If God is
the executor of judgment, why can’t He also pardon everyone?
People
wonder—and with good reason—why Jesus Christ had to die for our sins. After
all, since God made the laws, wouldn’t it have been easier for God to arrange a
“pardon” for everyone without sacrificing His Son? The Bible provides the
answer, but understanding the answer requires understanding ourselves first.
Why We Want Laws
Everyone
wants some personal rights. To have rights, you need laws. The alternative—having
no laws—results in anarchy, where everyone is free to do anything they wish to
anyone. Under that system, nobody has any rights. (Remember, you do not have
the right to tell anyone “no” if they can do anything they want with you or
your possessions.) That said, everyone will agree that we want laws for the
protection of our lives and property.
Enforcing Laws and Setting Penalties
Those who
establish the laws also set the penalties and arrange their enforcement. For
example, if a pet violates a household rule that it did not make but the owners
did (getting on the dinner table perhaps), the owners will carry out the
penalty regardless of what the pet thinks. Our society works in a similar way.
If someone murders a person, those who enforce the laws put the violator in
jail to await trial (and possible execution), regardless of the opinion of the
murderer.
Sometimes
the pet does not get punished because the owners did not want to take the time
to enforce the rule. Sometimes a murderer is not caught, or is not punished
when caught. None of these is an example of a pardon, they are examples of a
“shortcoming in law enforcement.” We do not expect an automatic pardon in any
case.
What “Sin” Is
We refer to
breaking God’s laws as “sin.” The Bible refers to several types of sin, but
most of them fall into one of two types, represented by the Greek words
hamartia (used in Matthew 1:21, 3:6, 9:2 and many other verses) and parabasis
(used in Romans 2:23, 4:15, 5:14 and other verses). Hamartia implies missing
the mark—and is the word most commonly translated “sin.” Parabasis is usually
translated as “transgressing” or “breaking” a law or command. Therefore, sin
can be missing the mark (like the pet example—hamartia), or doing what we know
is wrong (like the murderer example—parabasis). Under both types of sin, the
penalty should be carried out. If it is not, the law has no value and offers no
protection. Remember, most of the civil laws such as “do not murder” came from
the Bible originally (in Christian nations).
God’s Character
That brings
us to God’s character. God does not change. That means if He says something, it
has to happen. (This is good. We would not want to go to heaven and have Him
say, “well, I’ve been thinking about Christianity and changed my mind.”)
You may not
have learned this, but this also means that God does have some limits. For
example, He can not sin and He can not go back on his word. Therefore, once God
establishes a law, He can not violate His own law and forgive our sins without
proper payment.
The Penalty for Sin
It does not
take too much reading in the Bible to learn that the penalty for sin is death.
In other words, the payment of the penalty for sinning (also called atonement)
is made by shedding blood. We may not like it, but God set the rules and He is
not deviating from them. (Remember, this is good.) Here are some examples:
Leviticus 17:11For the life of the flesh is in the blood,
and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for
it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.
Hebrews 9:22 And according to the law almost all things
are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.
Why Christ
Had To Pay the Penalty for our Sins
Once we sin
(and it happens to all of us sooner or later) we have two choices:
- We pay for our own sins.
- Someone else pays for our sins.
For example,
if you got a traffic ticket, you could pay for the ticket, or you could ask
someone else to pay for it. However, since the payment for sinning is death, it
is a little tougher to find someone who is willing to pay your penalty!
These two
choices are real. We can choose to pay for our own sins—and be cast into hell.
This is not a choice we would expect most people to make on purpose. Still, we
realize that some people do not take heaven or hell seriously. Unfortunately,
they will realize the error of their decision one minute after they die.
The other
alternative is to find someone else to pay for our sins. One thought that comes
to mind is sacrificing a criminal or someone who “deserves to die.” That way
you get rid of someone who is dangerous to society and pay for our sins,
solving two problems at once. The Bible tells us why this will not work in
Malachi chapter 1 (among other places).
13 “You also say,‘Oh, what a weariness!’ And you sneer at it,”
Says the LORD of hosts. “And you bring the stolen, the lame,
and the sick;
Thus you bring an offering!Should I accept this from your hand?”Says the LORD.
14 “But cursed be the deceiver Who has in his flock a male,And takes a vow,
But sacrifices to the Lord what is
blemished—For I am a great King,” Says the LORD of hosts,
“And My name is to be feared among the
nations.”
So now we
see that only an unblemished (perfect or sinless) sacrifice is acceptable.
Unfortunately, no one is perfect. From the beginning of time until the time of
Christ, no one came close. In fact, God had to literally become the father of
the Savior, since God knew that no person born on this Earth could remain
sinless without that divinity.
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