Posted on 08/03/2005 1:53:59 PM PDT by concan
mad=made
Yes, sin has consequences. Sometimes here on earth as He allows, but not always in accordance to our sins. This is an old heresy that Job battled with his "friends" and Jesus addressed in Luke 13:
1 There were present at that season some who told Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 And Jesus answered and said to them, “Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things? 3 I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. 4 Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.”
The fact that sometimes we reap what we sow and not at other times, or maybe I do but not the guy next to me is in His providence. But the final consequence of sin will be on Judgment day - unless one is saved by His grace - where the judgment fell on Him. The true miracle is that we CAN have forgiveness for any of our sins upon repentance because He took our punishments upon Himself. That is the true miracle.
Don't mistake His providence for true miracles. What about all those times the tower did NOT fall in Siloam?
Yes, sin has consequences. Sometimes here on earth as He allows, but not always in accordance to our sins. This is an old heresy that Job battled with his "friends" and Jesus addressed in Luke 13:
1 There were present at that season some who told Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 And Jesus answered and said to them, “Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things? 3 I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. 4 Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.”
The fact that sometimes we reap what we sow and not at other times, or maybe I do but not the guy next to me is in His providence. But the final consequence of sin will be on Judgment day - unless one is saved by His grace - where the judgment fell on Him. The true miracle is that we CAN have forgiveness for any of our sins upon repentance because He took our punishments upon Himself. That is the true miracle.
Don't mistake His providence for true miracles. What about all those times the tower did NOT fall in Siloam?
Hmmmmm....
Good point. Hard to imagine the Egyptians celebrating the miracle of the drowning of the Army in the Red Sea. I'm also reminded of Paul casting out the demon of the girl who brought profit for her boss. Not all miracles have happy consequenses.
"I bring rain on the just and unjust."
God doesn't bring the sunshine only.
It's very hard for some Christians to accept the fact that a good God does not always bring "pleasantness" into our lives. They tend to view Him as their personal sugar daddy, rather than as the sovereign God of the universe. God is there to please them, not vice versa. They also misinterpret or associate all unpleasantness as sinful actions. That's not the case with God's acts of providence.
But the Bible makes it clear that God does cause unpleasantness to come upon people, even upon His own elect people at times. He does it all for His own sovereign good pleasure, not ours.
"They tend to view Him as their personal sugar daddy, rather than as the sovereign God of the universe."
I am going to have to steal that line for my blog.
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