Punishment for sin
So we believe that there is one knowable God and that we don’t match up to His standards. But since everyone sins, surely God will forgive us all. Right?
Justice
If someone were to harm a member of your family, you would hope that there would be some consequences. In fact every law has to have a coordinating consequence or it has no force. So you would want and hope that there is a punishment for the guilty. You would not accept a judge who would declare the man guilty but then let him go free with no punishment. God is just, fair, honest, and true. He is a good and righteous judge and there exists a punishment for sin.
Eternal
If you do violence and harm someone there is a punishment. If you do violence to an officer of the law the punishment may be more severe. If you do violence to the head of a country the punishment will most likely be even harsher. Now try violating God and getting away with a lesser or no punishment at all. Trade secrets about the private affairs of your friends and you may lose a friend, but give out secrets about the government and you may lose your life.
God
We tend to see God as a kind, merciful Being whose love for us overrides and overshadows all His other attributes. Of course God is loving, kind, and merciful, but He is also a holy and righteous God. He is so holy that He cannot tolerate sin. He is a God whose anger burns against the wicked and disobedient (Isaiah 5:25; Hosea 8:5; Zechariah 10:3).
Just as we may have a errant view of God, we also tend to view sin different than God does. We often see sin in a small point in time, in the one action that was done, but God sees sin as a disease which spreads and continues. It’s consequences cannot truly be contained or healed, ever! If you tell someone a lie, and they tell it to others who tell it to others; it is impossible to retract it from all of them. You can forgive someone of murder, but that doesn’t raise the dead. So when a person dies, their sin is still working in the world.
Hell
The consequences of us sinning, are multifaceted. There are natural effects to the sin that we may experience on earth. Commit adultery and you will find that your life will be affected. Beyond the terrestrial effects we might feel on earth, there are also eternal ramifications.
Divine revelation shows us that a place exists called Hell. It was not made for man (Matthew 25:41), but because of man’s choice, it has been opened to him (Matthew 5:22). The Bible also describes Hell. It is a place of fire, torment, and suffering (Luke 16:19-31). Hell never ends. It will one day be cast into the Lake of Fire (Revelation 20:14), but even then the suffering continues. The Bible makes it clear that the punishment man receives is eternal not just temporal (Matthew 25:46, Mark 9:43-48, Revelation 20:9-10).
Summary
God is holy, and we are not. We frequently break His laws. We sin. It must be clear that we are in a dangerous position and in need of help. Do you agree?
Punishment for sin
So we believe that there is one knowable God and that we don’t match up to His standards. But since everyone sins, surely God will forgive us all. Right?
Justice
If someone were to harm a member of your family, you would hope that there would be some consequences. In fact every law has to have a coordinating consequence or it has no force. So you would want and hope that there is a punishment for the guilty. You would not accept a judge who would declare the man guilty but then let him go free with no punishment. God is just, fair, honest, and true. He is a good and righteous judge and there exists a punishment for sin.
Eternal
If you do violence and harm someone there is a punishment. If you do violence to an officer of the law the punishment may be more severe. If you do violence to the head of a country the punishment will most likely be even harsher. Now try violating God and getting away with a lesser or no punishment at all. Trade secrets about the private affairs of your friends and you may lose a friend, but give out secrets about the government and you may lose your life.
God
We tend to see God as a kind, merciful Being whose love for us overrides and overshadows all His other attributes. Of course God is loving, kind, and merciful, but He is also a holy and righteous God. He is so holy that He cannot tolerate sin. He is a God whose anger burns against the wicked and disobedient (Isaiah 5:25; Hosea 8:5; Zechariah 10:3).
Just as we may have a errant view of God, we also tend to view sin different than God does. We often see sin in a small point in time, in the one action that was done, but God sees sin as a disease which spreads and continues. It’s consequences cannot truly be contained or healed, ever! If you tell someone a lie, and they tell it to others who tell it to others; it is impossible to retract it from all of them. You can forgive someone of murder, but that doesn’t raise the dead. So when a person dies, their sin is still working in the world.
Hell
The consequences of us sinning, are multifaceted. There are natural effects to the sin that we may experience on earth. Commit adultery and you will find that your life will be affected. Beyond the terrestrial effects we might feel on earth, there are also eternal ramifications.
Divine revelation shows us that a place exists called Hell. It was not made for man (Matthew 25:41), but because of man’s choice, it has been opened to him (Matthew 5:22). The Bible also describes Hell. It is a place of fire, torment, and suffering (Luke 16:19-31). Hell never ends. It will one day be cast into the Lake of Fire (Revelation 20:14), but even then the suffering continues. The Bible makes it clear that the punishment man receives is eternal not just temporal (Matthew 25:46, Mark 9:43-48, Revelation 20:9-10).
Summary
God is holy, and we are not. We frequently break His laws. We sin. It must be clear that we are in a dangerous position and in need of help. Do you agree?
