Searching Scripture, one finds an extraordinary link between sin and illness.  Church of God leader, Herbert W. Armstrong, long ago recognized certain aspects of this fact, stating in his 1952 booklet, Does God Heal Today? :

 "Consequently, healing is nothing more or less than the FORGIVENESS OF SIN – the consequent removal from us of the PENALTY we have incurred – and no human doctor, no medicine, no drug, has ever been given power to forgive sin – whether spiritual or physical!" [1] 

In contrast, others have asserted that "divine healing is God's miraculous answer to the prayer of the sick person, nothing less or nothing more." [2] 

What is the Biblical Truth? You need to know. Your physical and spiritual life and health are at stake!

Obedience and Healing 

Many have understood that there is a relationship between obedience to the spiritual principles of God's law and our receipt of His promised blessing of healing.  In his autobiography, Mr. Armstrong directly correlates this connection in the case of his wife's 1930 illness and subsequent healing: 

"Obviously God had not changed – He is the same from eternity to eternity.  He has promised to heal, and His Word is SURE!  The fault could not be with God.  I knew it had to be with me.  But where?  I "searched my heart."  One condition to receiving miraculous healing is that we OBEY God." 

"….By this time I KNEW where the trouble had been.  I realized fully that I had gotten so wrapped up in this clay project – the development of formulas – devising plans for marketing – and selling enough of it to beauty shops to keep us from starving, that I had unconsciously been drifting farther from the previously close relationship with God." 

"I had not stopped Bible study or prayer.  I had not even realized I had been diminishing it.  But now I realized that I had actually become closer to the clay project than I was to God.  It was fast becoming first in my mind, my interest, and my time.  And God will not play second fiddle to anything!" 

"….Arising Monday morning, my wife's cheeks were rosy red!  When the doctor saw her, he exclaimed:  'What in the world happened to you!'  He could not understand how her anemia had so suddenly disappeared." [3] 

In his 1952 booklet, Mr. Armstrong offers Scriptural support for this premise that obedience to God's spiritual principles is a condition for healing,[4] citing Exodus 15:26: 

And He said, 'If you will give earnest heed to the voice of the LORD your God, and do what is right in His sight, and give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have put on the Egyptians; for I, the LORD, am your healer.' 

Mr. Armstrong then goes on to make a very sobering observation which we, as a Body, would be remiss to ascribe less than the utmost importance: 

"And do you know that the same conditions, 'If you will obey and keep my commandments,' etc. – apply today, and that's one reason why a lot of people who have a little light on divine healing and believe in it are not being healed!" [5] 

He also cites I John 3:22 in this regard: [6] 

And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight. 

Additional passages of Scripture which specifically support the requirement to obey God's spiritual principles in order to receive divine healing, include the following: 

You shall not worship their gods, nor serve them, nor do according to their deeds; but you shall utterly overthrow them, and break their sacred pillars in pieces. But you shall serve the LORD your God, and He will bless your bread and your water; and I will remove sickness from your midst."  (Exodus 23:24-25) 

Therefore, you shall keep the commandment and the statutes and the judgments which I am commanding you today, to do them. "Then it shall come about, because you listen to these judgments and keep and do them, that the LORD your God will keep with you His covenant and His lovingkindness which He swore to your forefathers. And He will love you and bless you and multiply you; He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your new wine and your oil, the increase of your herd and the young of your flock, in the land which He swore to your forefathers to give you. You shall be blessed above all peoples; there shall be no male or female barren among you or among your cattle. And the LORD will remove from you all sickness; and He will not put on you any of the harmful diseases of Egypt which you have known, but He will lay them on all who hate you.  (Deuteronomy 7:11-15) 

Here, from the above verses, we should note in passing the very important fact that "the commandment and the statutes and the judgments which I am commanding you today,"  includes the Ten Commandments, injunctions to drive out and to destroy idolaters, and prohibitions against interreligious marriages. 

Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the LORD and turn away from evil.  It will be healing to your body, And refreshment to your bones."  (Proverbs 3:7-8) 

Is this not the fast which I choose, To loosen the bonds of wickedness, To undo the bands of the yoke, And to let the oppressed go free, And break every yoke? Is it not to divide your bread with the hungry, And bring the homeless poor into the house; When you see the naked, to cover him; And not to hide yourself from your own flesh? "Then your light will break out like the dawn, And your recovery will speedily spring forth; And your righteousness will go before you; The glory of the LORD will be your rear guard. "Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; You will cry, and He will say, 'Here I am.' If you remove the yoke from your midst, The pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, And if you give yourself to the hungry, And satisfy the desire of the afflicted, Then your light will rise in darkness, And your gloom will become like midday. "And the LORD will continually guide you, And satisfy your desire in scorched places, And give strength to your bones; And you will be like a watered garden, And like a spring of water whose waters do not fail."  (Isaiah 58:6-11) 

Therefore, as we have seen, the Bible makes clear that we must be obeying God's spiritual principles in order to receive the mercy of His divine healing. 

