WE ARE THE SERVANT OF WHOM WE OBEY
Thursday – April 2, 2026
Video link: https://youtu.be/qo6WCLv-VB4
Greetings dear saints and all others continuing or joining this study of the Book of James. I have spent quite a lot of time on the thirteenth verse of our primary text I believe by the leadership of the Holy Spirit, and it looks like that is where we will be camped today. I have taught on the principles found here for many years and now again many days. There is a direct connection between sin and the presence of the curse in our lives. The curse gains entrance in the presence of unrepented sin (there are many, but a huge one is unforgiveness), ignorance including having rejected Truth and believing the lies of Satan. I often refer to these lies of Satan as traditions of men, doctrines of demons, and sacred cows. All of these keep one in Satan’s arena of stealing, killing, and destroying preventing the abundant life Jesus came and paid the price for us to have. Now let’s move to our primary Bible text for today.
James 5:13-15 (KJV)
13 Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms.
14 Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:
15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.
Recently the following phrase came up in my thinking. “No sin, no disease. When you get rid of the sin you get rid of the disease.” Well, let’s go ahead and look at some Scripture to establish if this is of the Lord or not.
1 Peter 2:24 (KJV)
24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
This was prophesied and then witnessed by the Cross, the war in Hell, the Resurrection, and restoration as God. We witnessed in the Garden of Eden that sin brought first spiritual death and then physical death and all the various mechanisms by which man can die physically. Remember there are no physical manifestations in this material world that do not have a spiritual root or cause. The curse causeless does not alight (Proverbs 26:2). The cause is always spiritual. This can be in our thoughts and words, disobedience to the Word of God, ignoring or going against a leading of the Holy Spirit and I suspect many others. Ignoring the leading of the Holy Spirit could be having a knowing, commonly called a “check”, to go to work a different way, we ignore it, and we have an accident or worse going the way we chose. When we receive Jesus as Lord, are born again, our bodies are made free of the ravages of sin which is sickness and disease. That is if we believe it, confess it, and stand firm in the faith of that redemption. We are dead to sin with right standing with the Father and right doing according to the Father (Word of God). Now, let’s look at the prophecy.
Isaiah 53:4-6 (KJV)
4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Notice that it is sin the robs us of all that is good, that is of Heaven. Jesus dealt with the sin issue with His broken body and shed Blood. He took our sin which is in the flesh and was that veil that prevented the Holy Spirit from abiding in us. With salvation that veil is removed and He, the Holy Spirit comes and abides (stays) in us, and we become one spirit with God. Traditionally the phrase “with his stripes we are healed” has been taken to mean healing of sickness in our physical bodies but it is way more. In verse five of Isaish 53 the word “peace” is shālôm meaning to be safe, to be well, happy, friendly, welfare (safety, health, prosperity), health, prosperity, to be at peace, in rest, and well according to Strong’s Talking Greek & Hebrew Dictionary. I know that is lengthy but wow! One more Scripture to remind us that we are freewill creatures and we choose sin and its attendant evil outcomes or righteousness.
Romans 6:12-16 (KJV)
12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.
13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.
14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
15 What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.
16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?
The Grace of God empowers those who choose to overcome sin, the Old Testament saints did not have that benefit. Do not obey sin but righteousness.
TAKE HOME:
- Sin is always the cause of the curse in our lives, not a real popular teaching but the Truth.
- Jesus was chastised for our peace, chose Him, chose peace, it is a huge benefit of the Kingdom of God if we will be believe it, receive it, and hold fast to it.
- Determine today that you are not a servant of sin but a servant of righteousness.
Lord willing, I will resume right here tomorrow. Remember, we love you, the Lord loves you, and there is nothing you can do about either one.
By: Dr. David R. Wood, Bible Teacher, and Prophetic Voice
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