HELL TO PAY FOR IT
By Erwin Bourne
Dr. James Dobson refers to Dr. Karl Menninger’s book,
Whatever became of sin? He wrote about the
almost-forgotten concept of disobedience to God. Much of the heartache for which God is often blamed results from old-fashioned sin. The Apostle James writes, “…And sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to
death” (James 1:15).
We continue with Dr. Dobson’s thoughts (taken from
When God doesn’t make sense): It is not God who leads to death, but sin. All sin bears the deadly character of death. It’s not that God sits in His heaven and determines those who make mistakes. But He forbade certain behavior because He knew it would ultimately destroy its victims.
This link between sin and death applies not only to
individuals, but to nations as well. During the 18th
century, for example, American plantation owners and
businessmen embraced slavery as a source of convenient labor. Surely they knew that it was an evil
proposition right from the beginning.
Slave traders abducted peaceful African villagers and
hauled them off in chains. They were packed so
tightly on filthy disease-infected ships that 50
percent died en route to this country. Every one of
those deaths constituted a murder, yet there was a
ready market in America for the survivors. They were
bought and sold like animals without regard to family
integrity. Children were taken from parents, and
husbands were separated from wives. Some were beaten, some were raped, and some were worked to death. The entire system was reprehensible, yet it was embraced by a society that professed to be God-fearing.
Alas, this terrible sin reached its full maturity in
1860 when it contributed to a shameful and devastating
Civil War. An entire nation was soon bathed in it’s
own blood. More Americans were killed in that
struggle than in all our other conflicts combined,
including the Revolution, World Wars I and II, Korea
and Vietnam. Indeed, 600,000 husbands, fathers and
sons paid the supreme price for the folly of a
nation’s greed and exploitation.
Let’s look at another national sin. Nearly 30 million
unborn babies have been killed since the Supreme Court issued its despicable Roe v. Wade decision in 1973. That number represents more than 10 percent of the U.S. population. And it is growing by 4,110 per day.
Such bloodshed and butchery, now occurring world wide, is unprecedented in human history.
Don’t tell me that this crime against humanity will go
unpunished. Those voiceless little people cry out to
the Almighty from the incinerators and the garbage
heaps where they have been discarded. Some day, this
“unborn holocaust” will rain death and destruction
upon our nation. Just wait. It is in the nature of
the universe. And we will have hell to pay for it.
Can you endure another example? There has been a
general understanding for thousands of years that
premarital and extramarital sexual behavior is
dangerous. Those who broke the rules put themselves
at risk for syphilis, gonorrhea, unwanted pregnancy
and social rejection. Our culture generally
recognized and supported Christian standards of
morality. These principles were passionately defended
on behalf of the nations teenagers.
A commitment to premarital chastity and marital
fidelity was widely supported in our society from 1620
to 1967. Then, suddenly, adherence to the Biblical
standard disintegrated. Promiscuous behavior became
known as “the new morality” which was neither new nor moral. But it was fun. There was a striking defiance of convention and tradition among the young of that day. They’ve paid a fine price for it.
At a time when Christians should have risen to defend
Biblical morality, many denominations were having
their doubts about its validity. A great internal
debate raged about whether or not the old prohibitions
still made sense. That period of church history was
reported in an article entitled “The New Commandment:
Thou Shalt Not—Maybe” in Times Magazine, 1971:
On Mount Sinai, God was unequivocal: “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” …But in recent years, …the churches have reluctantly come to grips with a “new morality” which questions whether any “sin” is wrong in all circumstances…. Situation ethics holds that there are always circumstances in which absolute principles of behavior break down.”
by Erwin Bourne