Christians: Why does sin demand punishment? Is sin more powerful than God?

Question

Beta_Fishy: Sure it does. God doesn't have to punish disobedience if he doesn't want to.

Answer 1

Well, since sin is defined as disobedience to God's will...does your question even make sense?

EDIT: Exactly, and since God has decreed that sin will be met with punishment, this makes punishment the will of God. I don't see how that makes "sin more powerful than God".

Answer 2

I personally do not believe that sin necessarily has to demand punishment. There is no right answer to your question. All anyone can do is offer the opinion and anyone that tries to tell you different is lying, arrogant, misguided or all of the above.

This is my personal opinion and in no way am I saying that it is fact.

Some sins demand punishment and some sins demand contrition – be it perfect or imperfect contrition. Contrition is not necessarily punishment unless you view it that way. Contrition can be sorrow, regret or an act to show one’s realization of the fact that they have, indeed, sinned against themselves, their peer, God, etc. Imperfect contrition can be asking for forgiveness for some wrong that you have committed even though in your heart of hearts, you do not truly feel sorrow or regret for what you have done but instead, you are merely asking forgiveness because you know what you have done is considered a sin.

Sins are not more powerful than God. Christians see sins as an act against God. The reasons that a sin is looked upon as an act against God is because sin ultimately hurts us and God loves us and therefore does not want to see us hurt.

We all sin in some way or other. It is impossible for us not to. We are human and it is in our nature to give into temptation often.

Even if one does not have a spiritual or religious bone in one’s body, one still knows when they are doing something that is wrong or hurtful to themselves or to someone else. Even if you don’t believe in God, you know it is wrong to physically/mentally abuse another person and so on.

Answer 3

Sin is transgression of the law. What is the law? The law of the Lord (10 Commandments). Have u ever told a lie? What does the make you? a liar. You may have just told one but how many lies does it take to be a liar? 10 and a bell rings?

God must by nature punish transgressers of the law because he is rightouess and justiful.

Sin is not more powerful then God. Sin is not even more powerful then some of us. Everybody a has the compacity and desire to sin. It's how you handle it. Ever1 sins grant it but if you know your breaking God's law then they feel guilty of doing such a thing. we Chrsitian are not perfect, jsut forgiven.

Answer 4

This is the best question ever on R&S. This is the question Satan asks God any chance he can get. Satan knows God is very compasionate and is testing him as to how he can send people to hell. Sin like you say demands punishment. If God does not punish people for commiting sin, he is not obeying his own beleifs and is not holy. He would be a hypocrite. Satan is forcing God to chose between his own righteousness and compassion. God's solution was to send his Son to take the punishment for our sins. This way he could show compassion and still be righteous.

Answer 5

A plainer way to put it would be that sin always brings consequences. It is like if you jump off a cliff, you fall. Not because gravity demands punishment, but because the consequence of trying to defy gravity is a fall.

So for every sin there is a consequence. Usually that consequence included death. Follow almost any sin, and all the things that ripple out from it, and eventually somebody ends up dead. Example, you look at a "harmless" porn picture. But the girl who posed for it got paid in cocaine which eventually takes her life.

Is sin more powerful than God? No. But when God made the decision that he wanted people "in his image" - that is, able to make moral decisions - that meant that he had to allow for "bad choices". Just like when he decided that he wanted to use gravity to hold people on to the earth, he had to allow for "falls".

Answer 6

No, God demands retribution for sin, because He is a just God. A God that was "good" but not just would not be a God worth serving. Everyone on this Earth is clamoring for justice for various crimes committed against them; but they get their panties in a bunch when God punishes their sins. Actually, God allows the natural consequences to fall upon those who sin. However, the good news is, when God took human form and came to this Earth 2,000 years ago, He took the punishment for our sins Himself, so that all of humanity wouldn't be doomed to Hell. It wasn't to save us from the first death, which everyone must experience, but from the second death, which is permanent. He loved us that much - after all, He created us. We are His children. But even a parent punishes their children for doing evil.
However, Hell does not burn for eternity; people are not tortured forever in it. The Bible tells us that it will exist at the end of the Millennium, at which time the Wicked of all ages will be completely consumed by it - burnt up, never to exist again. To believe that sinners are tortured forever in Hell would be to believe that sin is stronger than God! No, God will destroy sin and sinners forever. The Wicked do not receive eternal life of any kind, in Hell or otherwise. Only the Saved receive eternal life, and only upon Christ's return.

Answer 7

1) Because God said so.
2) God is without sin, and deserves no punishment. Further, it is God who punishes the guilty.

Answer 8

I think if God allows something to happen, then it happens for a reason. That means sin happens for a reason because God allows it to happen. If it wasn't supposed to happen then God wouldn't allow it to. Sin shouldn't have a punishment.

Answer 9

Sorry "top contributor" but that doesn't help the situation... now you're saying God lets sin happen because he wants to inflict punishment. Or maybe you're saying he's evil, and thus uses evil to accomplish what he needs done.

Answer 10

"Know ye not that ye are servants of whom you serve"
A sinner serves sin, so if a sinner does not find a way out of his relationship to sin, they will stay where sin will be put. That is to be where God is not.
If a sinner wants to leave sin to be with God, then the sinner must be redeemed. To be redeemed from sin, a price must be paid.
This is why Christ died, because Satan demands a life in payment for a life. For he (Satan) is sin itself.