This is the first sermon I’ll be reviewing in the “Unveiling Truth: The Dan Bohi Series.” If you haven’t done so yet, please read my opening blog post concerning the reason for this series. It will help you understand the basis for the series and give you my background information as it relates to Dan Bohi’s ministry.

Before I dive into the content of Dan Bohi’s sermon on healing titled “Why I Believe in Healing,” I’d encourage you to read my full treatment of Dan Bohi’s theology on healing, where I examine his book and review videos he’s posted online specifically addressing his theology. While many misconstrue discernment ministries as a means to create disunity, faithful discernment ministries shed light on false teaching in a way that brings truth and clarity to the church and promotes unity.

The Apostle Paul wrote to Titus concerning the issue of false teachers and his instructions for rebuking them. Paul writes in Titus 1:9, “He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.” Paul is describing the type of man who would be a qualified elder in the church and what they must do when unsound doctrine presents itself in the church.

I have included Dan Bohi’s sermon above for your review, and I encourage you to watch for yourself and to come to your own conclusions. I’ll outline his chief reasons for his healing theology and scripturally assess whether they have merit. I’ll include a description and a corresponding quote taken from the sermon as the basis for my response. Again, for a more thorough breakdown of Bohi’s healing theology, please click the hyperlink in the first sentence to be directed to that blog post. Let’s begin:

1. Bohi believes in healing because he believes it is God’s will: “The first reason why I believe in healing is because I believe it’s God’s will… God’s original plan was healing, and God’s eternal plan is healing.”

Dan Bohi is saying two separate things here. One is scripturally sound (for the most part), and the other isn’t. Let me start with the scriptural part, and I’ll finish with where he veers off the biblical path.

Firstly, Bohi describes that “God’s eternal plan is healing.” If this reference is linked to the second coming of Christ, a new heaven and earth, and our resurrection bodies, he’s obviously correct when he says that God’s will is to bring about healing and restoration. However, eschatology (eschatology explained here) is disconnected from the theological basis for believing in modern day healing miracles, which Bohi often attributes to his anointing. I credit him for being correct in this way, but I’m confused about why he’s linking God’s eternal will for healing with God’s original plan for healing, presumably in the modern day.

Secondly, Bohi describes that “The first reason why I believe in healing is because I believe it’s God’s will… God’s original plan was healing.” This is where I argue he veers off into unbiblical territory. I make this claim because it’s such a broad claim about healing that a catalog of scriptural examples can be presented to falsify his claim. Let’s examine some of the scriptures that would undermine his claim:

2 Corinthians 12:7-10: ⁷ So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. ⁸ Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. ⁹ But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. ¹⁰ For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

1 Timothy 5:23: ²³ (No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments.)

Philippians 2:25-27: ²⁵ I have thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, and your messenger and minister to my need, ²⁶ for he has been longing for you all and has been distressed because you heard that he was ill. ²⁷ Indeed he was ill, near to death. But God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow.

Galatians 4:13-14: ¹³ You know it was because of a bodily ailment that I preached the gospel to you at first, ¹⁴ and though my condition was a trial to you, you did not scorn or despise me, but received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus.

In his book, “Holiness and Healing,” Bohi’s position is that it’s always God’s will to heal because “originally and eternally God’s will was, and will be, for wholeness and healing” (page 235) and cites Matthew 6:10 because he’s convinced that “God’s will” was to physically heal. Bohi theorizes that since Jesus manifested the kingdom of God in the present age, we’re Biblically called to manifest the kingdom of God in an identical way. There is no scriptural prooftext to support his assertion that we’re all to “manifest” the kingdom of God in this way.

2. He believes in healing because of Jesus: “I believe in healing because of Jesus… His whole life was to make known Father God’s heart… Every time he was moved with compassion, he was so in tune with the Father.”

Bohi is likely drawing from John 5:19-20 which says, “¹⁹ So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. ²⁰ For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel.” I agree with Bohi that Jesus “was so in tune with the Father.” Now, let’s try to understand what Bohi is trying to communicate.

I’m going to supplement my response by referencing his book, which has more insights into his reasoning. Bohi writes in his book, “Holiness and Healing,” “If 40 percent of the gospels are about the miracles of Jesus then I think that they are important, and we should be wondering how, why, and what happened to us if we’re not duplicating what Jesus did. The question is: are we really Christlike disciples?” (page 244; emphasis mine)

Bohi continues by saying, “In John 14:12, Jesus said that if anyone believed in Him, and that is present tense faith (meaning that if we are believing Him), then they would do what he did. So if we are intimate enough with Jesus and lean into Him with faith, then we will do what he did and even greater. That means “anyone” who believes in Him.” (page 244) 

Given the fuller insights supplemented by his book on healing, is his reasoning scripturally sound? I find no biblical reason to be persuaded. We know that Jesus had authority over nature that we do not. To assert that we’re not “Christlike disciples” if we can’t “duplicate what Jesus did” has no Biblical basis. I’ve provided several prooftexts above with examples of when the apostles were ill and were not miraculously healed. Would Bohi suggest that they were not Christlike in their early church ministries? This would be a good question for Bohi to answer publicly for the sake of clarification.

