God is sovereign and decides when and who to heal. Not according to Andrew Wommack...

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Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. - James 5:14-15 (ESV)

Charisma Magazine

It seems every few months we need to readdress the issue of the false doctrine of healing on demand. This is just one of many heresies within the Charismaniacal church today. It abuses scriptures to take the power God has to heal and bestow it upon man. Take note there that it is wholly correct that God still heals today. Even staunch cessationists agree with this. I think that biblical folks who believe in the Charismata, that is the gifts of the spirit, would likewise agree that our God most definitely heals. The rub is that apostate charismatics argue that God MUST heal or that He has now given this mighty power to man. This is unsurprising in that most of Charismania's sins rest in the age-old sin of Lucifer - trying to be God. Above is the latest in a never-ending stream of articles supporting such usurpation from Andrew Wommack. Let us reason once more together as we go through his thought process.

"A head-on collision, the jaws of life, a helicopter flight to the hospital, and thirty-one days in the ICU. The injuries were so extensive that Ken should have died. But his wife, Virginia, believed God, and a healing journey began. Had Carol sunk into an earthly pit so deep and dark that even Jesus' arms could not rescue her? At 290 pounds with a history of drugs, multiple abortions, and abuse, if Jesus couldn'tor wouldn'tsave her, she knew she would die. After years of severe headaches, twelve-year-old Scott was healed and then diagnosed with a rare disease. He had Barrett's esophagus, a life-threatening condition unheard of in children. The story of a little girl's miracle opened the door to his healing. Merci's multiple sclerosis progressively worsened. Unable to work, drive, or even walk, she had come to the end. "What am I doing wrong, Lord? Why am I not healed?" The answer would change her life. The ultrasound showed fluid on the brain, flattened facial features, calcium deposits in the heart, and moreall symptoms of Down's syndrome. The doctor recommended abortion, but the parents believed God! These five stories have been documented and recorded on a new DVD called Healing Journeys, Volume 2. They are all stories of the power of God's Word working in the lives of people who gained a revelation of what God had already done for them through Jesus. Every one of them is a Healing Journey that will touch your life." - Andrew Wommack

These sound like five wonderful stories of healing and faith. When God is left in His sovereignty, anything is possible. Where Wommack goes off the rails as usual is in assuming the result of the healing was due to the people who gained this revelation of what God has already done. The insinuation is that if Virginia, in the first example, had not received this revelation then God would have let Ken die. Is God not God alone? Is He not sovereign over His creation? Here is today's deep theology - God does not need our help in anything. Certainly, faith matters but it is God who decides. For every five of these stories there are 500 where healing never came. Who ends up shouldering the blame then? Just look at the third example and you see that Merci was blaming herself! What is worse, as we will see, the Andrew Wommack's of the world are forced to blame the victim as well once they have removed God from the equation. Could it just be that someone's time on this mortal coil has come to an end? Not when we fancy ourselves as little gods.

"Jesus used miracles like these as a dinner bell. He used them to prove He could forgive sin (Mark 2:10-12). God used them to authenticate Jesus and His message (Heb. 2:3-4). Jesus told His followers that they would do the same works He had done (John 14:12). He said that the preaching of His Word would be confirmed by signs and wonders (Mark 16:20). So why aren't we seeing greater manifestations of His healing? Aren't people still suffering from sickness? Doesn't Jesus love people today just as much as He did when He walked the earth? Don't believers still need to see demonstrations of His power? YES! Not only do we need the healing power of God today, but God wants to release that power. Hallelujah! However, healing isn't up to God alone. It isn't God who decides who gets healed and who doesn't. That's a radical statement, but it's true. And herein lies some of the greatest obstacles to receiving God's healing power." - Andrew Wommack

The works might be the same but the power also remains so. If Wommack had included verse 13 for context he would see that Jesus still insisted that they must ask for His will in His name. It is always about Jesus. The key of course is according to His will. Why aren't we seeing greater manifestations of His power? Wommack just cited five incredible stories of healing! Ahh but that is not enough for Charismaniacs. For them - everyone must be healed. Can you believe the arrogance in this heresy? Healing isn't up to God alone? It isn't God who decides who gets healed and who doesn't? Wommack thinks these statements are radical? No Andrew - they are heretical. Look at the feckless, impotent god Andrew Wommack serves. He wants to heal more. He really does but He can't because man has not decided to heal. What absolute garbage. Who is God in that scenario? We are.

"One of the worst doctrines in the body of Christ is the belief that God controls everything that happens. Fundamentalists/Evangelical Christians believe that God either controls or allows everything, and that Satan has to get His permission before he can do anything. That's a convenient theology because it absolves the individual of any personal responsibility. That's also the reason for its popularity. I know this may shock some people, but it's true: That belief will kill you. God's will doesn't automatically come to pass. We have to believe and cooperate with God to receive what He has provided for us, including our own salvation. Second Peter 3:9 says it isn't God's will for anyone to perish: "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." That's as plain as the Scripture can make it. It is not God's WILL for anyone to perish, but they do. In fact, Jesus said more people would enter through the broad gate unto destruction than enter through the narrow gate unto life (Matt. 7:13-14). God doesn't force salvation on people. People don't have to ask Jesus to save them; they just need to believe the nearly-too-good-to-be-true news that their sins are already forgiven and receive their salvation (Acts 16:31). The same thing is true of healing: God has already healed everyone, just as He has already paid for the forgiveness of everyone's sins." - Andrew Wommack

