Ordinarily, people define sin only in terms of the wrongs committed against others, according to societal laws and regulations. However, they do not regard as serious the sins of moral and ethical shame, sins conceived in the heart, or sins that are not exposed before others; nor do they feel much remorse or shame about them. When people are young, even small or trivial sins stir their conscience, making them feel ashamed and repentant. Yet as a child grows into youth and then adulthood, the conscience no longer feels conviction; instead, justification and excuses for sin take root, becoming a self-centered standard of judgment. Thus the pure and honest conscience of childhood is corrupted into a standard driven by selfish desire, seeking only personal benefit and advantage. As a result, human life naturally becomes one in which conscience no longer feels guilt, and the heart becomes governed by shameful standards and corrupt judgments.
Therefore, in the self-centered life ruled by excuses and justifications for one’s own sins and shame, people inevitably fall into continual cycles of jealousy, envy, lust, hatred, lies, and strife—each one driven by conflicting interests and personal gain. For this reason, all worldly people treat their own sins lightly or cover them with excuses, while boldly exposing and condemning the sins and shame of others. Living in such habits, their conscience inevitably grows dull and lifeless. Since everyone lives according to standards centered on their own benefit and advantage, their entire life becomes self-centered, their standards become self-centered, and their faith also becomes self-centered—departing farther and farther from the pure conscience.
Such people pursue a self-centered faith that is not based on true values or truth, but on selfish desires and personal advantage. And because their standards of judgment and belief arise from an egocentric mindset, they inevitably depart from the purity of conscience. Most who claim to live a life of faith have their conscience ruined by a standard that excuses sin so thoroughly that they no longer even feel conviction. Teachers and learners alike have abandoned the holy will of God and the precious sacrifice and love of the cross, seeking only their own pleasure, happiness, and comfortable lives. Thus their lives accumulate nothing but sin and desire, and their religious beliefs grow only in standards and convictions that justify sin. As a result, even while living a life of faith, they inevitably fall into sickness, because such faith cannot receive the forgiveness of sins. Though they reflect or regret for a moment, they cannot escape the path of sin; they turn back and commit sin again and again. It is an empty and futile faith—guided by worldly desires, worldly hopes, and fleshly expectations—that cannot escape sin, cannot break sinful habits, and cannot free them from the sinful lifestyle they repeatedly return to even after repenting.
The Sin Worthy of Death
And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.(Romans 1 : 28~32)
For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law.(James 2 : 10~11)
Because Ephraim hath made many altars to sin, altars shall be unto him to sin. I have written to him the great things of my law, but they were counted as a strange thing. They sacrifice flesh for the sacrifices of mine offerings, and eat it; but the LORD accepteth them not; now will he remember their iniquity, and visit their sins: they shall return to Egypt. For Israel hath forgotten his Maker, and buildeth temples; and Judah hath multiplied fenced cities: but I will send a fire upon his cities, and it shall devour the palaces thereof.(Hosea 8 : 11~14)
Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.(John 8 : 34)
According to human standards in the world, jealousy, envy, hatred, lust, and falsehood conceived in the heart are never considered sins. This is why countless people commit such sins of the heart many times in a single day, yet treat them lightly. However, God has clearly defined these inward sins of the heart as worty of death. The reason is that following these evil thoughts inevitably leads a person away from the purpose and holy will for which God created mankind. God created human beings in order to make them His eternal and glorious children, resembling Him. Thus, all ideals and all true values exist so that God may form within us the divine nature that His children must possess. This is why the Word, faith, hope, love, the Sabbath, the shepherd, the apostles, and the love of the cross all exist. God sent the love of the cross to this earth so that we might attain a heart as beautiful as that of an angel—the divine nature that reflects God Himself. Therefore, the love of the cross is the sign of our salvation and resurrection; it is our way, our truth, our life, and our covenant.
Yet the love of the cross—feeding, giving, and caring—was corrupted by those who sought tithes and offerings as tools to fulfill their greed and absolute power. They deceived people by turning the gospel of Christ, which produces the divine nature through feeding, giving, and caring, into a system where obedience to their churches and altars—built for their own theft—is made a condition for receiving salvation and the Holy Spirit. Because of this, most churches today are filled with corruption upon corruption, deception upon deception, false spirits, false gifts, false rebirth, and false anointing. They teach and learn that although people repeatedly commit sin, feel remorse, and then sin again, they are nevertheless forgiven, reborn, anointed, and possess the nature of God. Such beliefs inevitably bring curses, and such ministries inevitably produce disease. How can those who have never escaped lives filled with jealousy, envy, lust, lying, contention, and hatred—according to their self-centered interests—be called reborn, or said to possess the nature of God (the Holy Spirit)? Their sins, which they commit repeatedly even after regretting them, testify that they are not what they claim to be. Yet they say they have received the Holy Spirit, that they are anointed, that they are reborn.
