Is It a Sin to Take Medicine? — to Consult a Doctor?<\/a><\/p>\nBut what about refusing treatment?<\/p>\n
I know a few cases where a person dying of cancer was offered treatment, but that treatment had no hope of a cure. It might extend life a few more months, but it came at cost of pain and a severe decrease in the quality of life because of the radiation and chemotherapy. I’ve known several people when faced with those choices decide that they would rather enjoy the short time they have left on earth than suffer just to stay here a short while longer. It isn’t so much a refusal of treatment as a refusal to take a course that doesn’t actually improve life or significantly extend life.<\/p>\n
However, to refuse a treatment that offered a hope of a cure would be a different matter. For example, contracting pneumonia and then refusing to take the antibiotics that would likely eliminate the disease is basically putting God to the test. It would be similar to walking off of a cliff and trusting that God will prevent me from being injured. But that idea was soundly renounced. “Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’ and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.'” Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the LORD your God.'”<\/em>” (Matthew 4:5-7). Man is not in the position to put God to the test.<\/p>\nWhen we die is in God’s hands, but we still do what we can to either cure or minimize the suffering. As Jesus said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick<\/em>” (Mark 2:17). When you are sick, you should seek the help of a physician. Whether you will be cured is up to God, but we still do the small things that are available to us. Just as man is expected to work for a living (II Thessalonians 3:10), but to also remember to thank God for the blessing of food on his table (Matthew 6:11), so should a man in all his life do what he is able to do and then lean on His God to make up for all his inadequacies.<\/p>\nThere is a time to live and time to die, but there also is a time to heal (Ecclesiastes 3:2-3). God scolded the Israelites for not seeking out healing for those sick among them. “The weak you have not strengthened, nor have you healed those who were sick, nor bound up the broken, nor brought back what was driven away, nor sought what was lost; but with force and cruelty you have ruled them<\/em>” (Ezekiel 34:4).<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Question: I know that assisted suicide is sinful because it is taking matters into your own hands, but when is it a sin to refuse medical treatment, or is it sinful? I’m not talking about those who refuse it because they are going to keep right on praying that God will make them better, I’m…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[911,645],"class_list":["post-46340","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-medical-practices","tag-medication"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":26755,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-dont-a-lot-of-christians-accept-homosexuals\/","url_meta":{"origin":46340,"position":0},"title":"Why don’t a lot of Christians accept homosexuals?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 20, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: If the main Christianity rule is 'Love thy neighbor,' why don't a lot of Christians accept homosexuals? Answer: For the same reason, we don't accept murders, liars, thieves, and other sinners while they remain in their sins. Christians understand that sin is harmful to the sinner and those around\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":20402,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-wrong-to-deny-service-to-someone-who-is-obviously-in-sin\/","url_meta":{"origin":46340,"position":1},"title":"Is it wrong to deny service to someone who is obviously in sin?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 9, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I want to start a small photography business but I'm worried about 'clients'. What if a homosexual couple wants me to photograph a 'couple's shoot' for them? I believe that I would have to decline. 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So, a more\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/WrongWay.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":87635,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-advanced-medical-directives-or-living-wills-wrong\/","url_meta":{"origin":46340,"position":3},"title":"Are Advanced Medical Directives or Living Wills wrong?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 9, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: In my country, there is an arrangement called \"Advance Medical Directive (AMD)\". \"It is a legal document that you sign in advance to inform the doctor treating you (in the event you become terminally ill and unconscious) that you do not want any extraordinary life-sustaining treatment to be used\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":20143,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-we-refuse-to-study-with-someone-who-is-in-an-adulterous-marriage\/","url_meta":{"origin":46340,"position":4},"title":"Should we refuse to study with someone who is in an adulterous marriage?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 12, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My question is this: When studying with someone who is not in the Lord and they have remarried and their first marriage was ended and not for fornication or death; is it right to refuse that person study unless they leave their present husband since their first marriage wasn't\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":30276,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-want-to-go-to-college-but-my-dad-wont-let-me-what-should-i-do\/","url_meta":{"origin":46340,"position":5},"title":"I want to go to college, but my dad won’t let me. 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