Sin and Sickness 

Conversely, what precisely does Scripture say about sin as a cause of sickness?  Is sin a cause of sickness, and if so, what sort of sins does God identify as being causes of illness? 

The following Biblical passages present a truly fascinating array of pertinent examples: 

But God came to Abimelech in a dream of the night, and said to him, "Behold, you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is married."

 … And Abraham prayed to God; and God healed Abimelech and his wife and his maids, so that they bore children.  For the LORD had closed fast all the wombs of the household of Abimelech because of Sarah, Abraham's wife.  (Genesis 20:3, 17-18) 

Then they said, "The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please, let us go a three days' journey into the wilderness that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God, lest He fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword.  (Exodus 5:3) 

Then the LORD said to Moses, "Go to Pharaoh and speak to him, 'Thus says the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, "Let My people go, that they may serve Me. "For if you refuse to let them go, and continue to hold them, behold, the hand of the LORD will come with a very severe pestilence on your livestock which are in the field, on the horses, on the donkeys, on the camels, on the herds, and on the flocks. "But the LORD will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, so that nothing will die of all that belongs to the sons of Israel."'  (Exodus 9:1-4) 

You shall not make for yourselves idols, nor shall you set up for yourselves an image or a sacred pillar, nor shall you place a figured stone in your land to bow down to it; for I am the LORD your God. You shall keep My sabbaths and reverence My sanctuary; I am the LORD. If you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments so as to carry them out….  But if you do not obey Me and do not carry out all these commandments,  if, instead, you reject My statutes, and if your soul abhors My ordinances so as not to carry out all My commandments, and so break My covenant,  I, in turn, will do this to you: I will appoint over you a sudden terror, consumption and fever that shall waste away the eyes and cause the soul to pine away; also, you shall sow your seed uselessly, for your enemies shall eat it up."  (Leviticus 26:1-3, 14-16) 

And if by these things you are not turned to Me, but act with hostility against Me, then I will act with hostility against you; and I, even I, will strike you seven times for your sins. 'I will also bring upon you a sword which will execute vengeance for the covenant; and when you gather together into your cities, I will send pestilence among you, so that you shall be delivered into enemy hands."  (Leviticus 26:23-25) 

“if you, however, have gone astray, being under the authority of your husband, and if you have defiled yourself and a man other than your husband has had intercourse with you”  (then the priest shall have the woman swear with the oath of the curse, and the priest shall say to the woman), "the LORD make you a curse and an oath among your people by the LORD'S making your thigh waste away and your abdomen swell;”  (Numbers 5:20-21) 

With him I speak mouth to mouth, Even openly, and not in dark sayings, And he beholds the form of the LORD. Why then were you not afraid To speak against My servant, against Moses?"  So the anger of the LORD burned against them and He departed.  But when the cloud had withdrawn from over the tent, behold, Miriam was leprous, as white as snow. As Aaron turned toward Miriam, behold, she was leprous. (Numbers 12:8-10) 

And the LORD said to Moses, "How long will this people spurn Me? And how long will they not believe in Me, despite all the signs which I have performed in their midst? I will smite them with pestilence and dispossess them, and I will make you into a nation greater and mightier than they.”  (Numbers 14:11-12) 

But it shall come about, if you will not obey the LORD your God, to observe to do all His commandments and His statutes with which I charge you today, that all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you… The LORD will make the pestilence cling to you until He has consumed you from the land, where you are entering to possess it. The LORD will smite you with consumption and with fever and with inflammation and with fiery heat and with the sword and with blight and with mildew, and they shall pursue you until you perish…. The LORD will smite you with the boils of Egypt and with tumors and with the scab and with the itch, from which you cannot be healed. The LORD will smite you with madness and with blindness and with bewilderment of heart…. And you shall be driven mad by the sight of what you see. The LORD will strike you on the knees and legs with sore boils, from which you cannot be healed, from the sole of your foot to the crown of your head.  (Deuteronomy 28:15, 21-22, 27-28, 34-35) 

If you are not careful to observe all the words of this law which are written in this book, to fear this honored and awesome name, the LORD your God, then the LORD will bring extraordinary plagues on you and your descendants, even severe and lasting plagues, and miserable and chronic sicknesses. "And He will bring back on you all the diseases of Egypt of which you were afraid, and they shall cling to you. Also every sickness and every plague which, not written in the book of this law, the LORD will bring on you until you are destroyed. Then you shall be left few in number, whereas you were as the stars of heaven for multitude, because you did not obey the LORD your God.  (Deuteronomy 28:58-62) 

Why do you kick at My sacrifice and at My offering which I have commanded in My dwelling, and honor your sons above Me, by making yourselves fat with the choicest of every offering of My people Israel?' Therefore the LORD God of Israel declares, 'I did indeed say that your house and the house of your father should walk before Me forever'; but now the LORD declares, 'Far be it from Me-- for those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me will be lightly esteemed.  'Behold, the days are coming when I will break your strength and the strength of your father's house so that there will not be an old man in your house. 'And you will see the distress of My dwelling, in spite of all that I do good for Israel; and an old man will not be in your house forever. Yet I will not cut off every man of yours from My altar that your eyes may fail from weeping and your soul grieve, and all the increase of your house will die in the prime of life.’  (1 Samuel 2:29-33) 

