Question: Does every Christian have the power to cast out demons and heal sickness?

question and answer

Question: In the recent lead article by Dave Hunt [February 2025], he says, "So by the gift of healing, the disciples could loose the sick from their bondage to illness; and by casting out demons they loosed souls from that form of bondage. Every Christian has the power, in the name of Jesus (as He would and to His glory), to do the same today." So, TBC thinks every Christian today has the power of Jesus and the disciples to heal the sick and cast out demons? If so, why isn't this happening all the time? I think you are wrong on this one.

Response: The issue regarding what Dave Hunt said is not the question. Rather, did he quote the Scriptures correctly and in context? You ask: "So TBC thinks every Christian today has the power of Jesus and the disciples to heal the sick and cast out demons? If so, why isn't this happening all the time?"

As Dave wrote: "The promise of having from the Father what two or three agree upon echoes Christ's similar promises concerning prayer, such as, 'Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you' (Matt:7:7). All of these promises—binding and loosing, agreeing upon a request, or simply believing—seem very much alike. But what is meant? Christ surely does not mean that no matter what we bind, loose, agree upon, or ask, God will grant it like an overly indulgent grandparent. It is axiomatic that God has not turned His universe or mankind over to us to do with as we will.

"James declares that God, far from giving us a blank check, does not indulge our selfish desires: ‘Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts’ (Jas 4:3). John writes, ‘And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight…if we ask anything according to his will…we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him’ (1 Jn:3:22, 5:14-15)."

Consequently, those in the Third World Nations today where the gospel is now reaping greater numbers of the saved bear a likeness to the history of the church in its early days. Yet, even in our nation, there is a growing number of individuals who have come to the Lord through the intervention of the Holy Spirit operating in ways some have not more recently seen.

In short, with today's growing interest in the occult by our citizens, there certainly is a need for the Lord to do as He did in the early church. And, He does so in His time, place, and reason in using those who are available.