ADMINISTRATION AND FORGIVENESS OF SINS
Consecrating a life to the Lord by
means of healing is borne out in James’s instruction: “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: And the prayer of faith shall save the
sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he committed sins, they shall
be forgiven him.” (James 5:14-15) Whether a person is healed immediately by
the administration or subsequent to the administration, the resulting healing
carries with it the promise of both physical and spiritual renewal. The healed
person’s body becomes a sanctified receptacle where the Holy Ghost can reside.
Therefore, because Zion people are those who are purified and sanctified, the ordinance
of administration is essential to their salvation and their spiritual progress.
Perhaps for the purposes of purification
and consecration, we anoint a sick person with consecrated olive oil before we
seal the anointing and before the blessing is pronounced. Elder Gerald L. Lund
said, “Olive oil is a symbol of the Holy Ghost and its power to provide peace
and to purify.” (Lund, “Old Testament Types and Symbols,” 184-86; emphasis
added) Apparently, the anointing literally infuses the sick person with the power
of the Holy Ghost, who, according to President Joseph E. Faust, is the Great
Physician’s agent of healing. (Faust, “He Healeth the Broken Heart,” 2-7) Elder
Lund wrote, “’The olive tree from the earliest times has been the emblem of
peace and purity.’ (Doctrines of Salvation, 3:180) Also, in the Parable
of the Ten Virgins, the wise were prepared with oil. (See Matt. 25:1-13.)
Modern revelation equates that preparation (having olive oil) with taking ‘the
Holy Spirit for their guide.’ (D&C 45:55-57.) To touch with oil suggests the
effect of the Spirit on the same organs of living and acting that had
previously been cleansed by the blood of Christ. Thus, every aspect of the
candidate’s life was purified and sanctified by both the Atonement and the Holy
Ghost.” (Lund, Jesus Christ, Key to the Plan of Salvation, 61)
Remarkably, during the healing
process, the Lord restores the person both spirit and body: “and the Lord shall
raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven them.” (James
5:14-15) The Lord’s healing brings remission of sins; the entire soul is
healed, both body and spirit. Symbolically, the rescued person is snatched from
the grasp of Babylon and delivered into Zion. (Larry Barkdull, The Three
Pillars of Zion [Orem, Utah: Pillars of Zion Publishing, 2009], 473-74)
