Divine Healing

By Charles T. Crabtree

Diving healing is an integral part of the gospel. Deliverance from sickness is provided for in the Atonement, and is the privilege of all believers (Isaiah 53:4,5; Matthew 8:16,17; James 5:4-16). — One of four defining truths of the Assemblies of God.

Something tragic has taken place in the name of God. The great biblical doctrine of divine healing has been so abused that many have abandoned its benefits.

This article will identify errors surrounding divine healing and deal with the scriptural principles, patterns and promises of the doctrine.

Errors concerning divine healing

1. The gifts of healing were a temporary sign gift to establish the authority of the apostles, but spiritual gifts no longer play a role in the Church.

This concept has absolutely no basis in Scripture. On the contrary, we are encouraged to seek earnestly the best gifts. According to James, part of the elders’ role in the church is to pray and anoint the sick with oil for the purpose of divine healing. Healing of the sick is one of the signs Jesus said would follow believers (Mark 16:17,18).

Jesus is still in the healing business. The day of miracles is not past.

2. It is God’s will for me to be sick.

The Bible teaches that the physical body is corrupt or mortal because of sin. Sin brought a curse upon this world. But it is not God’s will for His people to live under the curse. In fact, He is building a city where there is no curse.

3. Everyone should be healed right now because healing is in the Atonement.

The atonement of Jesus Christ paid for the redemption of mankind. He took our punishment and suffered so we could be healed. He shed His blood and died to complete the perfect work of redemption. Jesus Christ conquered Satan and arose as the firstfruits of those who die in Christ (1 Corinthians 15:20).

He forgave our sins by His sacrifice, but our redeemed souls are still dwelling in unredeemed bodies. We do, however, have the promise that one day we will have redeemed or glorified bodies. Romans 8:23 tells us: “We ourselves … groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies” (NIV).

Jesus Christ provided for our complete and eternal salvation on Calvary, signaled by His cry, “It is finished” (John 19:30). We can claim the redemption of our souls — total forgiveness from sin. Jesus Christ also provided complete and eternal healing for our bodies, but no one presently living on this planet has yet received a glorified body. No one on this earth has been totally removed from the consequences of the curse.

When we say, “Healing is in the Atonement,” we must remember that we have not yet seen the ultimate healing. Even those who have been miraculously healed have not been perfectly healed as yet. Salvation has come through Calvary, but we have not yet realized perfection in our body, soul, spirit or world.

4. All sickness is a result of sin in the one who is sick.

To say that all sickness is a result of the curse is biblical, but to say that all sickness is a result of sin in the person who is sick is not scriptural. Sickness might be a result of the consequences of sin, but nowhere did Jesus limit sickness to being the result of unconfessed sin.

If all sickness were a result of unconfessed sin, every time the Christian confessed sin in his life, known or unknown, he would be instantly healed. Such teachings bring condemnation, causing the believer to doubt his salvation and putting him in a place of failure through self, rather than a place of victory through Christ.

5. All faith healers are con artists.

To be technically accurate, we should probably call the legitimate faith healer a “faith builder” or a “Christ exalter,” because only Christ heals.

Jesus Christ has given many gifts to the Church. God has chosen unique people and ministries to edify the body of Christ. Some of these people have been given an extraordinary ability to build faith for healing through the Word. I resent anyone placing a whole group of people in one category, then dismissing the whole lot because of an unscrupulous few. There are legitimate God-given faith builders in His church.

To our sorrow, it is obvious there are men and women who are con artists. The Bible clearly says there will be those who will stand before the Throne and ask for entrance into heaven because they say they have healed the sick and cast out devils in His name. But God will tell them they are iniquitous workers and He never had anything to do with them (Matthew 7:22,23).

The Bible admonishes us to know those who minister among us for our own God-given protection. We should be more concerned about a man’s character than about his claims. Beware of anyone who asks for your allegiance. No man can be a substitute for your own faith in the Man of Galilee.

The scriptural basis for divine healing

1. The person of God.

It is within God’s character to heal. As a matter of fact, one of the names of God is Jehovah-Rapha, or “The Lord that healeth.”

