The Gospel Way Catechismنموونە

QUESTION 14: How Does God Respond to Sin?

ANSWER

God is not a permissive grandfather who winks at sin, but a perfect Father of fiery love. He hates sin because it defies his righteous character, disrupts our fellowship with him, and defaces us—his beloved image-bearers.

“It’s my job to sin; it’s God’s job to forgive me.” So goes the thinking in a world where sin, if there is such a thing, is a personal failure to live up to one’s own ideals and standards, not an offense against a holy God. Even among those who believe in a higher power, the idea of God as wrathful toward sin is distasteful, something the psychologist Carl Jung described as a projection of unconscious fears and insecurities. Some thinkers, such as Ayn Rand, remade selfishness into a virtue rather than a vice. What’s truly immoral, she’d say, is to act against your self-interest or to sacrifice for others. Others admit our selfish impulses must be resisted, but as part of our own personal and psychological betterment, not because we’ve offended God or failed to love our neighbors as ourselves.

The Bible paints a different picture of the seriousness of sin and selfishness(1 John 1:8-9). In Scripture, we don’t see God winking at sin as if he were a permissive grandfather. We don’t see him sweeping the effects of sin under the rug or shrugging his shoulders at evil in the world. His response is not sentimental. He doesn’t minimize sin’s causes and effects. Instead, we see God thundering against sin, expressing his hatred of evil. He responds to sin as a direct affront to his glory and righteousness (Isaiah 59:2).

Why does the Bible insist on this response from God to sin? The answer may surprise you. God’s hatred of sin is rooted in his holy love. It is because God is love that God hates sin. If sin separates us from God and severs us from the source of all life (thus leading to spiritual death), how could God be loving if he remained indifferent to our plight?

God stands implacably opposed to sin because of his great love for his glory and the good of those he made in his image. Sin defies his righteous character. Sin disrupts our fellowship with him. Even more, sin defaces us, leading to our destruction. If God were to stand at a distance, shrugging at the defacement of the beloved persons he made in his image, passive in the face of evil destroying his good creation, we would question his love for all he has made.

God hates sin because it represents a betrayal of his love and goodness. Sin strikes at his glory and righteousness (Romans 1:18). He also hates sin because of what it does to us, how it alters and disfigures us. The palatable, softened vision of God so often on display in our world today doesn’t fit the picture we see in the Bible—a God of fiery love, a blazing sun of holiness and mercy, whose white-hot wrath toward sin stems from the volcano of his undying, everlasting love for his people.

Reflection Questions

What are some signs that we don’t take sin as seriously as God does? Reflect on whether you minimize, justify, or take sin seriously. How does your view of sin impact your relationship with God and others?

What is the biggest obstacle to understanding God’s view of sin in our society? Consider the cultural perspectives that might hinder a proper understanding of sin as an offense against God. How can you address these obstacles in your own life and conversations with others?