Now the hand of the LORD was heavy on the Ashdodites, and He ravaged them and smote them with tumors, both Ashdod and its territories.  When the men of Ashdod saw that it was so, they said, "The ark of the God of Israel must not remain with us, for His hand is severe on us and on Dagon our god."   So they sent and gathered all the lords of the Philistines to them and said, "What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel?" And they said, "Let the ark of the God of Israel be brought around to Gath." And they brought the ark of the God of Israel around.  And it came about that after they had brought it around, the hand of the LORD was against the city with very great confusion; and He smote the men of the city, both young and old, so that tumors broke out on them.  (1 Samuel 5:6-9) 

Now David's heart troubled him after he had numbered the people. So David said to the LORD, "I have sinned greatly in what I have done. But now, O LORD, please take away the iniquity of Thy servant, for I have acted very foolishly."  When David arose in the morning, the word of the LORD came to the prophet Gad, David's seer, saying,  "Go and speak to David, 'Thus the LORD says, "I am offering you three things; choose for yourself one of them, which I may do to you."’  So Gad came to David and told him, and said to him, "Shall seven years of famine come to you in your land? Or will you flee three months before your foes while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days' pestilence in your land? Now consider and see what answer I shall return to Him who sent me."  Then David said to Gad, "I am in great distress. Let us now fall into the hand of the LORD for His mercies are great, but do not let me fall into the hand of man."  So the LORD sent a pestilence upon Israel from the morning until the appointed time; and seventy thousand men of the people from Dan to Beersheba died.  (2 Samuel 24:10-15) 

But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, thought, "Behold, my master has spared this Naaman the Aramean, by not receiving from his hands what he brought. As the LORD lives, I will run after him and take something from him."  So Gehazi pursued Naaman. When Naaman saw one running after him, he came down from the chariot to meet him and said, "Is all well?"  And he said, "All is well. My master has sent me, saying, 'Behold, just now two young men of the sons of the prophets have come to me from the hill country of Ephraim. Please give them a talent of silver and two changes of clothes.'"  And Naaman said, "Be pleased to take two talents." And he urged him, and bound two talents of silver in two bags with two changes of clothes, and gave them to two of his servants; and they carried them before him.  When he came to the hill, he took them from their hand and deposited them in the house, and he sent the men away, and they departed.  But he went in and stood before his master. And Elisha said to him, "Where have you been, Gehazi?" And he said, "Your servant went nowhere." Then he said to him, "Did not my heart go with you, when the man turned from his chariot to meet you? Is it a time to receive money and to receive clothes and olive groves and vineyards and sheep and oxen and male and female servants?  "Therefore, the leprosy of Naaman shall cleave to you and to your descendants forever." So he went out from his presence a leper as white as snow.  (2 Kings 5:20-27) 

Then a letter came to him from Elijah the prophet saying, "Thus says the LORD God of your father David, 'Because you have not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat your father and the ways of Asa king of Judah, but have walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and have caused Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to play the harlot as the house of Ahab played the harlot, and you have also killed your brothers, your own family, who were better than you,  behold, the LORD is going to strike your people, your sons, your wives, and all your possessions with a great calamity;  and you will suffer severe sickness, a disease of your bowels, until your bowels come out because of the sickness, day by day. (2 Chronicles 21:12-15) 

And they opposed Uzziah the king and said to him, "It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the LORD, but for the priests, the sons of Aaron who are consecrated to burn incense. Get out of the sanctuary, for you have been unfaithful, and will have no honor from the LORD God."  But Uzziah, with a censer in his hand for burning incense, was enraged; and while he was enraged with the priests, the leprosy broke out on his forehead before the priests in the house of the LORD, beside the altar of incense. And Azariah the chief priest and all the priests looked at him, and behold, he was leprous on his forehead; and they hurried him out of there, and he himself also hastened to get out because the LORD had smitten him.  And King Uzziah was a leper to the day of his death; and he lived in a separate house, being a leper, for he was cut off from the house of the LORD. And Jotham his son was over the king's house judging the people of the land."  (2 Chronicles 26:18-21)

In this next passage, we find given as a general and vital Scriptural principle, the concept of severe physical illness, sent as personal chastisement from Almighty God:

Fools, because of their rebellious way, And because of their iniquities, were afflicted. Their soul abhorred all kinds of food; And they drew near to the gates of death. (Psalm 107:17-18) 

Thus says the LORD to this people, "Even so they have loved to wander; they have not kept their feet in check. Therefore the LORD does not accept them; now He will remember their iniquity and call their sins to account."  So the LORD said to me, "Do not pray for the welfare of this people. When they fast, I am not going to listen to their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I am not going to accept them. Rather I am going to make an end of them by the sword, famine and pestilence."  (Jeremiah 14:10-12) 

