The more I read the Bible the more I am convinced that there is a spiritual component to many diseases. Here, I differentiate ‘disease’ from physical injury. A disease is a condition that puts our body or mind in ‘dis-ease’. The Lord created our bodies to function in a state of equilibrium called ‘homeostatis’. In simple English, this means having a steady state of balance or stability. It is when this balance or stability is disrupted that we have ‘dis-ease’. The prefix ‘dis’ means apart, away, or having a negative or reversing force. Hence, ‘dis-ease’ is a condition that takes you apart or away from, or is reversing the absence of difficulty or effort we have when our body is balanced and stable.

In this series on Spiritual Roots of Disease, I will be providing scriptural evidence of the spiritual roots of disease. It is essential that if something has a spiritual root it has to be healed by spiritual means. Might I present the hypothesis here that many of our so-called ‘chronic illnesses’ and illnesses for which there is ‘no cure’ are not being cured because we have not addressed the root cause. We are merely treating the symptoms to decrease or slow down the impact of the disease on the body and or reduce the physical manifestations of the disease. Additionally, when you read the medical literature you will find several diseases for which the aetiology or cause of the disease is stated to be unknown. Again, may I hypothesize that this is because allopathic medicine has omitted a very real and critical source, which is spiritual. They have omitted it because they have not understood it. This is not surprising as the Bible tells us that spiritual things can only be understood (discerned) spiritually (1 Cor. 2:14).

So as not to make this blog too lengthy, I will share only one piece of evidence from scripture this week.

Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers. (3 John 1:2, NKJV)

Note that there is a precondition to be met for health, that is, the prosperity of your soul. Man consists of three parts – body, soul and spirit – even as God is tripartite.

Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thess. 5:23)

For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. (Heb. 4:12)

As we study Scripture, it becomes evident that our soul is composed of our emotions, mind and will. Many times in Scripture the word ‘heart’ refers to our soul. The spirit is the inner man, where God’s Spirit takes up residence when we surrender our lives to Him. This is the part of man that is reborn or born again at the time of our decision to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour (Rom. 8:9). Thereafter, the Christian walk consists in large part of submitting our souls (carnal nature) to the control of our spirits (1 Cor. 3:1-3). This is the ongoing battle to become Christ-like and to have the fruit of the Spirit being consistently evident in our lives (Gal. 5:22-23).  Therefore, although our soul is separate from our spirit it is not independent of it. There is an interconnectedness between soul and spirit such that our spiritual state impacts our emotional, mental and behavioural state. In other words, the prosperity of our soul is dependent on the prosperity of our spirit. Therefore, 3 John 1:2 is stating that our health is conditional on the extent to which we are allowing our souls (emotions, mind and will) to be influenced and controlled by the Spirit of God.

Join me next week as we explore this intriguing topic further.

Shalom.