Bible study notes

Healing

What the healings in Scripture have in common, what a sick person is told to do, why healing sometimes doesn’t come, and how the gift of healing and the baptism of the Holy Spirit fit in.

God as healer

Healing is part of who God reveals Himself to be. After the Red Sea, He names Himself Yahweh Rapha: “I am the LORD who heals you” (Exodus 15:26). The psalmist praises Him as the one “who forgives all your iniquities and heals all your diseases” (Psalm 103:3).

Sickness is not part of God’s original design. It entered with the fall (Genesis 3) and will be gone in the end, when “there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain” (Revelation 21:4). Every healing in between is a preview of that future, a sign that the kingdom of God has broken in (Matthew 12:28; Luke 10:9).

Isaiah 53:5 says “by His stripes we are healed,” and Matthew 8:16–17 applies Isaiah 53:4 to Jesus’s healing ministry. Christians agree the cross is the ground of all healing. They differ on whether physical healing is guaranteed now, or fully secured only at the resurrection of the body (Romans 8:23; 1 Corinthians 15:42–44).

The healings, looked at together

The Gospels and Acts record around forty specific healings, plus many summaries like “healed all the sick” (Matthew 8:16). Laying a representative set side by side shows how varied they are:

Who	Whose faith?	How	Reference
Leper	His own: “If You are willing”	Touch and word	Mark 1:40–42
Paralytic let through the roof	His friends’	Forgiveness, then command	Mark 2:1–12
Centurion’s servant	The centurion’s	Word from a distance	Matthew 8:5–13
Woman with bleeding	Her own	She touched His garment	Mark 5:25–34
Jairus’s daughter	Her father’s, wavering	Took her hand	Mark 5:21–43
Boy with a spirit	Father: “help my unbelief”	Command; prayer	Mark 9:14–29
Man at Bethesda	None shown; didn’t know who Jesus was	Command	John 5:1–15
Man born blind	None beforehand	Mud, then washing	John 9:1–7
Malchus’s ear	None; an enemy	Touch	Luke 22:50–51
Lame man at the temple	None asked; wanted money	Peter, in Jesus’s name	Acts 3:1–10
Aeneas	Not mentioned	Peter’s word	Acts 9:32–35
Lame man at Lystra	His own, seen by Paul	Paul’s command	Acts 14:8–10
Publius’s father	Not mentioned	Paul prayed, laid on hands	Acts 28:8

What this shows

No single formula. Jesus healed by word, touch, saliva, mud, at a distance, instantly and in stages (Mark 8:22–25). The method was never the point.
Faith often matters, but not always the sick person’s. Sometimes it was their own, sometimes a friend’s or parent’s, and sometimes nobody’s. Jesus did praise faith (“your faith has healed you,” Mark 5:34), and at Nazareth unbelief limited what He did (Mark 6:5–6).
The source is always God. Peter insisted the lame man was healed by Jesus’s name, not by “our own power or godliness” (Acts 3:12, 16).
Compassion drives it. Jesus “had compassion on them and healed their sick” (Matthew 14:14).
Healing points beyond itself. It authenticated Jesus’s message and called people to Him (John 20:30–31; Hebrews 2:3–4).

What a sick person is told to do

The one passage that directly instructs a sick believer is James 5:14–16:

“Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick.” (James 5:14–15)

Drawing it together with the Gospel pattern, a concise summary looks like this:

Come to Jesus and ask. The sick came, cried out, or were brought. “You do not have, because you do not ask” (James 4:2).
Trust Him, even with mixed faith. “I do believe; help my unbelief” was enough (Mark 9:24).
Call the elders of your church to pray and anoint with oil. Notice the sick person calls them; healing is placed in the life of the church, not left to the individual alone.
Confess sin and pray for one another (James 5:16). This doesn’t mean every illness is caused by sin, but it clears the way.
Keep praying. Elijah prayed seven times (1 Kings 18:42–44), and Jesus taught persistence (Luke 18:1).
Use medicine too. Scripture never sets the two against each other. Luke was a physician (Colossians 4:14), Paul advised Timothy to take wine for his stomach (1 Timothy 5:23), and the oil in James was also a common medicine of the day. Prayer and a doctor are not competitors.
Leave the outcome with God. Jesus Himself prayed, “not My will, but Yours be done” (Luke 22:42).

When healing doesn’t come

Scripture is honest that faithful people were not always healed:

Paul pleaded three times about “a thorn in my flesh.” God answered, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:7–9).
Trophimus was left ill at Miletus by Paul, an apostle who had healed many (2 Timothy 4:20).
Timothy had “frequent ailments” (1 Timothy 5:23).
Epaphroditus nearly died, and Paul called his recovery God’s mercy, not a guarantee (Philippians 2:25–27).
Elisha, through whom God raised the dead, himself fell sick and died of it (2 Kings 13:14).

