49. Sin's Penalty Cannot Be Remitted
Sin’s Penalty Cannot Be Remitted
There can be no escape from the penalty on sin, therefore, for if that penalty is tampered with, the welfare of all moral beings is tampered with, and God will never permit such a thing. The problem is thus well before us. If God insures the welfare of the sinless by executing the penalty on sin which He cannot forgive, how can He possibly secure the welfare of the sinner? There must be a way to save the sinless from the peril of sin, and yet save the sinner from the penalty on sin. So justice must act without hindrance on behalf of the sinless, and mercy must remain unhindered as it acts on behalf of the sinful. But suppose no such way can be found. Suppose that either justice or mercy would have to be set aside. Which one would it have to be?
Mercy would be the one to go! For justice always executes the penalty for the sake of public welfare, while mercy’s demand is for the sake of private welfare. And it is a governmental axiom that if public welfare cannot be maintained and private welfare secured at the same time, private welfare must be sacrificed for the public good.
Especially is this so when the public welfare is threatened by those who deliberately exalt their private preferences above the public good. The law-abiding have the inherent right to their own well-being, but sinners against that well-being have forfeited all right to their own, and if it is ever secured to them, it must be by outright gift; they have no right to it whatever. And yet there are those who tell us that the very opposite is the truth! They turn God into a sort of blessed Nobody, a mere kind-hearted and exceedingly indulgent Grandfather, who will let justice go, if He cannot maintain it and save the sinner at the same time. But we cannot so divide the Being of God as to accept His mercy while we reject His justice, for that would be repudiating both His love and our own reasons.
Think a moment. If justice is set aside, mercy goes with it. For if there is no justice to execute a penalty, there would be no need of mercy to set it aside. Take justice away, therefore, and no place for mercy can be found, God’s love is gone, and all rational thinking is at an end. But there can be no choice between justice and mercy. Neither can be set aside. God’s holiness, His love, His moral government, and the welfare of the whole moral creation depends on finding a way by which the penalty on sin can be executed and set aside at the same time.
Justice must execute the full penalty on sin, and mercy must give full and hearty co-operation. And mercy must set the penalty completely aside from the sinner, and justice must as freely and heartily co-operate. If justice refuses pardon, mercy must consent; and if mercy grants pardon, justice must consent.