I listened to my normal sermons this weekend. One sermon was on the consequences of sin. The minister gave the example of King David who had committed adultery, indirectly committed murder and lied. God forgave him and stated that King David was a man after His own heart. King David is one of the greatest spiritual examples in the Old Testament. As we know he wrote much of the Book of Psalms.

The sermon pointed out, no matter what sins we have done God will forgive us. For example the sins of Rahab, the prostitute, who hid the two spies who had entered Jericho, was forgiven of her past. In fact Christ is a part of her linage. No matter what any of us have done God promises that we can be forgiven.

In I and II Samuel it tells us what occurred in David’s life as a consequence of those sins. When King David broke the Commandments under the Old Covenant it required justice to be given. As a result of King David’s sins the consequences were tremendous. One son dies, another son Amnon becomes a rapist, his son Absalom conspires with others and takes over the kingdom from King David. King David flees and his problems continue.

It appears that God allowed the story of King David and Rahab to point out that all sins can be forgiven. It is also used to state forgiveness does not eliminate consequences for past sins. Many believers may continue to sin with the idea that they can be forgiven. Romans 6:1 – 2 – “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?” It is a mistake to try and manipulate God. There will be consequences to pay for sinning.

Colossians 2:13 – 14 – “When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross.”

Prior to being saved when our soul was dead, we were living, guided by our self-centered nature and motivated by evil. God through Christ made our soul righteous by forgiving our sins and He made us alive and heirs with Christ in God’s kingdom. Man was a total disaster trying to keep the laws and regulations given by Moses. If we kept books on our sins we could have filled volumes. God, through Christ, destroyed those volumes and stated that no record of sins would be kept in the future.

What about a Christian who is living according to God’s “will” and runs into all kinds of devastating circumstances? Their problems may not be a result of sin. To the best of their knowledge they may not have deliberately sinned. A lot of our problems result from making wrong choices. I believe God allows bad consequences to happen that we might learn from the experiences. I have not heard of one example where a person won a super large jackpot and had no experience with money, had it spent within three years or at least most was gone. Let a non-gambler multimillionaire, who bought two lotto tickets win and the winnings may be worth 25% more within three years.

Problems that occur, in which we had little or no control, I believe God may be preparing us for greater things ahead. Have we ever thought that what happens on earth could be in preparation for eternity? We know that Christ will come back to rule on this earth for a thousand years. What will be our ministry or what will we be asked to do. We must continually remember when problems come, to ask: “God what are we to learn from this?”

Before we do something we know is completely out of the will of God we must ask ourselves: “What could be the consequences?” The consequence of sin can destroy families, careers, businesses and reputations. Most of us can relate to story after story of people we know who have met with devastating consequences as a result of sin. Do they think God isn’t looking? Do they think God can be fooled? Sin causes consequences whether it is now or at the Day of Judgment. The Bible is very specific: should we go on sinning? Paul answers: “By no means!”

Everyone is tempted! Some just don’t struggle with being tempted. It is a matter of priorities and spiritual maturity. Think twice before yielding!