When Sin Is Rebranded as Sickness: How a Therapeutic Culture Undermines Repentance and Sanctification

One of the great obstacles to sanctification in our day is a subtle but serious shift: we increasingly interpret sinful behaviour primarily as illness rather than sin. With the advancement of social, medical, and psychological sciences, we now understand more about the patterns and influences that shape human behaviour. In itself, this increased understanding is not a bad thing.

The problem arises when this knowledge is combined with the moral relativism that dominates our culture. The result is that sin is redefined as a condition rather than a moral failure. Instead of repentance, what is needed is said to be treatment, coaching, or techniques to build better habits. Guilt is replaced with diagnosis, and responsibility is replaced with explanation. Scripture, however, does not speak this way.

The Bible consistently names sinful patterns as sin, not as morally neutral illnesses. For example, Scripture calls the one who repeatedly gets drunk a drunkard, not an alcoholic. This is not merely a matter of semantics. In the same way, the one who steals is a thief, not someone with kleptomania. The one who is sexually unfaithful to a spouse, or who practices sex outside of a monogamous, heterosexual marriage, is called sexually immoral, an adulterer, or a sodomite—not someone with a sexual addiction or a sexual orientation. Those who are driven by love of money are called greedy and idolaters, not merely workaholics or compulsive buyers.

Again, this is not about denying complexity. Scripture is not naive about the enslaving power of sin. The Bible itself teaches that sin hardens, enslaves, and produces devastating spiritual, psychological, relational, and even physical consequences. Sin often does become habitual. It can become deeply rooted. It can shape desires and thinking. But the fact that sin enslaves does not make it less sinful. Explaining why someone sins does not remove moral responsibility for sin.

Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 5:11 are striking: “But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one.”

Paul does not treat these as morally neutral conditions. He treats them as serious, unrepentant sins that require church discipline. The goal is not cruelty or exclusion for its own sake, but loving clarity. Those who persist in these patterns without repentance are to be rebuked, called to repentance, and, if necessary, excluded for the sake of their souls and the purity of the church.

This matters deeply for sanctification. If we consistently soften sin into sickness, we will inevitably treat our own sins—and the sins of our brothers and sisters—lightly. Where sin is minimized, repentance disappears. And where repentance disappears, sanctification withers. The first work of the Holy Spirit in our lives is conviction of sin (John 16:8). But when we excuse ourselves, we resist and quench the Spirit’s work. We risk becoming those who “have the appearance of godliness, but deny its power” (2 Timothy 3:5).

Jonathan Edwards famously urged Christians to learn to read the Bible against themselves. The Word is meant to kill our sin, kill our pride, kill our self-reliance, and drive us into deeper dependence on the grace and power of God. A therapeutic culture trains us to explain ourselves. The Bible trains us to humble ourselves.

May God tear away this veil that has blinded so many to the seriousness of sin. May He restore churches and Christians who pursue true holiness—not through human techniques, but through repentance, faith, and the sanctifying work of the Spirit through the Word.

Nino Marques