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Co-working of the Divine and the Human
69
The words spoken to Israel are true today of those who recover
health of body or health of soul. “‘I am the Lord who heals you.’”
Exodus 15:26
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The desire of God for every human being is expressed in the
words, “Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in
health, just as your soul prospers.”
3 John 2
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It is God who “forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your
diseases, who redeems your life from destruction, who crowns you
with lovingkindness and tender mercies.”
Psalm 103:3, 4
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When Christ healed disease, He warned many of the afflicted
ones, “‘Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.’”
John 5:14
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Thus He taught that they had brought disease upon themselves by
transgressing the laws of God, and that health could be preserved
only by obedience.
Physicians should teach their patients to cooperate with God in
the work of restoration. Disease is the result of sin. The laws of
nature, as truly as the precepts of the Decalogue, are divine, and only
in obedience to them can health be preserved or recovered. Many
who are suffering as the result of hurtful practices might be restored
to health if they would do what they could for their own restoration.
They need to be taught that every practice that destroys the physical,
mental, or spiritual energies is sin, and that health is to be secured
through obedience to the laws that God has established for the good
of all humanity.
A physician who sees a patient suffering from disease caused by
improper eating and drinking or other wrong habits, yet neglects to
tell him or her of this, is doing injury to a fellow being. Drunkards,
maniacs, those who are given over to licentiousness, all should be
told clearly and distinctly that suffering results from sin. Those who
understand the principles of life should be in earnest in striving to
counteract the causes of disease. Seeing the continual conflict with
pain, working constantly to alleviate suffering, how can physicians
hold their peace? Are they benevolent and merciful if they do not
teach strict temperance as a remedy for disease?
Let it be made plain that the way of God’s commandments is the
way of life. God has established the laws of nature, but His laws are
not arbitrary exactions. Every “You shall not,” whether in physical
or in moral law, implies a promise. If we obey it, blessings will