Have you ever lied to continue covering up a previous lie? Most of us have. When children try this, it quickly becomes apparent—it’s simply too difficult to manage the runaway implications of deceit. Our natural proclivities are to protect ourselves from consequences rather than live in the truth.

As terrible as our sins can be, our worst natures also reveal to us the overwhelming grace of God. It does not matter how many sins upon sins we’ve committed in our past—when we declare Jesus our Lord, we are immediately made righteous. No further defense or justification is necessary. Unfortunately, we cannot say the same for our earthly consequences.

Take King David as an example. David is a heroic figure in Judeo-Christian history; however, he was a man plagued by sin like the rest of us. David exhibits a few major moral failings—most famously, his adultery with a woman named Bathsheba, which is recorded in 2 Samuel 11. The story goes: David is home while his army is away at war. He sees a beautiful woman bathing and has his servants bring her to him while her soldier husband is away. David tries to cover up his impregnation of Bathsheba by inviting the husband, Uriah, back home and coaxing Uriah to sleep with Bathsheba. Uriah doesn’t take the bait, so David hatches a plan for him to die in battle. The whole story is deeply maleficent.

David’s general, Joab, plays an instrumental role in the cover-up by sending Uriah and a group of men to a heavily defended area to ensure he is killed. In verse 17, “and some of the servants of David among the people fell. Uriah the Hittite also died.” It was a poor military strategy initiated purely because of the king’s sinful desires.

All of this history is important to understand best what happens next. In the next chapter, the prophet Nathan receives word from God that David will suffer extreme consequences for this gruesome scheme. As David professes his guilt of sin, Nathan stunningly replies, “The LORD also has put away your sin; you shall not die.” (2 Samuel 12, 13, ESV) 

To be clear, the son conceived by the adultery passes away, and David’s lineage is condemned to murder and infighting; there are earthly consequences for his earthly follies. However, David’s sins are immediately forgiven on an eternal scale. How can that be? 

Before attesting to God’s grace, let’s be honest with each other—our sins all have rippling effects. The financial cheats irretrievably lose many lifetimes' worth of savings and hard work. The harsh words from our rage echo throughout the lifetime of our children. Even hacking someone’s Facebook account leaves the victims anxious and angry. No sin is momentary; they all carry consequences. Yes, David’s plan is particularly vicious, but are we in any place to condemn him? Holiness is such an exacting standard that “'For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.” (James 2:10, NIV) We have all broken at least one of God’s commands, so we all are as guilty as if we broke every one of them. This all-or-nothing consequence of sin is heavy, but it is the only possible holy response. 

To prove this holy binary, let’s consider the alternative. What if God were like us, where different sins begat various heavenly penalties with differing severity? What would be appropriate for David’s worst decisions? What would be appropriate for ours? My suggestion is that any gradient of responses to sin makes some more tolerable than others. A soft response to a “minor” sin would introduce a point where there is little difference between a perfect creation and a “slightly sinful” one. This hypothetical existence of a Holy sliding scale actually degrades the value of being Holy in the first place. By tolerating any sin in the slightest, it ultimately undermines and unravels the entire concept of perfection.

By understanding this value of holiness, we can now see that all sin is worthy of the death penalty. Each and every sin, no matter the “size” or “severity” of it, irrevocably stains all of creation. This ultimate judgment does not reduce the severity of the “worst sins”, but increases that of all sin. With this measuring stick in mind, let us think of how Jesus bore all penalties for our unrighteousness. Even upon the cross, Jesus asks God to forgive the ones who nailed Him upon it. Can we even imagine such love?

How could God offer David instantaneous grace? Not only was Uriah intentionally killed by David’s plot, but so were the innocent “servants of David” who died alongside him during the staged death trap. How can God so quickly forgive David for something so cruel? Because Jesus paid the debt for all people, for all time. Even though Jesus’ crucifixion occurs later in the world’s chronological history, His atonement was, is, and will always be available for all of time. Jesus’ historical event supersedes that very history and covers all saints in all eons of time with all-enduring forgiveness. David is an equal recipient of that grace. So are you and me.

This particular sin of David stole Uriah’s life, as well as the innocent bystanders who died with him. Our sins also carry a heavier weight than we will ever know. Thankfully, Jesus pays the eternal debt, with all of sin’s compounding interest, so that we may be reconciled with a God that merely wants to enjoy eternity with us. Oh, what a friend we have in Jesus.

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