In Chapter 10 of Jesus: A Theography (co-authored with Leonard Sweet), I give my fullest thoughts on the issue of sickness and healing. The chapter is called Jesus: Healer and Miracle Worker.
I’m unable to republish that chapter here, but I want to discuss one small aspect that’s not treated in the book.
It has to do with one cause of sickness that’s often overlooked by Christians.
Note that I said one cause. Sickness has many causes.
Sometimes the cause is natural. You eat the wrong things, and you develop a sickness. Either chronic or temporary. Scientists are discovering that many sicknesses are food-borne illnesses.
Sometimes sickness has to do with heredity. It’s in the genes.
Sometimes it’s a demonic attack. This is clear from the New Testament.
Sometimes it’s just the result of being part of this fallen world.
In this post, I want to point out that some sicknesses that afflict some people are the result of God’s chastening (on a believer) or God’s judgment (on a non-believer).
The same for some cases of death.
Over the years, I’ve lost some good friends and loved ones due to terminal sickness. And in none of those circumstances did I believe for a second that God was chastening or judging them.
It’s my opinion that most sicknesses (and other tragedies) that come on God’s people are not the result of God’s chastening. But sometimes it is. And sometimes God’s judgment comes upon those who don’t follow the Lord (including professing “Christians”) and persist in hurting the Lord’s people.
Note the following texts:
* Acts 12:21-23 Herod is struck by an angel of the Lord with a fatal illness.
* Acts 13:6-12 Bar-Jesus is struck with blindness as a sign of God’s judgment on his sin.
* Acts 5:1-11 Ananias and Sapphira fall dead for lying to Peter about the money that they gave.
* 1 Corinthians 11:27-32 Many Christians at Corinth are made sick and some died because they failed to discern the body of Christ.
* 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 Paul says that God will destroy anyone who destroys God’s temple (i.e., those who cause division among God’s people and seek to destroy the unity of His body).
* 1 Corinthians 5:1-5 Paul exhorts a church to hand an unrepentant, sinning person over to Satan for the destruction of his flesh.
* 1 Timothy 1:19-20 “Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck: Of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander; whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme.”
* John 5:2-19 Jesus tells the man who had been infirm for 38 years to “sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.”
* 1 John 5:16 “If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask and God will for him give life to those who commit sin not leading to death. There is a sin leading to death; I do not say that he should make request for this.”
* Revelation 2 contains some disturbing statements by Jesus concerning divine judgment upon certain people.
Recall how the Egyptians were inflicted with plagues from the Lord for refusing to allow His beloved people to leave their country. Also, King Saul was afflicted with a demon spirit who brought mental illness upon him as a judgment from God.
In my own life, I’ve known two people personally who resisted the Lord’s will and persisted in serious harm against others after many attempts from members of the body to urge them to repent. In both cases, the individuals suddenly became seriously ill. One of them was admitted to the hospital for a long period of time, on the verge of death.
Both repented and both were healed as a result.
I know of another case that a close friend told me about. He said that a professing Christian continued in a pattern of harming others. The individual was confronted by various members of the body of Christ but refused to stop what he was doing.
After a long period of many attempts to urge this individual to cease from his sin (that is, repent), he was issued a letter from a brother in Christ. The brother wrote that he was now pronouncing God’s judgment upon him. Within a year afterward, still in an unrepentant state, the man died in a car accident.
Coincidence? I don’t think so.
Unfortunately, some Christians have recklessly and presumptuously interpreted the tragedies of others to be “God’s judgment” on them when it wasn’t at all.
So believers must tread very carefully in making such statements.
But the fact remains, sickness — and even death — is sometimes a form of divine judgment for those who stubbornly persist in defying the Lord and continue to harm His children.
Where’s the practical handle in all of this?
It’s simply this.
If you are sick, ask the Lord why and He will often reveal the reason. He may lead you to change your diet. He may tell you to deal with bitterness. Or He may put His finger on something else. He may instruct you to rebuke and resist the enemy.
Also . . .
If many members of the body of Jesus Christ rebuke you for something, you’re playing with fire to refuse to repent. For you’re not defying them, but God Himself. For Jesus Christ is one with His body and speaks through it.
All told, we have a loving God who protects His children. Those who stand against His beloved stand against Him. And if someone persists in injuring one of His elect, His hand of judgment may fall upon them in this way.
As Hebrews says, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”
Again, this post must be taken in the context of the chapter on sickness and healing in Jesus: A Theography, which gives a balanced perspective on the issue.
MailChimp
Paul made a strong statement at the end of his first letter to the brothers and sisters at Corinth: “Let anyone who doesn’t love the Lord Jesus Christ be accursed.” As I’ve thought about this, it seems to me that a curse or a “woe” is simply the removal of a blessing that God graciously and lovingly gives, like health, sight, hearing, provision, life, etc. I wonder if Paul was thinking of his trip to Damascus when he was blinded by the appearance of Jesus Christ. When I was 20 the Lord saved me from a terrible time of bitterness and despair through a motorcycle accident. “For those whom the Lord loves, he disciplines (chastens).” This word helped me believe more profoundly than ever in my life, that God loves me. Though it cost me my ability to run fast, it helped me grow up spiritually more than a 1000 sermons. I love the interaction here. “Let 2 or 3 prophets speak, and let the rest judge.” I think this is how discipleship happened in the NT.
