24.E. The Punishment of Sin

Although God’s punishment of sin does serve as a deterrent against further sinning and as a warning to those who observe it, this is not the primary reason why God punishes sin. The primary reason is that God’s righteousness demands it so that he might be glorified in the universe that he has created. He is the Lord who practices “steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth; for in these things I delight, says the Lord” (Jer. 9:24).
Paul speaks of Christ Jesus “whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, through faith” (Rom. 3:25, author’s translation). Paul then explains why God put forward Jesus as a “propitiation” (that is, a sacrifice that bears the wrath of God against sin and thereby turns God’s wrath into favor): “This was to show God’s righteousness because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins” (Rom. 3:25). Paul realizes that if Christ had not come to pay the penalty for sins, God could not be shown to be righteous. Because he had passed over sins and not punished them in the past, people could rightly accuse God of unrighteousness, the assumption being that a God who does not punish sins is not a righteous God. Therefore, when God sent Christ to die and pay the penalty for our sins, he showed how he could still be righteous—he had stored up the punishment due to previous sins (those of Old Testament saints) and then, in perfect righteousness, he gave that penalty to Jesus on the cross. The propitiation of Calvary thereby clearly demonstrated that God is perfectly righteous: “it was to prove at the present time that he himself is righteous and that he justifies him who has faith in Jesus” (Rom. 3:26).

Therefore in the cross we have a clear demonstration of the reason God punishes sin: if he did not punish sin he would not be a righteous God, and there would be no ultimate justice in the universe. But when sin is punished, God is showing himself to be a righteous judge over all, and justice is being done in his universe.


 Grudem, W. A. (2004). Systematic theology: an introduction to biblical doctrine (pp. 509–510). Leicester, England; Grand Rapids, MI: Inter-Varsity Press; Zondervan Pub. House.

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