What is the Biblical difference between sin and sickness? And why does it matter?
The difference determines how to care for hurting people. People who are hurting from sin need to repent and be forgiven. People who are hurting from sickness need to be treated so they can be healed. If we confuse those concepts and try to forgive sick people or try to heal sinning people, we just make the problem worse.
The difference impacts our approach to addictions, conditions, conflicts, defects, disorders, diseases, hardships, illnesses, injuries, phobias, sins, sicknesses, struggles, situations, and more. Should they be treated as sin or should they be treated as sickness? Do they require repentance and forgiveness, or do they require treatment and healing?
There are two kinds of people in the world:
those who believe you can split people into two groups
and those who don’t.
It wasn’t very long ago that medical science discovered sickness is caused by germs such as bacteria, viruses, fungi, and protozoa. Penicillin was only discovered 92 years ago. Antivirals were only discovered in the 1960s. Diseases like cancer have been known for thousands of years, but only recently have we learned they are caused by abnormal cells dividing without control, which can be treated. And now there are new kinds of diseases being discovered, such as Mad Cow Disease, which may be caused by abnormal proteins called prions. In ancient times, people believed sickness was caused by evil spirits and magic, which should be treated with weird rituals and strange remedies.
And to make it even more complicated, sickness can sometimes be the result of God’s judgment on sin. Not always. Maybe not very often. But sometimes. Therefore, there are 3 categories to consider: sin by itself, sickness by itself, and sin and sickness together.
Sin requires repentance and forgiveness
From the sin of Adam and Eve, throughout all history, to the sin of the last man and woman who will ever live on the earth, God has predetermined that his righteousness requires repentance. This requirement is built into the heart of every parent who can be touched by a sincere apology from their children no matter what infraction the little miscreant has done. There is no sin so great that it can’t be forgiven. There is no mess so bad that God can’t clean it up.
- Adam, where are you? (Genesis 3)
- This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. (John 3:19)
- The controversy of sin
- What defiles a person? (What makes unclean, polluted, and desecrated?)
- 7 Characteristics of a Real, Genuine, Sincere Apology
- What is confession?
Sin always has spiritual consequences, and sometimes mental and physical consequences. But trying to heal these consequences of sin without repentance and forgiveness is worse than useless. It will just make the situation worse.
The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare them; the cords of their sins hold them fast. (Proverbs 5:22)
For evils without number surround me; my sins have overtaken me, so that I cannot see. They are more than the hairs of my head, and my heart has failed within me. (Psalm 40:12)
My transgressions are bound into a yoke, knit together by His hand; they have come upon my neck, and the Lord has broken my strength. He has handed me over to those I cannot withstand. (Lamentations 1:14)
Sickness requires treatment and healing
God has designed our brains with the amazing capacity to learn how to cure an incredible amount of sickness and disease. Every day seems to bring more wonderful news of another miracle cure. But some sickness and disease are still too much for modern medicine and there is no cure so only hospice care can ease the suffering until death. This is completely different from sin.
And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee. And, behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves, This man blasphemeth. And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts? For whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk? But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house. And he arose, and departed to his house. But when the multitudes saw it, they marvelled, and glorified God, which had given such power unto men. (Matthew 9:2-8)
Is any among you sick? 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: (James 5:14)
But trying to treat sickness as sin is worse than useless. It will just make the suffering worse.
Sickness in judgment for sin requires repentance and forgiveness, which leads to treatment and healing
Many people, who are diagnosed with a terrible illness, question God about why they deserve this punishment. Almost everyone who has suffered a tragic loss through the death of a child, spouse, parent, or close friend, has questioned themselves about what they did to deserve this judgment. While this is understandable, we live in a dying sin-cursed world and sometimes bad things happen to good people.
Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one on earth like him, a man who is blameless and upright, who fears God and shuns evil.” (Job 1:8)
And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things? (Luke 13:2)
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. (John 9:1-3)
But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat, and fastened on his hand. So when the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he has escaped the sea, yet justice does not allow to live.” But he shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm. However, they were expecting that he would swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But after they had looked for a long time and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god. (Acts 28:3-6)
In rare cases, God’s judgement on sin causes sickness. In these cases, the underlying cause of the sickness is the sin. But the Bible never leaves us in doubt about these cases, they are always the direct judgment of God against sin. Therefore, you have to deal with these sins before the sickness can be treated.
- God’s judgment on Philistia because of the Ark (1 Samuel 5)
- Hezekiah’s illness and recovery (Isaiah 38)
- Moses’s leprous hand as proof of the LORD’s power (Exodus 4)
- Those who ate Lord’s supper unworthily died (1 Corinthians 11:17-34)
Featured images: Petr Kratochvil has released this “Ambulance” image under Public Domain license. Petr Kratochvil has released this “NYPD Police Car” image under Public Domain license.