The most dominant one is that the devil causes it. In the New Testament, we read that the Apostle Paul had a 'thorn' that many believe was a sickness given to him by the devil (2 Cor 12:7). (I will address this in more detail shortly). There was also a woman who was bound/disabled by satan for over 18 years until Jesus instantly set her free (Luke 13:11-13, 16) [It must be noted that she was not Born-Again at the moment of her healing].
Some believe that the Creator God of the Universe, who is love, is the author of sickness and gives/allows it as a form of punishment to Born-Again Christians – those in Him, and He in them. Verses from the Old Testament are most often cited as proof of that claim (examples: Job; Ex 4:11; 2 Kings 15:5; 2 Chron 16:10-12). In the New Testament, we read that Zechariah was given an affliction because he doubted God's word regarding the birth of John the Baptist (Luke 1:19-20; see also examples in Mark 6:5-6; John 10:10; Luke 13:5-6).
Communion Concerns
The Bible does give us insight into why Born-Again Christians get sick and even die prematurely. When a person partakes of Communion, the Bible commands that they are to "examine" and judge themselves as David did (1 Cor 11:28).
"Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting" (Psalm 139:23-24 KJV).
This was the failure of the Corinthian church. A person must spend time on their knees before the Lord, seeking His face to search their heart for hidden sin, so that the Lord can reveal such things as unforgiveness, anger, rebellion, bitterness, fear, worry, anxiety, resentment, pride, envy, etc., in their life so that they can acknowledge it, appropriate the blood to it and repent. If the sin is against another person, they must make it right with that person.
If a person does not examine their heart BEFORE they take communion, and sin is actively present, it will open the door to the punishing effects of sickness and disease;
"For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself not discerning the Lord's body. For this reason, many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep. For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world" (1 Cor 11:27-32 NIV).
After decades of study, it is my firm belief that this is the most significant reason why there is so much sickness and disease in the Church. The importance of this cannot be overstated.
In the church at Corinth, many contentions had caused great divisions among them. The word 'unworthily' (Gk: anaxiós) means the opposite of worth, weight, being found worthy - like in what you do and live your life before God.
The lack of forgiveness was rampant, so they were given a stern warning regarding the taking of communion. When a person partakes of communion, they "proclaim the Lord's death until he comes" (1 Cor 11:26), which is about forgiveness and 'reconciliation' (Gk: katallage = to be renewed in friendship) because every Born-Again Christian has been given the "ministry of reconciliation" to fulfill the Great Commission (2 Cor 5:18).
There are countless empirical scientific studies that reveal fear, anxiety, worry, stress, unforgiveness, bitterness, resentment, and anger can cause significant physical and mental harm because the body reacts as if it is being attacked from without. The immune system goes into overdrive to attack it, resulting in one of the 90 plus autoimmune diseases that have no medical cure, and many of which can result in premature death.
When unforgiveness is harbored in the heart towards another, and the person eats the bread and drinks the cup of the Lord, they are partaking in "an unworthy manner" and will be "guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord" (Vs. 27).
For this reason, it is so vitally important to "examine" one's self before they eat "of the bread" and drink of "the cup," because, the Bible warns, "anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself." (Vs. 29)
The church was told that because of their unforgiveness, many among them were "weak and sick," and that was why many of them had died premature deaths! In the same chapter we read that if "we judge ourselves" - that is, if we search our hearts first and walk in forgiveness toward others, we will not come under the judgment of unforgiveness. It is "when we are judged by the Lord" that we are being disciplined so that we will not "be condemned with the world "(Vs. 32). This is a powerful warning. We must learn to settle our differences and forgive others. The lack of forgiveness can put one in danger of incorrectly recognizing the body and shed blood of Jesus because it tells the world that His blood is not sufficient to forgive all sins.
Question: Is the devil responsible for sickness and disease, or is God?
