Here our ideas are thrown upon the twofold province of suffering. It is punitive, and it is reformatory. When we inflict it on an offender it partakes of both qualities; and sometimes it is hard to say which predominates. But more and more are we rising to the idea that punishment is mainly or wholly reformatory. Strong testimony is borne to that fact by determinate sentence. It is recognized that in all justice a man need not suffer a full equivalent for his crime. No matter what his crime has been, when there is good evidence that he has reformed, he is set free. It is felt that suffering has then achieved its highest end. In nothing that I know of is there such evidence of the upward trend of the race.
Now in God's infliction of suffering these two principles come clearly into view. What Christ suffered is mainly punitive; what we suffer Is reformatory. The matter may be clearer if we glance at these two things separately.
I have said that Christ's suffering was mainly punitive. Look at some statements of Scripture concerning it, and you will see that it was chiefly of that quality. It is said that "the Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all." That is, He took our place so intimately that He actually bore the punishment due to us. In another place it is said that "He was made a curse for us." The curse that was originally intended for us alighted upon Him. It is said that "He is the propitiation for our sins." It is said that "Christ died for us." It is said that we are "justified by His blood." It is said that "by the obedience of One"—that is obedience unto death, "shall many be made righteous." These are only a few of many passages of similar import.
I do not overlook the fact that Christ's life and death had a moral effect as well. Certainly His life and death are the greatest example in the world; and that example has done far more to uplift the character of the world than any force brought to bear upon mankind. At the same time, the supreme meaning of His suffering is that it was punitive. He actually bore the curse for us. And we have the glorious fact repeated again and again that He did it for every soul of man. He really "satisfied divine justice."
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Then what further claim can God rightfully make in the way of punishment? The penalty has been paid. Does God require it paid over again? He is a just God. He claims but one payment of the penalty. To my mind, that fact does away with all possibility of eternal punishment. For all other suffering that God inflicts is entirely reformatory. Whether that suffering be inflicted in this life or the life to come, the principle is the same; it is all reformatory. It may come, and often does come, as the result of sin. In the providence of God sin and suffering are closely linked together.
Wherever there is sin there is bound to be suffering, whether in this life or in the next. That has been paid in full. Christ paid the penalty for the whole race.
Whether God might have ordained some other alternative than suffering as a means of our purification, is not the point. The fact that He has ordained suffering is proof enough that it is a good appointment. I have hinted elsewhere that suffering may be a means of safeguarding us against sin to all eternity.. But this idea is advanced only as a possible solution of the mystery of pain. We go upon surer ground when we recognize suffering as one means that God has appointed for our purification. It does not come to us, or to any soul of man, as a penalty. The penalty has been paid.
But it may be said that God is angry with sin. How can He be angry with sin if the sin is actually forgiven? I answer that it is His very nature to be angry with sin, though it is forgiven. It is in opposition to His nature and His law. It is also in opposition to that development of character which He has designed for all His children. Anything which conflicts with that, excites His indignation. Hence the pains and penalties which follow in the track of sin, though the sin itself may be forgiven. When we consider that a person may be very angry with himself because of sin, though he knows that the sin is forgiven, we can understand something of the same feeling on the part of God.
God does visit the iniquity of the fathers upon the children. But is the suffering thus inflicted to be regarded as the penalty due to sin? No.