They will die of deadly diseases, they will not be lamented or buried; they will be as dung on the surface of the ground and come to an end by sword and famine, and their carcasses will become food for the birds of the sky and for the beasts of the earth …. Now it will come about when you tell this people all these words that they will say to you, 'For what reason has the LORD declared all this great calamity against us? And what is our iniquity, or what is our sin which we have committed against the LORD our God?' Then you are to say to them, 'It is because your forefathers have forsaken Me,' declares the LORD, 'and have followed other gods and served them and bowed down to them; but Me they have forsaken and have not kept My law. You too have done evil, even more than your forefathers; for behold, you are each one walking according to the stubbornness of his own evil heart, without listening to Me.  (Jeremiah 16:4, 10-12) 

“And it will be, that the nation or the kingdom which will not serve him, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and which will not put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, I will punish that nation with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence," declares the LORD, "until I have destroyed it by his hand."  (Jeremiah 27:8) 

Thus says the LORD of hosts, 'Behold, I am sending upon them the sword, famine, and pestilence, and I will make them like split-open figs that cannot be eaten due to rottenness. 'And I will pursue them with the sword, with famine and with pestilence; and I will make them a terror to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a curse, and a horror, and a hissing, and a reproach among all the nations where I have driven them, because they have not listened to My words,' declares the LORD, 'which I sent to them again and again by My servants the prophets; but you did not listen,' declares the LORD.  (Jeremiah 29:17-19) 

Therefore thus says the LORD, 'You have not obeyed Me in proclaiming release each man to his brother, and each man to his neighbor. Behold, I am proclaiming a release to you,' declares the LORD, 'to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will make you a terror to all the kingdoms of the earth. (Jeremiah 34:17) 

But if you are going to say, "We will not stay in this land," so as not to listen to the voice of the LORD your God, saying, "No, but we will go to the land of Egypt, where we shall not see war or hear the sound of a trumpet or hunger for bread, and we will stay there"; then in that case listen to the word of the LORD, O remnant of Judah. Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, "If you really set your mind to enter Egypt, and go in to reside there, then it will come about that the sword, which you are afraid of will overtake you there in the land of Egypt; and the famine, about which you are anxious, will follow closely after you there in Egypt; and you will die there.  So all the men who set their mind to go to Egypt to reside there will die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence; and they will have no survivors or refugees from the calamity that I am going to bring on them."  (Jeremiah 42:13-17) 

Therefore, say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "You eat meat with the blood in it, lift up your eyes to your idols as you shed blood. Should you then possess the land? You rely on your sword, you commit abominations, and each of you defiles his neighbor's wife. Should you then possess the land?"'  Thus you shall say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "As I live, surely those who are in the waste places will fall by the sword, and whoever is in the open field I will give to the beasts to be devoured, and those who are in the strongholds and in the caves will die of pestilence."  (Ezekiel 33:25-27) 

And it will come about on that day, when Gog comes against the land of Israel," declares the Lord GOD, "that My fury will mount up in My anger." …. "And with pestilence and with blood I shall enter into judgment with him; and I shall rain on him, and on his troops, and on the many peoples who are with him, a torrential rain, with hailstones, fire, and brimstone."  (Ezek 38:18, 22) 

But in giving this instruction, I do not praise you, because you come together not for the better but for the worse. For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that divisions exist among you; and in part, I believe it. For there must also be factions among you, in order that those who are approved may have become evident among you.  Therefore when you meet together, it is not to eat the Lord's Supper, for in your eating each one takes his own supper first; and one is hungry and another is drunk.  What! Do you not have houses in which to eat and drink? Or do you despise the church of God, and shame those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? In this I will not praise you.  For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it, and said, "This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me."  In the same way He took the cup also, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me."  For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes.  Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord.  But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup.  For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself, if he does not judge the body rightly.  For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep. But if we judged ourselves rightly, we should not be judged.  But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord in order that we may not be condemned along with the world. So then, my brethren, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. If anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, so that you may not come together for judgment.  (1 Corinthians 11:17-34) 

What does Paul mean in the above passage, by "if he does not judge the body rightly"? Clearly, by the context, the Corinthians, in their conduct, were failing to recognize each other as brothers and sisters in Christ.  They were abusing their fellow members of the Body.  For these spiritual transgressions against one another, we are told that God disciplined many among them with physical weakness, sickness, and even death. 

