Consequences of Sinning
Sinning against other men will certainly be punished with woes in this world and sufferings in the world after this one, the World of the Dead, (whether Hades, or Paradise…)
But the sinner doesn’t necessarily have to end up in Hell!
All those who belong to the Lord Jesus will be exempted from going to Hell because Jesus paid himself for their sins, having offered to shed his own blood in order to save them from going to such a terrible place.
Indeed, whoever believes in Jesus Christ and submits to him whether here in this life or the one that follows it, will
suffer for his sins on Judgement Day, but will not be finally thrown into the Lake of Fire »
As the Bible tells us:
« The Good News of Salvation was preached to those who are now dead, so that even though they have to suffer for what they did in their flesh on earth, they may live for what they are doing in their spirit, in Hades» (1 Peter 4: 6)
Sinning against our fellow man differs from sinning against God himself!
We sin against our fellow man when we break the following underlying principle that Jesus gave us:
“Do unto others what you want them to do to you”
(Matthew 7: 12)
Do good, help those in need…
And don’t do what is evil to anyone.
The most common but also most destructive sin that is today committed against our neighbour is our sexual immorality.
To have sex with your fellow man’s wife, or with his future wife-to-be, or with anyone else except your spouse, is very destructive.
Think of how much it would hurt you if the one whom you truly love and care for…has intimate relationships with others… It will break your heart, your marriage and your life…
Such a sin destroys the inner being of those who take part in it (them losing their innocence and much of their self-worth) and ultimately it also destroys the lives of whole families.
No wonder therefore that God forbids us to touch sexually anyone except our own spouse.
Even though this sin is so desirable and satisfying, we must learn to hate it wholeheartedly and never allow ourselves to fall into it because of the great damage that it inflicts in so many people’s hearts and lives.
Do not do unto others the evil that you don’t want it to be done to you.
Do not murder, do not steal, do not deceive, do not take advantage of anyone… in brief, do not hurt anyone emotionally, physically or in any other conceivable way.
Such sins deserve the harsh punishment which no one will be able to avoid on Judgement Day, whether we are a child of God or not, for God shows no favouritism:
Jesus told us:
On Judgement Day, the believers will be judged first, and then the unbelievers. (1Peter 4: 17)
It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of God in order to be judged: (Hebrews 10: 31)
On Judgement Day, some believers will be beaten much for their sins and others little… (Luke 12 : 45)
Others will be jailed and remain in jail for a long long time..(Matthew 5: 25-26)
Let us, children of God, truly fear God and be terrified of sinning willingly, since each of our petty or serious sins will certainly be punished.
Christians will not escape such punishment, but since they belong to Jesus (who took upon himself their sin) they will not end up in hell.
Sinning however against God himself will certainly lead to the « second death », Hell!
« Whoever sins against me, says the Lord, will have his name removed from the Book of Life! »
(Exodus 32: 33)
« If someone’s name is not found written in the Book of Life he will be thrown into the Lake of Fire…
This is the « Second Death »
(Revelation 20: 14-15)
It goes without saying that we must strive not to sin at all against our fellow man, but most importantly we must definitely not sin against God himself, for it leads us straight to Hell!
Sinning against God himself !
When we hurt God’s feelings with our words, with our actions or with our attitude, when we are actually insulting him to his face then there is nothing but hell awaiting us!
Who sins against God?
- Anyone who worships, prays or gives thanks to anyone else than God himself:
“I am Yahweh your God. Do not treat anyone else as a God: do not worship anyone else than me, do not bow down to anyone else than me, nor give thanks for what I give you to anyone else, because I am a jealous God!”
(Exodus 20: 1- 5)
I am Yahweh your God and I don’t share my glory and praises with anyone. (Isaiah 42: 8)
So, anyone who prays to and worships Mary or the “saints” or anyone else apart from God himself insults and infuriates God with his idolatry…
God says this clearly in the Bible, and yet, men disobey him in order to hold on to the traditions of their deceitful churches… woe to them!
Catholics and Orthodox believers: Repent and change your ways!
2) You sin against God himself when you blaspheme against the Holy Spirit.
When for instance you teach others that what is obviously true… is a lie, or when you do the opposite: you present as Truth what is obviously a lie…, when you mislead others into believing that what is evil in God’s eyes… is actually good. And what is God says is good…you call it evil!
Exactly like Satan did with Adam and Eve, or like the Pharisees did with Jesus, or like the today’s churches do with the Truth!
3) And above all, we sin against God himself when we reject his only Son, Jesus Christ!
We reject the Only Son of God, (Jesus who gave his most precious life in order to save ours), when we refuse to love him wholeheartedly, when we refuse to let him rule our hearts and lives, when we refuse to submit to him.
And this includes when we refuse to do as he commands us:
To help his followers who are in need…
We have been warned!