RESOURCES — SHORT ARTICLES

 

SHORT ARTICLES BY TOM ELSEROAD
	2020-08-25	If God is Just Then Why Give Eternal Punishment for Temporal Sin?
		Of course eternal punishment means judgment in hell. This is not just a question about hell, but it contrasts eternal with temporal Most often we underestimate our sin and its consequences in this life. It is common when explaining sin for people to say you are exaggerating. There is often this comparison as if God grades us on a curve. “It is not like I have killed someone” for example. What are the consequences of how I use my free will? We affect each other so much more than we realize. We sin against one person, and that sin affects others around that person as well. It is a ripple effect that we just do not see. Have you stopped and looked back when you were a teenager and did something wrong? At the time you thought it was no big deal. But the reality was that it was truly terrible. You see the standard is a perfectly holy God. What does our sin look like from His perspective? And then consider the multiplying and ripple effect of just one sin. Jesus gives some clue, that lust looks like adultery (Mt.5:28), and anger looks like murder (Mt.5:22). So temporal sin and eternal punishment is NOT a fair comparison. When we think about the reality of our sin the so-called gap between eternal and temporal becomes nil. Man in his fallenness presumes there is this gap between eternal and temporal, because we do not understand how bad sin really is. How do we understand Hell? It may be best to understand it in a relational framework. Jesus invites us into a relationship with Himself. A relationship can only be entered when both people say 'yes' to that relationship. If we are not willing to say 'yes' to that relationship, then there is nothing Jesus will do on His side. People ask, why is Jesus the only way into heaven. That is because Jesus is Heaven. That is what Heaven is. It is not some theme park that we get a ticket to. Heaven is a place. Heaven is Heaven because Jesus is there. For an unbeliever, Heaven would be Hell for him. Why? Because he does not want to be with God. It would take away from his autonomy as he sees it. If this is not attractive to you, then God is not going to force you to be with Him. When the Bible speaks of Hell it speaks of it as weeping and gnashing of teeth (Mt.8:12). This may seem like a harsh concept. But for an unbeliever, who has no relationship with Christ, to suddenly be in His presence, the result would be weeping and gnashing. Of course the weeping and gnashing refers to the awful conditions of Hell's torment. It is our own stubbornness that keeps us from having that relationship. When you read the story of the Prodigal Son you see the younger son squandering his wealth and returning (Lk.15) Jesus often had surprises in His stories. The younger boy coming home had a different reaction from the Father than what is expected in the East. 1. The Father gathers the robes and runs toward the son to welcome him back. That is the grace. In every other world-view salvation is earned. Your good deeds have to outweigh your bad deeds. Only in the Gospel message is salvation a free gift. 2. The older brother is upset that the Father is celebrating the return of the younger son. He is the one who has never enjoyed the love of the Father, even though he lived under the same roof. He never broke free from his own selfishness, toward the Father's love. So the misnomer is that sin is somehow only a temporal thing, with the idea that it is no big deal. But from a perfectly holy God, every sin has an eternal consequence. Praise God, Jesus took the eternal consequences for those who believe in Him. Pastor Tom Elseroad

 

An Evangelical Free Church of America

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