Beth-El Baptist Church
10/24/04
What is the penalty for sin?
When a law is violated, justice demands the penalty to be paid. When a person violates the righteous commands of God what is the penalty to be paid and to whom?
1. What is sin?
Proverbs 21:4; 24:9
Romans 3:19-23; 14:23
1 Corinthians 15:56
James 4:17
1 Peter 1:15-17 (See also Psalm 99:3-9)
1 John 5:17
Sin is described as transgressing the law of God. It is described as falling short of the righteousness and holiness of God. Sin is having a character and a nature that is different, thus inferior to God’s. It is therefore an assault on God’s character and on His name.
2. How is the penalty for sin described?
Genesis 2:16-17; 3:19
2 Chronicles 34:21-25
Psalm 79:6
Ezekiel 18:20; 22:29-31
John 3:36
Romans 6:20-23; 7:13
James 1:15
Revelation 14:9-11
Those who sin against God’s commandments will have to face his wrath and death. The text in Genesis 2:17 that says, “thou shalt surely die” can be literally translated as “dying thou shalt die”. This would carry the idea that there are two types of death, there is a physical death but in the process of encountering the physical death there is another death. This is the spiritual death referred to as the second death in the book of Revelation.
3. What does “death” mean?
Genesis 3:22-24
Psalm 22:1
Isaiah 57:1; 59:2
Mark 15:33-34
Romans 8:6
Hebrews 9:27
Revelation 21:8
In the Bible, the there are two types of death. There is the physical death that every man will encounter (Hebrews 9:27; Isaiah 57:1). There is also a second type of death. This death was first seen in Genesis 3 in which man is removed from the presence of God. This is also seen in Psalm 22:1 (and Mark 15:33-34) where the deepest darkness that can exist occurs when man is removed from the presence of God.
4. Why is there a penalty for sin?
Exodus 20:7
Leviticus 19:15
2 Chronicles 6:23
Psalm 9:16; 37:28; 68:2-3; 92:13-15
Proverbs 18:5; 21:7
Isaiah 6:5
Luke 19:21-22
Romans 1:17-19,32; 2:11-13; 3:3-7, 19; 9:14, 22-23
2 Corinthians 6:14
God’s entire character is at stake. God is completely Holy and righteous. He must therefore require justice for transgressions against the law and against His character. For God to not penalize sin would be a demonstration that God is unrighteous since He does not condemn the guilty for their crimes.
There is also the reality that people bring it on themselves by behaving in an unrighteous manner even while knowing what is righteous and that unrighteousness must be judged.
5. Who is the payment made to?
Psalm 51:3-4
Leviticus 4:29-31
Isaiah 53:10-11
Romans 12:1-2
2 Corinthians 2:15
Ephesians 2:13-16
The payment for sins is to be made to God. It is the law of God that man has transgressed and so it is to law that all of mankind is indebted. The payment for sin is to be made to God and only to God.
6. How is the payment made?
Isaiah 53:1-5
Matthew 13:41-50; 25:31-41
Colossians 2:14
2 Timothy 1:10
Hebrews 2:14; 9:15, 22-23
1 Peter 2:21-24
1 John 1:7; 4:9-10
Revelation 1:5
There are only two possible ways to pay the penalty for your sins. One way is to pay for them yourself. Paying for your sins yourself is accomplished by spending eternity in hell where there is “wailing and gnashing of teeth”. The other way is to receive the grace of God by believing on the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. When you die with Jesus Christ you are eternally secure in Him. He takes on your sins having nailed them to the cross and you take on His righteousness to make you pure.
The penalty for sin is death. Each person must “die” to pay for their own sins. The death can either be eternally on their head in hell, which is described with such terms as “wailing and gnashing of teeth “and” where the worm dieth not, or the death can be the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ on the cross.