The Foundation of Laying on of Hands

According to the above mentioned scripture ‘Laying on of Hands’ is a first principle, but what does it entitle?

What happens when we believe?

And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. (Mark 16:17-18)

According to this one of the signs, that will follow believers, are that they will lay hands on the sick, and the sick will be healed.

Examples from The Bible

Right away a man with a serious skin disease came up and knelt before Him,saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” Reaching out His hand He touched him, saying, “I am willing; be made clean.”Immediately his disease was healed. (Matthew 8:2-3)

Then [Jesus] touched his eyes, saying, “Let it be done for you according to your faith!” (Matthew 9:29)

But this is Jesus… Your right, lets look at others as well:

So Ananias left and entered the house. Then he placed his hands on him and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road you were traveling, has sent me so that you can regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 9:17)

Publius’s father was in bed suffering from fever and dysentery. Paul went to him, and praying and laying his hands on him, he healed him. (Acts 28:8)

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. (James 5:14)

The last few were people just like you and me, filled with the Spirit of God. So we can also do these things. The last verse above gives every elder in the church the right to heal.

But is this everything that the ‘Laying on of Hands’ is about?

As I did more research on this foundation I found the following:

1 – Laying on of Hands to bless someone:

But Israel reached out his right hand and put it on Ephraim’s head, though he was the younger, and crossing his arms, he put his left hand on Manasseh’s head, even though Manasseh was the firstborn. (Genesis 48:14)

2 – Laying on of Hands to Impart gifts:

Do not neglect the gift that is in you; it was given to you through prophecy, with the laying on of hands by the council of elders. (1 Timothy 4:14)

3 – Laying on of Hands to commission someone:

So the Lord said to Moses, “Take Joshua son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit of leadership, and lay your hand on him. Have him stand before Eleazar the priest and the entire assembly and commission him in their presence. Give him some of your authority so the whole Israelite community will obey him. He is to stand before Eleazar the priest, who will obtain decisions for him by inquiring of the Urim before the Lord. At his command he and the entire community of the Israelites will go out, and at his command they will come in.” Moses did as the Lord commanded him. He took Joshua and had him stand before Eleazar the priest and the whole assembly.Then he laid his hands on him and commissioned him, as the Lord instructed through Moses. (Numbers 27:18-23)

They had them stand before the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them. (Acts 6:6)

Then after they had fasted, prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them off. (Acts 13:3)

4 – Laying on of Hands to receive the Holy Spirit:

Then Peter and John laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. (Acts 8:17)

 So Ananias left and entered the house. Then he placed his hands on him and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road you were traveling, has sent me so that you can regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 9:17)

And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began to speak in other languages and to prophesy. (Acts 19:6)

The catch of Laying on of hands

Now I also found an interesting part to the whole ‘Laying on of Hands’ foundation. I found it in 1 Tim 5:22:

Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, nor take part in the sins of others; keep yourself pure.(1 Timothy 5:22 (ESV))

Why is this the case and when? To see this we may need to check different translations…

Don’t be too quick to accept people into the service of the Lord by placing your hands on them. Don’t sin because others do, but stay close to God. (1 Timothy 5:22 (CEV))

Don’t be too quick to appoint anyone as an elder, and don’t share in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure. (1 Timothy 5:22 (HCSB))

Do not hurry to lay hands on anyone [ordaining and approving someone for ministry or an office in the church, or in reinstating expelled offenders], and thereby share in the sins of others; keep yourself free from sin. (1 Timothy 5:22 (AMP))

Don’t be hasty to ordain them with the laying on of hands, or you may end up sharing in their guilt should they fall. Keep yourself pure and holy with your standards high (1 Timothy 5:22 (TPT))

Now given all these translations, I can see that one thing is clear… We should listen clearly to Christ in any ever ministry or an office in the church, or in reinstating expelled offenders”, as this could lead us to share in their sin when they fall… We need to be sure that the person has matured in their relationship with Christ… In my opinion a good place to start with this is to check with others elders/leaders in the church before taking these actions…

A false believe

Now to be honest in the past I believed something that I recently found to be incorrect. I used to believe that laying on of hands does not just impart good, it can also impart the bad stuff, that if we struggle with forgiveness, then it is highly unlikely that we will pray for someone who struggles with forgiveness. Our struggle (or our sin) will make their struggle harder… BUT, I have recently realized that laying on of hands does not impart what we have... We impart what the Holy Spirit is, this means that healing, imparting, receiving the Holy Spirit, blessing someone,etc does not come from us. We are the ones that stand in alignment with what Christ does, and our laying on of hand should flow from being in alignment with Christ.

Now for the when?

In my opinion we can lay hands on people for HEALING and BAPTISM OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. In cases of commissioning people, Imparting Gifts and blessing someone, the laying on of hands is not a necessity. You could, if God leads you to it.

In cases of “ordaining and approving someone for ministry or an office in the church, or in reinstating expelled offenders”, what then? I believe this is something we need to approach mindfully. Rather trust on the Lord’s TIME to be sure we do not end up sharing in their sin.

God bless.