Confused people will sometimes ask: “If someone has truly been forgiven, why should they still have to face the consequences for their sin?”

When the children of Israel rebelled at Kadesh Barnea, God pardoned their sin. But they were still not allowed to enter the Promised Land. Their rebellion still cost them forty years of wandering in the wilderness.

God is a God of great mercy. God’s mercy is often accompanied by God’s offer of pardon and forgiveness. But God’s mercy, pardon and forgiveness do not wipe out all the consequences of individual sins.

It is important to understand the distinction between “SIN” and “SINS.” God’s forgiveness of our “SIN” is a onetime event that stops the consequences of eternal death. God’s forgiveness of our individual “SINS” is a daily thing that does not stop all earthly consequences.

The level of a person’s repentance will also affect the extent of sin’s consequences.