Honestly, this concept that sickness is caused somehow by current sins, and not of the consequences variety -like heavy drinking and smoking, but of a 'karma' nature, is dangerous. It creates paranoia and 'psst pssst pssst!" among people such as "So and so is sick... What did THEY do to cause it? MmmmmMMM?!".
Or "So and so's baby died. They must have REALLY done something nasty to cause THAT!".
I see this being no more valid, and just as dangerous, as the magic hair doctrine.
In addition, going along with the example given to me by someone above, Smith Wigglesworth had a daughter who was born deaf and never received healing. His youngest son also died very young. Smith blamed those incidences and his own lack of healing on a lack of faith on his part.
That's sad.
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I've gone and done it now! I'm on Facebook!!!
Maybe I'm a little too close to this issue to respond properly but, wjat really gets me about this "sickness beacuse of sin" is that it sets us in the position of being judge and jury.
"Hey, did ya hear about old Sister Sadie?"
"No, what happened?" "Well, she done kicked the bucket...had a stroke"
"Is that right? Reckon she been slipping around dippin' snuff? You know, you don't get sick unless there's sin in your life".
The notion that sickness is a result of sin in every case is, whats the word I'm looking for...HOGWASH. I wonder, what sin did Lazarus have in his life that made him sick?
What sin did Job commit that caused those ugly boils? What of Hezekiah who the Lord said "did that which was right in the sight of God"? He led Judah into repentance and reformation. Hezekiah ...wrought [that which was] good and right and truth before the LORD his God.2Ch 31:20What sin did he harbor in his heart that caused his sickness?
Sickness is not caused by sin. It can result from the affects of sin, but not from sin itself. A person who drinks liquor in mass quanities is in danger of destroying his liver. Sin didn't destroy it... the affects of the sin did.
I rejoice for those who live into their 80s with no sickness. But I fear for those who think they are immune from sickness because of their righteous living. When sickness comes, and believe me, it will, I fear their faith will be shaken to the core. I know good people, godly people who lived as pure and holy as they knew how that got sick and died from their sickness. Sickness, like death, is a part of life. Again, maybe I'm too close to the issue to even post on this thread.
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"Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him...." -Psa. 37:7
Waiting for the Lord is easy... Waiting patiently? Not so much.
Sin is directly connected to sickness many times.I think people have sickness in their life for trials, like Job and some have sickness to keep them from sinning as Paul did with the thorn in his flesh at first but I think sickness for these reasons, people are healed from. Then people who are sick because of sin in their life, they will be healed if they repent and stay repented. James 5:13: Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms.
14: 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.
16: Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much
Bro Joelel,
With all due respect, if sickness could keep us from sinning, the law would have worked. There's nobody who doesn't sin. There's no distinction between little sins or big sins. We all sin, but when Jesus was lifted up from the earth on the cross, all judgment for all sin was, drawn unto him. Jesus took all the penalty for all sin of all men for all time. God is not imputing sin unto us today.
Sickness is the result of condemnation, remember the man who was let down thru the roof by his friends? Jesus said to him, "Thy sins be forgiven thee". Why did he say that to him? To get condemnation off of him, so he could receive healing.
In the Garden of Eden, condemnation came first, they were afraid and hid themselves. They sewed fig leaves to cover their condemnation. Sickness and death came later.
Now there is no condemnation, to them who are in Christ Jesus. (Rom 8:1)
It is sheer manmade spectulation that Paul's thorn in the flesh was sickness or disease. Neither was it given him from God.
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The Gospel of Jesus Christ: Jesus bore away my sins, my sickness, and my poverty. That covers it all. Everything else is just legalism.
Maybe I'm a little too close to this issue to respond properly but, wjat really gets me about this "sickness beacuse of sin" is that it sets us in the position of being judge and jury.
"Hey, did ya hear about old Sister Sadie?"
"No, what happened?" "Well, she done kicked the bucket...had a stroke"
"Is that right? Reckon she been slipping around dippin' snuff? You know, you don't get sick unless there's sin in your life".
The notion that sickness is a result of sin in every case is, whats the word I'm looking for...HOGWASH. I wonder, what sin did Lazarus have in his life that made him sick?
What sin did Job commit that caused those ugly boils? What of Hezekiah who the Lord said "did that which was right in the sight of God"? He led Judah into repentance and reformation. Hezekiah ...wrought [that which was] good and right and truth before the LORD his God.2Ch 31:20What sin did he harbor in his heart that caused his sickness?
Sickness is not caused by sin. It can result from the affects of sin, but not from sin itself. A person who drinks liquor in mass quanities is in danger of destroying his liver. Sin didn't destroy it... the affects of the sin did.
I rejoice for those who live into their 80s with no sickness. But I fear for those who think they are immune from sickness because of their righteous living. When sickness comes, and believe me, it will, I fear their faith will be shaken to the core. I know good people, godly people who lived as pure and holy as they knew how that got sick and died from their sickness. Sickness, like death, is a part of life. Again, maybe I'm too close to the issue to even post on this thread.
Everyday, I have gleaned so much wisdom while reading your posts, OA. The one above was no exeption.
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Isaiah 53:5: "But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed."(KJV)
"God sends no one away empty except those who are full of themselves." Dwight L. Moody
Everyday, I have gleaned so much wisdom while reading your posts, OA. The one above was no exeption.
