The Doctrine of Laying on of Hands

Heb 6:1-2 Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, 2 Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.

James 5:14-15 Is any sick among you? 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: 15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.

Doctrine - the complete teaching of a subject. A complete, scriptural look at something

Let’s look at the instances of laying on of hands in scripture in order to understand this principle. We know that the Old Testament always gives us a type or shadow of something in the New Testament (called Typology).

Heb 10:1 For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.

Old Testament scriptures that shadow the laying on of hands:

Jacob blessed Ephraim and Manasseh (Joseph’s sons) by laying his hand upon their heads:

Gen 48:14 And Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid it upon Ephraim's head, who was the younger, and his left hand upon Manasseh's head, guiding his hands wittingly; for Manasseh was the firstborn.

Moses transferred authority, leadership, and also blessed Joshua by the laying on of his hands:

Num 27:18-20 And the LORD said unto Moses, Take thee Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit, and lay thine hand upon him; 19 And set him before Eleazar the priest, and before all the congregation; and give him a charge in their sight. 20 And thou shalt put some of thine honour upon him, that all the congregation of the children of Israel may be obedient.

Deut 34:9 And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom; for Moses had laid his hands upon him: and the children of Israel hearkened unto him, and did as the LORD commanded Moses.

The high priest laid his hands upon the head of the scapegoat (the second goat) on the Day of Atonement:

Lev 16:21-22 And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness: 22 And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness.

When an Israelite accidentally sinned, he placed his hand upon the head of the sacrifice.

Lev 1:4 And he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering; and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him.

Lev 4:4 And he shall bring the bullock unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the LORD; and shall lay his hand upon the bullock's head, and kill the bullock before the LORD.

What do these examples have in common? Each time the laying on of hands represented spiritual transfer. The laying on of hands were not the actual transfer, but were a symbol that something intangible and invisible was being transferred. It helped those involved to understand what was taking place and exactly when.

Jacob transferred blessings and inheritance. Moses transferred authority and anointing. The High Priest transferred sins from the people to the scapegoat, and the individual transferred his sin to the sacrifice.

In the Old Testament then, God ordained the laying on of hands to be something to help and inspire the people’s faith in witnessing and partaking of a spiritual transfer. The actual laying on of hands had no power in itself except to help to focus a person’s faith at a critical moment of obeying God’s Word.

Under the Old Testament the laying on of hands symbolized the transfer of blessing, anointing, inheritance, authority, sin, and forgiveness.

New Testament instances of the laying on of hands:

Jesus blessing the little children.

Matt 19:14-15 But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven. 15 And he laid his hands on them, and departed thence.

Jesus only healed a few people with faith in Nazareth by the laying on of hands.

Mark 6:5 And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them.

Jesus healing people on the day of miracles in Galilee.

Luke 4:40 Now when the sun was setting, all they that had any sick with divers diseases brought them unto him; and he laid his hands on every one of them, and healed them.

Paul praying for Publius’ father laid his hands upon him in order to heal him.

Acts 28:8 And it came to pass, that the father of Publius lay sick of a fever and of a bloody flux: to whom Paul entered in, and prayed, and laid his hands on him, and healed him.

Peter and John in the Samaria revival started by Phillip laid their hands so the believers could receive the Holy Spirit.

Acts 8:17 Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost.

Paul laid his hands upon the twelve disciples of John in Ephesus and they received the Holy Spirit.

Acts 19:6 And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied.

When the apostles consecrated the seven men chosen to the be the first deacons, they laid their hands upon them.

Acts 6:6 Whom they set before the apostles: and when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them.

When the elders at Antioch commissioned Paul and Barnabas as missionaries, they laid their hands on them and prayed. Notice God called Paul and Barnabas to be missionaries but the elders recognized, approved, and blessed their calling by the laying on of hands.

Acts 13:3-4 And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away. 4 So they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed unto Seleucia; and from thence they sailed to Cyprus.

When Timothy was ordained into the ministry, a special gift, anointing, and faith was placed in him by the church leaders laying their hands upon him.

1 Tim 4:14 Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery.

2 Tim 1:5-6 When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also. 6 Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands.

I Corinthians chapter 12 makes it very clear when it lists the Gifts of the Spirit that these are all given by the Spirit not the individual. Some people think that by simply laying their hands upon people, that they can give them spiritual things whether it be healing or the actual gift of the Holy Spirit. God likes to use individuals to do His word, and likes to reward those who obey His Word, but God gives the blessings and gifts and the Holy Ghost not man.

James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

“Father of lights” refers to God as the creator of the stars in the sky. Just as only God was able to create stars and place the lights in place, so is He the only one who can create something new in your life!

Let’s summarize the doctrine of laying on of hands as it directly applies to us today:

First, the laying on of hands still symbolizes the transfer of blessings from God to us. We see the laying on of hands used in the scripture to symbolize the transference of blessing, healing, receiving the Holy Spirit, and ordination and anointing for ministry and service.

Second, the laying on of hands is not absolutely necessary for these blessings to take place. In Matthew 8: 5-13, Jesus healed the centurion’s servant without even going to the man’s house because of the man’s understanding of authority. In every healing in the Scriptures, faith is present. Faith is a necessary ingredient to having healing. The laying on of hands helps the recipient’s faith but is not absolutely necessary. In Acts 2:1-4, the 120 in the upper room on the Day of Pentecost received the Holy Spirit without anyone laying their hands upon them. Likewise in Acts 10:44, the household of Cornelius received the gift of the Holy Ghost without any human physically touching them. In Acts 14:9-10, Paul healed the crippled man at Lystra simply by calling out to him and did not touch him. Faith is present in each of these situations and is necessary and the laying on of hands is only a symbol of the transfer not the actual transfer.

