Objection: James Did Not Teach That Healing Was in the Atonement in His Instructions

It’s implicit.

Think about this for a minute – James said that the prayer of faith would save the sick person.  That means that the elders MUST pray in faith for this to work.  Faith in what?

You can only pray in faith when you KNOW God’s will.  Otherwise, you’re just presenting a petition.  There’s a place for that in intercession for others, but to pray the prayer of faith, you have to KNOW God’s will before praying.  You can only know God’s will if you have a definite statement or promise from Him.  If you don’t know His will, you’ll pray a beggy, pleady prayer of unbelief and get nothing – and James already told you so four chapters earlier (James 1:5-8).

So how would the elders know God’s will?  Would they have to pray and ask the Holy Spirit if He wants to heal this particular person?  No, because God said that He WOULD raise up the sick person.  Even if he is wrapped up in sin, he will be forgiven and he STILL be raised up if at least he calls for the elders and they pray the prayer of faith over him as they anoint him with oil.

If healing were not in the atonement, the elders would have no right to minister it “in the name of the Lord.”  How could they do it in the name of the Lord if the Lord had not already done everything necessary to provide it?  When Jesus ministered, He certainly did not ask the Holy Spirit on a case-by-case basis which of the people who came to Him could be healed.  So when we minister in His name, we should not do things differently from the way that He did them.

Also, not every Scripture writer wrote about healing being in the atonement, but that doesn’t invalidate it.  The plan of salvation isn’t in the book of Jude.  Do all authors have to write about it to make it true?  How many authors in the Bible must write about something to make it the truth?  The obvious answer should be one, and Isaiah’s statements are more than enough to make the case.