# Paying off a sin?



## ManOhMan2013

Does anyone think that hard times might be a way of paying off past sins?


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## Tasorundo

From a Christian perspective I would say no. You may suffer earthly consequences for your sins, but if you could 'pay them off' then why does the cross exist?


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## CarefulinNY

No


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## In The Dark

No. We are forgiven of our sins as soon as we accept Jesus as our savior, however, it doesn't mean that there aren't consequences from our previous sins or that we will have a trouble free life.


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## unbelievable

No, I think hard times are most often the result of people making poor choices. Occasionally, "hard times" are just due to luck. The rain falls equally on the good and bad and the sun shines on both.


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## RoninJedi

Absolutely not. Now sometimes we do have to face consequences for our sin (think David losing his child with Bathsheeba), but the main point of hard times is strictly an exercise for your faith.

It's easy to have faith when everything is going great. Real faith endures the hard times. Ask any athlete and they'll tell you that unless you put a muscle under strain, it'll never get any stronger. Your faith is the same way, and that's the point.

"Count it all joy, my brothers, *when* you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness." - James 1:2-3 ESV (emphasis added)

James said when, not if, and that's a very important distinction.

One of my favorite verses pertaining to this topic is Proverbs 24:10.

"If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small."

That's basically Old Testament speak for, "If you lay down and die when trouble comes, you're a wuss."

"Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tried you in the furnace of affliction." - Isaiah 48:10

This is God speaking through Isaiah. Affliction is a refining process for us.

And, to avoid hijacking the thread, I'll end with this one.

"So if a person lives many years, let him rejoice in them all; *but let him remember that the days of darkness WILL be many*. All that comes is vanity." - Ecclesiastes 11:8 (emphasis added)


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## Fozzy

unbelievable said:


> No, I think hard times are most often the result of people making poor choices. Occasionally, "hard times" are just due to luck. The rain falls equally on the good and bad and the sun shines on both.


Check out the book of Job.


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## Married but Happy

No. I don't believe in superstition. However, there can be cause and effect consequences from past actions, and sometimes the links to them are very tenuous but still exist.


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## pakmenu

My daughter started to have skin problems, and i was having an affair, so I prayed about it, and asked myself: is my God, the God from the bible able to punish a child of a parent for the parents sin? The answer i got was a resounding 'YES HE WOULD'... After all physical problems don't take you further from God, but closer, and even if children die young it can be quite an advantage to go to heaven early. The bible says convenants and blessings are passed on to a hundred or thousand generations but punishments only to the third or fourth (ie as long as the person who committed the sin lives.)


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## unbelievable

I think "hard times" says more about your outlook on life than about your past. If you believe you are suffering, you are. If you believe you are blessed, you are.


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## hartvalve

pakmenu said:


> My daughter started to have skin problems, and i was having an affair, so I prayed about it, and asked myself: is my God, the God from the bible able to punish a child of a parent for the parents sin? The answer i got was a resounding 'YES HE WOULD'... After all physical problems don't take you further from God, but closer, and even if children die young it can be quite an advantage to go to heaven early. The bible says convenants and blessings are passed on to a hundred or thousand generations but punishments only to the third or fourth (ie as long as the person who committed the sin lives.)


Your response is very interesting. To believe what you believe then one would have to disbelieve the following.. 

Galatians 3:13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is every one who hangeth on a tree”),

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.. Romans 8:1. The verse ends there. Any additional read to that verse was an add on after the original was sealed.

Your daughter's skin problems were just that. Skin problems. Our bodies are in fallen condition. Why would God curse your daughter if the believer is not held under one?


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## hartvalve

To the OP. Jesus paid off our sins already.


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