Some argue that this is extreme in light of a little sin that one commits but this would be a mistake of understanding sin. The example I often use to show the severity of sin is the slap analogy. If a student in high school slaps another high school student on the face, what is the consequences? If the first offense, the student would receive a suspension or in school suspension. If a student, first offense, decided to walk up to the principal and slap them in the face with the same amount of force as the first scenario, the consequences would be greater. If a person walked up to the president of the United States and slapped the president with the same force, the consequence would be even greater. So why does the same action receive more punishment? The answer is based on who the offense is against. The prestige and status of the person being slapped matters. If God has the greatest status, infinite holiness, and infinite prestige, then it makes sense that the punishment would be far greater. A “small” sin is actually very large in consequence based on who it is against.

Why would a loving God allow someone to enter hell? It is because it is just. Each person has sinned, even if in “small” ways which deserve huge consequences because of who you sinned against. At the same time, God is loving in that he does not give all people what they deserve. Jesus took the punishment that people deserved. A term that can be said with truth, the crucifixion of Jesus is where we see the love of God and the justice of God without either quality diminished. God is loving in that Jesus took the punishment for us, but he is just in that punishment is still given. The question becomes, why does God not forgive everyone and place all the punishment on Jesus? To answer that question, we must turn to free will which will be discussed in a future post