The Healing Promise, A Charismatic Response

¹¹ P. 99.

¹² P. 99.

¹³ Additionally, Mark 9:18, 28-29 teaches that some exorcisms would take some time to come to fruition.

¹⁴ See Php. 2:5-11; Jn. 5:19.

¹⁵ See MacArthur, The Charismatics, pp. 150-151.

¹⁶ It is equally true of the Apostles that they could not heal at will. See Acts 3:12.

¹⁷ This is even clearer when we consider the lack of documented medical evidence they could provide to back up the healings!

¹⁸ P. 108.

¹⁹ Mayhue goes so far as to describe healing in the book of Acts as “occasional”! (See p. 114.)

²⁰ Mayhue writes that “only six healings appear in all of Paul’s journeys (Acts 13-28).” (P. 109.). Reading such a statement in the light of the summary passages above leaves me somewhat disturbed. This is simply untrue and gives a false picture of what was taking place.

²¹ P. 112.

²² That is, what is authenticated is not the writing of scripture, but the preaching of the gospel—that good news that is Jesus himself. If signs were merely to authenticate scripture, why did God work through Philip in such a way?

²³ Cf. Isaiah 35:6-7; Luke 4:16-21. See also Turner, The Holy Spirit and Spiritual Gifts, pp. 244-250.

²⁴ As well as the quote above, see also p. 179.

²⁵ See Martin, 2 Corinthians, p. 436. One wonders what it might mean to do miracles with patience!

²⁶ Mark 13:22; 2 Thess. 2:9.

²⁷ Ibid., p. 434.

²⁸ Deere, p. 231. Emphasis mine.

²⁹ Gary S. Greig, The purpose of signs and wonders in the New Testament: what terms for miraculous power denote and their relationship to the gospel in Greig and Springer, The Kingdom and the Power. [Editor’s note: The Kingdom and the Power has been published serially at PneumaReview.com under the name, “The Power of the Cross.”]

³⁰ P. 112.

³¹ P. 112.

³² P. 113.

³³ Cf. Rom. 12:3-8; 1 Cor. 12-14; Eph. 4:1-16; 1 Thess. 5:19-22; 1 Peter 4:10-11.

³⁴ Power Ministry in the Epistles in Greig and Springer, p. 198.

³⁵ See also Matthew 17:16 which occur after Jesus had given the disciples power and authority over all demons and diseases (Mt. 10:1).

³⁶ This is, presumably, because until that point all of the gifts are needed for the Church to do and be that which she is called to.

³⁷ Mayhue, p. 181. See also Macarthur, p. 112-114.

³⁸ See Deere’s conclusive response to this argument. Pp. 253-266.

³⁹ Warfield included Daniel as a fourth time-period, but has not been followed by most cessationists. This is unfortunate for their position, because, “proportionally Daniel’s book contains more supernatural events than the books of Exodus through Joshua (the books dealing with the ministries of Moses and Joshua) and 1 Kings through 2 Kings 13 (the books dealing with the ministries of Elijah and Elisha).” (Deere, p. 263.)

⁴⁰ See Acts 3:12-13; 4:30.

⁴¹ See Ps. 74:9; 77:7-14.

⁴² It is impossible to defend such a claim. See the section, Apostolic healing above.

⁴³ D. A. Carson states that such an argument can only be defended “by the most strained exegesis” and goes on to insist, “Of course there is healing in the atonement. (Carson, Showing the Spirit, pp. 175-176.)

⁴⁴ Brown, Israel’s Divine Healer, p. 198. Matthew’s choice of words can be simply explained as by the fact that he is writing before the Cross.

⁴⁵ Turner, p. 257. Turner rejects the distinction made between “in” the atonement (meaning available now) and “through” the atonement, as unhelpful.

⁴⁶ In this sense, the Church has the awesome calling of providing a preview of life in God’s fully consummated Kingdom. Therefore, we would expect to see healing as a foretaste of what is to come.

⁴⁷ P. 135.

⁴⁸ Mayhue believes that this can be implied from the wider context of the chapter. However, I would want to argue that James is discussing a number of circumstances that believers may find them in and that it is an exegetical leap to read vv. 19-20 back into vv.14-15.

⁴⁹ As with the case of the paralytic in Mark 2:1-12, the act of calling someone to pray for one’s sickness seems to be taken as an act of repentance and humbly confessing one’s need of God.

⁵⁰ This argument is not quite completely conclusive. While kamno can refer to sickness where death is imminent, it can also simply refer to someone who is down-trodden or weary. Yet, I believe that the case is strengthened by the apparent fact that this sick person needs to call the Elders out to their bed-side.

⁵¹ Cf. Burdick, James, p. 204 and Swindoll, pp. 246-249. This is a point that Mayhue accepts, though he concludes that the way the words are used in James 5 is unique. See Mayhue, pp. 133-134.

⁵² See Deere, Anatomy of a deception [Available as of Dec 9, 2016], and Surprised by the Power of the Spirit, pp. 111-112.

⁵³ Isaiah 53:4 and James 5:14-16.

Tags: charismatic, featured, healing, promise, response

Category: Spirit, Winter 2005