Consequences of forgiven sin - John Piper
I was again overcome by the story of David’s sin against Uriah (murder) and Bathsheba (adultery) and God’s response in 2 Samuel 11–12. David acknowledges that the one who has done such a thing deserves to die (2 Samuel 12:5), but in the end Nathan says, “The Lord also has taken away your sin; you shall not die” ( 12:13 ). This is amazing grace. God passes over the sin and takes away the penalty of death. Although the sin is taken away and the death sentence removed, Nathan says, “Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the Lord, the child that is born to you shall die” ( 12:14 ). In spite of forgiveness, some “penalty” for the sin remains. Disciplinary Consequences I put penalty in quotes because I think we must distinguish consequences of forgiven sin (verse 13) from consequences of unforgiven sin . The latter are properly called penalties. The former we should probably call “disciplinary consequences.” That is, they are related to the ...