Often when people think about sin and punishment they go to one of two extremes. Some say that since God is loving, and since God’s grace is abundant, we don’t need to fear His wrath or punishment. Others say that since God is holy and just and righteous we should live in fear of His punishment, even if we believe. This morning we reflect on the reality that God hates sin, that sin is punished, that God’s grace is sufficient and the sometimes forgotten fact that holiness is worth dying for.

Digging Deeper

1.  American Christianity does not often speak of hell. Why do you think this is so? What did Jesus say about hell? (Luke 16:19-31; Matthew 25:41-46; Mark 9:42-48; Matthew 23:33; Luke 10:5).  How did He describe its dangers?

2.  The punishment of hell seems to some to be very severe. One reason why we sometimes wonder about its harshness is that we don’t fully appreciate the holiness of God.  How do the following passages illustrate God’s holiness:  Isaiah 6:1-7; Revelation 4:1-11 (try to imagine the scene); Exodus 19:16-19; Revelation 21:22-27)? Can you describe what it means for God to be Holy? How does that help us understand why He hates sin?

3.  Since God cannot be touched with sin (1 John 1:5) and since He is in every way Holy (Psalm 5:4-6) how should His people live their lives to reflect Him? (Leviticus 19:2; Matthew 5:48; 1 Peter 1:15-16) Can we live our lives that way – why or why not? Read Romans 6:1-14. What does that passage teach about how we think about sin in our lives as Christ followers?  Is it ever ok for us to simply go on sinning?  Is there an area in your life where you have ignored or tolerated sin? What is God asking you to do about that? How do 1 John 1:9 and Mark 9:42-48 help answer that question?

Scripture

 (Mark 9:33-37 NIV)  They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them, "What were you arguing about on the road?" 34 But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest. 35 Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, "If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all." 36 He took a little child and had him stand among them. Taking him in his arms, he said to them, 37 "Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me."

(Mark 9:42-50 NIV) 42 "And if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around his neck. 43 If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. 44  45 And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. 46  47 And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, 48 where "'their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.'

 49 Everyone will be salted with fire. 50 "Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with each other."

(Malachi 3:1-7 NIV)  "See, I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come," says the LORD Almighty. 2 But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner's fire or a launderer's soap. 3 He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the LORD will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness, 4 and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the LORD, as in days gone by, as in former years. 5 "So I will come near to you for judgment. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive aliens of justice, but do not fear me," says the LORD Almighty. 6 "I the LORD do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed.

(Isaiah 66:22-24 NIV)  "As the new heavens and the new earth that I make will endure before me," declares the LORD, "so will your name and descendants endure. 23 From one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, all mankind will come and bow down before me," says the LORD. 24 "And they will go out and look upon the dead bodies of those who rebelled against me; their worm will not die, nor will their fire be quenched, and they will be loathsome to all mankind."

(Romans 5:8-9 NIV)  But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him!

(Hebrews 9:12-14 NIV)  Jesus did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption. 13 The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. 14 How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!

Played: 24 | Download | Duration: 00:32:04