But I thought God was a God of love?

Over the past century, there has been a major movement to emphasis the love of God for the world. There is no greater truth in all of Christianity, yet it was never meant to be emphasized alone. Truth out of balance leads to error. Even though God's love for the world is great, this truth has been trumpeted to the point that many people fail to realize they are in danger of misunderstanding one of the basic dimensions of God's character. Justice and love are both unchangeable aspects of the nature of God.

For example suppose you commit three sins a day, every day of your life. In one year you would commit at least 1,096 sins. By the time you turned 75, over 82,181. Allow that number sink in: 82,000 charges against you! At the end of your life when you stand before a holy and just God can you expect Him to dismiss the case against you? Imagine a criminal with 82,000 crimes on his record. Would our government allow such a man to go free even if his crimes were common traffic violations? The answer to both of these questions is no.

No, there must be a consequence for sin. Justice demands it!

Why then, does all sin have the same consequence?

It is essential in our exploration of the character of God that we never underestimate the nature of His holiness. Because of the extreme purity of the holiness of God, sin can never remain in his presence. Alas, even our own righteousness is as fifthly rags in his sight (Isaiah 64:6)! Even our best works are corrupted with the stench of our own sin. God's penalty for sin is death (Romans 6:23), it has been in existence since the dawn of time (Genesis 2:17).

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