Jesus told us to bless & pray for them that persecute us. If you bless a righteous man, God aids them on their way. If you bless a simple man, God will steer them in paths of righteousness. If you bless an evil man and they continue their evil ways, They will get psychosomatic ailments, psychogenic ailments and finally death if they don’t repent. If you don’t have discernment, bless ’em all – let God sort ’em out!
Hi Frank Bless you brother.
I have just recently been looking again at this topic. I have not read Jesus: A Theography. Do plan too in Gods timing as I am still reading your most recent one.
How I understand it all is quite simply this, when you walk in sin it has concequences. Unrepented of sin leads to death of some kind. Sickness can be a form of that.
Gods Grace and Mercy is availed by turning away from that sin. Chastening is a temporary discomfort. It will not lead to death.
Chastening is to correct the wayward path, if one doesn’t turn from it the result is you have walked away from a Loving Heavenly Father who offers you forgiveness through His Son and opened yourself up to destruction. He has given us free will to choose either path. God is not the author of evil He wants all to come to Him. And He does that by His LOVE.
In Christ your sister Lili
When the tower fell on the people and killed them, the disciples said to Jesus, “what did they do to deserve that?”
Jesus said (basically), “It doesn’t work that way.”
“But what about you? You had better repent or much worse will fall upon you.”
As Paul says, we preach the whole purpose of God. (Act 20: 27). Brother, may God enrich you in all areas of Christ. Love always. Your brother in Christ.
I am very concerned now about why after a week of rest my lower back muscles are preventing me from working the only three months I earn my yearly income. I have been told that stress is the main reason but I don’t perceive any stress that would cause this and certainly hope I am not harming Gods people. i pray for discernment and hope any that read this will pray that for me…….please.
I pray “peace, healing and wholeness” upon that back. You may need a hot shower and sleep in a recliner. Beds are not shaped like us. Lack of sleep can cause us to sleep deeper and miss the signals that you should roll over.
I love this blog, but i’m not with you on this. God placed the punishment we deserved on Christ. Christ suffered and totally paid the price for our sins. When God the father saw the travail of Jesus’ soul, he was satisfied. God is not angry with us, he is not counting our sins against us, If God was to use sickness to judge us or bring us to him, God would have to apologise to Jesus because his death would not have been enough. God is not using sickness, God is Good and Christ sacrifice is enough.
Please see my heart in this, i really love your work and your devotion to Christ and i admire your heart of passion for him. Everything we have is by and through the grace of God and all his finished work on the cross.
Alan: The NT says repeatedly that God “chastises” His own children. Do you deny those texts? It also says that God judges the world. Please go through each of the texts in this post and let us know how they don’t mean what they appear to say. I welcome disagreement, but I’d like to see *how* you interpret those texts so I understand why you disagree. Thx.
Grace to you, It is true that the New Covenant does say that he chastens us (Heb 12:5-12) but that is never in a punitive, judgmental sense. The Lord doesn’t bring judgment against His children. God is NOT counting our sins against us. Christ took our sins on himself at the cross.
We need to understand that sickness has never perfected anyone, it only comes to steal, kill and destroy.
If you believe that God uses sickness to bring us back to him, then there will be no healing for those sick until they repent, therefore visiting the doctor and taking medicine is standing against the will of God.
Once again please see my heart, I understand what you are saying but I don’t believe that God uses sickness to chastise us. Sickness is a curse and Christ became the curse for me so I could have life and life in abundance.
You’re misreading the post, reading things into it. If you read it again, you will see that I draw a distinction between chastisement and judgment. There’s nothing in the post that says chastisement on Christians is “punitive” or “judgmental.” The post also repeats that there are *many* causes for sickness, I’ve just listed one and gave numerous texts to support it. I suspect you just skimmed the post instead of reading it carefully because you’re not arguing against anything it actually says.
Remember, to get the whole context, see my full chapter in “Jesus: A Theography.” This is a blog post on one small aspect of a big topic. It’s not a book or a stand-alone piece. 😉
Thank you Frank, many apologies if i read this from the wrong perspective. You have always been a blessing to me and i appreciate your love for Christ as this shows in all you write.
I will read as you have said, and once again please be assured of my best intentions towards you and your work.
I’ve thought a lot about those scriptures – Which is easier to say, “Your sins are forgiven”, or “Arise take up your mat and walk”….. I think Jesus was saying – these are both the same thing. If sin causes sickness and disease – then wouldn’t forgiveness bring healing?
Are we as believers able to extend that kind of forgiveness to people?