And I gave her time to repent; and she does not want to repent of her immorality. Behold, I will cast her upon a bed of sickness, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of her deeds. And I will kill her children with pestilence; and all the churches will know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts; and I will give to each one of you according to your deeds.  (Revelation 2:21-23) 

“For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the passion of her immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed acts of immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich by the wealth of her sensuality." And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, "Come out of her, my people, that you may not participate in her sins and that you may not receive of her plagues; for her sins have piled up as high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities …. For this reason in one day her plagues will come, pestilence and mourning and famine, and she will be burned up with fire; for the Lord God who judges her is strong.”  (Revelation 18:3-5, 8) 

Perhaps in light of the above passages, it is fitting at this juncture that we give added weight to Mr. Herbert Armstrong's observation mentioned earlier: 

"And do you know that the same conditions, 'If you will obey and keep my commandments,' etc. – apply today, and that's one reason why a lot of people who have a little light on divine healing and believe in it are not being healed!" [7] 

“Physical” Sin? 

Again, we are reminded Scripturally of the profound causative link between sin and disease.  But what sort of sin?  As illustrated by the passages above, Scripture overwhelmingly attributes human illness to violation of God's spiritual principles – His law, His statutes, His commandments. 

It is certainly scientifically documentable that one's life choices do have a statistical bearing upon one's personal health.  Yet do we find in Scripture any instance of disease – when cause is attributed – where that cause is ascribed solely to the violation of what we might term a "natural law" – a “physical law” – as opposed to that disease being ascribed to some element of violation of a spiritual principle? 

While some have suggested that God's food laws are simply "natural" or "physical" laws,     Scripture speaks to the contrary. In Isaiah 65, we find that the consumption of swine's flesh and unclean meats inextricably associated with spiritual rebellion and consequent divine retribution: 

“I have spread out My hands all day long to a rebellious people, Who walk in the way which is not good, following their own thoughts,  A people who continually provoke Me to My face, Offering sacrifices in gardens and burning incense on bricks;  Who sit among graves, and spend the night in secret places; Who eat swine's flesh, And the broth of unclean meat is in their pots.  Who say, 'Keep to yourself, do not come near me, For I am holier than you!' These are smoke in My nostrils, A fire that burns all the day. Behold, it is written before Me, I will not keep silent, but I will repay; I will even repay into their bosom, Both their own iniquities and the iniquities of their fathers together," says the LORD.  (Isaiah 65:2-7) 

Ezekiel 33 tells the same story with regard to the consumption of blood from unbled meat. Again the association we find is that of spiritual rebellion; the result being divine retribution – with the punishments here including, but going far beyond, that of just physical disease: 

Therefore, say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "You eat meat with the blood in it, lift up your eyes to your idols as you shed blood. Should you then possess the land? You rely on your sword, you commit abominations, and each of you defiles his neighbor's wife. Should you then possess the land?"'  Thus you shall say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "As I live, surely those who are in the waste places will fall by the sword, and whoever is in the open field I will give to the beasts to be devoured, and those who are in the strongholds and in the caves will die of pestilence. And I shall make the land a desolation and a waste, and the pride of her power will cease; and the mountains of Israel will be desolate, so that no one will pass through. Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I make the land a desolation and a waste because of all their abominations which they have committed."'  (Ezekiel 33:25-29) 

Moreover, where in Scripture do we find any instance of simple ill health attributed to the consumption of blood or of unclean meats? 

Rather, in view of the fact that Scripture is so silent in this regard, historically in the literature of God’s Church, authors have been forced to resort to modern science to support the physical validity of God's dietary laws. We must be cautioned however, that although secular evidence does support the physical validity of these and other of God's laws; this physical validity does not and can not negate the spiritual component of each of God's instructions to us. 

In Romans 7:14, God tells us that His law is spiritual. 

Therefore, we must not allow the physical benefits of any of God's laws that are revealed to us in Scripture – laws such as the command for Sabbath rest, the prohibition of immorality, the prohibition against eating unclean meats, etc. – to sedate us into a failure to comprehend the intended spiritual significance of these laws. 

To reiterate:  In Scripture, God overwhelmingly attributes physical illness to the violation of His spiritual principles.  If God had expected us to focus on the violation of "natural" or "physical" law as a/the primary cause of illness, would He have omitted that fact entirely; instead devoting numerous passages of Scripture to the assertion that illness results when His spiritual principles are violated? 

To the contrary! Contained within the text of a passage of Scripture wherein He offers His blessing of healing to us, our Almighty Father warns us against placing our own understanding above what He has revealed: 

My son, do not forget my teaching, But let your heart keep my commandments; For length of days and years of life, And peace they will add to you.  Do not let kindness and truth leave you; Bind them around your neck, Write them on the tablet of your heart.  So you will find favor and good repute In the sight of God and man.  Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And do not lean on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the LORD and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your body, And refreshment to your bones.  (Proverbs 3:1-8) 

Thus we understand that in Scripture, there is no such thing as “physical sin.”  God overwhelmingly attributes physical illness to the violation of His spiritual principles. 

Whose Sin? 

Vitally important, is that we recognize that any sins which are contributory to a specific instance of illness may, or may not, be sins committed by the afflicted individual. 

