Do you remember how, one of the most unpleasant emotions you suffered as a kid was waiting to be punished? Do you remember that?
If you had a particularly tender conscience it was especially hard for you. When you did something wrong you just knew you were going to be found out, and you just knew you were going to pay - big time.
That was the kind of kid I was. I just knew my parents and teachers had spies everywhere. The moment I stepped out of line I just knew I was going to be reported. And then I knew I was going to be punished.
And the fear of punishment was sometimes worse than the punishment itself.
I don’t understand all of the psychology of why I was that way. I’d kind of like to just blame it on my two older brothers if you don’t mind. When you’re the youngest your older siblings play with your mind. They say things to you like, “Oh, dad and mom are gonna kill you! You are gonna be in so much trouble!” Or they would say, “I remember when I was your age and I did that…boy did I ever get it!”
Older siblings can be real encouraging.
Maybe it didn’t happen to you that way, and of course I’m joking about older siblings, but we all dread punishment because punishment isn’t pleasant.
The only reason I bring this up right now is because, as we grow older, we often transfer our misconceptions about punishment from our parents and teachers to God. Consequently a lot of people are missing out on the great privilege of having a close personal relationship with God through His Son Jesus Christ because they have a skewed idea of God and punishment.
They dreaded punishment so badly as a child, AND they’ve heard an incomplete or distorted report from others ABOUT God and how He deals with us when we sin, that they have this unhealthy fear and dread of God. Or they dislike God because they operate on the presumption that He’s mean and angry all the time and just lives and breathes to punish us for our misdeeds.
And that’s a crying shame. It’s a shame that a lot of people aren’t enjoying God and the kind of life they could be experiencing because of their biases against Him. All such biases are unfounded. God is a loving, caring, longsuffering, merciful and gracious heavenly Father.
I do not mean to imply that He takes a light view of sin. You’ll see that He doesn’t as we investigate this issue in the Bible. What I do mean to suggest is that we need to acquire a proper perspective, not a perspective based on faulty human reasoning, but a correct view that provides a balance of God’s holiness and love.
So what I want to attempt to do today is erase any biases and misconceptions against God in the area of punishment we might have. In order to do that we’re going to look into what God Himself says about punishment. We’re going to see that in His word God presents a fair-handed and balanced explanation of how He punishes sin.
PROPER PERSPECTIVES ON GOD AND PUNISHMENT
The first thing you need to know about God in this regard is this.
1.GOD DOES NOT HAVE A DARK SIDE.
This is a fundamental fact about God that you’ve just got to understand in order to get a balanced answer to the question, “Does God punish us when we sin?”
God is NOT sitting up in heaven waiting to thump you when you fail to do what is right. He’s not vindictive or mean-spirited. He’s not hostile or hateful. He’s gentle and loving and kind.
One of Christ’s closest followers, a man who walked and talked with Jesus on a daily basis for some time, the Apostle John, wrote this.
"Jesus told us that God is light and doesn’t have any darkness in him. Now we are telling you." 1 John 1:5 (CEV)
Jesus is God and He became human in order to give us a clearer picture of what God is like, and among the many things He revealed to us about God is that God does NOT have a dark side. So there’s no reason at all that I should be reluctant to know God. There’s no reason I shouldn’t trust Him. There’s no reason why I should hesitate to live by the things He reveals to me in His word.
There’s no deceitfulness in God, no trickery, no meanness, no desire to exploit me. He doesn’t have a dark side to His nature. Nothing about Him is ugly or unpleasant. There’s nothing about God that wouldn’t make me want Him as my best friend! In fact, once I get past the bad press about God – I’m going to want to run to Him and walk and talk with Him on a daily basis!
I need not have an unhealthy fear of God. I should reverence Him, of course, but I shouldn’t think that He would ever do anything toward me that was unfair or unjust: quite the contrary. Because God doesn’t have a dark side – because He is completely and totally existing in the light - He is concerned about injustice. Because He’s the light - it matters to Him that people do dark things.
I think this is where some of the confusion about God’s punishment comes from. Our human reasoning sometimes fails to take in the big picture when it comes to punishment for sin.
For example, we read the passages in the Bible that speak of God being a “God of vengeance” and it throws us a curve. But the Bible verses that talk of God’s vengeance don’t mean God has a dark side. They only serve to reinforce the fact that He is 100% light – He’s totally pure and holy and gets rightfully angry when people hurt others. If He had a dark side then He wouldn’t care about people hurting one another. He wouldn’t care about the dark things that people do.
If you take advantage of the helpless, for instance, or the fatherless, the poor and needy, you will answer to God. God defends the defenseless. He’s a friend to those that many others don’t see as worthy of friendship.
Isn’t that a good thing? I think it is. Doesn’t that make you appreciate God? It should. God stands up for those who can’t stand up for themselves. (Which, by the way, is eventually all of us! There will be times in our lives when all of us need someone to stand up for us because we can’t stand up for ourselves. And God longs to be that someone!)
Here’s one example of what I’m talking about. In Psalm 94 the songwriter is calling for God to act.