Reasons Scripture gives or suggests

Unbelief can hinder (Mark 6:5–6; Matthew 17:19–20). But this is never turned into blame on the sick. Paul and Trophimus did not lack faith.
Unconfessed sin is sometimes connected (1 Corinthians 11:29–30; James 5:16). Yet Jesus flatly denied that the man born blind was sick because of anyone’s sin (John 9:2–3), and Job’s friends were rebuked for assuming it (Job 42:7).
Prayerlessness or spiritual battle. “This kind cannot come out, except by prayer” (Mark 9:29).
God’s larger purpose: humility and dependence (2 Corinthians 12:7), refined faith (1 Peter 1:6–7), comfort we can pass on to others (2 Corinthians 1:3–4).
Timing. Lazarus’s sickness was allowed to run its course “for the glory of God” (John 11:4–6).
The “not yet” of the kingdom. Our bodies are still wasting away while we wait for redemption (2 Corinthians 4:16; Romans 8:22–23). For a believer, death is the final healing (Philippians 1:21–23).

Must healing come through someone with the gift?

No. Paul lists “gifts of healing” (plural in Greek) among the Spirit’s gifts (1 Corinthians 12:9, 28), but Scripture shows healing coming through several channels:

Direct prayer to God by the sick person, as Hezekiah prayed and was given fifteen more years (2 Kings 20:1–6).
Elders of the church, a role defined by character, not by a healing gift (James 5:14; 1 Timothy 3).
Any believer. “Pray for each other so that you may be healed” (James 5:16). Mark 16:17–18 speaks of believers laying hands on the sick, though that passage is missing from the earliest manuscripts.
Those with a gift of healing, through whom God heals more often or more strikingly.

Paul also asks, expecting the answer no, “Do all have gifts of healing?” (1 Corinthians 12:30). Not everyone has the gift, but everyone can pray.

How does one receive the gift?

Gifts are given “as He determines” by the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:11); they are not earned. But Scripture does tell believers what they can do:

Desire it. “Eagerly desire spiritual gifts” (1 Corinthians 14:1), with the right motive, love for others (1 Corinthians 13).
Ask. “How much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” (Luke 11:13)
Laying on of hands by church leaders is one way gifts were imparted (1 Timothy 4:14; 2 Timothy 1:6).
Step out in obedience. Gifts are recognized by using them: praying for the sick and watching what God does.

Simon the sorcerer tried to buy the power to impart the Spirit and was sharply rebuked (Acts 8:18–24). A gift sought for status or profit is no gift at all.

Are healing gifts still active?

Christians answer this differently:

Continuationist

The gifts continue until Christ returns, when “the perfect” comes (1 Corinthians 13:8–12). Pentecostals, charismatics and many evangelicals hold this and expect healings today.

Cessationist

The sign gifts authenticated the apostles and the new revelation, and faded once Scripture was complete (2 Corinthians 12:12; Hebrews 2:3–4). God still heals in answer to prayer, but not through individuals with a standing miraculous gift. Many Reformed and some Baptist churches hold this.

Open but cautious

Gifts may continue, but claims should be tested carefully and humbly. A middle position common in many evangelical churches.

The baptism of the Holy Spirit

John the Baptist said Jesus “will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire” (Matthew 3:11). Jesus told the disciples to wait in Jerusalem until they were “clothed with power from on high” (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:5, 8), which happened at Pentecost (Acts 2). So yes, it is Jesus who baptizes in the Spirit. The question is when, and whether it is required for healing gifts.

Two main readings

A second experience after conversion

The Pentecostal and many charismatic view. The Samaritans believed and were baptized, yet received the Spirit later when Peter and John laid hands on them (Acts 8:14–17). The Ephesian disciples likewise (Acts 19:1–6). This baptism is an empowering for service, often accompanied by tongues, and opens the way to gifts like healing.

Received at conversion

The view of most Reformed, Baptist and many other evangelicals. “In one Spirit we were all baptized into one body” (1 Corinthians 12:13), and anyone without the Spirit does not belong to Christ (Romans 8:9). Every believer is baptized in the Spirit at new birth and is then repeatedly filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18; Acts 4:31). Acts 8 and 19 are seen as unique transition moments.

Both sides agree on a lot: the Spirit is given by Jesus, received by faith, and meant to make believers bold, holy and fruitful. Both agree believers should seek to be continually filled. And in Scripture, Stephen and Philip, not only the apostles, did signs, and both are described as “full of the Spirit” (Acts 6:3–8; 8:6–7).

How to receive it

Whichever reading you hold, Scripture’s directions are the same:

Repent and believe. “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ… and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38).
Ask the Father (Luke 11:13).
Come thirsty to Jesus. “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink” (John 7:37–39).
Receive by faith, not by works (Galatians 3:2, 5, 14).
Prayer and laying on of hands by mature believers is a biblical practice for this (Acts 8:17; 19:6).
Yield and obey. The Spirit is given “to those who obey Him” (Acts 5:32); don’t grieve or quench Him (Ephesians 4:30; 1 Thessalonians 5:19).

Summary

God is a healer, and healing is a sign of His kingdom.
There is no formula. Come to Jesus, ask in faith, call the elders, confess sin, keep praying, use medicine, and trust God with the outcome.
Healing doesn’t depend on finding a gifted person. Any believer can pray, and God answers.
When healing doesn’t come, it is not automatically someone’s fault. God’s grace is sufficient, and full healing is promised at the resurrection.
Gifts and the fullness of the Spirit come from Jesus, by asking and by faith. Christians differ on the timing and on whether healing gifts continue, so it’s worth knowing your own church’s teaching.

“He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. ‘By His stripes you are healed.’” (1 Peter 2:24)