What? One of the worst doctrines is that God is in control? You want to know something scary? Andrew Wommack started his own bible college that now has over 50 locations. Of course, God either decrees or allows everything in His creation! Otherwise, He would not be God! Our personal responsibility is in our faith. It is what we believe about the God we serve. The power is all His but the faith is all ours. The problem with the view of Andrew Wommack is he views this as a partnership of equals or even in the case of healing, where man is in control. The reality is that I am not equal to God. I am nothing without Him. His is the power and the glory forever, not me. Yes, my faith in that matters but it does not elevate me anywhere near who He is. 2Peter 3:9 has nothing to do with physical healing. It is clear by the usage of repentance that the word perish is dealing with eternal death. If it truly were the will of God that no one would ever perish physically then no one would ever die.

Healing is already an accomplished work. First Peter 2:24 says, "Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed." Jesus isn't healing people todayhealing was given 2,000 years ago in Jerusalem when He took those stripes on His back. He hasn't, and won't, receive any more stripes. People today only receive through faith what has already been accomplished by Jesus thousands of years ago. The Scriptures don't tell us to pray for the sick, in the sense that we are powerless to minister healing to them. It's just the opposite: Jesus told US to HEAL the sick (Matt. 10:1, 8; Luke 9:1, and 10:9). There's a big difference between asking the Lord to heal people and healing them. Most Christians today are appalled at what I've just said. They think, Who do you think you are? Well, without Jesus, I am nothing (John 15:5), but the good news is that I'm not without Jesus! He will never leave me nor forsake me (Heb. 13:5). Hallelujah! Therefore, I can say with the Apostle Peter, "Such as I have give I thee" (Acts 3:6).

This is so sad. There are no scriptures that command us to pray for the sick? Read the key verses. Of course, we are to pray for the sick! Once again, we see Wommack usurping power that belongs to God alone and robbing Him of His sovereignty. Matthew 10:1 is Jesus giving the direct power to heal to His disciples, not to us. Luke 9:1 is the same story in a different gospel account. Luke 10 is when He sent out the 72. Again, these are not directions to us today. The James verse about praying for the sick is direction to the church today. It is telling that he admits that most real Christians will be appalled at what he has to say and that is because it is appalling. We know however who Andrew Wommack is. He is a heretic trying to steal the power of God. Like Lucifer desiring to ascend to the throne and Eve in the garden, the sin remains the same. God is sovereign. God can heal. God can also say no. The true test of faith is in still believing in the face of the answer being no.

"This is what Peter said when he ministered to the lame man in Acts 3. Peter didn't pray for this man. He didn't say, "O God, we can do nothing without You. Please heal this man if it is Your will." It's always God's will to heal (3 John 2). We don't ask and then wait and see. That's not believing His Word. Instead of beggars, we need to become believers who, knowing God's will, use our authority to heal. Talking and acting like that today will get us kicked out of most churches. After all, who do we think we are? That's not the way many Christians believe it's done. And that's one of the main reasons we don't see more of the healing power manifest that Jesus provided. I have prayed for thousands of people in my meetings across the country, and I have yet to see every person healed. It might be a problem in the heart of the one receiving prayer, or it might be something I don't understand in regards to that particular person. But one thing I know for sureit's not God. Healing is such an important issue that I'm beginning a six-week series on it on television in April. You won't want to miss it. I have also put together a special package to help you. I call it A Better Health-Care Package." - Andrew Wommack

Sigh. Peter was one of the disciples. Andrew Wommack was not. Just look at how vile and arrogant his presented scenario is. Mocking the notion that we can do nothing without God. Maybe Andrew needs to reread the Gospel of John:

I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing." - John 15:15 (ESV)

Andrew Wommack believes he is the vine. He is sorely mistaken. Asking God for His healing is not begging. That is a disgusting reference. It does however remind us who is God in our relationship. Asking reminds us that God alone decides. Praying reinforces that He is King and we are subjects to Him. Again, Wommack recognizes that most churches would not accept his evil teaching but unfortunately, I think he is wrong again. Far too many churches today readily accept other gospels such as this.

The truly sad thing is Wommack reveals the human damage he wreaks upon people with such bad theology. The assumption is that those who are not miraculously healed are themselves to blame for not being healed. The amount of guilt and doubt this burdens people with is not Christlike at all, whose yoke is easy and burden is light. Yet how often do we hear this teaching that blames the sick for their sickness? I am reminded about the woman in Kenneth Copeland's church dying of cancer who refused to seek medical help. She just continued raising her tithes and offerings the worse she got until she died. Do not fall for this insidious theology that shipwrecks the faith of those who are already suffering. God can heal but He is not forced to, no matter how much Andrew Wommack believes the opposite. Wommack is not God but He will answer to him one day. In that we can rest.

Reverend Anthony Wade - December 9, 2021

Authors Bio:
Credentialed Minister of the Gospel for the Assemblies of God. Owner and founder of 828 ministries. Vice President for Goodwill Industries. Always remember that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.