Their teachings reveal that their pride, deception, and stubbornness have so destroyed their conscience that they no longer feel conviction. Like earlier examples, most churches are filled with teachers and learners who have become worthy of death—trained and shaped by their habitual excuses that justify sin (1 Timothy 4:1–2; 2 Corinthians 11:13–16; 2 Chronicles 18:20–22; 2 Corinthians 4:4). Those who do not practice the love of the cross—feeding, giving, and caring—seek tithes and offerings only to satisfy their greed. They avoid the sacrifice, suffering, and self-denial of the cross, pushing forward their forced interpretations and logic, leading believers into false spirits, false gifts, false rebirth, and false anointing—thus gradually destroying their consciences. They attempt to gain salvation through words and theories that have nothing to do with salvation, using tithes and offerings not to give but to steal. They are shameless, like those who desire fruit without ever sowing seed, mocking the love and sacrifice of the cross.
God is love. Therefore, for us to become children of God, we must come to resemble Him. For this reason God sent to us a heart that reflects His own nature—the love of the cross, our Mediator. Thus Christ said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life,” for the love of the cross is the sign of our salvation and resurrection, our perfect covenant. A shepherd or church that does not show the example of feeding, giving, and caring cannot exist before God, nor can it ever be forgiven unless it turns back, for such people are hirelings and thieves who steal tithes and offerings meant to feed and care for God’s sheep. Therefore, it is entirely natural that such people cannot teach about sins committed in the heart. Under the pretense of the “house of God,” they use tithes and offerings—meant to feed and care for the poor and weak—to build bigger churches, heavier burdens, and financial traps that break the backs of countless believers. How can one expect conscience from such men? Their consciences are desolate, and thus churches are increasingly filled with pastors who stop at nothing. Most churches and prayer houses resemble cults that lure suffering people with the false promise that if they simply give money or offerings, their diseases will be healed. Many have given their entire fortunes under such deception and died. Yet these leaders always justify themselves: “If someone dies, it was because they had no faith. If a rare person lives, it was by our prayers and power,” and then they demand money. Such behavior is the mark of a shameless ministry that exploits the suffering and desperation of the sick and their families. There is only one way for humans to escape sin: To abandon the things of the world and live with the singular goal of following the love of the cross. This is not the standard of today’s believers.
It means sacrificing everything—even one’s life—and giving oneself wholly for the poor and neglected neighbors and brothers. It is not a shallow, hypocritical service of a few days or a few donations. It is a life that seeks the divine nature through continual effort, tears, and prayer, following the love of the cross until the final day of one’s life. This is the faith, hope, and love of Christ. In a life that follows the world and the flesh, one can never attain the saving characteristic of Christ’s love, because sinful desires, jealousy, lust, falsehood, and hatred constantly arise according to personal interests. Therefore, it is natural that those who have not escaped the path of sin cannot attain the love of the cross. One who has denied himself and abandoned his desires has no reason to be jealous, hateful, deceptive, or contentious. Such a person lives only by the beautiful heart that loves, cherishes, and serves others. A heart that cherishes, serves, and honors others cannot exist in a worldly faith driven by greed, desire, and self-interest.
One cannot sacrifice while harboring greed, cannot practice righteousness while holding onto evil, and cannot attain love while pursuing wickedness. Yet many boast as though giving old clothes they no longer wear, a few coins, a few hours of service, or occasional charity is equivalent to sacrificing everything—even their lives—for the love of the cross. By this hypocrisy, the precious love of the cross has become a laughingstock to nonbelievers and idolaters, who can also perform such simple acts of goodwill. Thus their faith does not follow the true will of God nor the love of the cross.
