We absolutely believe that there are natural causes for sickness. There are enough reasons and scientific proof to keep us from disputing the natural causes of sickness, but at the same time, we must acknowledge that many illnesses come upon God’s children because of their sins. It is sin against God, as described in chapter eleven of 1 Corinthians, that brings about illnesses. With such cases, we need to ask God for forgiveness rather than for healing. A person must first seek forgiveness before he can ask for healing.
Often when a person becomes sick, he can quickly discover how he has sinned against the Lord, in what matter he has been disobedient, and where he has turned against His word. Once the sin is exposed, the sickness is gone. I have seen many people with such experiences. The illness stops when a certain issue is settled before the Lord. This is very strange. It is very important to discover the relationship between sin and illness. Sickness in general comes from sin. When a person is sick, he may have committed some specific sins.
Isaiah 53:4-5 says, “Surely He [Christ] has borne our sicknesses, / And carried our sorrows; / Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, / Smitten of God and afflicted. / But He was pierced because of our transgressions; / He was crushed because of our iniquities; / The chastening for our peace was upon Him, / And by His stripes we have been healed.”
Isaiah 53 is the most quoted chapter in the New Testament. This chapter speaks of the Lord as our Savior. Verse 4 says, “Surely He has borne our sicknesses, / And carried our sorrows.” This verse is paraphrased in Matthew 8:17: “He Himself took away our infirmities and bore our diseases.” It is a translation of Isaiah 53:4. The Holy Spirit taught Matthew to describe the earthly Lord Jesus as One who took away our infirmities and bore our diseases. We need to note that He bore our sorrows and took away our infirmities before His death on the cross, while He was still on earth. This means that the Lord Jesus made healing His burden. He considered healing His business. His business was not only preaching the gospel but also healing diseases. He did not simply spread the gospel; He strengthened the weak, restored the withered hand, cleansed the leper, raised the paralytic, and He sent them home. He healed all kinds of diseases. While He was on earth, He gave Himself to preaching, as well as to the performing of miracles, to doing good, to training His disciples, to healing, and to the casting out of demons. We have to realize that the overthrowing of sickness that comes from sin is one of the Lord Jesus’ commissions. The Lord Jesus came to the earth to deal with sins. He came also to deal with death and illness.
Many of God’s children are familiar with Psalm 103. I love to come back to this psalm again and again. David said, “Bless Jehovah, O my soul; / And do not forget all His benefits” (v. 2). What are His benefits? David said, “He pardons all your iniquities, / He heals all your diseases” (v. 3).
I would like to point out that sickness has two partners. One is death, and the other is sin. Sickness and death are a pair, and sickness and sin are another pair. We have seen that sickness and death are a pair. The result of sin is death, and because there is death, there is sickness. Both sickness and death are results. The intrinsic nature of sickness and death is the same—both came from sin. Psalm 103:3 shows us that sickness and sin (iniquity) are another pair. It says, “He pardons all your iniquities; / He heals all your diseases.” Because my soul has sinned, there is sickness in my body. When the Lord deals with the sins in my soul and forgives them, the sickness in my body is healed. Our body is plagued on the one hand with inward sins, and on the other hand with outward illnesses. Today the Lord has removed both of them for us.