Objection: Sometimes God Withholds Healing in His Love Because He Knows That If a Person Were Instantly Healed, He Would Backslide

This is yet another lame attempt to explain, “Why are some people not healed when they pray or are prayed over?”  It tries to turn the failure to receive healing into a “good” thing, which it never truly is.

This mere human conjecture is contrary to Jesus’ ministry, where He was always willing to heal them ALL.  Don’t you suppose that there were some in those crowds who might backslide?  He was obviously willing to take that chance.  Judas was involved on the SENDING end of the healings, and he did far worse than backslide.  Jesus didn’t withdraw his power so that he wouldn’t fall away – He LET him fall away.

Not everyone kept following Him or even showed any gratitude.  In one case where ten lepers were healed, only one even bothered to come back and thank Him.  But the others were healed anyway!

We have seen numerous instances of people who DID backslide after they were completely healed when we laid hands on them.  But the healing did not produce the backsliding; it was heart issues in the people.  And the Lord was just as willing to heal those people as He ever was to heal anyone – even though He knew that those people we laid hands on would backslide!  He’s gracious!

I’ve also known people who backslid after God prospered them – but that didn’t stop God from letting them enjoy divine prosperity for a season.  Unfortunately, prosperity fled when they didn’t maintain their walk with the Lord and they stopped seeking His kingdom first.

We see no case in Scripture where Jesus, who is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8), or any of His commissioned preachers in the New Testament, ever told someone, “NO, you can’t be healed because God knows you will backslide.”  If Jesus never did it then, He’ll never do it now.

There is also a second insidious conclusion if you go along with this objection, and that is that God makes determinations on a case-by-case basis whom He will heal.  He doesn’t!  He paid for EVERYONE to be healed when Jesus bore their diseases.  Healing is already legally THEIRS.  So God, being one who always operates legally under His covenants, cannot deny something to someone that is already theirs by grace.  There is no court in heaven making person-by-person decisions about healing.  Anyone can have it, whether he backslides later or not.  Jesus did not decide who could be healed when He healed them ALL in His earthly ministry, and He is not making such decisions today either.

Withholding healing based on future backsliding would put healing on a works basis, when it needs to be received by faith on a 100% grace basis.  But you cannot possibly pray in faith if you harbor thoughts that God might withhold your healing so that you don’t backslide!