Grace of Faith versus the Gift of Faith

The difficulties besetting the subject of healing by faith disappear when the distinction between the grace of faith and the gift of faith is clearly understood and acknowledged!

The grace of faith is morally obligatory upon every soul having a knowledge of Christ, and the absence of such faith is the ground of condemnation. 2 Thessalonians 2:12:"IN Order that all may be judged and condemned who  did not believe in the Truth, but took pleasure in unrighteousness."

The gift of faith is not required of anyone , but is sovereignly bestowed by the Holy Spirit, "severally as He will". 1 Cor 12:11. This is called by theologians fides miraculosa (Matt 17:20) or miracle working faith, in distinction from saving faith . It has been called (Myers) "a heroism of faith".

There is no more culpability for the absence of the gift of faith than there is for the gift of tongues or of miracles.

The grace of faith is grounded on the bible , while the gift of faith does not rest on the word of God but upon the revelation of the Holy Spirit made immediately to the human spirit.

This testimony may relate to future events, when it is called proophecy:"Let us prophecy according to the measure of faith"; or it may be an inwrought conviction that in answer to prayer a certain sick person will be healed. "Faith" and "the gifts of healing" are in juxtaposition in St. Paul's catalogue of charisms. 1 Cor 12:9. 

James 5:15 This is not the grace of faith, the grace of faith is exercised for blessings only. "Vengeance is mine" says the Lord . The 16 th verse shows that it is prayer specially inspired by the Holy Spirit. "The inwrought prayer of a righteous man availeth much".
No healing follows the prayer not prompted by the  gift of faith. The grace of faith is not sufficient.

The grace of faith, when exercised in prayer, is always accompanied by the condition , "If it be thy will" The gift of faith is the ASSURANCE beforehand that it is God's will to bestow the thing desired. Hence those who have experienced the charism of healing say there is no  IF in this kind of prayer.

The grace of faith is a permanent habit , as indispensable to spiritual, as breathing is to natural life. Faith as a charism is occasional and not personal.

The grace of faith is saving, the charism is not saving. "Even the working of miracles is not proof a man has saving faith". Judas Iscariot once worked miracles but is now in hell (John 17:12). The grace of faith works by love and purifies the heart. The gift of faith ma exist without affecting any moral change of character. 1 Cor 13:2  and in Matthew 7:22 this is shown.

The gift of faith may sometimes be bestowed without any corresponding growth in grace.  "Jesus says in Matt 7:22-23  "Many will come to me in that day and say Lord Lord have we not prophesied in your name? and in your name cast out demons? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then I will profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity"

The need for a special gift of faith for healing is evident when we consider  that every exercise of faith must be under the primal curse, pronounced outside the gates of a lost Eden. Hence, there must be a special revelation that the sickness is not unto death and that it is the will of God to heal. "dust thou art and unto dust thou shalt return".
Every exercise of faith for healing is for a person in probation, in whom it may be the divine purpose to bring forth fot the beautifying of the moral character, the grace of submission to divine will.  No one but God knows how hot or how long the furnace is to be heated. None but He knows the hour of deliverance. When the sufferer, or any other person, has a divinely inspired intimation that the hour has come , he can exercise unwavering faith for his cure.
To prefer gifts to the love that Paul eulogizes is to recede from the highest spirituality , if not to fall from grace. Though the apostle to the Gentiles on rare occasions exercised the gift of healing  (Acts 28:5-9;  he did not give it preeminence in his practise.  At other times he did not exercise the gift of healing as in 2 Tim 4:20.
There are some perils  to attending the doctrine that the atonement conditionally covers all sicknesses as it does all sins. It is perilous to read into divine promises more than the the Spirit of inspiration intended. Many have been assured that the exercise of the grace of faith will heal their sickness , to be bitterly disappointed in the dying hour.