Infectious Diseases
February 8, 2019
I read a story this week about an alarming outbreak of measles in southern Washington state. There are now 50 cases reported. Nearly all of those affected had not been vaccinated. The story referenced a similar outbreak of measles among orthodox Jews in New York State, almost all of whom were likewise not vaccinated. The story reported that many people who were not vaccinated preferred to self-medicate using Vitamin A, believing that Vitamin A prevents the disease. But according to the story that isn’t true. Children with a Vitamin A deficiency are at higher risk for severe complications if they get the disease, but Vitamin A does nothing to prevent the disease. The Washington Department of Health has had to issue a statement advising that Vitamin A does not prevent or cure measles, and the only way to avoid getting measles is to be vaccinated against it. Before 1963 when the measles vaccine was introduced, there were 4 million cases reported each year, with 48,000 hospitalizations and 500 deaths. Because of the vaccine, measles was declared eliminated in the U.S in 2000. We are born susceptible to the measles disease, but a simple vaccination can prevent the infection in each one of us.
Another kind of infection that exists in the world is sin. When Adam and Eve sinned in the garden of Eden, they became sinful creatures. We have inherited their sin nature. Romans 5:12: “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned.” So we are born with a sin nature. Unlike measles, there is nothing that we can do to prevent it, just like there is nothing we can do to determine any other genetic trait that we have. Scientists are working hard to be able to diagnose and treat in utero diseases, conditions or defects. Some, like spina bifida for example, can even be repaired during a surgical procedure before birth. I saw a story in Time Magazine a few years ago with photos of a fetus undergoing this procedure. It’s amazing what can be done even in the uterus! Scientists and doctors will continue to make advancements for the treatment of prenatal problems. But they’ll never prevent our sin nature from coming into the world with us, and remaining in us our entire lives.
What then is to be done? Is there no good news? Actually there is great news! Although our sin nature is not preventable or curable, it is treatable through the Holy Spirit. All believers in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior have received the Holy Spirit. Romans 8:9 “However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.” The Holy Spirit can help treat our sin problem. We’ll never be completely cured, but as we learn to listen to the Holy Spirit who lives inside of us, we will hate our sin more, and our desire will be to sin less. Over time, we should notice a significant change in ourselves. The sin that used to fun becomes repugnant to us. The Holy Spirit will shine a light on our thoughts and attitudes that we didn’t even recognize as sinful, and will begin to change those too. We will develop a love for people whom we might have deemed unlovable in the past. We will have a desire to help people know the love of Jesus. This life-long process of tuning in to the Holy Spirit’s voice and being changed by it is called ‘sanctification.’ It means to be ‘set apart’ or ‘to be made holy’. It’s not a vaccination that will prevent us from acquiring a sin nature. It’s not a remedy either, as a remedy implies that one day we will be free of our sin nature. But the Holy Spirit ‘treats’ us and makes us more like Jesus, who died on the cross to save us from our sin, and then sent the Holy Spirit to us so we would not have to live enslaved to sin. If you’re not a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ for your salvation, believe today and receive the Holy Spirit. If you are, praise God that you’re not who you used to be, and that you are not who you’re going to be by the power of the Holy Spirit!