Scripture provides several examples which demonstrate the innocence of the afflicted party.  First, there is the guiltless Christ who suffered for our sins: 

He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face, He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted.  But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. (Isaiah 53:3-5) 

A second such instance, where Scripture makes clear that the afflicted individual was not a guilty party in his own illness, was in the case of the man who was born blind, cited in John 9:1-3: 

And as He passed by, He saw a man blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him, saying, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he should be born blind?"  Jesus answered, "It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was in order that the works of God might be displayed in him." 

Job's suffering is a third example.  God, who does not lie, informs us that Job was more blameless and upright than anyone else on earth: 

And the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil."  (Job 1:8) 

Nevertheless, God allowed Job to be afflicted with "sore boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head."  Was this as a result of prior sin?  Absolutely, as Scripture makes clear. But whose sin? Who was it that acted in a sinful spirit of malice and hatred (although restricted by the boundaries imposed by God) to bring about Job's illness? 

Scripture supports Mr. Armstrong, as he points out, "Satan was the cause of Job's ailments." [8] 

So the LORD said to Satan, "Behold, he is in your power, only spare his life." Then Satan went out from the presence of the LORD, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head.  (Job 2:6-7) 

As Christians, therefore, in any specific instance of illness, we must exercise the greatest diligence to not be like Job's three friends – bringing guilt upon ourselves, as they did upon themselves, by the ignorant presumption that one who is ill has been reduced to that afflicted state as God's punishment for his or her own presumed sins, or for the sins of his or her family members. 

On the other hand, as we have already seen, there is an immense and inescapable Biblical link between the presence of sin, which is spiritual, and the incidence of physical illness and disability. 

Thus, it remains an incontrovertible Scriptural fact that: 

Collectively, if we are conducting ourselves righteously: 

1.      We will experience far less sickness than those in the world around us, and

2.      God will liberally provide miraculous healings for us, if and when we do become ill. 

This compelling Biblical truth merits the serious and urgent attention of all who are within the true Body of Jesus Christ. 

To state this truth plainly: 

If we, as a group, are not enjoying these promised benefits of health and healing, it is because we are not conducting ourselves righteously – it is because we are not pleasing God! 

Forgiveness of Sin 

Given the already established Scriptural connection of sin as a causative factor of illness, it should come as no surprise that Christ pointedly linked physical healing to the forgiveness of sins.  James strengthens our understanding of this association; our act of petitioning to be anointed becomes a de facto acknowledgment of the possibility that our own personal sin has contributed to our illness.  Applicable passages of Scripture include: 

Bless the LORD, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name.  Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget none of His benefits;  Who pardons all your iniquities; Who heals all your diseases;  Who redeems your life from the pit; Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion; Who satisfies your years with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle.  (Psalm 103:1-5) 

And no resident will say, "I am sick"; The people who dwell there will be forgiven their iniquity.  (Isaiah 33:24) 

And it came about one day that He was teaching; and there were some Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem; and the power of the Lord was present for Him to perform healing.  And behold, some men were carrying on a bed a man who was paralyzed; and they were trying to bring him in, and to set him down in front of Him.  And not finding any way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down through the tiles with his stretcher, right in the center, in front of Jesus.  And seeing their faith, He said, "Friend, your sins are forgiven you."  And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, "Who is this man who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?"  But Jesus, aware of their reasonings, answered and said to them, "Why are you reasoning in your hearts?  "Which is easier, to say, 'Your sins have been forgiven you,' or to say, 'Rise and walk'?  "But in order that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,"-- He said to the paralytic-- "I say to you, rise, and take up your stretcher and go home."  And at once he rose up before them, and took up what he had been lying on, and went home, glorifying God.  And they were all seized with astonishment and began glorifying God; and they were filled with fear, saying, "We have seen remarkable things today.  (Luke 5:17-26) 

But he who was healed did not know who it was; for Jesus had slipped away while there was a crowd in that place.  Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, "Behold, you have become well; do not sin anymore, so that nothing worse may befall you."  (John 5:13-14) 

Is anyone 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; and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him.  Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.  Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain; and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months.  And he prayed again, and the sky poured rain, and the earth produced its fruit.  My brethren, if any among you strays from the truth, and one turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death, and will cover a multitude of sins.  (James 5:14-18) 

In considering the above passage from the book of James, it is imperative that we not overlook which genre of sins James has identified in the earlier chapters of his discourse. The circumstances of this book have profound similarity to the situation which we have seen described by the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 11.  When James says, "confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed," of what sins has he already made us mindful?  Among the sins which James has decried, he particularly has condemned abuses against fellow Christians.

The Duality of Christ's Sacrifice 

The sacrifice of Jesus Christ was one sacrifice for all the sins of mankind, both past and future.  The unity of that sacrifice is inescapable.  Yet Christ, in conformity with the will of our mutual Father, presents us with a concurrent representative duality involved in that sacrifice.  This duality is not an accident. God could easily have given us only one symbol of which to partake at Passover to signify Christ's sacrifice for our sins. Instead, it is clear that God gave us two separate and distinct symbols, both of which must be partaken, yet as part of the one service. As Luke and Paul each report: 

And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me." And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, "This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood."  (Luke 22:19-20) 

Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ?"  (1 Corinthians 10:16) 

In the Apostolic Writings, although we find both the sacrifice of Christ's body and of His blood associated with the forgiveness of sin, with sanctification, and with eternal life; the association with the new covenant is exclusive to the symbolism of Christ's blood.  Likewise, the association with healing is exclusive to the symbolism of Christ's body. 

