Consequences

Introduction
The best thing is not to sin. But when we do, there are three types of consequences. It is important to understand the difference between these or we can get a warped idea about God. I'm going to use three terms in very specific ways. They are sometimes considered the same thing, especially "judgment" and "discipline". But I think there are some important distinctions to be made. So bear with me and momentarily adopt these definitions for the sake of clear communication. The three terms/consequences are:

• Judgment
• Discipline
• Natural consequences

Judgment
Judgment comes as a result of sin, which is a rebellion against the Creator. There is the ultimate judgment which comes at the Great White Throne judgment mentioned in Revelation¹. Those whose names are not written in the book of life are cast into the lake of fire. Those whose name are written in the book don't receive this judgment. The judgment is still there because God is righteous and just. However, it fell on Jesus instead of those who believe. The penalty was paid on the cross. Judgment is the payment required for sin. The final judgment is hell, which is just repayment for rebels against the King of Creation.

Sometimes there is a more immediate judgment, whether one is a believer or not. But sometimes God does not repay people for their sin this side of the final judgment. More than one evil king in ancient Israel lived a long life and died in the normal course of events. Sometimes God repays immediately: King Herod was struck down and died in a few days after accepting the adulation of godhood from others.² Other times God waits for a period of time before judgment falls. There was a 120 year warning before the great flood. I'm not sure it is possible to understand why God sometimes waits and other times does not, but I know that it is always according to His perfect timing. When He does execute immediate judgment, it is in proportion to the severity of the sin. An outright act of rebellion or murder might result in death. Other sins might result in illness.

Discipline
Unlike judgment, discipline isn't punitive - it is corrective. The idea is ensure that the sin is not repeated. Depending upon how stubborn we are, the discipline may be quite harsh. Sometimes it has to be because a lesser discipline won't effect change. It is best not to sin in the first place, but when combined with a stubborn heart, the result is very unpleasant. Importantly, though, God only disciplines His children³. He gives warnings to everyone. But discipline doesn't come to unbelievers. When God disciplines us, we ought to feel secure in His love, because He is forming the image of Christ in us. That doesn't mean that the discipline is pleasant, however.⁴ I think God is as gentle with us as He can be, but a discipline that doesn't hurt enough to prevent us from committing that sin again isn't effective.

Natural consequences
Beyond any judgment or discipline, there are simply natural consequences to sin. If one cheats on their spouse, the spouse may divorce them. That isn't the discipline of God - it is the understandable reaction of a wronged person. If someone is addicted to gambling and empties their bank account, being broke isn't a judgment or discipline - it is simply what happens when you spend all of your money. Proverbs says "A person's own foolishness undermines his way, but his heart rages against the Lord".⁵ We shouldn't do this. When we suffer the natural consequences of our actions, that isn't God.

It may very well be that God allows the natural consequences of our actions to serve as the discipline if He knows that is sufficient. Under some circumstances, He may even rescue us from some natural consequences. He is very merciful. But even if He doesn't, that doesn't mean those consequences are His fault. It is also possible that judgment and discipline may be one in the same as well, with believers. But when we sin, we can reasonably expect all three things to happen to us.

Lessons for Parents
For those of us with children, we exercise these three things as well, if we follow the example God our Father has set for us. If a child harms another, there may well be a punitive judgment to serve as justice for the injured party. In all cases, we discipline them so that they do not repeat the bad behavior. This isn't punitive - it is to correct them. Finally, we might let them suffer the natural consequences of their behavior, as much as it may hurt us to see them go through that.

We do no favors for a child that is not disciplined. Our society has a warped view of this. Many think of discipline as retributive, reactive punishment. Our view should be informed by how God disciplines us: it is forward looking. We are aiming to redirect the child toward a better course of action for the rest of their life. It isn't something that we do out of anger, but out of intentional love. Not only does it prepare the child for adulthood, but children feel more secure when they have boundaries. In fact, they test boundaries to make sure they are still in place. A child without any enforced boundaries does not feel loved.