Let's start at the beginning of creation to answer this. The Fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden caused an avalanche of sin affecting the DNA of every living thing that is only terminated by death (Gen 2:7; Rom 5:12-21). Adam's sin opened the way for the curse, which opened the door to sickness, disease, war, famine, death, and poverty. The curse of sin is the primary cause of sickness and disease in which aging is the foremost sickness of humanity. Death has its roots in the spiritual reality of human sinfulness and rebellion against God.
"Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned." (Rom 5:12-13 NIV)
God told Adam that the very ground he walked upon would be cursed because he disobeyed Him and ate from the tree from which He commanded him not to eat. God then gave over to humankind the full management rights to Earth. All humanity would have to now "eat of it" through "painful toil" for the rest of their lives because of his sinful disobedience. The Earth from that day forth would:
"produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return." (Gen 3:17-19 NIV)
Sin is the reason people have to work their fingers to the bone to get through this world. The sweat on the brow from trying to make ends meet is a part of the suffering due to sin. The words "thorns and thistles" in the Scripture verse above have a broad meaning in Hebrew and represent both natural evil and suffering in general.
This natural evil includes floods, tsunamis, tornadoes, disease, pandemics, earthquakes, droughts, hurricanes, volcanoes, etc. The Second Law of Thermodynamics, commonly called "Entropy," states that in all energy exchanges, if no energy enters or leaves the system, the potential energy of the state will always be less than that of the initial state. It is why things deteriorate, and the body breaks down as it ages. People get colds and allergies, hair falls out and turns gray, glasses are needed to see, skin thins, wrinkles and sags, bones get brittle, teeth decay, and organs begin to wear out and fail, which ultimately causes death.
Everything dies because cells stop dividing and organs stop working, which 'impairs normal functioning' - the definition of disease. No matter how much 'faith' a person conjures up, they can't escape it. Natural death can't be cured. In other words, things wear out because of decay, which is ultimately the result of sin entering the world!
A person puts on spiritual immortality when they become Born-Again. Death is the ultimate sickness. However, the mortality of this life that ends in death is swallowed up by eternal life when a person dies in Christ (1 Cor 15:53-55).
The sin nature of humanity is not born-again when a person receives Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior through repentant humility. Everyone on this planet sins before God. The Born-Again Christian is a 'saved' sinner, but nonetheless a sinner. That can be seen in the Apostle Paul's statement about the battle of the flesh:
"So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin." (Rom 7:21-25 ESV)
Question: What about Job?
Job did not know there was a devil and accused God of all his calamities and was rebuked for it. Job questioned God about his afflictions when he asked, "Why do the wicked live on, growing old and increasing in power?" (Job 21:7 NIV). Job shows later on that he acquired a greater understanding of God's mercy in suffering when he wrote,
"But those who suffer he delivers in their suffering; he speaks to them in their affliction." (Job 36:15 NIV)
Question: What about Paul?
"And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure" (2 Cor 12:7 NKJV)
The Apostle Paul's thorn-in-the-flesh issue has been hotly debated for centuries. Some have held that this "thorn" was an eye disease that God "allowed" so that Paul would stay humble. The Greek word 'skolops' is translated as "thorn" and means a stake or spike, which is used to anchor a tent to the ground. The word is used only once in the Bible.
In light of what the Bible teaches about humility, God would not "allow" Paul to be buffeted so that he would stay humble because God does not humble people; they must humble themselves! (James 4:10). There is no mention of sickness or disease in the Apostle Paul's list of trials (2 Cor 11:23-27). Paul asked God to take it away, not heal it because it was not a sickness or disease.
Others have said that satan was trying to stop Paul's ministry from being exalted. The enemy was the one who sent Paul's thorn in the flesh. The adversary did not send his messenger to keep Paul from being proud. The enemy is terrified of humility because those who walk in it are a direct reflection of Jesus and diametrically opposite of him.
The Bible says that this "thorn" was a messenger of satan (Greek: Angelos or angel), a living being, not a thing or a disease, sent to "buffet" him (defined as to rap against someone or something with the fist repeatedly). It was sent to constantly oppose his life and hinder him from moving ahead in ministry.