The Connection to Christ’s Body 

God shares with us the wonderful significance of the body of His Son, Jesus Christ: 

He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face, He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.  Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted.  But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed.  (Isaiah 53:3-5) 

Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he shall live forever; and the bread also which I shall give for the life of the world is My flesh.  (John 6:49-51) 

Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, that we might bear fruit for God.  (Romans 7:4) 

For the Law, since it has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things, can never by the same sacrifices year by year, which they offer continually, make perfect those who draw near.  Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, because the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have had consciousness of sins?  But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins year by year.  For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.  Therefore, when He comes into the world, He says, "SACRIFICE AND OFFERING THOU HAST NOT DESIRED, BUT A BODY THOU HAST PREPARED FOR ME; IN WHOLE BURNT OFFERINGS AND sacrifices FOR SIN THOU HAST TAKEN NO PLEASURE.  THEN I SAID, 'BEHOLD, I HAVE COME (IN THE ROLL OF THE BOOK IT IS WRITTEN OF ME) TO DO THY WILL, O GOD.'"  After saying above, "SACRIFICES AND OFFERINGS AND WHOLE BURNT OFFERINGS AND sacrifices FOR SIN THOU HAST NOT DESIRED, NOR HAST THOU TAKEN PLEASURE in them" (which are offered according to the Law), then He said, "BEHOLD, I HAVE COME TO DO THY WILL." He takes away the first in order to establish the second.  By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all."  (Hebrews 10:1-10) 

And He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.  For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.  (1 Peter 2:24-25) 

What then, is the connection of sin and healing to the sacrifice of the body of Christ – the physical and emotional suffering which Christ endured in accompaniment with His death? 

Based upon what is demonstrated by the Word of God, the connection of sin and healing to the sacrifice of the body of Christ is this:  Sin produces separation from God leading to eternal death.  And as we have seen, this separation and eternal death is not all which sin invokes upon us. 

Violation of the spiritual principles of God creates devastating tortuous suffering and illnesses of every type, wreaking both physical and emotional havoc.  It is crucially important for us to fully grasp this concept.  In contrast to the painless death of the ritual Passover lambs, God allowed His only begotten Son to not only suffer the shedding of His blood for our violation of His spiritual principles, but to endure the torture and mutilation of His body for these violations.  The depth of this understanding should greatly reinforce our repudiation of sin as we more fully recognize its impact upon ourselves, our brothers and sisters in Christ, and the world at large. 

Christ's promise of  physical healing by the sacrifice of His body IS absolute; His bodily sacrifice vicariously pays the penalty for the physical and emotional suffering caused by sin – the sicknesses and sorrows referenced by Isaiah, even to the inclusion of death (I Corinthians 11:30). 

The Connection to Christ’s Blood 

Likewise, Christ's promise of a cleansed conscience and confident access to our Father IS absolute; Christ's shed blood vicariously pays the penalty for the spiritual separation and deprivation caused by sin, particularly death.  The passages immediately below, illustrate these statements pertaining to Christ's shed blood: 

For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood by reason of the life that makes atonement.  (Leviticus 17:11) 

And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, "This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood."  (Luke 22:20) 

How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?  (Hebrews 9:14)

Since therefore, brethren, we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, (Hebrews 10:19) 

According to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, that you may obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be yours in fullest measure.  (1 Pet 1:2) 

Now as we more carefully reexamine 1 Corinthians 11:17-30, it becomes especially meaningful to observe how the content of this passage in 1 Corinthians 11 parallels the progression of Deuteronomy 28:58-62: 

If you are not careful to observe all the words of this law which are written in this book, to fear this honored and awesome name, the LORD your God,  then the LORD will bring extraordinary plagues on you and your descendants, even severe and lasting plagues, and miserable and chronic sicknesses. And He will bring back on you all the diseases of Egypt of which you were afraid, and they shall cling to you.  Also every sickness and every plague which, not written in the book of this law, the LORD will bring on you until you are destroyed.  Then you shall be left few in number, whereas you were as the stars of heaven for multitude, because you did not obey the LORD your God.  (Deuteronomy 28:58-62) 

But in giving this instruction, I do not praise you, because you come together not for the better but for the worse.  For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that divisions exist among you; and in part, I believe it.  For there must also be factions among you, in order that those who are approved may have become evident among you.  Therefore when you meet together, it is not to eat the Lord's Supper,  for in your eating each one takes his own supper first; and one is hungry and another is drunk.  What! Do you not have houses in which to eat and drink? Or do you despise the church of God, and shame those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? In this I will not praise you.  For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it, and said, "This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me."  In the same way He took the cup also, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me."  For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes.  Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord.  But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup.  For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself, if he does not judge the body rightly.  For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep.  (1 Corinthians 11:17-30) 

What did God forewarn?  “Also every sickness and every plague which, not written in the book of this law, the LORD will bring on you until you are destroyed.  Then you shall be left few in number, whereas you were as the stars of heaven for multitude, because you did not obey the LORD your God.” 