"O Lord, the God of vengeance, O God of vengeance, let your glorious justice shine forth!" Psalm 94:1 (NLT)
Some read that and say, “See there! I told you so! God is vengeful!”
No He isn’t. To be vengeful means to be vindictive, to be inclined to revenge. Being vengeful is different than being someone who passes judgment upon sin. God is NOT inclined to revenge. He’s inclined to mercy! The Bible says this in many places but let me give you a quick snapshot of how the Bible describes God’s disposition to forgive.
"…you are a God of forgiveness, gracious and merciful, slow to become angry, and rich in unfailing love." Nehemiah 9:17b (NLT)
That is totally different than the concept some people have of God. They think He’s some sort of curmudgeon, some kind of grumpy faultfinder who can’t be pleased no matter how hard you try. That’s not God!
This doesn’t mean that God doesn’t punish – it doesn’t detract at all from the fact that He is totally pure and right and absolutely holy - but He punishes sin for the right reasons – not to be mean – but to be our protector.
And He’s not quick to punish. He’s slow to anger. He’s longsuffering. He puts up with a lot more than any of us ever would if we were Him.
When the Psalm writer in Psalm 94:1 said, “God of vengeance let your glorious justice shine forth!” what crime was he crying out to God about? How had some people been behaving that caused the writer of the sacred song to ask for justice? Look at what he writes in verse 6 of the same Psalm.
"They kill widows and foreigners and murder orphans." Psalm 94:6 (NLT)
No wonder the writer cried to God for justice. The reason the author of Psalm 94 was calling for God’s justice is because people like widows and foreigners and orphans represent the helpless and the easy to be exploited. When someone takes advantage of them God eventually brings them to justice.
This shouldn’t surprise us.
Don’t we cry for justice when someone does something like this? Of course we do. If someone abducts or exploits and murders an innocent child don’t we cry out for the sake of the helpless youngster? And when our officials of law and order investigate, indict, try and sentence the guilty we know they’re doing it to protect the rest of society. That’s a good thing!
It’s not a bad thing that God punishes the guilty – even though He is willing to go to great lengths to offer His forgiveness – and even though He is longsuffering with us.
GOD DOES NOT HAVE A DARK SIDE. Say that with me, “God does not have a dark side.” His punishment is just and necessary and always for love’s sake, always for the sake of what is right and good and decent and holy and pure.
The only time we need to be concerned about His judgment is if we’re living in the darkness. We realize He’s merciful, slow to anger and longsuffering with us, but even God’s patience has a limit.
In the same passage that the Bible tells us that God doesn’t have a dark side it also says this.
"If we say that we share in life with God and keep on living in the dark, we are lying and are not living by the truth. But if we live in the light, as God does, we share in life with each other." 1 John 1:6-7a (CEV)
Circle that phrase, “keep on living in the dark.” That implies we’ve had opportunities to change our dark ways but we’ve kept on in spite of God’s warnings, in spite of His love and longsuffering we’ve kept on living a WAY OF LIFE that we know isn’t right.
It’s not referring to the times we occasionally fall. It’s not talking about our missteps. It’s referring to our journey. If we’re taking a journey in the dark we certainly aren’t living with and for God who is in the light. If we “keep on living in the dark” we’re lying. We’re not on a journey with God who is in the light.
Since God is light, when I share in God’s life I do so in His light. This doesn’t mean that I’m perfect, as God is perfect. It means that because I share in His life and light, I can more readily see the dark things in my life that need to be brought into God’s light. It means I don’t give in to the dark. I don’t give up wrestling with the sin that my fallen human nature is so naturally inclined to.
There’s a difference between living in the light and living in the dark. Just like there’s a difference between having a healthy respect for God and His light and the wrong-headed concept of accusing God of being an ogre.
Why does the Bible present us with this truth?
Because I need to acknowledge that I am the one with the dark side, not God. The problem is not with God – it’s with me!
The second answer to the God question, “Does God punish us when we sin?” is this. This is the second proper perspective I need to have. In addition to realizing that God does NOT have a dark side, I need to admit that…
2.I HAVE A SIN PROBLEM TO CONTEND WITH.
The bad news is, and don’t tune me out after I say this, because we’re going to get to the really Good News in just a few minutes, but the bad news is this: I deserve to be punished because I have done wrong.
God’s word says we’ve all done wrong things.
"If we say we have not sinned, we are fooling ourselves, and the truth isn’t in our hearts." 1 John 1:8 (CEV)
"If we say that we have not sinned, we make God a liar, and his message isn’t in our hearts." 1 John 1:10 (CEV)
When I hear DC Talk singing “In the Light” on the radio I immediately identify. The vocalist is singing to God. Listen to what he says.
I keep trying to find a life, On my own, apart from you.
I am the king of excuses, I’ve got one for every selfish thing I do
What’s going on inside of me? I despise my own behavior.
This only serves to confirm my suspicions, That I’m still a man in need of a savior.
I wanna be in the light, As you are in the light.
I wanna shine like the stars in the heavens.
Oh, lord be my light and be my salvation,
Cause all I want is to be in the light,
All I want is to be in the light.
