Salvation 6 Healed

[a myriad of work related and home related demands has led me to less frequent posting. I want to continue this series on different analogies for salvation and appreciate your patience in my inconsistent blogging]

The Bible often connects sin and illness. One might recall the time when a paralytic was brought to Jesus. Unable to come to the Lord on the ground, his four friends lowered the man through the roof to Jesus' feet. Our Master looked at him and said, "Your sins are forgiven." There was no confession. There was no declaration of faith. There was nothing except the Son of God's gracious declaration of forgiveness followed by the physical healing (to demonstrate His power to forgive sins). This is not the only place where Jesus "saves/heals" (the Greek word, sozo, can mean both) of His own initiative. Jesus came to deliver us from the grip of Satan and from the grasp of sin and death. God heals even those without faith.

In the Eastern Orthodox tradition, sin is viewed as a sickness. Too often the legal model (sin as breaking a law, the divine court as remedy) or the moral model (sin as doing bad, punishment as the proper repsonse) are seen as the only way to understand sin. So "getting off" (escaping legal punishment) or "getting by" (avoiding culpability) become the preoccupation of the sinner. I think that we forget that sin (even in Paul) has an element of power. It is more than just a word to describe wrong actions. It is also "something at work in our mortal bodies and in the world." Like disease, it is something we contract and it is something which can kill us. Sure, there are choices we make, but once we choose, that power is at work in ways we can not have forseen. It is also a power at work in the world, like bacteria or viruses.

Sin as a soul sickness is a long standing Christian concept. Jesus' title, the Divine Physician, is a reminder that salvation is also healing. So, along with conversion, there is a sense of passivity involved in getting saved. It is God's activity. At most we cry out, "Lord, Jesus, have mercy on me!" and await His touch. We cannot earn it. We cannot generate it in ourselves. We cannot make it happen. And healing may be quick & easy or it may be a long process (more often) of pain (like withdrawal or mending body parts).

It helps me to remember that, among other things, I am also sick. It helps to look to the Lord and seek His healing. This analogy of salvation really allows us to understand the grace of divine activity (being healed) coupled with the importance of human response (not engaging in behaviors which make the illness worse).