For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.
—1 Corinthians 11:30-32
In writing to the Corinthians, the apostle Paul had to reprove them for the manner in which they observed the Lord’s Supper, which had caused them to be chastised by God. Here we see sickness as a judgment of God, a chastisement for sin. Paul saw it as such, and added that it was in order to prevent them from falling more deeply into sin that they were thus afflicted. He warned them that if they would rather not be judged nor chastened by the Lord, they should examine themselves to discover the cause of their sickness and condemn their own sins. The Lord would then no longer need to exercise severity. Is it not evident that in this instance sickness is a judgment of God, a chastisement of sin, that we can avoid by examining and condemning ourselves?
Sickness is (more often than we know) a chastisement for sin. God “doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men” (Lamentations 3:33). It is not without cause that He allows us to be deprived of health. Perhaps it is to make us more aware of a particular sin from which we can repent. “Sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee” (John 5:14). Perhaps we have become entangled in pride and worldliness. Or it may be that self-confidence or caprice has entered our service for God.
In any case, sickness is always a discipline that ought to awaken our attention and turn us from sin. Therefore, a sick person should begin by judging himself (see 1 Corinthians 11:31), by placing himself before his heavenly Father with a sincere desire to see anything that could have grieved Him. In so doing, he may count on the Holy Spirit’s light to clearly show him his failure.
One may recognize vaguely that he commits sins, without attempting to define them. Even if he does, he may not believe it is possible to give them up. And if he goes so far as to renounce them, he may fail to count on God to put an end to the chastisement, despite the glorious assurance that Paul’s words give us.
Scripture assures us that if we thus examine ourselves, the Lord will not judge us. Our Father chastens His children only as far as it is necessary. God seeks to deliver us from sin and self. As soon as we understand Him and break with these, sickness may cease; it has done its work.