Am I Sick Because of Sin?

  That’s kind of a loaded question because in a broad sense the answer is yes, but in a narrow sense it may be yes or no.

  In a broad sense, all illness is the result of sin, which entered the human race with the fall of Adam.

Romans 5:12 – “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:”

  In the narrow sense, however, our personal sickness we go through may or may not be connected with our own personal sin.

  Scripture actually gives some of the causes for a believer’s sickness.

  First, it is due to the normal decay in the human body. God’s people are not exempt from the normal processes of life and death in the physical sense. Since Adam’s fall people will always get sick and eventually die of something.

Hebrews 9:27 – “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.”

  Second, some sickness is for the glory of God to shine through our lives. It is very clear that there were times in the Scriptures that the sickness of a person had nothing to do with any particular sin in their life, nor due to the fact that they lived in a sin cursed world. The sickness was simply allowed by God so that His glory and power could be shown through the sickness.

  I think of the blind man who the disciples asked if he was blind due to his sin or his parents.

John 9:1-3 – “And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.”

  I also remember what Jesus said about the death of Lazarus.

John 11:1-4 – “Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. (It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.) Therefore his sisters sent unto him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick. When Jesus heard that, he said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.”

  Third, sometimes a believer’s sickness can be God’s chastening for sin. This, I believe, is something a child of God will know if it is happening. If God is chastening you through a sickness, I believe your conscious will be very clear in the fact it is due to a sin in your life that you have not made right with the Lord. Let’s put it this way, if there is unconfessed sin in your life and you are sick, confess it and get it right for it makes no sense in dragging the sickness out over our stubbornness.

Hebrews 12:7 – “If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?”

  So what is the point to all of this? The point is very simply this. If you are sick make sure your life is right with the Lord. Then understand you live in a cursed world where people just plain get sick. Once you have covered all that just let His glory show through you in whatever He is trying to do in this particular trial. He may just be trying to show His glory through you in how you handle this sickness. Let the world see the Saviour within you know matter how you feel. He will shine through if you let Him.