Objection: Some People Were Healed Without Faith, So Faith Can’t Be Required for Healing

A similar objection, “Jesus’ healing did not require faith as a precondition,” says basically the same thing, so the answer below covers both objections.)

This is another objection based upon a half-truth.  Some people even TODAY are healed without exercising faith because they are healed through special manifestations of the Holy Spirit.  When “the gifts of the Spirit” are in operation, people who are in wavering faith or even no faith get healed anyway.

The Holy Spirit no doubt DID heal people without their faith being involved, so the objector’s citing of the healing of Lazarus and other dead people, Peter’s mother-in-law, the man with the withered hand, the man at the Pool of Bethesda and others who were never cited as exercising any faith does not faze me.  In fact, I am GLAD that some people are healed in my meetings who aren’t exercising any faith.  The Holy Spirit can and does “give out freebies” to some people who at least make the effort to go where the gospel is being preached.  God will do some things just as signs to unbelievers to get their attention.

So if a person is on the receiving end of gifts of healings, working of miracles or (special) faith, faith is NOT required for healing.  Some people CAN be healed without faith.

It almost sounds like I agree with the objector, but I don’t.  Here’s where the objector is trying to take this thought: “Because some people in the Bible were healed without faith, we can’t teach today that faith is required to receive healing.”  That is a half-truth.  Faith is not required to receive healing from a special manifestation, but faith definitely IS required to receive healing when no special manifestation is going on, which is most of the time!  You can NEVER be sure that there will be a special manifestation that will heal you, but you can ALWAYS be sure that you can receive healing by faith because you have the Word, which is ALWAYS in effect, backing you.  Receiving by faith is a far better way to get healed because you don’t have to wait for the next healing evangelist to show up in town.  Even if a healing evangelist does show up, you have no assurance that some special manifestation will bring you healing irrespective of your faith.  That’s why it’s so vital for you to ascertain the will of God concerning your healing from the Word, which will always point you to healing being legally yours to receive by faith.

Many people who were NOT in faith were NOT healed in Jesus’ ministry in the house where the paralytic was let down through the roof (Luke 5:17-26).  So you had no guarantee of being healed if you were NOT in faith – even when the power of God was present to heal as in that case.  Contrast this to those whom Jesus said WERE in faith, to whom He said, “YOUR FAITH has made you well.”  (See According to YOUR FAITH Be It Done unto You for a complete list of such cases.)  There is not one single case where Jesus said to anyone, “You ARE in faith, but you’re going to have to go without your healing anyway for whatever reason God has in mind.  Stay sovereignly sick.”  Everyone who believed received.

The objector does not like the idea that you have to exercise faith to be healed – it’s easier to throw up your hands and say, “It’s not up to our faith anyway, it’s ONLY up to the will of God!”  That is the lazy man’s approach – “I want to get healed, but I do not want to be expected to do anything myself.  I just want God to drop it on me, and when He doesn’t, I’ll resign myself to sickness being His good, acceptable and perfect will for me.”  I hope no sinner ever catches that bad attitude and says, “I want to be saved, but I do not want to be expected to do anything myself.  I just want God to drop it on me, and when He doesn’t, I’ll resign myself to hell being His good, acceptable and perfect will for me.”  It sounds crazy to treat the new birth that way.  It SHOULD sound just as crazy to treat healing that way, as both the new birth and healing are received through faith.