Bingo. That’s why repentance brings healing. James points this out, in fact, in cases where sin is the cause of a particular sickness. Note that when evangelicals think of sin they mainly think of things like homosexuality, pornography, premarital sex, etc. They rarely think of the sins of gossip, slander, hatred, divisiveness, etc. which the NT condemns as being seriously gross sins motivated by self-righteousness.
Thanks Frank, a very balanced article that spells it all out plainly, and its a good reminder for us all.
Frank,
I was experiencing head cold until I opended up your blog for the first time in a while (been very busy), I realize that I must not stray away from the meat you provide through this platform 🙂
All jokes aside, thank you for your balaced approach. I feel ya.
“It’s simply this.
If you are sick, ask the Lord why and He will often reveal the reason. He may lead you to change your diet. He may tell you to deal with bitterness. Or He may put His finger on something else. He may instruct you to rebuke and resist the enemy.”
Wow! Thank you so much for writing this. My family is walking through this with a child with mental illness right now and have been struggling with how to seek the Lord and what to ask for. I really appreciate this article.
To devalue any fellow member of the body of Christ is to make ourselves conspirators to His death rather than beneficiaries; leaving us open to a myriad of permissible consequences.
What you sow you reap and God is not one bit deceived. If you sow a wind you will reap a whirlwind. ref. Gal 6 & Hosea 8v7. Take care that no root of bitterness rise up and defile many, Heb 12v15. We are accountable to the Lord for our actions and some time He raps our knuckles if we bring His Glorious Name into disrepute.
I held unaddressed fear in my heart in the past toward another person that eventually displayed itself in a year-long depression. I also acted revengefully toward a fellow ministry employee that cost my work, home and five years of misery. Throughout those years, I felt like a tightly wound ball of twine. I didn’t feel real or free. I felt head-sick all the time until I let it go and got back into full fellowship with the Lord. Truly I understand how our well-being relates to how we respect ourselves, others and God.
Wow, really “fair and balanced” treatment of this topic Frank. Thx.
I once worked for a man who was really great at his work, but was an ULTRA-manipulator; and would twist people into doing what he thought was best for them; rather than providing wisdom and advice, and letting them decide.
I confronted him several times about it, and he eventually turned his “powers” on me, and it was like all hell was unleashed on my mind.
As I would talk to the Lord about him, He’d always lead me to “encourage him to walk in integrity with his clients”, and for me to pray for him, and treat him with respect.
After 2 years, and his getting worse, I sensed the Lord leading me to leave. My wife provided a big “YES” confirmation about it; and I left with no where to go, and my 3rd baby due shortly. Scary!
Within 1 year, I had landed a great new job, and the Feds had come in and shut him down for “abnormal business practices. And after his court proceedings, it was decreed that he’s never allowed to work in the financial industry again, for the rest of his life.
I appreciate this post, Frank. I, too, have thought of these Scriptures about God using sickness or death as a form of judgment or chastening. I’m tired of the box that I’ve heard people put around God that “He wouldn’t make anyone sick because He’s a good Father”. That doesn’t match the God I know from Scripture. People don’t like it when it doesn’t match their perspective of “goodness”. We expect God to be like us. But, from what I read, the point is that we become like Him, not the other way around.
We too often make God in our own image. Lord, have mercy on us.
Hi Mr. Viola,
I really enjoy your blog and all your postings.
In regards to today’s subject, what happens if you have not deliberately harmed someone, have asked to be forgiven but then the body of Christ keeps holding you and wants nothing to do with you?
Anne: The body of Christ includes all Christians in the world, so I think you probably mean Christians you know. I deal with your question in detail in “God’s Favorite Place on Earth.” One of the groups I wrote it for is Christians who have been rejected by other believers. http://GodsFavoritePlace.com – I’m confident it will encourage you.
I find this post timely considering that I was researching this topic recently.
We sold our home to a man we met through our global prayer team at church just before we departed to be missionaries in France. Unbeknownst to us, he was a conman. We ended up being forced to go into foreclosure and lost all our money in the house and our credit.
I’ve prayed for that man a lot. But I heard he simply relocated and started taking advantage of elderly folks in another state, all through the guise of Christianity and using the church to find victims.
Last year, though young, he died of a heart attack. I can’t help but think God took him.
Frank, well stated and explained, often an area misunderstood or misapplied and when read in conjunction with chapter 10 a fine balance. Thanks for being faithful and willing to provide a balanced view of our faith.
Rick
Hi Frank
Great post! Although I have always been one for promoting the Lord’s healing power I have wondered about the pieces that do not fit into the “healing puzzle.” I appreciate the way you have brought it accross here. We should have a holistic view of our Lord. And the scriptures do reveal the flipside of the coin too. God can judge using sickness or even death.
The key in all of this is the position we take in relation to this reality. We should remain humble and faith-filled while trusting the Lord to deal with us (and others) according to His wisdom and grace. Something that can we can only do if we remain in Him.