Spiritual Cancer and Spiritual Leprosy (Santosh Poonen)

Unbelief is spiritual cancer and the only remedy for it is to always live in dependence on God in every area of your life. Faith is complete dependence on God in every area of our lives. So any area of unbelif is actually an area of pride. Cancer is caused by the uncontrolled growth of a single cell. Likewise, spiritual cancer begins with allowing one area of self-dependence (unbelief) in our lives, which quickly spreads to other areas. The saddest verse in the Bible is Matthew 13:58. Three things that cause spiritual cancer are: the love of money (I Timothy 6:10); empty worldly chatter (I Timothy 6:20-21); and false teaching (II Timothy 2:18). Faith is like: 1. Taking a check to the bank and cashing it. You only need to be sure that God is good for His money. 2. The sails on a boat. You don’t have to manufacture the wind; you only need to put your sails up, and God will send His power. 3. A shield against fiery arrows. Anytime the Devil throws negative thoughts at you, resist them with the shield of faith in God’s promises. 4. A child climbing into Daddy’s arms when facing something difficult or scary. A bad conscience is spiritual leprosy and the only remedy for it is to let the Holy Spirit constantly sensitize your conscience. The fact that we have a conscience is proof that we are made in God’s image. A good conscience is complete sensitivity to sin in every area of our lives. Leprosy attacks the nerve endings, destroying the body’s ability to feel pain. Likewise, spiritual leprosy is neglecting the pricks of the Holy Spirit in our conscience, which makes us less and less sensitive to sin. Satan’s goal is to desensitize our conscience. The Holy Spirit’s goal is to re-sensitize our conscience. The conscience is to the spirit what pain is to the body.