Likewise, we do a disservice to our children if we rescue them from consequences of their bad behavior. We teach them that there are no consequences for bad behavior, which ill prepares them for life as an adult outside the home. Of course, we want to prevent consequences that are all out of proportion. If they play with knives and seriously cut themselves, we immediately take them to the hospital for treatment rather than let them bleed out. Discipline should also be crafted to match the severity of the bad behavior and the psychological makeup of the child. A specific disciplinary action may work with one child and not with another. In this, God has the advantage because He knows all things including exactly how harsh the discipline must be to effect change. We human parents have to make our best guess and proceed with trial and error. But is must always be from a position of intentional love and not an angry reaction.

Examples from scripture
We find many examples from the Bible that we can draw from. For instance, there is King Jehoiachin of Judah. He was an evil person.⁶ For his sins and the sins of his predecessors, Nebuchadnezzer invaded the land and took Jehoiachin, and his retinue, captive back to Babylon. Nebuchadnezzer put another king on the throne instead. This was God's judgment on Jehoiachin and Judah. There was no discipline for Jehoiachin. However, God was merciful when Jehoiachin repented of his evil while in his Babylonian prison cell. He did not get his kingdom back, but he was released from prison and even given a stipend by the king of Babylon. The results of the judgment remained, but the severity was reduced. God never reverses His judgments. Why would He? His judgments are just and true. But He is merciful even in judgment. As James puts it, “Mercy triumphs over judgment.”⁷

The three consequences of sin are perhaps best illustrated in the life of King David. Here's the story: General Joab and Israel's army went out to battle while David stayed in Jerusalem. One night he spied a woman named Bathsheba and wanted her. The problem for David is that she was a married woman. Nevertheless, he summons her to the palace and that night's dalliance resulted in Bathsheba becoming pregnant. She informs David who decides to "fix" things by summoning Bathsheba's husband, Uriah, back to Jerusalem. David tries to convince Uriah to go home and sleep with his wife. That failed due to Uriah's upstanding character (he didn't feel right to enjoy home life while the rest of the army was out in the field). So David forms another plan and sends Uriah back to the front with a letter for General Joab. The letter commands that Uriah be put into a situation during battle that will result in his death. After he dies, David takes Bathsheba as a wife. Not only does he hide the adultery, but he appears to be a generous person by taking in the sad widow.

But God sends the prophet Nathan to confront the King. His adultery and murder are revealed for all to see. David is cut to the heart and repents. God tells David that He has taken away his sin,⁸ but the illegitimate child will die. David is forgiven but the child still dies. This only makes sense if you recognize that the forgiveness has to do with judgment. By the Mosaic law, David deserves to die for both sins, but he doesn't. Judgment is discarded. But there was still discipline: the death of the child. The discipline works and David never does anything like this again. One might wonder why God forgave such as heinous crime. We don't know for sure, but we are told that David had a heart after God. And this was a one-off sin, not a pattern of behavior. Even those with a heart after God can still commit great sins. But there is a difference between a stumble and an ongoing life of sin. That doesn't diminish the severity of the sin, but it does say something about the person. Because of who David is, judgment is dismissed. But the discipline makes sure that it never happens again. You see, when someone gets away with a sin without being disciplined for it, it is easy to commit that sin again. It is a vicious cycle: the sin hardens the heart which makes the sin easier to commit the next time. Discipline breaks this pattern. The longer we live in this cycle, the more harsh the discipline has to be to correct us.

But that only deals with judgment and discipline. What about natural consequences? That shows up a few years later. A king is only secure so long as the powerful people around him support his rule. When David had Uriah killed, he created a problem for himself. Uriah wasn't some random foot soldier in the army. He was one of the "Mighty Men", an elite group of 37 men that had been with David from the beginning. They put him in power and kept him secure. What David did was a huge betrayal of a man that trusted and served him for years. One can easily imagine that the rest of the Mighty Men, among others, might begin to doubt David's loyalty to them. The army and the people of Jerusalem were undoubtedly shaken by this kind of betrayal as well. This fracture opened wide when David's son, Absalom, usurped the throne. Some of David's advisors, as well as much of the army, went over to Absalom. The rebellion was the natural consequence of what David did. It wasn't a judgment or discipline. It is simply what happens when a king does something so heinous.

