Gifts of Healing

In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul speaks about various gifts that the Lord gives to the Ecclesia. In chapter twelve, he lists a number of them. Then, in chapter thirteen, he points to the temporary nature of various gifts, such as prophecy and “languages.” “whether prophecies, they will be discarded, or languages, they will cease.” While faith, expectation, and love would remain (13:13), these gifts would cease once the Ecclesia had become “mature” (“the perfect” in 13:10). This phase began with the full revelation of the Secret and the completion of the Word of God. But that is not what I wanted to discuss further in this blog post.

What I want to focus on are the gifts of healing that Paul mentions in chapter 12 (verses 9, 28, and 30). Usually, these are understood as referring to miraculously healing others. But that is not what it says at all. God gives some the gift of healing, that is, He heals some. Health is a gift, and when a believer recovers from an illness, he or she has received the gift of healing.

This gift, therefore, is entirely distinct from the healing ministry connected with Israel’s repentance, which is spoken of in the Gospels and Acts (see Matthew 10:5-8).

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