Objection: Mark 16:18 Does Not Say, “They Shall Recover IF They Have Enough Faith,” Yet Faith Healers Blame the Sick for Not Believing

First, this paints an unfair picture of healing ministers as being uncompassionate, finger-pointing faith judges.  While there may be a few like that, that image doesn’t apply across the board.  A good minister of healing will encourage people to believe, not beat them up for not believing.  Would the objector go around “blaming” a sinner for not believing instead of preaching the good news about the new birth?  Well, neither would a good healing minister go around “blaming” a sick person for not believing instead of preaching the good news of divine healing.

Two people’s faith gets involved when we lay hands on the sick – the person laying hands and the person having hands laid on him.  God’s kingdom works by faith, and the more faith there is between the two participants, the better the results will be.  Jesus made it clear that people were healed by their faith in many cases, so the recipient’s faith certainly does matter.  When the disciples failed to get a demonized boy set free, Jesus did not blame the boy or the boy’s father in that case; He laid the blame squarely at the feet of the disciples.  So the minster’s faith matters too.  However, He did tell the boy’s father that all things are possible to him who believes, so He wanted the father to be in faith too (Mark 9:23).

Too often, people just want God to do something irrespective of their faith or knowledge of the Word.  That isn’t how things work.  Paul said that God did miracles among the Galatians by the hearing of faith (Galatians 3:5-6).  He also taught that grace provides and faith receives – to use his words, we have access by faith into this grace (Romans 5:2).  God will never force His precious gifts on anyone, not even the new birth and healing.  The person must decide to receive what He offers.  So Paul was clear that the faith of the recipient DOES matter.

The fact that God promised something does not mean that it happens automatically, much as we’d like it to be so.  God told the Israelites to go possess the Promised Land, but that word did them no good, “not being mixed with faith in them that heard it” (Hebrews 4:2).  God’s promises are Yes and Amen in Christ by us (2 Corinthians 1:20) – our faith is involved.

So faith is required to receive from God.  John 1:29 says, “The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.”  But that does not mean that everyone goes to heaven.  We are saved by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8).  If faith is not exercised, the person involved goes without receiving the grace that he could receive.  1 John 2:2 declares that Jesus is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.  But Jesus said that few would find life (Matthew 7:14), so not everyone is saved even though Jesus paid the price for everyone to be saved.  Those who receive the gift of eternal life by faith are those who spend eternity with God.

The MANY promises that God made in the Bible are not given with the footnote, “If you have enough faith.”  Do you honestly think that the faith that God gave you (Romans 12:3, Ephesians 2:8-9) is NOT enough to get the job done?  The issue is USING the faith that you already have.

So while we’re not going around “blaming the sick,” the fact is that the promises of God depend on the faith of the receiver.  In the case of laying on of hands, the minister’s faith is involved as well.  If you want to call that blaming the sick, then the Bible “blames” the sick and the unsaved.  However, our message is not how we can blame you, but rather how we can encourage you in your faith so that you receive what God has provided for you in Christ.