LESSON 1 - THE CONSEQUENCES OF DECISIONS
“Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting” (Galatians 6:7-8).
Let’s emphasize the point that our decisions have consequences; the Lord tells us we will reap what we sow (Gal 6:7). Sometimes this reaping is dramatic and immediate; someone immediately reaps what he sows (bears consequences for his decisions), like Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1-11) or Nadab and Abihu (Lev 10:1-2). The rich man chose to sow to the flesh and reaped death (Lu 12:16-21).
Many times the ultimate reward/consequence isn’t realized until much later. Lazarus and the rich man are good examples. The rich man actually had a good life, but in the end, the reward for the life he led was torments. Lazarus actually received evil things in this life but great comfort in eternity (Lu 16:19-31). We know the wicked will eventually bear the consequences of their wickedness, but (for some) in this life things go well (Job 21:7-13). We see from Solomon’s wisdom in the book of Ecclesiastes that some consequences are delayed. “Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil” (Eccl 8:11).
On the other hand, things may seem not to go so well for the godly (in this life), but eventually they will also reap what they sow. [We know, of course, that this is God’s plan for us – see Heb 12:11]. The point is that sometimes the consequences of decisions may be delayed; and for a time, it may even seem there are no consequences at all (2 Tim 3:12).
According to Heb 5:9 what we are seeing in the preceding point, is that our principle (we will reap what we sow) has application to our eternal (everlasting) reward. If we choose to obey Jesus, we can have eternal life. We may reap some immediate benefits (like all spiritual blessings in Christ – Eph 1:3), but there may be some unpleasant consequences (like suffering wrongfully – 1 Pe 2:19). However, if we are faithful to the end, we can have eternal life.
If we choose to not obey, we will reap everlasting destruction (2 Th 1:7-9). For such people, there are some immediate consequences—like forfeiting the peace that passes understanding – Philippians 4:6-7 or having the Lord against us – 1 Pe 3:12. From a worldly standpoint, many things may go well for us; however, in the end it will be everlasting destruction.
The point is, eternally we are going to reap what we sow—eternal life or everlasting destruction. Immediate consequences may not be recognized or may be interpreted to be the opposite of what we might expect, but eventually we can be assured we will reap what we sow eternally.
Not only will there be eternal consequences, but there also can be consequences in this life. Again, the point we really want to emphasize is that even if we are saved because we have generally lived a faithful life, we can still reap some very unpleasant consequences in this life because of poor or wrong decisions. There are plenty of examples of this in the scripture. Even the most faithful may have to bear difficult consequences in this life because of decisions they made.
Remember Moses (Num 20:7-12) is esteemed by God as one of His most faithful. He did not leave God; he just made one foolish mistake. But he had to bear the consequences of that mistake. That mistake kept him out of the Promised Land. As punishment, God didn’t allow him to take the people into the land of Canaan.
What about David in 2 Samuel 12:10-12? He was a man after God’s own heart. According to the testimony of the Lord, he “…did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, and turned not aside from any thing that he commanded him all the days of his life, save only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite” (1 Kings 15:5). Because of one transgression, he had to bear quite a burden the rest of his life.
Sometimes others around us may be affected by decisions we make (2 Sam 24:10-17). Not only we, but others involved have to bear the consequences of our decisions. Consider drunk drivers. If we make poor decisions that lead us to riotous living, we may have to bear unpleasant consequences even if we repent. We may have to go to jail, suffer poor health, and even deal with terminal illness. We may see our family destroyed, suffer financial loss, or have memories of things we have done or seen to plague us.
For example: take the famous basketball star—Magic Johnson, who (due to riotous living) became HIV positive. Even if he were to become a Christian, he would still have HIV. He is destined to a life of taking handfuls of expensive medicine to keep the virus in check. Eventually it will become full-blown AIDS causing him to die a premature death. Someone can be rehabilitated from alcohol and drugs, but many times the damage done to families and the person’s financial security cannot be repaired. Often riotous living can leave us in a bad marriage—stuck with a horrible situation we must endure—or even stuck with having to live alone the rest of our lives.
Let’s say we eventually become a Christian but put the decision off until later in life. There may be many consequences, depending on how we have lived before becoming a Christian. We may never have a faithful spouse or children. We may never have the chance to rear children in the nurture of the Lord. We may never have the opportunity to serve as a deacon or elder or be the wife of one of these valuable leaders. We may have to make a career change or we may forever be handicapped trying to continue in a less than desirable profession. Let’s say we marry someone for a reason other than the right one, that is, who and what they are spiritually. We may have to endure a lifetime of troubles and battles; in the end, our children may be lost because of it; we may even be drawn away from the faith and lost.
We can see that with every decision we make, there are consequences. We likely could list consequences for all the decisions one by one. Some of these consequences may be short lived while others may be life-long—even eternal.