Paul was frequently beaten up and tortured in various ways for speaking the truth of God's Word. Buffeting in the New Testament relates to being abused for preaching the gospel, not for being sick. The buffeting was from the outside, and Paul sought for it to be kept away, not cast out. Paul called it a thorn in THE flesh, not a thorn in MY flesh. The Greek word for "my" is not used in this verse. Sickness is not, and never has been, a "thorn in the flesh" that God will not remove!
Question: How did Paul pull the Thorn?
In the midst of this trial, Paul earnestly sought God on the matter three times (2 Cor 12:8). He did not passively resign himself to it as if it were God's will because He "allowed" it.
God answered Paul and showed Him that he had already given him the weapon to use for his deliverance. God gave Paul a clear and succinct answer to his prayer. He said that His grace was sufficient for Paul because God's strength is made perfect in weakness (2 Cor 12:9). God does not make a person strong while at the same time making them weak with sickness so that His strength can make them strong in their weakness!
Paul learned how to appropriate God's all-sufficient grace. The accuser never stopped Paul. God healed Paul every time his persecutors beat him up. God's grace is what allowed Paul to draw on His power - His character and nature - to enable him to overcome the enemy and ALWAYS receive healing and deliverance whenever he needed it.
Paul told Timothy that God delivered him from ALL persecutions and afflictions he ever faced, including this one! (See 2 Timothy 3:11; 4:17-18) God kept Paul alive until he had accomplished all He wanted him to do.
Every Born-Again Christian has been given this same power to overcome the enemy. Christians are to overcome the enemy by the blood of the Lamb, the word of their testimony, and by laying down their life in humility at the feet of Jesus (See Rev 1:6; 5:10; 12:10-11).
Question: Who is the Author of Death?
The answer is that God is NOT the author. When sin entered into the world death came with it. God has nothing to do with a person’s suffering and pain. It was not God's will – nor was it ever His intention for any human to suffer the pain of death. The Father is a good God and only wants the best for us.
Jesus said the devil was a "murderer from the beginning” who comes ONLY "to steal, kill and destroy" (John 8:44; 10:10a NIV).
The author of death, who Jesus said was a "murderer from the beginning" (John 8:44 NIV), is the devil - satan himself, who comes ONLY "to steal, kill and destroy" (John 10:10a NIV).
Jesus said, "the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly" (John 10:10 ESV). The devil is called a thief and not the author of sickness or disease.
The Bible says that when Jesus walked the earth, He healed all those who were under the power of the enemy (See Acts 10:38). He is the one who holds to “keys to death and the grave” and not the enemy (Revelation 1:18 NLT). The devil has NO authority over a Born-Again Christian to oppress them. In the Greek language, the word oppressed means to "exercise dominion (rule/authority) against."
The Bible tells us that the devil has been sinning from his beginning and accuses every Born-Again Christian day and night. However, NOWHERE in Scripture is he the author/creator of sin or causes it. If that were true, then sin would be beyond God's power and control, which the Bible clearly denies (Prov 16:4).
"Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil." (Acts 26:18 ESV)
Jesus healed all those oppressed (to exercise dominion over) of the devil. The Born-Again Christian has been delivered from the power of satan. If a person says that satan is the author of sin, there would no longer be any sin, dying, or death of anything (Acts 10:38).
CONCLUSION
Death comes when the body ceases to function - the heart stops, and life ends. All organic life ultimately dies. Yet, death is not the cessation of existence (See Dan 12:2-3, John 5:24-30, Phil 1:21-24, Rev 20:11-15).
Through the shed blood of Jesus, every Born-Again Christian has already been "rescued"… "from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins" (Col 1:13-14 NIV).
The heavenly Father does not "put" or "allow" suffering in a person's life to punish them, teach a lesson, or test their faith - nor does He guarantee deliverance from the suffering of this world. Suffering is inevitable while living on this planet. Their actions actually bring about a great deal of suffering that people experience. The adversary and his minions cannot indwell the spirit, mind, and body of a Born-Again Christian, but they can motivate them by whispering in their ear. No one can say, "The devil made me do it," but rather, "I allowed the devil to persuade me to do it."