For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.(Matthew 5:46–48; Luke 6:32–33; Matthew 6:1)
Sin and Disease
Every person, and every disease—no matter how small, even a simple cold—comes because of sin. Thus, no one without sin can have disease. Yet from childhood, as soon as humans become aware of themselves, they begin to harbor desires and commit sins as they grow. Therefore every human being commits the sin worthy of death, as God defines it, many times each day. Thus people live in habits of sin in which they repeatedly sin, regret, and sin again, until their conscience becomes desolate and their faith becomes empty. Even when they regret and awaken, they still fall back into the same patterns of desire and self-interest. This is because most people’s faith is driven by worldly desires for success, happiness, and fulfillment, and therefore they cannot escape the life of sin. Because their desires grow endlessly, their lives can never be satisfied; because their sins accumulate endlessly, their consciences become more and more desolate.
Most believers live in an ever-worsening state in which they can no longer feel the conviction of conscience. Thus sin piles up like mountains, yet churches filled with people calling themselves reborn and anointed continue. Their greed reaches the heavens, yet they claim to have the Holy Spirit. They teach worldly lessons driven by worldly desires, pretending to have complete spiritual understanding. Their “Holy Spirit,” “rebirth,” “anointing,” and “gifts” are nothing but their own deception and stubbornness. Therefore churches are filled with cursed and diseased believers. Before a person even learns to speak, he already commits the sin worthy of deathr, as God defines it. By adulthood he has committed sins too numerous to count, and because this habit begins in childhood, the pure and innocent heart gradually disappears. Thus every person carries sins worthy of death.
Disease and Healing
Many believers suffer because they judge sin according to worldly standards. They do not know why such calamities, sufferings, or illnesses have come upon them; they only cry out in pain and sorrow. Thus many lose their possessions, deceived by greedy pastors who exploit them. One must clearly understand why such suffering, sorrow, and disease have come in order to find the way of healing. But most believers only vaguely think that their suffering is because they did not live according to God’s will. Since there are few pastors who can explain what sins they committed, why curses and suffering come, and how one can escape these afflictions, sick believers wander from place to place seeking answers. Every disease comes from sin. Thus people with fatal illnesses are those who have committed many sins worthy of death. It is the curse given to those who received great talents from God but failed to use them. Every human receives suffering, calamity, sorrow, and disease because of sin. The degree of disease or curse corresponds to the measure of one’s sin. Consider the common cold: Some people recover without medicine; some recover in a day with medicine; some in a week; some recover only through hospital treatment; some develop pneumonia and suffer for months; some die. Thus even small diseases differ according to the measure of sin. Doctors themselves witness extreme cases: patients whose organs were destroyed in stage-4 cancer suddenly recover, while others with no medical reason for death die suddenly. Such realities cannot be explained by the excuse of “physical constitution.” Some survive deadly diseases, while others die from minor ones. No one can clearly explain why such things happen, because human science cannot understand the limits of its own knowledge. If I have much suffering, sorrow, curse, or disease, it means my sins are great and many. But if these sins can be forgiven, then suffering, sorrow, curse, and disease will naturally be healed. All human suffering, sorrow, curse, and disease can be healed only by the power of love that comes from God. This love is not human kindness or emotional affection, but the divine nature of God—the love of the cross, which resembles Him.
And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.(1 Peter 4 : 8)
Hatred stirreth up strifes: but love covereth all sins.(Proverbs 10 : 11~12)
However, the love of the cross is not possessed by just anyone. If there had been a pastor on this earth who had truly received the Holy Spirit—the Spirit who bears the love of the cross according to the divine nature of God, who is love—then by the power of that love and righteousness that covers sin, he would have raised the dead, made the lame walk, opened the eyes of the blind, and healed the sick. Yet among the tens of thousands and even hundreds of millions who call themselves shepherds, not one bears the evidence of the Word that even a faith as small as a mustard seed can move mountains. This proves that they do not have the faith given by God, nor do they have the Spirit who possesses love. Thus the Scripture itself clearly exposes them as false spirits, false rebirth, false anointing, and as vain churches, vain pastors, vain offices, and vain believers.
And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.(Mark 16 : 17~18)
If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.(John 15 : 7)
When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.(Deuteronomy 18 :22)
Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.(Galatians 6 : 2~3)
For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.(1 Corinthians 4 : 20)
Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.(1 John 3 : 21~23)
Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.(Mark 9 : 23)
All diseases and curses arise from greed and sin that pursue the vain desires, satisfactions, and ideals that originate from the world and the flesh. All human sin begins from the fleshly nature that seeks worldly pleasures, conveniences, and feelings of achievement. These sins arise from the insatiable, fleshly hopes and dreams of human beings—desires born from worldly aspirations (success), worldly satisfactions (happiness), and worldly ideals that exist only to make the body comfortable and pleased.
