All unbelievers are full of sin, for scripture refers to them as sinners, and yet we are instructed in scripture, to lay hands on the unsaved. So what’s the difference? Sin in unbelievers cannot affect believers who lay their hands on them. The reason for that is because we have been translated from the power of darkness into the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ. In Christ, the believer has power over the kingdom of darkness, and so, when we lay hands on unbelievers the only flow of anointing that takes place, is from our hands into their bodies to destroy the works of the devil. There is no transference of any sin from the unbeliever to the believer. And so, the Holy Spirit is not warning us about sin in unbelievers affecting the one who is laying hands, He is referring to sin in believers affecting fellow believers. So, how does that work? In most instances the person doing the praying, is meant to bless the person being prayed for. A problem can arise however, if the person trying to bless the other through the laying on of hands is going against God’s will. What do I mean? Let’s take healing as an example. It may be that the person being prayed for has been judged by the Lord with that sickness because of unrepentant sin in their lives (1 Corinthians 11:30-32). For a believer to now lay hands on that person to bless them, would bring that believer into direct opposition to the Lord and it may be that the Lord will now hold them accountable for that sin. That is one of the reasons why James admonishes the elders of a church, when they pray for members of the congregation to be healed through the laying on of hands and the anointing with oil, to first deal with any unrepentant sin in the individual (James 5:14-16). But there is also the other side, i.e. if the person doing the laying on of hands is living in unrepentant sin themselves, and may even have a demon that is influencing their sinful lifestyles. If they were to lay hands on a fellow believer, it is quite possible for that person to contaminate the one being prayed for with their sin.
Michael E.B. Maher
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