Calvary Road Baptist Church
“THE PENALTY OF SIN”
Cause and effect.
Cause and effect is an interesting principle. It’s a principle used by scientists, historians, and parents.
Ever wonder why the Chinese invented gunpowder but did not go on with that marvelous invention to conquer the world, either militarily or scientifically? Simple. They did not quite understand the principle of cause and effect. Not believing in a God of order and logic, they did not believe in a logically ordered universe with predictable effects from planned causes. Such a view of the world in which they lived precluded them from looking for underlying principles to explain and expand upon their scientific discoveries.
That same reality is back of the dearth of Muslims who have won Nobel prizes in scientific achievement since a seventh-century Caliph pronounced that cause and effect are unrelated. The only three Muslims have been awarded Nobel prizes in science, with one of them trained and living in the UK and the other two trained and living in the USA.[1] Yet the Muslim population exceeds one billion people.
It has been in the West since the European population was unshackled from the intellectual slavery of Roman Catholic dominance resulting from the Protestant Reformation that science literally took off, and western civilization was transformed as God renewed the minds of believers in Christ. The influence of Christian thinking benefited everyone around them.[2] Even in history, we see the principle of cause and effect. Of course, historians who are not Christians write these things off but think about these historical tidbits.
Most of the many thousands of manuscripts of the Greek New Testament were stored in the ancient city of Byzantium, modern-day Istanbul, as the Eastern Roman Empire held off the assault of the Ottoman Turks for centuries. About the time of Leonardo Da Vinci’s birth, the fall of that city was imminent, and the scholars, with their Greek New Testament manuscripts, fled to Europe. As those Greek Bibles were disseminated throughout Europe, along with other events, a confluence of Divine truth and life experiences occurred in the life of an Augustinian monk named Martin Luther.
Studying the Word of God and other scholars in Europe, that young German scholar realized the Biblical concept of justification by faith, not works, and trusted Christ as his savior ... setting off the revival fires of the Reformation, which changed the face of Europe.
Cause and effect. Scripture enters Europe, and Reformation breaks out.
Even with parents, the concept of cause and effect is important. While it is true that parental love ought to be unconditional, there are certain causes (disobedience) that should rightly result in the proper effects (correction).
But you know something? More and more parents fail to show their children the necessary relationship between cause and effect in their parenting. It used to be that if you were a good boy, you might get a bicycle. Now it is often the case that you will get a bicycle whether you are a good boy or not. If you scream and rant and rave long enough, you will get your bike that much sooner.
This parental bribery era can have devastating effects on a child’s thinking patterns. Not the least is a totally wrong comprehension of the relationship between cause and effect. What else can explain many teenagers’ convictions that no matter what they do or think, everything will turn out okay, or that no matter what you do or say, everything will turn out bad? Such misunderstanding of cause and effect causes a person to think there is no relationship between cause and effect. But there is.
Take a person’s eternal destiny, for example. There is a relationship between a person’s relationship with Christ and their eternal destiny. Put negatively ... there is a penalty for sin. Human beings are born in sin, and unless a person somehow deals with that sin during their lifetime, they will realize the penalty of sin.
Why? When will this happen? What will the penalty be? These are the questions we will address:
THE PENALTY OF SIN: WHY?
Why must there be a penalty for sin? I don’t know that such a question can be directly answered from the Bible. It’s much like the existence of God. The Bible does not seek to prove God’s existence; it simply begins with the assumption that God does exist. In like manner, Scripture does not so much answer why there must be a penalty for sin so much as it is simply assumed that there will be dire consequences for a human being at odds with the God Who must be obeyed.
With that said, let me give some personal opinions as to why there must be a penalty for sin.
First, related to God. As a being consistent with His nature, God cannot allow anything in His created universe to slide by. As the sovereign over all things, He must deal with the issues before Him. As to His nature, God is, among other things, both holy to the nth degree and He is righteous. That means He is both without the taint of sin and moved by His nature to deal with that which is defiled with the taint of sin. God’s attributes of holiness and righteousness are not passive characteristics. When God created Adam, He created him without sin. He then created Eve without sin. By sinning, Adam rebelled against and committed a capital crime against the rightful Ruler and just Lawgiver of the universe. For God, Who is also truth, to be consistent with His nature, He must act against those in rebellion against Him justly. As I pointed out, God’s holiness and righteousness are not passive attributes.
Next, related to humanity. We have read in Genesis 3 that Adam did sin against God and overthrew His rule of the human race in favor of Satan. In Romans 3.10-18, we are shown that humanity is an unrighteous race of ungodly sinners, every last one of us. In Romans 5.10, we see the unregenerate are God’s enemies, even the most religious of us. So we see, from both God’s perspective and man’s, some facts and truths lead any reasonable person to understand the necessity for having a penalty for sin.
