It has been seen and heard that there are "consequences" for sin. My opinion is that if the sin deserves a punishment...so be it...suffer the consequence...BUT...since according to the Bible "Ro 3:23For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;, I dont believe that the consequence should last forever!!! But some do....example..."my son-in-law was a drug junkie in his teenage years, now He is 39, and has Hepatitis" which he got from the needle!! He has cleaned up his life and God has called him into the ministry..now a fine preacher. But, because of those years, he may not live long!!That is not fair...... :-x WHY????
_________________Carole Russell
For someone such as your son-in-law who has surrendered his life to Christ, to live is Christ, to die is gain. Psalms 116:15, Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. Perhaps the Lord will heal him, but if not, he has given his life to Christ so he has heaven as his reward.
I dont believe that the consequence should last forever!!! But some do....example..."my son-in-law was a drug junkie in his teenage years, now He is 39, and has Hepatitis" which he got from the needle!! He has cleaned up his life and God has called him into the ministry..now a fine preacher. But, because of those years, he may not live long!!
_________________SI Moderator - Greg Gordon
That is not fair......:-x WHY????Hi carly49This is another way of asking that question, 'why does an all powerful, all loving God allow suffering?' The cynic says "He may be one" ie all loving OR all powerful "but He can't be both". This theme could take a long time but for the Christian there is a short cut. "God demonstrates His own love toward us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us". The love of God is beyond dispute. The tenses here are are good to notice; God continually demonstrates His own love... in that Christ once died for us. Calvary is not a high point of God's love it is the way God has always and does always behave towards us. So for the Christian (and the non-Christian) it is true that every event however 'unfair' has behind it a God whose continuing love is seen in Calvary. The unbeliever judges God's character by God's actions (or lack of them). The believer judges God's actions by God's character.The believer's confidence is based on 'revelation' not 'explanation'. Or if there is any explanation it is part of the outworking of the verse in Hebrews that says 'by faith, we understand'. I don't believe it ever works the other way around. ie I understand and therefore I believe.There is a link between sin and suffering, but it is not a simple link. And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. (Joh 9:1-4 KJV) We simply cannot 'map' one suffering to one sin. There are inbuilt consequences to life which are not 'punishments'. If I walk off the roof of my house I will be damaged, but this is not punishment but consequence. Without doubt there are some sickness and sufferings which are the 'direct' consequence' of some folly, but Christians need to be very cautious in 'joining up the dots'. There are more dots that we can imagine and many of them are invisible.For the Christian there is an added comfort; And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. (Rom 8:28 NASB) This word 'know' really means 'to perceive'. This is not a knowing that came by intellectual skill or manipulation but a 'knowing' that came by 'revelation'. I don't 'understand' it, so I can't answer the question 'why?'. But, as Paul, says For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day. (2Ti 1:12 KJV)You will notice that the verse says 'whom I have believed' rather than 'what I have believed'. 'What' would have given a confidence based on information; 'whom' directs my trembling faith to a Father's unchanging love. The Christian can't really ask the question :-x why??? but he can ask the question :-( why???
_________________Ron Bailey
Because all have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God it would be more then fair for God to cut us all off completely at any moment. Every day and every second that the Lord gives us we ought to be grateful for. Rather then being sorry about the time we won't have, we should be grateful for the time that we do have.