Forgiveness and Consequences
2 Samuel 11–12 highlights one of the most infamous stories of the Hebrew Bible; the sin of David and Bathsheba. While this sin was so grievous David was still able to find forgiveness in the eyes of the Lord. However, the consequences of his sin ushered in possibly the darkest period of his reign over Israel. While David himself suffered from the effects of his sin for years to come. David though, never charged God with being unrighteous or unjust.
No matter what our action, there are consequences for it.
Many people today desire both forgiveness of their sins and absolution from the consequences of those sins. They equate the two as being concordant and if they continue to suffer from the consequences of their actions they cry foul claiming they have not truly been forgiven. Sadly many I fear only want to be absolved of the consequences of their sins and have little concern for the forgiveness. This is true because the consequences are often immediate and temporal, with which the majority are mostly concerned, while forgiveness is spiritual and eternal and less evident in this world.
While God does forgive we need to understand that there will inevitably be consequences for our sins in this life. We must turn our focus from the temporal consequences to the eternal. There is a powerful force behind the forgiveness that God grants to those who seek it. Thanks be to God that Jesus paid the price for our sins spiritually that we should not have to face the eternal, spiritual consequences of our sins. The best course of action is to be faithful!