God cannot be unjust. He cannot passively stand by and allow anarchy and rebellion against His high and holy person. It is right, it is proper, and it is rational to expect such a rightful ruler as God to deal with the problem of sin in the lives of those in His creation who will not address the sin issue themselves. So, for reasons related to God and reasons related to man, it is necessary for there to be a penalty for sin. This spiritual principle was illustrated in the Garden of Eden when the penalty for Adam and Eve’s sin was expulsion from the garden. For some reason, King David did not apply this principle when rearing his children, resulting in catastrophic results.[3]
THE PENALTY OF SIN: WHEN?
If there is to be a punishment meted out for sin against God, when shall this punishment commence?
Several of David’s psalms bewail that the wicked, the man with a sin problem undealt, go unpunished in this life. Still other psalms rejoice that the wicked shall be punished someday. But when?
It can be observed by almost anyone who has lived long on this earth that there are wicked men, men of sin, who live out their whole lives without seeming to reap the consequences of their sin. Their lives seem to be a mockery of the concept of justice meted out to wrongdoers.
Nevertheless, the Word of God speaks out regarding the time of sin’s penalty. It always occurs after this lifetime. It always occurs after death. However, God’s punishment can also begin before death. This is shown in Romans chapter one, where, as a consequence of misconduct, God moves to inflict consequences for sin, as is indicated in Romans 1.24, 26, and 28.
Of course, there are some who refuse to acknowledge the possibility of sin’s penalty before and after death. They will not consider that God is God of eternity as well as the God of time. They put from their minds the consequences of living out one’s life and dying without making things right with the God of all creation. But my Bible says, “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, and after this the judgment,” Hebrews 9.27. After death, especially, a person must pay for sin.
The late B. R. Lakin, a mentor of Jerry Falwell, told the story of dealing with a county sheriff he would encounter in his circuit riding days in the hills of West Virginia. Lakin would always tell the sheriff he was going to die someday and that he needed to get his heart right with God. The sheriff, a grizzled old man, would always say, “I ain’t afraid of dying.” Once, while riding through the county seat, Lakin was informed that the old sheriff was on his death bed, so he went to his bedside. At his side, Lakin said, “Sheriff, you’re dying.” The sheriff said, “I know, but I ain’t afraid of dying.” Then Lakin said, “But what about the judgment that comes after you die?” When he heard that, the sheriff said, “Oh my God, I never thought of that.” And he received Christ before he died.
There is a penalty for sin, and it comes to you after you die in sin, after you die without Christ as your Savior. Just because it doesn’t obviously come now doesn’t mean it isn’t coming!
THE PENALTY OF SIN: WHAT?
What is the penalty of sin? What does God do to the people who die without making things right in this life?
Well, first, they go to Hell. In Luke 16.22-24, the Bible reads, “the rich man also died, and was buried; And in Hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments.” And he goes on to say, “I am tormented in this flame.” When a person dies without Christ as his Savior, when he dies with the stain of sin still on his soul, he goes to Hell. Hell is the place of conscious and constant torment in flames of fire ... but it is only a temporary place for the damned.
Next, they go to the lake of fire. I will deal extensively with this at another time, but let me get this point across very directly. In the future, Christ will call all those in Hell before Him for an accounting at a scene called the White Throne judgment. After this judgment, all men and women who died without Christ will be cast into the lake of fire. Revelation 20.14-15:
14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
What is the penalty for sin? Briefly, it is Hell. Eternally it is the terrible place called the lake of fire.
Oh, I wish parents would teach their children that every cause produces an effect. I wish people would realize that there are consequences that result from not dealing with the sin problem as God has commanded.
If sin is understood to be a cause, the lake of fire should also be understood to be the predicted effect of that cause. If the holiness and righteousness of God is understood to be a cause, His punishment of sin must also be understood to be a necessary effect.
If you are here without Christ, having not yet dealt with your sin problem, you will die someday. Maybe you are not afraid of death. But what about the events that follow death? A lost person is insane who does not fear burning torment for all eternity.
But it does not have to be. There is another cause which will produce another effect. Jesus Christ, and trusting Him as your Savior, is a cause which produces a desirable effect. And the effect is heaven.
Are you a Christian today? Then you will go to heaven because of Christ. Are you unsaved today? Then you will go to Hell because of sin.
Weigh the situation objectively. Consider the alternatives intellectually. Now, what are your reasonable choices?
If you are here without Christ, it is only reasonable that you count the cost and find it worth giving yourself to Him. If you are here as a parent, you need to consider your parenting. Are you training your children to understand that there are considerable consequences, both good and bad, which their behavior produces?
The whole point of chastisement, don’t you know, is to impress upon your children the consequences of sin, Hebrews 12.6-11, so they will grasp the concept of cause and effect. Prepare your children for the Gospel message by teaching them, by word and deed, the principle of cause and effect, so they will grasp the principle of the penalty of sin.
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[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Muslim_Nobel_laureates
[2] Alvin J, Schmidt, Under The Influence: How Christianity Transformed Civilization, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 2001) and Matthew 5.13
[3] David’s daughter, Tamar, was raped by her half brother, Amnon, 2 Samuel 13.14. Amnon was avenged by Tamar’s brother Absalom, 2 Samuel 13.32. In neither case did David take action to punish wrongdoing in his household.
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