Just as God had warned His people centuries earlier, we find happening in Corinth: “For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep.” 

The Spiritual Focus 

As one member of Christ’s Body aptly exclaimed, "God told man 'You will surely die,' and man has been trying to prove God wrong ever since!" 

Modern man has immersed himself in the intense pursuit of effecting healing of sickness and injury, seeking to prolong and to enhance human life.  As Mr. Armstrong acknowledged in 1979, "The great advances in the medical field enable man to do for his human family many things he could not do 50 years ago." [9]   Certainly from a human perspective, tremendous gains have been achieved within the so-called "healing arts."  However, again to Mr. Armstrong:  "Once more to the question, Did God raise up the medical profession for our day?  EMPHATICALLY NO!" [10] 

Irrespective of origin, does the existence of a plethora of modern physical therapeutic approaches obligate Christians to a study of the alleged merits of each?  Do we have a responsibility before God to avail ourselves of these accessible "benefits"? 

Investigation of much of the research within the "healing arts" has recently exposed many of the same problems which we find in all carnal human endeavors – widespread incidences of weak individuals debased by the greed of those with dishonest motives.  In many cases, if not most, one would have to possess the same level of expertise as the researcher – and to have watched over his shoulder – in order to conclusively ascertain the legitimacy of any given medical study.  As is true of all which Satan governs — confusion, contention, and corruption abound.  Does God require us to sort out this fleshly chaos in order to be doing what we can for ourselves?  Would it even be possible for us to do so?  What does God expect of us in this regard?  What approach do we see taken in, and supported by, Scripture? 

First, let's examine emphasis.  The Apostolic Writings are replete with allusions to the miracle of healing.  Conversely, where in Scripture do we find a stated example of the accomplishment of a cure beyond essential first aid (i.e., the good Samaritan), apart from God? 

It is truly remarkable that Luke, acknowledged as "the beloved physician," is nowhere in Scripture credited with contributing to the restoration of the health of any individual.  Interestingly, we are told in Acts 28, when Luke was with Paul on the island of Malta, that after Paul had healed the father of Publius, "the rest of the people on the island who had diseases were coming to him (to Paul! -- not to his accompanying physician) and getting cured." 

This is not to suggest or to presume that no such benefit was ever served by Luke.  It does, however, exemplify the emphasis and the focus of Scripture, which is to endorse healing, with very little mention of any efficacy of physical remedy. 

How much weight does God want us to ascribe to our physical health?  It is often noted that we are told that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit.  However, in the context of this very exhortation, we mustn't overlook Paul's assertion that "Food is for the stomach, and the stomach is for food; but God will do away with both of them. Yet the body is not for immorality, but for the Lord; and the Lord is for the body." 

Paul's attentiveness in this, and in other passages of Scripture, is to overtly stress the greater importance of spiritually proper conduct over physical bodily concerns: 

All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything.  Food is for the stomach, and the stomach is for food; but God will do away with both of them. Yet the body is not for immorality, but for the Lord; and the Lord is for the body.  Now God has not only raised the Lord, but will also raise us up through His power.  Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take away the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? May it never be!  Or do you not know that the one who joins himself to a harlot is one body with her? For He says, "THE TWO WILL BECOME ONE FLESH."  But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him.  Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body.  Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?  For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.  (1 Corinthians 6:12-20) 

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassing greatness of the power may be of God and not from ourselves; we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.  For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus' sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.  So death works in us, but life in you.  But having the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, "I BELIEVED, THEREFORE I SPOKE," we also believe, therefore also we speak; knowing that He who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and will present us with you.  For all things are for your sakes, that the grace which is spreading to more and more people may cause the giving of thanks to abound to the glory of God.  Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.  For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison,  while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.  (2 Corinthians 4:7-18) 

For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things.  For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ;  (Philippians 3:18-20) 

If then you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.  Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.  (Colossians 3:1-2) 

But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, men who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods, which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth.  For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected, if it is received with gratitude; for it is sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer.  In pointing out these things to the brethren, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, constantly nourished on the words of the faith and of the sound doctrine which you have been following.  But have nothing to do with worldly fables fit only for old women. On the other hand, discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness; for bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.  It is a trustworthy statement deserving full acceptance.  For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers.  Prescribe and teach these things.  (1Timothy 4:1-11) 

Christ's emphasis was no different than Paul's.  Jesus strongly redirected concerns over physical bodily matters to those of the spiritual realm: 

Do not be anxious then, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'With what shall we clothe ourselves?'  For all these things the Gentiles eagerly seek; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these thin