Question of the Week #8: What is Centre Church’s position on Divine Healing?
Some churches rarely mention it. Others act like it’s always guaranteed if you just have enough faith. There are all these different positions. So the question is, where do we land as a church?
The simple answer is somewhere in between. Our position is that we believe God heals today. We believe that He heals both by natural and supernatural means. BUT we don’t believe that healing is always guaranteed, at least not on this side of eternity.
So let’s unpack that. In Exodus 15:26 God reveals one of His names. He’s Jehovah Rafa — “I am the Lord who heals you.” And the Old Testament is full of divine healing. God heals people like Miriam in Numbers 12. He heals Hannah in 1 Samuel 1. And He even raises the dead through Elijah and Elisha in 1 and 2 Kings. We could look at countless other examples, but the point is this: healing litters the pages of the Old Testament. That’s really good news.
And then Jesus enters the scene, and healing becomes this massive part of His ministry, as I’m sure you know. He heals the blind in John 9. He heals the lame in Mark 2. He heals the demon-oppressed in Mark. And He even raises the dead in John 11. We could go on and on — you’ve probably thought of a whole bunch of other verses too.
Sometimes Jesus heals in response to great faith, like in Mark 5. And sometimes He heals despite faith — with little or no faith — which we also see in the Bible. Jesus commands His followers in Matthew 10 to heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those with leprosy, and drive out demons. And then after Jesus’s death, resurrection, and ascension, we see divine healing continue. We see it in Acts 3, Acts 5, Acts 9 — all over the early church.
And by James 5, we see some really specific instruction about healing:
“Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will make the sick person well.”
All of that to say, we believe that healing continues today. We see it throughout the Bible, we see it in the early church, and we believe that the gifts of the Spirit — which include healing — continue today. And because 1 Corinthians 14:1 commands us to, we’re striving to be a people who eagerly desire those gifts.
Now, we want to be really careful here. We don’t believe that healing is formulaic. Jesus always healed in different ways — we think that’s on purpose. We also recognize that healing isn’t always immediate.
Let me give you some examples. Paul healed many people, but in 2 Timothy 4 he left someone called Trophimus sick in a city called Miletus. In 2 Corinthians 12 we learn that Paul had his own thorn in the flesh. We don’t know exactly what that means, but he asked God to remove it — and God, for some reason, said no. Paul also told Timothy to take a little wine for his frequent stomach issues, which implies that he didn’t always receive healing. So people didn’t always receive healing, even in the New Testament.
Jesus Himself could have healed everyone. At the pool of Bethesda, He could have healed all the sick people there, but He only healed one man. So healing didn’t always happen, even in Jesus’s ministry.
What does that mean? It means that no, we don’t believe healing is guaranteed if you just have enough faith. Some churches teach that, but that’s not our position. We believe that God loves to heal, but that healing doesn’t always come this side of heaven. Healing will come when we experience the new heaven and the new earth with Jesus.
Now, I want to say this: faith matters. BUT divine healing is not a transactional thing. It’s not some kind of spiritual vending machine where you put your prayers in and healing comes out on the other side. That’s not what we believe. God is sovereign. He heals as He wills, in His timing, and always for His glory. Sometimes He heals instantly. Sometimes gradually. Sometimes not until we get to the other side of eternity. BUT we do believe that there will come a day when every believer will be fully and totally healed.
And of course, that’s our hope. That’s what we stand on — knowing that Revelation 21 tells us there will be no more death, or mourning, or crying, or pain. And we long for that day.
We’re not there yet. But with all that in mind, we are still going to pray fervently at Centre Church for healing. We believe that divine healing is available today. That means we as elders love to anoint with oil as we’re commanded in James 5. It means we trust in God’s power to heal — but most importantly, we trust His character.
We believe in a God who is still healing today. And we ask with faith, love, and humility for the Healer to heal us. But we long for the Healer more than we long for the miracle.
And with all that in mind, over the last year or two, we’ve seen incredible miracles. We’ve seen broken legs healed. We’ve seen bad backs mended. We’ve seen all sorts of healings. And it would be our pleasure to pray for you. We would love to pray with you and for you, and to believe for a miracle with you.
By God’s grace, we’ve seen amazing things — and we want to see so much more. We are praying desperately to be a place where God heals supernaturally, in His great name. We hope you’ll join us as we strive for divine healing together.
See you for next week’s question of the week! If you have any questions you’d love for us to cover, contact us as info@wearecentrechurch.ca
