There are many Christians who think that God punishes us for our sins. For example they may think that if they smoke and get lung cancer that it is God's punishment on them for their sin of smoking. Or if they lead a sexually promiscuous life and contract an STD that it is God's punishment for their sinful lifestyle. Sometimes people even think that God punishes sin in totally unrelated ways. For example I used to think that if my car broke down it was for some sin that I committed 2, 3 or maybe even 4 weeks ago that I still felt bad about.
The problem is that this kind of thinking is contrary to the Gospel because it misses the point of the Cross. It also leads us to wrong way of thinking about sin, the devil and God. Instead of seeing sin as folly and the devil as the enemy we start to see sin as “fun” and God as a harsh father waiting to dole out punishment whenever we step out of line.
Now it is 100% true that God hates sin. We should never think that God is “soft” on sin. Sin is serious and God hates it. In fact He hates it so much that he could not leave it unpunished. But that is exactly why He no longer punishes us for our sins today – because he has already punished each and every one of them. Our sins have already been paid for. That's what the Cross is about.
Every sin you and I have ever committed or ever will commit has already been paid for by Jesus on the Cross of Calvary. Jesus suffered the wrath of God for the sins of the entire human race. So why would God go on punishing our sin now?
Sin has natural consequences. Smoking causes lung cancer. Promiscuous sex causes AIDS and a host of other diseases. Sin is destructive to ourselves and to those around us. Those natural consequences are part of the reason God hates sin so much. He hates what sin does to those whom He loves (you and me). God hates sin the way we might hate cancer. We hate to see our loved ones trapped, broken and suffering.
When the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32) left home we hear nothing of punishment. The prodigal son experienced all kinds of hardships but if he had thought those hardships were somehow his father's doing it is unlikely that he would ever have returned home. The father didn't even “chew him out”. The father continued loving his lost son the whole time and when he finally returned home he celebrated with great joy!
Far from punishing us for our sins is has been my own experience that more often God shields us from the natural consequences of our sins. I have done many sinful things that never seemed to “come home to roost”. Have you ever driven drunk and got home safe? Have you ever done something wrong that would have hurt your relationships but no one found out? How often hasn't God put a hedge of protection around you?
We can damage our lives with sin. We can hurt ourselves and those around us and we can certainly miss out on the joy God has in mind for our lives but we can never change the deep love God has for us. Jesus said that the thief [devil] comes to steal, kill and destroy but that He [Jesus] has come that we might have life and have it to the fullest (John 10:10). The devil wants to burden you with sin and destroy you with the consequences. God wants you to live life full of joy, peace happiness and thankfulness.