When the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, He healed the sick. The divine Healer set people free from every incurable disease known to man. No sickness stymied His ability to heal. The blind received their sight, the dumb spoke, and the lame and paralyzed were given strong, healthy limbs. The awful scourge of leprosy was lifted time and again, the high fever was checked and the temperature returned to normal, the issue of blood was dried up by a touch, and the withered hand was stretched out and made whole. Funeral processions were interrupted and changed to resurrection parades, the demons of hell were evicted from their habitations, and epileptic seizures were silenced.

This same Jesus is alive today. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. In Matthew 28:20, He said, “Lo, I am with you always.”

2. The promise of God.

We have sound, scriptural reasons for believing in divine healing. When Jesus gave His disciples the Great Commission, He also gave them the power to cast out demons and heal all manner of sickness. Jesus said, “I give unto you power” (Luke 10:19). The word “power” here is the word dunamis — the same power given to the Church at Pentecost, and the same power He has promised to His church in all ages.

Jesus gave the disciples the authority to use His name; it was His power of attorney. When someone is given the power of attorney, he is authorized by that person to act in his place. Jesus Christ has given believers the authority to use His name in His place, during His physical absence (Mark 16:17,18).

Jesus also promised healing through the anointing of oil and the laying on of hands:

“Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: and the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up” (James 5:14,15). That promise doesn’t sound like our Healer has decided to resign.

Jesus also provided gifts of healing to benefit the human body. When God answers prayer, He often uses the natural functions of the body to restore healing. He starts a trend toward health rather than sickness — this is a gift of healing. However, there are times when He chooses to supersede the natural healing process and instantly makes the person whole — this is a miracle of healing.

3. The pattern of divine healing.

God’s pattern of divine healing was established in the New Testament church and follows the teaching of our Lord Jesus. The ultimate purpose and object of healing is not to avoid a problem or to relieve pain, but to bring glory and honor to Jesus. The fundamental reason for healing is the same as the reason for the gift of the Holy Spirit: to make Jesus known.

The means of healing is through faith. You cannot be good enough, and you cannot work hard enough for it. The means is faith, and the object is Jesus. God has provided, but faith is the means whereby we take what God has promised and act accordingly.

The methods of healing are not limited. We see the pattern in the Early Church. The disciples exercised faith by a simple word and command. People were healed through fasting and prayer. People were healed by anointing handkerchiefs and aprons with oil. People were healed when Peter’s shadow passed over them. People were healed by the laying on of hands.

What is the Word trying to communicate? God will use any method, but it is up to us to simply exercise faith in His name and for His glory.

God still heals today.

Adapted from This I Believe (Springfield, Mo.: Gospel Publishing House, 1982). Used by permission.

Charles T. Crabtree is assistant general superintendent of the Assemblies of God.

A Slow Journey on a Chosen Road

Editor’s note: Since publication of the following article in the Nov. 14, 2004, issue of TPE, much has happened in Steve Kramer’s life. While itinerating in January 2005 to raise missionary funds, he met his future wife, Julie, in Medford, Ore. They wed in June 2005. The couple arrived in the Netherlands in July 2006.

The Kramers completed a year of Dutch language school while simultaneously pastoring a Chi Alpha group in their Leiden home each week. The group eventually grew to 25 students. Then the missionaries began helping a church in Groningen with a new Chi Alpha chapter, handing leadership of Chi Alpha Leiden to missionary associate Emma Hansen. In the summer of 2007, the Kramers accepted an assignment as the first national directors of Chi Alpha Campus Ministries in the Netherlands.



A Slow Journey on a Chosen Road

By John W. Kennedy

When Steve Kramer entered the world in 1973, doctors gave his young parents little hope for survival of their first baby, born 11 weeks premature.

“If he lives, you’ll be fortunate,” a physician told Randy Kramer, 21 and in the Air Force, and his wife, Linda, just 18. It was an era before medical technology could do much to save small-weight infants. Steve’s weight dipped below three pounds and repeatedly he suffered breathing apnea because of underdeveloped lungs. When his heart monitor stopped, a nurse vigorously tugged on a string tied to his leg to jostle the boy into breathing again.

Those touch-and-go early days also put a strain on Randy and Linda, who lived in Arizona. They were visiting Linda’s parents in Placerville, Calif., when she went into premature labor. The closest hospital that would treat preemies was in Sacramento, and for the first two months they had to make a 100-mile round trip to see their son in a hospital incubator.

