinthians 9:22

3. It is what all preachers do - I Timothy 4:16

4. It is what any of us do when we bring someone back out of sin - James 5:19-20

C. But it does require man to respond to God’s offer - Titus 3:4-7

1. We have to desire salvation, losing our life to gain it - Mark 8:35

2. Salvation requires hope - Romans 8:24

3. It requires faith. Faith is the critical element to our rescue - Acts 16:30-31

a. God’s gift to us is salvation by faith - Ephesians 2:8-10

b. But it does not end at faith - Acts 16:32-33

c. It requires confession - Romans 10:8-10

d. Faith requires action - James 2:14-17

4. Baptism now saves - I Peter 3:21

V. Salvation can be rejected

A. God wants everyone saved - I Timothy 2:3-4

B. Jesus came into this world to save - I Timothy 1:15

C. But the sad fact is that only few will be saved - Luke 13:23-30

1. Some think they can force an entrance, but it won’t work

2. You can’t make your own door

D. The righteous are scarcely saved - I Peter 4:18

1. What makes you think you can find a different way in?

E. Will you trust God with your life?

1. Will your faith make you whole?

My mother is dying because she won’t take her medication and says God will heal her. What do I do?

Jeffrey Hamilton — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 03:07:00 +0000

Question:

Hello,

My mom is a cancer patient and recently she had a liver transplant. She went through multiple surgeries and has to take medication every month. But one day she decided not to take any medication and stopped going to appointments altogether. She put her life in God’s hand and hopes that God will cure her altogether.

At first, she told me that God was with her, and I also put my undivided faith toward God, but recently her skin started to turn yellow. The color of the whiteness of the eyes also started turning yellow. When my family saw this, we tried to persuade her to go to the hospital, but she refused, telling us that this was a test from God. I looked online and found out that what my mother had was jaundice. When I tried to persuade my mom to go to the hospital, she told me to wait and watch God’s miracle and that she will not die. She uses the Bible verses from the New Testament and from Job to prove this. She believes she will be healed according to her faith. I argued back telling my mom that through the doctor’s hand I believe that God will hear, but she believes that God will cure her as the way she believes.

I came here hoping to find out what I can do for my mother. I pray for her health every day, but her condition seems to be worsening every day. I want to know if there is anything I can prove to her through the Bible that going to the hospital is the right way. If not this, I wonder if it's just that lack of my faith in God.

Thank you for taking the time in reading my question and I hope for a fast reply. Thank you very much.

Answer:

"Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: 'He shall give His angels charge over you,' and, 'In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.'" Jesus said to him, "It is written again, 'You shall not tempt the LORD your God.'"" (Matthew 4:5-7).

Your mother doesn't realize it, but she is trying to put God to the test. She decided that God should miraculously heal her. She wants it done her way and on her terms. But when miracles were done in the Bible, people did all they could and then came to God to ask for a favor in having Him do what they could not. "Now a woman, having a flow of blood for twelve years, who had spent all her livelihood on physicians and could not be healed by any, came from behind and touched the border of His garment. And immediately her flow of blood stopped" (Luke 8:43-44).

Even in the times of miracles, miracles were not given just because someone believed. Paul had strong faith but Jesus declined to heal him. "And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me" (II Corinthians 12:7-9). Jesus healed people who did not even realize who Jesus was, let alone believe in him. Miracles did not depend on the faith of the one being healed. Miracles were done for a purpose -- primarily to prove that the prophet was speaking on behalf of God. "God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will" (Hebrews 2:4). Miracles were uncommon and not everyone who was ill was healed by a miracle -- actually very few were.

God has never said that His followers should not go to doctors or take medicine. Actually, quite the opposite, see "Physicians, Doctors, Healers." The problem arises when a person puts their sole trust in what man is able to accomplish. That was Asa's problem. "And in the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa became diseased in his feet, and his malady was severe; yet in his disease he did not seek the LORD, but the physicians" (II Chronicles 16:12). You are putting the emphasis in the wrong place. The problem is that Asa only would see the physicians and refused to seek the Lord's help. It was his refusal to seek help from God that lead to his early death. "Thus says the LORD: "Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart departs from the LORD" " (Jeremiah 17:5).

Just as man is expected to work for a living (II Thessalonians 3:10), but to also remember to thank God for the blessing of food on his table (Matthew 6:11), so should a man in all his life do what he is able to do and then lean on His God to make up for all his inadequacies.

