THE DOCTRINE OF LAYING ON OF HANDS

"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, of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment." Hebrews 6:1-2

Scripture teaches us that the doctrine of the laying on of hands, corresponds to the fundamentals of the Christian faith, which are the doctrines that every true Christian should know and which are the basis of our faith. It is so important that it appears in the same list of the principles or fundamentals, such as the doctrine of repentance, the doctrine of faith in God, the doctrine of baptisms, the doctrine of the resurrection, and the doctrine of eternal judgment. Scripture teaches us that the imposition of hands is something that belongs to the whole Church (Mark 16: 17-18).

The laying on of hands is a way to make contact to bless someone. The word in Hebrew is camak which means sustain, shore up, support, supporting, strengthening, staff. In Greek it is epithesis that means putting on and is derived from the root meaning of Epi which means putting and tithemi which means place. In summary the laying on of  hands on someone or something passively.

Since we are talking about laying on of hands we should understand by that definition that when the hands are placed in the right way and for the right purpose something should happen. The laying on of hands is a sacred act with a significant value to God and thus should be important to us. It is not merely the act of laying hands, but the purpose for which it is done.

WHY AND ON WHOM ARE THE HANDS LAID ON?

Hands are imposed because it is one of the forms of communication that allows us to extend ourselves to others to convey blessing and power of God. In the Old Testament the laying on of hands was basically a faculty of the patriarchs, prophets and priests, hands were laid to:

A. Recognize successors: Numbers 27:18-23

B. Consecrate the offering to God: Exodus 29:15

C. Designate kings: I Samuel 10:1, 16:13

D. Transmit blessing and inheritance to sons: Genesis 48:14

E. Absolve the sins the people: Leviticus 16:21

F. Receive wisdom: Deuteronomy 34:9

G. Anoint priests: Numbers 8:10

H. As punishment for the blasphemer: Leviticus 24:14

Each one of these impositions of hands is a figure for us in this time of grace. From the time of our Lord Jesus Christ to our time the laying on of hands continues in force in the church and used to minister:

A. Salvation, holiness and deliverance: Mark 5:23, 8:23, 6:5; Luke 13:11

B. The baptism in the Holy Spirit:  Acts. 8:19; 19:6

C. To send missionaries: Acts 13:3

The imposition of hands is still valid in today's church and with the help and guidance of the Holy Spirit can bring blessing to others.

IMPORTANT WARNING

"Lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be partaker of other men’s sins: keep thyself pure." (1 Timothy 5:22)

Really when we go deeper in this regard we are astonished to see today the ease with which many pastors or evangelists or any minister, begin to lay their hands upon anyone that crosses their path. While the Bible exhorts us to lay hands, it also prevents us from doing so.

The exhortation to Timothy and to all of us is to not be quick to lay hands. When he says "no man" He is telling us that we should not be impressed with titles, positions or possessions. It doesn't matter the title that someone might have, if we are not directed by the Lord to lay hands, we should not do it. When we look around we see that this has not been taken very seriously, as we see many people exercising ministries that should not be there.

Notice the advice the Apostle Paul gives Timothy  about the tremendous danger of laying hands hastily. The problem is not in lay hands, but do it hastily, this Greek word 'tacis' means doing something hastily, quickly, abruptly, hurriedly. In other words you should not lay hands hastily, here we are not talking about fast or slow in time, but that we should not lay hands without first analyzing by the Spirit the condition in which each person is that we are ministering to. The doctrine of the laying on of hands must be accompanied with the discernment of spirits (1 Corinthians 12:10). Otherwise the minister that this ministering, that is 'given', may end up 'receiving' what is not good, that is, 'share', 'form part of', 'participate' of the sins of the person who may have contamination in the flesh and spirit (II Corinthians 7:1, Jude 22, 23).

These two texts indicate that there are contamination of which we must be careful of. We cannot ignore that through laying on of hands a man regardless of how sincere and clean it he may be, can participate in the sins of others.

How can this be? The answer is simple, the same way that spiritual gifts are transmitted through the laying on of hands, it is also possible to confer other things (1 Timothy 4:14).

In the passage we just read, we find that the laying on of hands is accompanied by prophecy, which explains that it is not merely an ecclesiastical rite, but at that moment he is implicitly or explicitly fulfilling a deeply spiritual activity. That is to say that the doctrine of the laying on of hands teaches us that through this activity some spiritual gift is always being conferred in order to 'decorate' the church, and not to upset anyone.

Perhaps you are thinking of the times that hands were laid on you, and may think that at one time you did not feel nothing while others times you did; but this in no way represents that when we feel something we receive from God and when we do not, we don't receive. Because our life is not governed by what we feel but by what we believe: We do not walk by sight (the five senses), but by faith.

BENEFITS OF LAYING ON OF HANDS

A. The Holy Spirit is received (Acts 8:17)

B. Spiritual gifts are received (1 Timothy 4:14) 

C. Healing is received (Mark 16:18)

D. Blessings are received (Genesis 48:14-22)

E. Delegated authority  is received (Deuteronomy 34:9)

F. Extraordinary miracles are performed (Acts 19:11)

G. Anointing for service is received (Acts 6:1-6)

We need to understand that the power is not in the hands of the ministers but in God.

A. The imposition of hands is meant to glorify God, and to extend the coverage of the five ministries

B. It is for all who believe and are guided by the Holy Spirit.

C. The laying on of hands is part of the ministry to God's people by which miracles, healings, deliverances, etc can happen.

D. They are the persons authorized by the Holy Spirit and by our authorities to lay hands.

All this shows that the imposition of hands is something very important and should be done with great care. For a believer who makes the decision to lay hands for any of the uses that the Bible teaches us, must be very sure that this is the will of God.

What if someone laid hands to confer power or authority to someone to whom God has not called? What if someone lay hands to bless someone who God did not wants to bless? That is why the Bible says: "Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, and do not share in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure." (1 Timothy 5:22)

We hope that this study serves as a stimulus to act more cautiously and always in prayer for God's guidance as to the laying on of hands.