No 34
(Sin not punished)
“….therefore that God exacteth of thee less than thine iniquity
deserveth.” Job 11:6b. As we know, Job was one of God’s most
cherished saints but He didn’t hesitate to put him to the test to thwart Satan’s
attempts to diminish this trusting man of God.
He had three friends who came to consol him and brought with them
several pieces of advice; some were rejected by Job because they were contrary
to what Job believed about his Creator.
However some of their counsel was good and the above verse is one of
them. This statement of God’s holiness
is very appropriate today even if it was spoken thousands of years ago an in a
context completely different than ours.
God hates sin; He hates it so much that
He had to send his beloved Son to eradicate it because no other being could
come even close to paying the penalty that all sinners deserve. Since our God is gracious and merciful but is
also holy and just, He does not punish us in the manner that we should be
because “But he, being full of
compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not: yea, many a time
turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all his wrath. For he remembered that they
were but flesh; a wind that passeth away, and cometh not again.” (Psalm 78:39, 40). He was very tolerant and patient with His
people in the desert and He is just as tolerant and patient with us. The only difference is that Jesus Christ bore
the punishment of our sins whereas those who were disobedient to God in the
desert were not allowed into the Promised Land.
During our stay on earth, we as true
believers sanctified by the Spirit of God, come to realize that sin is
everywhere. Those to whom we witness say that we are fanatics but don’t understand
what Jesus Christ did for mankind on the cross.
They are disillusioned by the fact that somehow they can earn their
salvation by doing goods works and living a good life. If they can earn their salvation, why did Jesus have to die on the cross? It is our duty as born-again Christians to
shatter this disillusionment and “….speak
the truth in love” Eph