I wanted to let you know about a healing that happened to me

Jeffrey Hamilton — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 02:34:00 +0000

Question:

First of all, I have found some great resources on your site. Even though we differ in opinion on some things, I can respect your beliefs. I wish I could have had someone like you to share some of the information with me from your book about growing from a boy into a man. And someone who would discipline me when I rebelled so much. I had no one to explain anything to me, and it caused many problems that I could have avoided. Some of those problems I am still recovering from even today.

I was reading some of your answers on healing and miracles, and I would like to share my story with you of a miracle God did in my life a few years ago. Our local paper heard about it and asked to write a story about it. So, part of the results of the miracle was God was given the glory in front of thousands of unbelievers. I have even had a chance to go and minister to some of these people who were stricken with the same language disability I had. Here is a link to the story: A stroke took his voice, but he never lost faith.

Answer:

The Lord did grant you a great and precious gift in restoring your speech after a stroke. It was an amazing thing that it returned after so many years. But where you and I would differ is whether to label that gift a miracle or not.

Miracles are things beyond the natural function of the world. While the restoration of your speech is extremely rare, it has happened before. In quick research on the condition, I notice that there is one researcher is looking into singing as a way to cause the speech pathways to be restored, and having success with it. Perhaps he was inspired by your story. But rarity alone does not make something a miracle.

Zachariah lost his speech for about a year and it was restored (Luke 1). However, it is counted as a miracle because it was an angel who took his speech and it was prophesied well in advance exactly when his speech would be restored. "But behold, you will be mute and not able to speak until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words which will be fulfilled in their own time" (Luke 1:20). The loss and restoration of Zachariah's speech then became a sign that John really would be the forerunner of the Christ just as the angel said.

It is that element that is missing from the events that happened to you. It is a rich and marvelous gift and God should be appropriately thanked, but this is not equivalent to the miracles of the Bible. Yet, it is still a wonderful thing that God has done for you.

Thank you for the kind words. If I can help in some small way with the other issues you deal with please let me know.

How do I tell a friend that Benny Hinn cannot heal her blind child?

Jeffrey Hamilton — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 03:59:00 +0000

Question:

I know a person who has a blind child. This person wants to take her child to Benny Hinn because she believes her son will be healed through him. I know this is not true, but I need Scripture to back it up. I feel so bad for her because she wants so badly for him to see again. She talks about it often and thinks that she is sinning if she doubts that he will be healed. How can I help her, comfort her, but not contribute to her belief in false teachers?

Thank you for your time.

Answer:

"And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness" (II Thessalonians 2:11-12).

The difficulty you will run into is that this person wants to believe there is healing for her son so badly that reason isn't going to make an impact. She wants it, so she will find someone to teach it. "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables" (II Timothy 4:3-4). Even if you managed to convince her that Benny Hinn is a fraud, she will just search out another fake healer.

The only thing I know to do is to always tell her the truth, even when she doesn't want to hear it. Eventually, she will find out that Benny Hinn can't heal her son, and she will remember that you said that. If she looks for someone else, tell her the truth because eventually, she will remember that of all the people she knew, you were the one who always said what was true.

Review the material collected by Steve Rudd: "Benny Hinn Ministries is a proven fraud." Whether your friend will accept the evidence or not will remain to be seen. There are two main tests for a prophet. First, a prophet's word always comes true because God cannot lie (Deuteronomy 18:21-22). Second, a prophet never teaches something contradictory to what God has already said (Deuteronomy 13:1-5). The record shows that Benny Hinn fails both of these tests.

Facts About Faith Healing

Jeffrey Hamilton — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 04:18:00 +0000

by Rick Duggin
via Westvue Messenger, Vol. 29, No. 7, July 1986

Members of the Faith Assembly, an Indiana-based religious sect, have lost as many as eighty-eight members to treatable illnesses or injuries because they believe that going to a doctor is wrong. A federal and state study concluded that the mortality rate for their newborns is three times higher than the statewide rate, and the rate of maternal deaths is one hundred times higher. A Mr. Freeman who started this sect claimed that he would never die, that he would live till the Second Coming. He was buried in December 1984, and yet the sect continues to exist.

No Bible believer will deny that healing is divine or that we should pray for the sick. The question is: Does God heal miraculously today? A miracle is an act above the laws of nature; something which nature could not do in its ordinary course of operation. Our society has so perverted this word that anything from a narrow escape to a successful telethon is called a miracle.