When Steve turned 6 months old, the family moved to the Azores, a group of islands 800 miles west of the coast of Portugal. The parents grew concerned when their 9-month-old baby couldn’t sit up and had difficulty grasping toys.

The mounting pressures of marrying young — Linda had been 16, Randy 19 — the growing medical concerns over Steve and the rigorous military life took a toll on the Kramers. The couple separated for 6 months and contemplated divorce.

But a trip to a U.S. military hospital in West Germany unified them. Upon hearing physicians diagnose his son with cerebral palsy, Randy, who had been raised in a strong Christian home, recommitted his life to Christ and thus preserved the marriage. Doctors told the Kramers that their son would never walk.

From that point on, the Kramers stuck together.

Steve’s parents always included him in family activities. They let him go at his own pace, which resulted in him becoming more independent-minded. And Steve didn’t set limits on himself.

“My family never treated me like I was disabled,” Kramer says. “My parents knew that the limitations others set on me weren’t what God planned. God knew before I was born what purposes He had for me. God doesn’t look at the doctor’s chart before He calls you.”

Today, Kramer is one of 764,000 people in the United States with cerebral palsy. Usually the condition is caused by brain damage during fetal development, affecting a person’s ability to adequately control body movement and muscle coordination.

But overcoming difficulties has been something Kramer has done with great regularity. In fact, his impressive career almost makes it seem as though he had been born with a silver spoon in his mouth. The handsome, articulate, good-natured, extroverted young man has pursued and realized his dreams of becoming a television news anchor, associate pastor and now, itinerating missionary.

Certainly an upbeat attitude and stick-to-itiveness have contributed to his achievements. But more importantly, Kramer’s faith in Christ has helped him accomplish goals rather than despair about limitations he faces.

PAINFUL CHILDHOOD

The Kramers returned to California just after Steve’s first birthday. By age 13, Steve had undergone a dozen surgeries on his legs, knees and hips in attempts to loosen stiff spastic muscles. Sometimes he would be in a body cast up to his chest, hospitalized for months at a time. At night his legs would be in splints.

When it came time for Steve to enter school he and his parents had a new battle to fight: prejudice. His parents vociferously, and ultimately successfully, argued for Steve’s inclusion in a public school program. Steve’s teacher, counselor and superintendent had all sought to place him in a school for the disabled. Because of the cerebral palsy, Steve’s movements appeared uncoordinated, prompting classmates to tease him cruelly and even throw rocks at him. Unlike God, people often tend to judge mental capacity by physical appearance. Steve did need to repeat kindergarten, but it was primarily because he spent most of the first year in hospital rooms rather than the classroom.

Steve lived most of his childhood in a wheelchair, on crutches or using a walker. After completing intensive and painful physical therapy, he would improve — only to face another operation which doctors deemed necessary.

Although Steve committed his life to Jesus as his Savior at age 5, four years later he felt overwhelmed as to why God allowed his pain and suffering. “My dad told me, ‘You can know God is good, whatever you go through,’ ” Steve recalls. “That has been the foundation of my life.”

His parents were a constant encouragement. “I would never trade a bad set of legs for a bad set of parents,” Steve says. “God has always blessed me with incredible favor even in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds.”

“It’s always been amazing to me that Steve did not become embittered,” Randy says. “Instead of getting angry at God when bad things happen, he has allowed the Lord to build his character.”

The Kramers ultimately found the operations to be more experimental than helpful. When Steve was 13, he had a wedge removed from his left femur and replaced by a steel plate. Immediately afterwards, medical specialists told the family that Steve needed a similar operation on the right femur or he would never walk. At this point Steve’s parents allowed their son to make a life-changing decision.

Steve had recently sensed a specific call by God to become a missionary to the Netherlands. He believes that sense of divine leading helped him focus on a difficult choice. “I believe God knew I would need it to carry me through the tough times,” he now recalls. At 13, Steve determined he would consent to no more operations.

Randy asked members of Highland Assembly of God in Bakersfield (now Canyon Hills Assembly) to pray for a healing so that yet another corrective surgery wouldn’t be necessary.

Six weeks later, X-rays revealed that the right femur had returned to its socket. Doctors couldn’t account for the reason.