Third, the laying on of hands represents our submission to God-given authority within our life. God instituted the church and church leadership. God could do His work for himself but has chosen to use men (and women) of God. If a person touches another persons head, it is usually an example of intimacy or authority. When you pray you signify that you are submitting yourself to God’s authority, when you allow the elders of the church to lay their hands upon you, you are submitting yourselves to the authority that God has placed over you. It shows that you realize that you need both God and the Church. Remember God’s response to those that submit themselves to authority:

Heb 13:17 Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.

James 4:6-7 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. 7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

When you allow someone to lay their hands upon you, you are allowing yourselves to be humbly submitted to God’s authority. Submission to God’s Authority always brings consecrated service to God. When a person desires to receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost, they must submit their will to God’s will. When they allow an elder to lay their hands upon their head, then they show their willingness to submit to God’s authority. The same principle applies when ministers are being ordained and commissioned.

Fourth, the laying on of hands is a powerful tool that focuses people to receive a promise from God at a particular time. Everywhere in scripture that Jesus touched people, it helped the people to expect something from God at that instance. In Mark 7:32-35, Jesus spat and touched both the ears and the tongue of the deaf and mute man. This caused the man to expect a miracle in his hearing and speech right then! In John 9:6-7, Jesus spat onto the ground and made clay from the saliva and smeared the clay upon the blind man’s eyes. Jesus then commanded the man to go wash in the pool of Siloam. The clay and spit did not bring the miracle but the faith of the man did! The clay helped the man to understand that something was about to happen the instance that he washed his eyes! Paul also sent forth handkerchiefs to the sick and they were healed in Acts 19:11-12. The handkerchiefs did not heal but the faith of the person carrying the handkerchief caused God to heal the diseases.

Just like these instances where Jesus and Paul used something tangible to help the individual focus on what God was about to do, so should we use the laying on of hands to help focus people’s faith. Particularly when a minister lays his hand upon your head, you should expect something to happen right then (whether you need healing, the Holy Ghost, or just a blessing). When we understand this and realize that it is a principle of God’s Word and that we are obeying God’s Word by submitting and expecting, then we will focus our faith and will receive God’s Blessings!

Fifth, because laying on of hands should have a special effect of building faith, we should not casually lay hands upon people when praying or worshipping. Ministry and believers should only lay their hands upon someone when the person genuinely has a need to be met, and fully understands the process! If every time I came to church, I laid hands upon everyone then it would quickly become ritual and would lose it’s faith building qualities. By understanding that the primary role of laying on of hands is to build faith in God’s promises for right then, I should only lay hands whenever a person needs to focus their faith!

Also, because the actual laying on of hands does not bring the miracle, but rather the understanding that a person should expect something from God when I feel someone lay their hands upon me, then we should be careful laying hands upon people that have never been taught the doctrine of laying on of hands. Even when praying with someone who is open to God moving in their life, it is best to explain to the person exactly why you are laying your hands upon them. Many people have been offended by well-meaning Christians simply because nobody ever bothered to explain or did not know why they were laying their hands upon them.

When a person is seeking the Holy Ghost, it is better for a minister to not lay their hands upon the person’s head until they have repented of their sins because the laying on of hands should focus that person’s faith to receive the Holy Spirit right then. If they have not truly repented, then of course they are not able to receive the Holy Spirit.

Sixth, because the laying on of hands upon someone’s head represents authority, it is best for only the ministry and those placed in spiritual authority by the spiritual authority of the church: the Pastor, to lay their hands upon people’s heads. The laying on of hands upon the head of people does signify submission to spiritual authority within the church, and so is best practiced by the ministry only. It’s purpose is to focus faith and the person’s faith will grow if they are confident in the person who is laying hands on them’s personal walk with God.

All believers have the ability to lay hands upon the sick (both physical and spiritual) and they will recover (Mark 16:17-18). Nowhere in the bible does it say that the laying on of hands by the believer have to be upon the head of the recipient. It is best then for people who are not in the ministry to lay their hands perhaps upon the hand or shoulder of the person that they are praying for. This will allow them to fulfill scriptural principles while not violating principles of authority. Of course, scripturally the spiritual authority of the local church, the Pastor, is the decision maker in these areas.

What about I Timothy 5:22?

1 Tim 5:22 Lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be partaker of other men's sins: keep thyself pure.

Many people have taken I Timothy 5:22 out of context meaning that we can receive another person’s transgressions by the laying on of hands. In context, however, Paul is writing to Timothy who was a Pastor and would be responsible for ordaining people into spiritual leadership of the church. Paul was simply warning to not place people in leadership too hastily for if they fell, then the one who ordained them would bear some responsibility and effects from their fall. In other words, Paul was saying “Timothy do not put a person into position who does not completely understand what all is involved in spiritual leadership.” This principle of course does apply to the doctrine of laying on of hands in that if a person does not know why that you are laying your hands upon their head, they will often be offended.

By teaching the significance of the laying on of hands and preparing people to receive something from God at the laying on of hands, we will see many marvelous healing and outpouring of the Spirit. This is because we are obeying God’s Word and focusing our faith to receive what His word has promised us. If a minister or any other person is teaching something that is contrary or in addition to God’s Word, then we should not allow them to lay their hands upon us! It is possible for people to have a spirit of delusion sent from God which we do not want to receive also. As with all other scriptural principles and doctrines, our practice of the doctrine of the laying on of hands must be in harmony with the rest of God’s Word!