Objection: Epaphroditus Was Healed by God’s MERCY, Not His OBLIGATION
It appears that Epaphroditus was not really in faith for his healing. Perhaps he was so “sick unto death” that he was past the ability to stand anymore. We don’t know, but at least it is recorded that God had MERCY on him:
Philippians 2:27:
For indeed he was sick almost unto death; but God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow.
We see just after this that he was sick because he overextended himself trying to minister to Paul. Our human bodies DO have limits even if we’re saved. If you don’t rest your body, your body will rest you!
It is certainly not evident that Epaphroditus was exercising any faith, and that is part of the objector’s point – if faith is required to be healed, and Epaphroditus wasn’t in faith, healing must be based on mercy, not faith.
That’s another half-truth. It appears that this healing WAS based on mercy. It could have come through the gifts of the Spirit, or perhaps even because God knew how valuable Epaphroditus was to Paul, saw his heart and decided to cut him some slack even though he overdid things.
Part of the objector’s point is true – you can be healed by mercy instead of faith, though you certainly have no guarantee of that. I know of people who have been healed when others prayed ignorant “if it be Thy will” prayers. That was certainly God’s mercy. I don’t see any contradiction, given that the manifestations of the Spirit are…well, gifts, without regard to personal merit. When the Holy Spirit moves through “the gifts,” people who are not in faith can be healed. That does not negate the fact that you can always receive healing through faith when there is no special manifestation of the Holy Spirit.
If you travel from Butler, Tennessee to Mountain City, Tennessee, route 67 will get you where you want to go. But someone might take route 167 part of the way and also get to Mountain City. Now this person might say, “See, I got to Mountain City taking route 167. That proves that route 67 is not the way to Mountain City!” That would be silly – both roads will get you there. This objection does the same thing, thinking that if anyone got healed by mercy, no one gets healed by faith. The truth is that BOTH can result in healing! However, only the faith method will work all the time.
The objector denies that God has an obligation to heal, placing all healing on the basis of individual cases of His mercy. But that is not what Jesus taught. He told people, “YOUR FAITH has made you well” and similar things. That indicates that it was their faith, not God’s mercy, operating in these cases. Now healing IS a mercy, and God is rich in mercy – His mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23)! And you could make a case that your faith is IN God’s mercy that He showed you in Christ when He made healing available for you to receive by faith!
God HAS an obligation to heal whenever true faith is present because He placed healing on that basis – available to anyone who wants it. It was paid for by the Lord Jesus Christ and is part of the covenant that we got in on when we were born again and thus became “in Christ.” It would be unfair for God to deny anyone the healing that Jesus already paid for EVERYONE to have.