One of the biggest current misunderstandings about God we run across is that since God is love and a gracious God, he saves sinners by overlooking their sin. When we conclude this, we not only distort who God is and what he is like, but we distort how he saves.
This is why our next catechism question-and-answer is so vital. It corrects that view: “Will God allow our disobedience and idolatry to go unpunished? Answer: No, every sin is against the sovereignty, holiness, and goodness of God, and against his righteous law, and God is righteously angry with our sins and will punish them in his just judgment both in this life, and in the life to come.”
There are four reasons given for why God will not allow our sin to go unpunished. To begin, because our disobedience and idolatry are committed against the reality that God is the King of kings who reigns over the universe (his sovereignty) and, as such, he is worthy of our obedience and undivided worship (Pss. 47:2, 8; 100). When we ignore and/or place other things above him, we act against that truth and as if it is not so.
The next reason God does not simply ignore our sin is that it is committed against or in opposition to his holiness. God’s holiness means that God is altogether set apart unto himself, to his own glory (Is. 42:8; 43:7). When we ignore his glory and act as if he is not worthy of our being set apart to serve him first and foremost (Dt. 5:7-10; 10:12-13), we belittle him and we raise to the level of an idol whatever we treat as more important than him.
The remaining two reasons go hand-in-hand. Our disobedience and idolatry typically come out of a sense that God is not truly good (e.g. Gen. 3:1-8) and that his will is not for our good (Dt. 10:13). Again it belittles God and if God overlooked this, he would become idolatrous just as we are.
Given what we have said about the seriousness of our sin and idolatry, it follows that God rightly hates our sin (Ps. 11:5), which what is communicated by his being “righteously angry” (Rom. 1:18; 1 Thes. 1:10). Additionally, he is just to judge us (Rev. 20:11-15).
When we grasp the biblical truths that we find in this question-and-answer, we come to see that God cannot save us by merely overlooking sin and remain consistent with his attributes. In order for him to be both just and holy, but at the same time gracious and merciful, he must save by pouring out his wrath and judgment upon a substitute so that he can forgive those who come to him in faith and repentance. That is exactly how he expresses his love to and saves sinners (Rom. 3:21-26)!
Delighting In The Glory Of God Through Salvation With You,
Tom
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