Objection: Mark 16:18 Refers to SPIRITUAL Illnesses

Had I not seen this objection with my own eyes, I would scarcely believe that anyone could even suggest this one.  Obviously, someone really didn’t want to believe in divine physical healing through the laying on of hands!

I fail to see a case in the New Testament where someone laid hands on someone else to heal a “spiritual” illness.  That’s the first red flag right there.  There’s a good reason that no one did it.  There are no “spiritual illnesses” to heal by the laying on of hands!  Can you name one?  No, you can’t.  There may be named illnesses related to emotions or mental issues, but those ARE subject to the laying on of hands in the name of Jesus.

If we adopt the safe approach of letting Scripture interpret itself, we see that many PHYSICAL healings did follow the preaching of the gospel in the book of Acts.  There is not one case of a “spiritual healing” mentioned in the same book.  We have to conclude that Jesus did indeed refer to PHYSICAL healing.

Everyone is either a “saint” or an “ain’t.”  If a person is an “ain’t” (unbeliever), his spiritual problem does not consist of having a sick spirit that needs to be healed.  His problem is that he is a spiritual walking dead man.  His spirit is DEAD, not SICK.  The solution, therefore, cannot be healing, as you cannot “heal” a dead person.  The unbeliever must confess Jesus as Lord and believe that God raised Him from the dead, at which point he receives a new spirit and is now a saint instead of an ain’t.  His old spirit is gone, not healed.  He has a new spirit that is born of God.  This process cannot occur through the laying on of hands.  It can only occur when the person believes with his own heart that God raised Jesus from the dead and confesses Jesus as Lord with his own mouth.

If the person is a saint (believer), his spirit does not need healing!  His soul and body might be in tough shape, but spiritually, a believer is in the same perfect spiritual condition that he will be in for all eternity in heaven!  He already HAS eternal life – he isn’t going to get it after he dies.  So there is no need for laying on of hands for spiritual healing for a believer because there is no need for spiritual healing at all!

So the whole idea of laying hands on anyone to heal his spirit is ridiculous.  Therefore, Mark 16:18 cannot refer to spiritual healing.