When Bad Things Aren't Due to Sin
All bad things are the consequence of the original sin of Adam and Eve. But not all suffering is due to a sin of the person who is suffering. Bad things happen in a fallen world that are not judgment or discipline. Remember that unbelievers are not disciplined and final judgment has not yet happened, yet bad things happen to them too. Consider that Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers, accused of wrongdoing when he was innocent, and spent years in prison - and none of that was discipline for his sin. God used the events to bring Joseph to power in Egypt for the purpose of saving his family (not to mention Egypt). But those events were merely the consequence of sinful men - not something Joseph did. So don't assume that God is punishing you because bad things happen to you. He may use bad situations to discipline you so that you become more like Jesus. But that doesn't mean they are a punishment for something you did. I've known people that spent fruitless hours trying to figure out what "secret sin" they committed that led to them being punished with whatever bad thing happened to them. In my experience, it is pretty obvious when God disciplines us for a specific sin. In the other cases, it is the just the bad stuff that happens to everyone to one degree or another. For a believer, though, God is watching and working - using every situation to guide us into a closer relationship with Him, death notwithstanding. He works out His perfect plan through all circumstances. Who knows (besides God) whether He allows or sends trials our way to discipline us ahead of time so that we don't commit sins in the first place? In all cases, the proper response is to trust him, humble ourselves, and allow Him to make us more and more into the image of Christ.

But there is one more case of suffering that isn't the general suffering caused by living in a sinful world, or due to any given sinful action in our own lives. Paul said he was given a "thorn in the flesh"⁹ He states that it was a torment. There has been much speculation on what this "thorn" was, but the truth is that we don't know. That isn't important. What is important is the reason Paul was given this specific issue of suffering: it was to keep him humble. Paul had received direct revelation from God and the natural human reaction to having such revelation is selfish pride. To keep Paul effective, God allowed this torment into his life to prevent conceit. It is quite possible, even likely, that believers with important ministries today may be given a thorn of their own to keep them humble. In fact, thorns may be used even for people without a prominent ministry. What would a thorn look like? I have no idea. It might be a medical issue. It might be a believing spouse that turns away from the faith. It might be a mental/emotional issue. It might be persecution. It could be anything that God knows will keep the believer on track. Paul prayed three times to have it removed, but God told him to rely on God rather than himself. If there is some situation out of your control that you are suffering from, you should pray about it. But if God doesn't remove it, accept it as your apportionment of suffering for the Kingdom and rely entirely on God. Don't assume that it is discipline for a sin. Suffering is to be expected while we live in a sin-filled world and are dealing with the old man. What is important is how we react: it should be in humility and praise.

Conclusions
It is important for unbelievers to hear that a final judgment is coming and that there is one (and only one) way to escape it. Believers need to understand that Jesus took judgment upon Himself on the cross and be thankful that we have been forgiven, just as David was. But that doesn't mean that we are not disciplined by God when we do wrong. When discipline comes, our attitude ought to be rejoicing that God is making us more like Jesus, and we ought to be humble and repentant. If we are not, God may have to escalate discipline until it is effective. But if we stubbornly refuse to repent, He may simply take us out of the world early. We serve the same God that made Ananias and Sapphira drop dead in Acts chapter 5. When the natural consequences of our sin come home to roost, we should humbly pay our dues and not blame God for the consequences. Finally, suffering that doesn't seem to fit the above could be our "thorn in the flesh" or the consequence of living in a sinful world that we all suffer through.

1 Revelation 20:11-15
2 Acts 12:23
3 Hebrews 12:8
4 Hebrews 12:11.
5 Proverbs 19:3
6 2 Chronicles 36:8-9
7 James 2:13
8 2 Samuel 12:13
9 2 Corinthians 12:7