Gift of Healing

Biblical Text

In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul explains that the Holy Spirit distributes various gifts, and he names "the gifts of healing by the same Spirit" as one of them (1 Corinthians 12:9). The gift also appears in verses 28 and 30 of the same chapter. The question in verse 30, "have all the gifts of healing?", is understood to mean that not every believer receives this gift. The Korean term sinyu (神癒), a Sino-Korean word meaning "God's healing of disease," does not occur in the biblical text; it is a term used in the church.

Terminology

The Greek original is charismata iamatōn (χαρίσματα ἰαμάτων). Because both words, "gifts" and "healings," are plural, some interpreters take the phrase to refer to various kinds of healing, while others take it to refer to individual acts of healing granted on particular occasions.

Meaning in the Whole of Scripture

In the Old Testament, God reveals himself as "the LORD that healeth thee" (Exodus 15:26). The Old Testament also records how Elijah and Elisha raised dead children to life and how Naaman was healed of leprosy. In the Gospels, the healings performed by Jesus Christ appear as signs that the kingdom of God has come. The Twelve, whom Jesus sent out, also healed the sick (Mark 6:13). In Acts, Peter raises up a lame man at the Beautiful Gate of the temple (Acts 3), and Paul heals the father of Publius on the island of Malta (Acts 28:8).

Paul, however, left his coworker Trophimus sick at Miletus (2 Timothy 4:20). He also wrote that Epaphroditus was "sick nigh unto death" (Philippians 2:27), and he says that his own "thorn in the flesh" was not removed (2 Corinthians 12:7-10). James 5:14-15 instructs the sick to call for the elders of the church, who are to anoint them with oil and pray over them.

Interpretation and Points of Debate

Whether this gift continues today is a central issue in the debate between cessationism and continuationism.

• Cessationism: Some in the Reformed tradition hold this position; its leading representative is B. B. Warfield. Cessationists hold that sign gifts such as healing ceased once they had fulfilled their role of confirming the revelation of the gospel in the apostolic age. They do not, however, deny that God can heal in answer to prayer. What they deny is that a gift bestowed on particular individuals as an abiding ability still exists today.
• Continuationism: Pentecostalism and the charismatic movement hold that this gift continues today. Divine healing is also part of the Fourfold Gospel of the Holiness Church (regeneration, sanctification, divine healing, and the Second Coming) and of the Fivefold Gospel of the Full Gospel churches.
• Healing and the atonement: Some Pentecostal groups, citing Isaiah 53:5 and Matthew 8:17, hold that healing is included in Christ's atonement. Those who disagree hold that the complete restoration of the body will take place at the resurrection.

The text does not say that a person who has received this gift can heal whenever he or she wishes. Nor does it say that failure to be healed results from a lack of faith. Those who object to such claims point to the cases of Paul's coworkers noted above. Many denominations have also warned against the teaching that believers should refuse medical care and seek divine healing alone.

In the Korean Church

In the 1920s, Kim Ik-du became widely known for his healing ministry at revival meetings, which provoked debate between supporters and critics within the Presbyterian Church. Thereafter, prayer mountain gatherings, prayer with the laying on of hands, and divine healing meetings became one strand of the revival movement in the Korean church. The Full Gospel movement led by David Yonggi Cho also emphasized divine healing. At the same time, exaggerated claims of healing at some meetings and the linking of healing to monetary offerings have drawn criticism both inside and outside the church.