3. He believes in healing because of his faith in the Kingdom of God: “I believe in healing because I believe in the Kingdom… the Kingdom is actually in you because the Holy Spirit’s in you.”

Drawing from Dan Bohi’s book again, Bohi cites Matthew 6:10 to demonstrate that Jesus corroborates his view when Jesus says, “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” According to Bohi, if it’s always God’s will to heal, and since the kingdom of God is free of illness, healing is possible if we are capable of manifesting “the kingdom of God in this present age” (page 240). Bohi judges “on earth as it is in heaven” to mean that since followers of Christ possess the Holy Spirit, the same functional health outcomes can be possible if we “manifest” them on earth.

Again, there is no scripturally supported evidence for this claim. While it is true that God can work through His creations and permit healing miracles, God’s ultimate will is to save our soul rather than our body. None of the apostles escaped death, but their souls communed with Jesus upon departing their bodies because our nature isn’t merely physical. When Jesus healed, it wasn’t merely because His will was set on healing people. His healings also validated His claims of divinity to his disciples and to others He encountered in ministry. To stretch the meaning beyond the text is irresponsible and gives the impression that God ALWAYS wills healing on earth and Heaven by those that possess the Holy Spirit. For a young, impressionable Christian, this is a message that could create serious confusion and frustration. They’re likely to second-guess their salvation due to repeated failures at performing miracles, which is tragic, especially among young, hopeful Christians.

4. He believes in healing because of the “authority given to believers.”

Dan Bohi believes in healing “because of authority.” Drawing from Bohi’s book for further insights again, Bohi believes that we have the same authority as Jesus, so we should always expect Jesus-like healings. Bohi states, “There are three times in the gospels where we are told that a student is never above His teacher, but when we are fully trained, we will be exactly like Him. Jesus said that!” (page 257; emphasis mine) He makes this comment without reference to any scriptures to substantiate his Biblical assertion that “fully trained” students can become “exactly like Jesus.” Bohi opines about why people don’t “operate with this divine authority that Jesus has given to us.” His conclusion is that “people in the church don’t use the authority that they have because they are biblically illiterate.” (page 257; emphasis mine) 

I’ll let you be the judge concerning who is biblically literate, but the more important question about authority remains: do we possess the same authority as Jesus? No, the scriptures do not communicate that we have an authority that would match the authority of Christ. The magnitude of this claim not only lacks scriptural support but is blasphemous. While scripture (Romans 12:6-8, 1 Corinthians 12:4-11) discusses the gifts that God has graciously blessed us with, not everyone is universally blessed with identical gifts. Notice that scripture doesn’t say that all gifts entail the miraculous but are given by the same Spirit. Yet, Bohi argues that Jesus gives everyone “power and authority over all demons, all sickness, and all disease.” Bohi has never attempted to reconcile the content of his sermons and books on the topic of healing with the scriptures that undermine his theology.

Bohi also draws from Isaiah 53:4-5, “But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed,” to communicate that it’s through Jesus and his authority that we now possess the power to heal. There is nothing in this text that supports 1) physical healing and 2) a prescription of authority to Christ-followers.

Bohi continues to eisegete this passage by providing a “disclaimer,” saying that “all of Jesus’ miracles were performed before he shed one drop of blood.” Yes, that’s true. However, Bohi says, “How did he (Jesus) do it if it didn’t take the atonement, right? How did he do it if he didn’t take his sacrifice? He did it because he stayed in faith, and he did it because he stayed in the kingdom. He did it because he stayed in his authority. He did it because he stayed in his identity. That‘s how he did it. God must like to heal.” So, does Bohi correctly describe Jesus?

It’s true that God does like to heal. It didn’t require the atonement of Christ for God’s healing to be possible. To provide some Old Testament examples, consider the healings of Naaman, Hezekiah, healing of the Isrealites from snakebites, Job, Abraham and Sarah, healing of the widow’s son by Elijah, and the healing of Jeroboam’s hand. These miraculous healings occurred before Christ’s death and resurrection. So, my question to Bohi would be, since we agree that atonement isn’t a required component for the application of the miraculous, why are you straining this text to make it say something that it clearly doesn’t mean? The threads of thought that Bohi is using to describe Isaiah 53 aren’t logically connected to a theological framework that would scripturally support his conclusion.

Conclusion

Bohi’s reasoning for believing in healing is scripturally lacking and disordered. It’s not simply a matter of a difference in theology on a secondary issue, either. His claims about healing have an adverse impact on the body of Christ. Again, I’ll encourage you to read my full article on Bohi’s healing theology for a more comprehensive understanding of why this matter is so important to the churches he has influence over.

Bohi’s claims can impact Christians on an individual level, leaving them disheartened, frustrated, hopeless, and insecure about why they can’t heal or perform the miraculous.

I’ll reiterate, as I did in my introductory blog, that my goal isn’t to malign and smear Dan Bohi and his ministry. My prayer is to provide clarity to those who sense that his message is scripturally amiss. In John 14:6 Jesus stated, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Out of love for all, we must call attention to doctrines that push us away from the truth as outlined in scripture. If we decide to go-with-the-flow and permit false teachers to continue unopposed, then we can’t honestly say we’ve made every effort to pursue and share the truth.