The disease of self runs through my blood, Its a cancer fatal to my soul.
Every attempt on my behalf has failed, To bring this sickness under control.
Tell me, what’s going on inside of me? I despise my own behavior.
This only serves to confirm my suspicions, That I’m still a man in need of a savior.
Being “in the light” is the only answer for the punishment I deserve for my sins. But how do I get “in the light?” How can I live in the light as God is in the light?
The third answer to the God question, “Does God punish us when we sin?” and the third proper perspective I need about God and judgment is this – and this is THE GOOD NEWS!
But first, let’s quickly review:
1. GOD DOES NOT HAVE A DARK SIDE.
2. I DO. So I must be punished for my sins. But I’m not good enough to achieve God’s standard of total light on my own because of my own personal darkness.
What is the solution? Does God punish us when we sin? Bad news: Yes. Good News:
3. CHRIST SUFFERED SO THAT I NEED NOT BE PUNISHED.
Of all the misinformation about God and punishment nothing is more important to get clear than this!
God wanted to keep from punishing us so badly that He suffered our punishment for us. He sent His Son Jesus to suffer on Skull Hill for the eternal hell that you and I deserve.
He not only wanted to do it – it was essential that He do it. Since He is the only one without a dark side and since I have a sin problem there’s no penance I could perform to exact the punishment that my being a sinner demands.
So what did God do in His Son Jesus? He sacrificed His sinless blood. Look at the Good News from God’s word.
"And the blood of his Son Jesus washes all our sins away." 1 John 7b (CEV)
Circle that word “all.” ALL my sins are forgiven – past, present, and FUTURE. My faith in Christ secures the forgiveness of ALL my sins. They are “washed…away.”
When I come to Christ by trusting in what He did for me in shedding His sinless blood for my sins - ALL my sins are washed away.
Yes, God punishes our sin. But if we’ll place our confidence in Christ then the punishment Jesus took becomes our punishment instead. That’s Good News!
In the movie “Amazing Grace”, the part of the dialogue that stood out more than all the rest to me was near the end of the film when John Newton, hymn writer of the song “Amazing Grace”, said, “I am a very old man and my memory has gone. But I remember two things: that I am a great sinner and that Jesus is a great savior."
None of us deserves what God has done for us! Not one of us deserves what Jesus did in shedding His sinless blood for us! Does God punish us when we sin? Yes! But Jesus willingly took our punishment so we could be forgiven!
But what about the sins I commit AFTER I come to Christ?
Since God doesn’t have a dark side and I do, He never messes up. He’s never the one in our friendship that has to apologize. He never does anything wrong to me. But I do wrong things to Him even as I am trying to live in the light. What about the punishment for these sins? Once again, ALL my sins are forgiven – even the ones I commit AFTER I make a faith commitment to Christ.
But - It is proper for those who know Christ and continue in their faith in Him to acknowledge and apologize for taking steps in the dark that are against God’s nature of total light. That’s why the Bible says this:
"But if we confess our sins to God, he can always be trusted to forgive us and take our sins away." 1 John 1:9 (CEV)
Making a faith commitment to Christ based on what He did in shedding His blood for me cancels my sin debt. But since I’m not in the perfect environment of heaven yet and don’t have my perfect spiritual body yet I’m going to sin sometimes, hate it though I may. Those sins are going to be just as offensive to God as the sins I committed before I came to God through Christ.
But don’t forget. The Bible says that ALL my sins are washed away. I’m not confessing these sins to be re-forgiven. I’m confessing them because my friendship with God matters.
It’s like in marriage. Sometimes I have to apologize to Deb for saying or doing something that is wrong. She wouldn’t divorce me for forgetting to put my dirty socks in the hamper but I need to apologize because it was thoughtless of me. This helps our relationship stay pleasant. It tells her that I don’t want to take our relationship for granted.
In your relationship with God you need to confess the things you’ve done wrong as the Word of God and the Spirit of God show you these things.
It’s important to know that “confess” means “to say the same thing.” When I confess to gossip or envy or prayerlessness or any other sin, I need “to say the same thing” that God says about my sin. It’s dirty, its dark, it hinders my friendship with God and others. God is still my friend when I do these things but He’s not able to bless me like He wants; He’s not able to have that close friendship that He wants to have with me so I need to confess, I need “to say the same thing” God says about my sin to clear the air.
When we do confess, Christ is "faithful" to forgive. We are not so faithful in our forgiveness towards others, but Christ is. He is not only faithful to forgive us: He is “just” in doing so because He is God. Part of His acts of carrying out justice is to judge our sin as "PAID FOR" on the basis of our faith in what Christ did on the cross.
Does God punish us when we sin? Yes, sin must be punished. Darkness must eventually bow to light.
But I have a choice. I can take the punishment myself - or I can accept the suffering of Christ, the shedding of His blood for me - as my punishment.
And when I make a faith commitment to Christ I begin a journey in the light. I will fail at times, but I will not let my missteps stop me from walking in the light as He is in the light.
I realize that I not only serve a holy and just God, but also One that is loving, longsuffering, gracious, merciful and kind toward me.
Praise His Name!