Thanks. I guess with recent events I shouldn't even post on this thread. But it really "gets my goat" when people throw this big old ugly blanket over the sick like its their fault they're sick. Agreed, some sickness can be traced to some unconfessed sin, but that isn't the case in every situation. I think of Christopher Reeves wife. Never smoked a cigarette in her life and died of lung cancer. I admire the woman for standing with her husband in "sickness and in health". I'm sure not going to dishonor her memory by suggesting or even speculating that her sickness was her fault. Good Christian people get sick whether we want to accept it or not.
By the same logic I've seen on this thread, I guess accidents and injury are caused by sin as well. After all, didn't the Bible say God would protect us from harm? I guess when I fell today and hit the tailgate of the truck with my chest it was because I sinned. Now... I'll really go out on a limb and say waht I've wanted to say. Blaming the sick for their sickness makes about as much sense as blaming a "spirit" for it.
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"Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him...." -Psa. 37:7
Waiting for the Lord is easy... Waiting patiently? Not so much.
For me personally I would agree and disagree with you at the same time. I would agree with you that all sickness and injury are not a result of sin. Stuff happens. Where I live in California you have to sign a form when you purchase a house that you are aware that the air here can kill you. You can live a healthy life but you are sucking gunk in all day long.
Where I would disagree with you is that good Christian people have to get sick whether we want to accept it or not. If I can use a crude example I will try and make my point.
People get hit by cars, but you don't have to. If you use wisdom, look, listen, and pay attention you can live your life without ever being hit by a car. Yet there are still those who get hit by cars.
Yes sickness is out there and yes injuries can occur, but what if a person "lived" by faith. Not have faith, but lived by faith. Faith was their lifestyle. When they got up in the morning their faith was active that Psalms 91 was at work in their life and they were totally protected. What if even though they felt great they had their faith active that if they ate anything, breathed anything, or was around anyone with sickness or disease it would not come them.
Could they prevent injury and sickness in their life. I say yes! It is not a condemnation on those of use who get sick, but an encouragement to believe for the impossible - define the odds - and live a totally completely victorious life in Christ.
For me personally I would agree and disagree with you at the same time. I would agree with you that all sickness and injury are not a result of sin. Stuff happens. Where I live in California you have to sign a form when you purchase a house that you are aware that the air here can kill you. You can live a healthy life but you are sucking gunk in all day long.
Where I would disagree with you is that good Christian people have to get sick whether we want to accept it or not. If I can use a crude example I will try and make my point.
People get hit by cars, but you don't have to. If you use wisdom, look, listen, and pay attention you can live your life without ever being hit by a car. Yet there are still those who get hit by cars.
Yes sickness is out there and yes injuries can occur, but what if a person "lived" by faith. Not have faith, but lived by faith. Faith was their lifestyle. When they got up in the morning their faith was active that Psalms 91 was at work in their life and they were totally protected. What if even though they felt great they had their faith active that if they ate anything, breathed anything, or was around anyone with sickness or disease it would not come them.
Could they prevent injury and sickness in their life. I say yes! It is not a condemnation on those of use who get sick, but an encouragement to believe for the impossible - define the odds - and live a totally completely victorious life in Christ.
All I can say is this: "Lord, I believe, help thou my unbelief".
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"Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him...." -Psa. 37:7
Waiting for the Lord is easy... Waiting patiently? Not so much.
I believe sickness is derived from Adams sin from the beginning. It is a flaw of the flesh. Whether or not we get sick or stay sick can be connected to your level of faith. Do you ever notice when the flu bug is going around town it seems the saints don't have it for near as long as others.
Couldn't agree more. (with the part I put in red)
I do believe there are times when the Lord allows things to come our way, adversities, whether it be in the form of sickness or whathaveyou... and in all things He will recieve Glory.
But I take great issue with a doctrine that a man (now passed) between here and the north pole used to teach... that all sickness was a demonic spirit and had to be cast out.
__________________ Mrs. LPW
Psalm 19:14
Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.
I knew a sister here in Alabam named Jessie Wilson. Preached every Saturday on the radio for nearly 40 years. Lived to be in her 80's and never took so much as an aspirin. SShe was a woman who lived by faith. Sure, she got sick at times, but never went to a Dr, never took medicine. Up to her time to go, she was a picture of health. She fell once and broke her hip but wouldn't go to the doctor, but instead, called for a preacher to come pray for her. I was at her bedside when she died. I asked her once to letme get her some oxygen to help her breathe, but she declined. She said she trusted God with her health all those years, and she would hate to fail him now. She went to sleep and is with the Lord now.
I have no issue with people who can, and do live by faith. Been there, done that as a full time evangelist who lived (with a wife and 2 kids) by what the Lord provided. Never asked for a dime, never told anyone of our need. Just trusted God. And it was an adventure, let me tell you. But God never failed us and I was amazed by how the Lord would provide. God provided our financial needs, and took care of our health.
My issue is with those who somehow blame the sick for their sickness. Sickness just is. And, we too often try to apply the "cause and affect rule" to those who get sick. But to imply some saint of God who gets sick must of had some hidden sin in their life is wrong. Its judgementalism at its worst. Holy Ghost filled people, Christians who live good lives get sick, often through no fault of their own. I know. I just buried my wife 2 weeks ago. She was a believer who lived her life as pleasing to the Lord as she knew how. She had arthritis for years. A man I worked with told me I should bring her to his church so he could cast the devil out of her. How he could assess that a woman he had never seen was possessed of the devil I will never know. Well I do know...he is as nutty as a fruitcake. I don't believe God's people are posssessed with demons. In fact, well, I won't go there. But I will say this... those who see a demon behind every bush have alot to learn about the Word of God.
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"Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him...." -Psa. 37:7
Waiting for the Lord is easy... Waiting patiently? Not so much.
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