Even in the first century, the gift of healing was never used merely as an end in itself. In fact, not all the sick were healed (see Philippians 2:25-30; I Timothy 5:23; II Timothy 4:20). The ultimate purpose of such gifts was to produce faith. "And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing ye might have life through his name" (John 20:30,31).

Why do we flatly deny the existence of miraculous gifts today?

Miraculous power was given through Holy Spirit baptism and by the apostles laying their hands on certain ones (Acts 2:1-4; 8:14-18). But there is now only one baptism (Ephesians 4:5), which men can perform (Matthew 28:19). And there are no apostles alive today, thus no means of receiving spiritual gifts.
Those who claim to have miraculous gifts do not claim all of them. I Corinthians 12:1-10 lists nine spiritual gifts. If one gift still exists, all do. If God's inspired prophets are still on earth, we should be adding their words to the New Testament. But this is contrary to those scriptures which affirm that revelation is complete (II Timothy 3:16,17; Jude 3). In addition, modern"prophets" contradict the revelation which God has already given! (Galatians 1:6-9).
The purposes of miraculous gifts have been fulfilled. God's messengers once used miracles to prove their message came from Heaven, "Truly the signs of an apostle were wrought among you in all patience, in signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds" (II Corinthians 12:12). But God's word is now confirmed (Hebrews 2:3,4), and we can know what to believe by reading God's revelation (Ephesians 3:4).
The New Testament itself says that miracles would cease when "that which is perfect" would come (I Corinthians 13:10). We now have God's "perfect" revelation (James 1: 25), thus miraculous gifts have ceased. (Note: The effort to make "that which is perfect" refers to Christ is not only out of context for I Corinthians 13, it is actually contrary to the context. The perfect must be of the same nature as the "in part" referred to in verses 9, 10. Paul did not have "Christ" or "His coming" in part. He "knew" in part. This knowledge would be made perfect when the revelation of God was made complete.)
The miracles of the New Testament were performed by godly men who never begged for so much as a dime for any miracle. What a contrast to the fake healers of our day. Further, the apostles did not have to debate with anyone over their ability to work miracles, for even their enemies could not deny the facts (Acts 4:16). They were willing to be put to the test. Jesus commended the church at Ephesus for testing those who claimed to be apostles (Revelation 2:2). Is this true today? "Whoso boasteth himself of a false gift is like clouds and wind without rain" (Proverbs 25:14). Don't let boastful deceivers lead you astray.

Things You Will Never See at a Pentecostal “Healing” Service

Jeffrey Hamilton — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 02:14:00 +0000

Author Unknown

One raised from the dead, like Jesus did (John 11:38:44).
The blind made to see, like Jesus did (John 9:1-12).
The deaf made to hear, like Jesus did (Mark 7:31-37).
An ear restored, as Jesus did (Luke 22:49-51).
A leper cleansed, like Jesus did (Matthew 8:1-4).
Restoration of a withered hand, as Jesus did (Matthew 12:9-13).
False teachers struck blind, like Paul did (Acts 13:8-12).
Order maintained, like Paul commanded (I Corinthians 14:26-40).

"Beloved, believe not every spirit, but prove the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets are gone out into the world" (I John 4:1).

Faith Healers or ‘Fake’ Healers?

Jeffrey Hamilton — Sat, 25 Nov 2006 02:52:00 +0000

by Greg Gwin

So-called “faith healers” continue to claim great abilities for healing various ailments of the physical body. While we steadfastly believe in all the miracles of the Bible, including the many instances of miraculous divine healing, we are equally as strong in our denial that these modern “healers” have any God-given power in this realm. The Scriptures teach that the age of miracles has ended (I Corinthians 13:8-13).

A personal trip to a ‘faith healing revival’ served to illustrate the great discrepancy between the claims of a modern healer and the genuine healings recorded in the Bible. Some of the ailments that were ‘healed’ by this person included:

“swimmer’s ear”
a sore thumb
a root-canal problem in the teeth
anxiety attacks
a pulled muscle in the leg
a dry eye socket

Notice that all of these claimed ailments could not be verified or confirmed by those observing the supposed ‘healings.’

Please contrast these with a partial list of the healings performed by Jesus:

raised the dead (John 11:1-54)
gave sight to the blind (John 9)
healed lepers (Luke 17:11-19)
caused the lame to walk (Matthew 9:1-8)
restored a severed ear (Luke 22:49-51)

The significant difference is that Jesus performed miracles that could be easily verified by any interested person. Even unbelievers were forced to admit his miracle-working ability (John 11:47). This is obviously not so in regard to the ‘fake’ healers in the religious world today.