An ignorance of God will lead men to treat sin as a small matter of little consequence. Too many want to sow their wild oats and then pray for crop failure.
Here are 6 reminders today about what the Bible says about the consequences for our actions.
# 1 - Sin always has penalties. We are never better off for having disobeyed God at any time.
Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” All sin costs. The wages of sin is death. Sin has no wages which Christ has not paid. Yet, you won’t grow in holiness until you see your sin as a personal offense against God. Sin isn’t just breaking some random rule—it personally grieves and offends our thrice-holy God. When we sin, we look to God’s face and say, “I won’t obey you God. I don’t care or want to be like you. I want my own way—and that’s it!” God, help us hate sin!
#2 - Do not complain if others break God’s law without consequence, while you are disciplined for any infraction. It is proof of sonship (Hebrews 12).
God will employ whatever righteous means necessary to transform His people: teaching, reproof, correction, training, discipline, etc. A great sign that we have a false faith is that we’re ok to live in sin and remain unchanged by divine discipline (Hebrews 12:7-11)? Are there consequences to your disobedience? Of course, there are! But thankfully God's rejection doesn't happen to be one of them.
#3 - It’s one thing to weep over consequences—it’s another thing to weep before Christ (2 Cor. 7:10)
"For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.”). Do we care we got caught or that we sinned against God? Christian maturity depends on two things: A willingness to follow Christ and a willingness to take any consequences that come as a result.
#4 - It is the pastor-preacher’s task to speak about the one subject that men would most rather forget: sin and its consequences (2 Tim. 4:1-6).
We not only proclaim the benefits of faith in Christ—but also the terrifying consequences of rejecting Him through hostility or mere neglect.
#5 - R.C. Sproul said: “If we love people, we will warn them of the consequences of dying in their sins.”
And the truth is: folks don't care about your other-world religion until it has this-world consequences. As believers in the risen Christ, we should seek to show all people that in comparison to having Christ all other benefits of the gospel are of little consequence. There is a judgment coming (Rev. 20:11-15; Acts 17:30-31, etc.).
#6 - Listen, you woke up today with the benefit of knowing that, though sin has consequences, the Gospel of the resurrected Jesus is a message of fresh starts and new beginnings.
This same Jesus defeated the ultimate penalty of sin—death. His victory over death not only reasons for his power, but also for our salvation. There are consequences to sin, but as God's child, one of them is not his rejection. He will never leave us nor forsake us. The cross settled our acceptance once and for all. Do you believe that?
