MORAL REALITIES
Make no mistakes about this: God is not to be fooled; a man reaps what he sows. Gal. 6:7, N.E.B.
A young boy creates such a disturbance in the classroom that his teacher sends him to the principal's office. When his mother finds out about it, she is irate. But not at her son! She takes it out on the teacher. Later, when this same son spends all of his allowance on candy and has nothing left for an offering at church, she quickly replenishes his supply of money. "I don't want him to feel bad," she says.
In her misguided love for her son, this mother is actually teaching him to live in a fantasy world. She is shielding him from the hard realities that reveal the facts, the cause-and-effect realities that underlie all of life on this planet. She thinks she is keeping him from hurting by not letting him face the consequences of his choices, but in fact she is setting him up for unending hurts in the future.
Another child misbehaves seriously at home. His mother tells him that as a result he will lose his privilege for a period of time. After tears of repentance he begs to have his "sentence" revoked. When Mother holds firm, he pleads, "What's the matter? Don't you forgive me?`` She explains that of course he forgives him, but forgiveness isn't the issue. He still needs to learn about moral realities, the sure consequences of bad choices.
Large numbers of Christians today are living the behaviors of this sinful world, yet they fully believe that because forgiveness is available, they will be exempted from all bad consequences. They misunderstand the whole meaning of forgiveness. They think that because the ultimate sentence of the second death has been lifted through the forgiveness provided on the cross, all consequences of bad choices are also lifted.
This widely held belief can be turned over and viewed from the other side as well. It suggests that what is wrong with sinning is that God is resentful and hostile toward the sinner, even inflicting punishment upon him as an expression of His displeasure. The goal of man's religion, then, is to get God to change that attitude toward the sinner, to offer "forgiveness." When the Father says, "I forgive you," they think one is free to disobey God's law. But our Father loves us too much to stand behind this kind of moral fiction!
Make no mistakes about this: God is not to be fooled; a man reaps what he sows. Gal. 6:7, N.E.B.
A young boy creates such a disturbance in the classroom that his teacher sends him to the principal's office. When his mother finds out about it, she is irate. But not at her son! She takes it out on the teacher. Later, when this same son spends all of his allowance on candy and has nothing left for an offering at church, she quickly replenishes his supply of money. "I don't want him to feel bad," she says.
In her misguided love for her son, this mother is actually teaching him to live in a fantasy world. She is shielding him from the hard realities that reveal the facts, the cause-and-effect realities that underlie all of life on this planet. She thinks she is keeping him from hurting by not letting him face the consequences of his choices, but in fact she is setting him up for unending hurts in the future.
Another child misbehaves seriously at home. His mother tells him that as a result he will lose his privilege for a period of time. After tears of repentance he begs to have his "sentence" revoked. When Mother holds firm, he pleads, "What's the matter? Don't you forgive me?`` She explains that of course he forgives him, but forgiveness isn't the issue. He still needs to learn about moral realities, the sure consequences of bad choices.
Large numbers of Christians today are living the behaviors of this sinful world, yet they fully believe that because forgiveness is available, they will be exempted from all bad consequences. They misunderstand the whole meaning of forgiveness. They think that because the ultimate sentence of the second death has been lifted through the forgiveness provided on the cross, all consequences of bad choices are also lifted.
This widely held belief can be turned over and viewed from the other side as well. It suggests that what is wrong with sinning is that God is resentful and hostile toward the sinner, even inflicting punishment upon him as an expression of His displeasure. The goal of man's religion, then, is to get God to change that attitude toward the sinner, to offer "forgiveness." When the Father says, "I forgive you," they think one is free to disobey God's law. But our Father loves us too much to stand behind this kind of moral fiction!
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