The mind is the devil's playground. It is there that he can talk a person into doing something they should not do, and it is there that he can talk them into not forgiving themselves, as well as others. Poor choices and sin cause more suffering in this world than anything else. No one wants to take responsibility for their actions, so they find someone else to blame. The result is that people tend to look to either God or satan to blame, when, in fact, it is most often the wrong actions taken on their part, and by their own free choice, that cause the problems.
The Bible teaches that every human being is both a physical and spiritual being. Physical death does not mean the end of a person's existence but rather a transition to another dimension where the spirit lives forever. EVERY Christian faces the reality of their physical decline, disease, and ultimate death. No matter how much "faith" they have, there is no getting around it.
There is no suggestion in the New Testament that all Christians were always healed of ALL sickness and disease. The biblical truth is that humans have a perishable body that is subject to weaknesses because it is mortal and will need to be replaced by an imperishable body raised in Christ (1 Cor 15:42-43). This is why the Bible states that our tent/body is being destroyed, torn down, decaying (2 Cor 4:16-5:1). Ultimately, they will be redeemed from the power of sin when there is a new Heaven and Earth, and the universe is finally cleansed of sin's effects and power (See Rev 21:2-4).
When Jesus suffered His horrific scourging and death on the Cross, He broke the power of sin (See Is 53:4-6, 1 Peter 2:24). Christians have been "healed" from the eternal control of sin (See Matt 8:16-17). Jesus conquered physical, spiritual, and eternal death at His resurrection. He "...has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel" (2 Tim 1:10 NIV).
"Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Cor 15:55-57 NIV)
Not all are instantly healed; "Indeed he was ill, near to death. But God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow" (Phil 2:27 ESV).
EVERY living thing dies from the effects of sin (aka, entropy) having come into the world due to the Fall of Adam and Eve. NO one is immune from it. There is absolutely no amount of 'faith' a person can conjure up that can stop the onslaught of the disease known as aging. Faith is not a noun or something you possess; it is a verb that is always active, entrusting everything to Jesus, no matter what.
There would be no sickness and disease in the DNA of the human race if there were not the Fall. Jesus came to bring eternal life to save and heal (cure) us from the eternal consequences of sin because every Born-Again Christian had strayed away from God "like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer" of their souls (1 Peter 2:25).
The reality is that EVERY living thing ultimately dies from sickness and disease no matter how much 'faith' they/it has. That does not mean we should not pray for the sick or seek healing for ourselves.
Sickness and disease resulted from sin entering the world through fallen man and not the devil. By Jesus freely shedding His blood, every person on the planet can now go to Him and find healing. God is sovereign, and as Creator, He knows what is best according to His timing, not the created. Faith is not a tool one can use to make Him move on their behalf. Faith is trust in action. A person says by their faith, "God, I trust you to do this for me, but if You choose not to at this time, I will still trust You."
Jesus is the Healer and sovereignly moves as He chooses. He is the "same yesterday and today and forever" (Heb 13:8 ESV). God is able to heal every disease (Matt 9:35), but He is not obligated to do so. Paul was not able to heal two of his friends (Phil 2:25-30; 2 Tim 4:20), and David's baby son died despite his fasting and praying (2 Sam 12:15-23).
The Born-Again Christian's spirit, mind, and body is the Holy of Holies, God's dwelling place. The physical body will not be completely delivered from weakness and disease until it is redeemed and glorified at the return of Jesus Christ (Rom 8:18-23). In Scripture, sickness is often used as a picture of sin and healing as a picture of salvation (Psalm 41:4, 147:3; Isa 53:10; Luke 5:18-32; 1 Peter 2:23-24).
People who are sick should call for the Elders of the church to pray for them in their faith and not the sick person's (James 5:14-15). The word 'faith' is a verb and not a noun. It is entrusted to Jesus and not self-possessed (Mark 11:22).
