MODERN MIRACLES (Part 3: Not Enough Faith)
What happens when the ‘faith healer’ cannot perform a miracle? Often times, the miracle worker will blame the person who needs help and say that the person does not have enough faith! Are miracles of healing dependent on the faith of the individual? Some conclude that miracles cannot be given to those who have no faith, or even a weak faith, which is why they are called faith healers. They only heal those who have enough faith to convince themselves they are healed. Such accusations seem to convince most people who believe in modern miracles but let the studious Bible reader look a bit closer.
Advocates of faith-based miracles will use Matthew 9:22: “But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour.” The woman who had an “issue of blood” for twelve years was healed by her faith in Christ. Also, examine Matthew 9:28-29: “And when he was come into the house, the blind men came to him: and Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this? They said unto him, Yea, Lord. Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you.” There exist plenty of examples of Jesus healing people based on their faith!
So, are these examples enough to conclude that all miracles of healing are faith-based, and one cannot be healed except the individual possess a faith to make it so?
If there exists even one example of a miracle worker healing a non-believer, then such a proposition is false. Plenty of biblical evidence suggests that miracle workers can heal those with strong faith, but does the Bible reveal evidence that a miracle worker can heal those without faith or heal those with little faith?
An examination of the ministry of Jesus reveals that He healed as many people that had no faith, as He did believers. Sometimes He required faith, other times He did not. Multitudes were healed by Christ’s grace and mercy because of His love and most importantly to show the people who He was (Matt 14:14). Christ used miracles and allocated others to perform miracles through the Holy Spirit to convince and persuade the skeptical observer that what was preached was indeed divine truth (Heb. 2:3-4). He did not only use miracles to reward the strong in faith.
- In John 18:10, Peter cut off the ear of Malchus, Jesus healed Malchus. Malchus professed no faith, and it is unlikely that Malchus had faith considering he was there to arrest Jesus and put him to trial for blasphemy and lies. Jesus heals a man who has no faith, and if Malchus did have faith it was very weak (John 12:42-43).
- Luke 8:26-39 reveals Christ healing a demoniac of Gadarene without asking about his faith and before the demoniac was capable of expressing his faith.
- In John 5:1-15, (v.3) multitudes were gathered at the pool of Bethsaida to be healed, Jesus initiated a conversation and asked a man at the pool of Bethsaida if he wanted to be made well. His answer was that there was no one to carry him to the pool. The lame man had no faith in Jesus; he didn’t even know it was Jesus who healed him until later (v.12-13).
- Consider also the apostles of Christ. The lame man at the Gate beautiful was not seeking healing but money, he had no faith. John and Peter might have walked by this man a number of times to the temple, but on this certain day, they were moved to raise him up from his sick bed. They performed a miracle of healing on someone who had no profession of faith (Acts 3:2-6).
True supernatural healings do not always require faith; it’s bestowed in mercy by the power of God. Christ and the miracle workers in the Bible never needed anyone to convince themselves the miracle worked or even happened. On more than one occasion, those who Christ or His apostles healed never saw it coming. The miracle took them by surprise. No faith needed.
The healings that are from God are always 100% successful, without always requiring strong faith of the recipient, without any relapses, and are almost always immediate. However, fabricated and psychological healings often require physical contact, the healed can have relapses, and faith healers do not heal organic disorders, and the miracles are not usually immediate. Besides requiring a person to convince themselves that they are healed, such common discrepancies would prove a ‘faith healer’ to be a fraud!
Modern faith healers claim you must keep your faith for your healing to be maintained or the devil will come and steal it. Nowhere is the healing of God described in this way. Real miracles are under God’s control with or without the use of man; false miracles always come by mans’ hands and are done by their own dictates.