“One of my regrets is that I should have prayed more instead of automatically conceding to surgeries,” says Randy, whose faith increased from that point. He went to Bible college and spent 15 years as a pastor.

Soon after the femur healing, the Kramers were at the beach and a giant wave came ashore. The receding water washed Steve’s crutches out to the ocean, never to be seen again. Steve saw it as divine intervention. Since then he has walked on his own ability.

OVERCOMING DIFFICULTIES

Kramer lives independently, but he isn’t against practical help. “A shoe lift didn’t come out with me when I was born,” he says. And there are limitations. He becomes fatigued after a mile of walking. Stairs are difficult to negotiate because of trying to keep his balance.

“I am disabled,” says Kramer. “It’s noticeable when I look into a full-length mirror. But God can be glorified through weaknesses.”

Kramer graduated from the University of Oregon with a broadcast journalism degree. He served sports reporting internships for NBC affiliates in Yuma, Ariz.; Eugene, Ore.; and Seattle.

God then opened doors full-time in television, a medium not known for welcoming the physically disabled. Kramer spent two years as a news anchor for the CBS affiliate in Coos Bay, Ore.

Kramer had hoped to become a professional sports announcer, but his desires were changing. He saw how much ministry transformed his father’s life.

When Kramer heard David Lee, then-director of International Media Ministries, speak at a church missions convention, he felt God calling him again to missions. At Lee’s invitation, Kramer left a promising future in television news and went to work for IMM in Belgium for 15 months. He wrote scripts and narrated videos for IMM. In his spare time he ministered to refugees and homeless people in Brussels.

“In spite of his training in the TV and radio profession, Steve’s number one passion has always been evangelism,” says Lee, now U.S. Relations director for Assemblies of God World Missions. “He is bold about sharing the gospel one-on-one on the streets.”

After his stint with IMM, Kramer moved to Springfield, Mo., where he graduated from Assemblies of God Theological Seminary with a master’s degree in theological studies in 2002. His thesis, based on Philippians 1:29, explored how suffering can be a gift from God.

Kramer served as associate pastor for a year and a half at Abundant Life Assembly of God in North Salt Lake City, Utah.

“Steve has a real good heart for starting ministries that most people don’t really care about,” says Abundant Life Pastor Alex Lucero. “He started helping at a rescue mission here and passed that ministry on to someone else when he left.”

PREPARING FOR MISSIONS

Kramer is now based in Jefferson, Ore., where his parents live. The Kramers have three younger children, all born without complications.

“I always saw great potential in Steve,” says Linda, a county sheriff’s correctional sergeant. “We never wanted him to think he couldn’t do anything, mentally or physically, that he set his heart to do. Other people see that he’s disabled. We don’t see that.” Linda Kramer went to college, even though she never finished high school.

In 2004, Kramer received approval to become an Assemblies of God world missionary in preparation to work with Chi Alpha and church planters in Amsterdam.

“Steve will find a place where there is a real need and that’s what will drive him,” says Lucero, who has been pastor of Abundant Life for 16 years.

Already, Kramer has led three Chi Alpha short-term teams to the Netherlands. Being robbed at knifepoint the first week of his first visit didn’t deter him.

“I’m the last guy who should be leading a street evangelism team through the red-light district,” Kramer says. “I walk half the speed of everybody else.”

Greg Mundis, Europe regional director for Assemblies of God World Missions, recognizes that Kramer takes longer to do some tasks but says that’s not a problem.

“Steve has exhibited an incredible amount of tenacity in the face of obstacles,” Mundis says. “He demonstrates a positive attitude in facing the challenges of life that most don’t experience. He will bring a dimension into his missionary career that few of us have because he knows what it means to endure.”

Mundis finds it especially fitting that Kramer will be living in Holland, which in 2001 became the world’s first country to legalize euthanasia, in part as “mercy killing” for the disabled. “That will provide an added dimension to what Steve can contribute to that society,” Mundis says.

Kramer works out regularly in a gym and believes he’s in the best physical shape of his life.

“But if I have to go back into a wheelchair someday it won’t dampen my testimony,” he says. “The eternal things are more important.”

John W. Kennedy is news editor of Today’s Pentecostal Evangel.

Divine Healing Painting By Ron DiCianni

Read this post from the Surrendered Scribe blog for an example of how Ron's paintings on the four defining truths of the AG have impacted lives.