Thus human life inevitably becomes trained into habits of sin in which one repeatedly regrets and yet turns back to sin again in order to achieve what one desires. Because one follows worldly hopes, dreams, and ideals, one inevitably lives a life in which jealousy, hatred, falsehood, quarrels, and envy continually arise according to conflicting interests. Therefore, no matter how many hundreds or thousands of times one awakens or resolves to change, one inevitably turns back to commit sin again—this is the limitation of all beliefs that belong to the world and the flesh. Faiths belonging to the world and the flesh are nothing more than tools to fulfill and satisfy one’s own happiness, desires, and cravings. Such faith, such religion, such prayer, such “Christ,” and such “God” are nothing but means to serve one’s own fleshly purposes. The evidence is clear: the superstitious prayers that seek only vain desires and worldly wishes testify to it; the continual sin that proves the absence of rebirth, despite regret and remorse, testifies to it; the deceitful heart—double-minded, with different thoughts inwardly and outwardly, with words and actions that do not match, behaving differently inside and outside the church—testifies to it; and the abominable faith that tries to serve God together with the world and material things—bearing two masters and two hearts—testifies to it.
No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?(Matthew 6 : 24~25)
Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.(1 John 2 : 15~17)
Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.(James 4 : 3~4)
Because of those who try to serve God together with the world and material things, the churches of today have become increasingly corrupted, decayed, and lawless—layer upon layer of falsehood, corruption upon corruption. One can never serve God together with the world, nor can anyone who pursues worldly hopes, ideals, and desires perform the love of the cross, which requires sacrifice and suffering. No one can obtain salvation—the fruit of the sacrifice and suffering that follow the love of the cross—through words, theories, ideologies, or arguments. Therefore, all who object to this are false spirits without the love of the cross that resembles God and leads to salvation; they are false rebirth, false gifts, and false shepherds. God is love. Therefore, the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ, and the Holy Spirit are all the love of the cross—the divine nature of God. This love of the cross is a fruit granted only to those who, like Christ, bear the cross, labor, sacrifice, and set an example worthy of imitation. Today, countless false pastors and apostles do not practice the love of the cross but merely speak of it with words and theories. As a result, churches have become filled with nothing but talkers—those who refuse the labor and toil of sowing and cultivating the seed but shamelessly demand only the fruit. Thus most churches are filled with shepherds and believers who avoid the sacrifice and suffering of the cross, seeking only their own greedy desires, satisfactions, and cravings. By doing so, they bring disgrace upon the love and sacrifice of the cross.
Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.(James 3 : 13~18)
Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.(Galatians 5 : 19~21)
He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes. I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name’s sake. I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one. I write unto you, little children, because ye have known the Father. I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one. Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.(1 John 2 : 10~17)
And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.(Mark 7 : 20~23)
He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.(1 John 3 : 8~10)
Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.(John 8 : 44)
I have seen many people who, standing at the brink of death, realized God’s providence and the principles behind curses and disease, survived the moment of death, yet later fell back into sin and eventually died. Being forgiven of sins does not mean that God has already forgiven all the sins one will commit in the future. It means only that the sins one committed in the past have been forgiven. True forgiveness of sins from God is given only to those who have departed from the path of sin—those who abandon all worldly and fleshly ideals, values, and hopes that arise from selfish desires, and who instead ground their lives in the desire and hope that follow the love of the cross. Therefore, those who attempt to serve God together with the world and material things inevitably fall back into sin and later suffer disease, curse, and affliction as a result. For this reason, God has given us the following warning in Scripture.
Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee. The man departed, and told the Jews that it was Jesus, which had made him whole.(John 5 : 14~15)
When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation.(Matthew 12 : 43~45)
When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, I will return unto my house whence I came out. And when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh to him seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in, and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first.(Luke 11 : 24~26)
Every disease is given according to one’s sin. Therefore, the clear principle behind this differs from person to person, because the talents God has given to each individual are all different. To some He has given sharp intelligence, to others great wealth, and to others strong physical strength; and according to these differences, the abilities, limits, and workings are also different for each one. The clear judgment of what is right and wrong in these matters belongs only to God—the One who created, formed, and established that person. Thus every blessing or curse given to any person moves only within the providence that God has sovereignly appointed.