We rejoice in God’s unconditional love. Romans 5:8 says, “God proved his love for us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” God loved us even when we hated him. When we sin, God loves us just as much. There is nothing we can do to make God love us more or less.
So many Christians enjoy God’s blessings of fresh air, a sunrise, a roof over their head, even when they are not walking in faith all the time. They also assume God’s blessings are unconditional. They know Matt. 5:45 “For he makes his sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the just and unjust.” They believe this: “There is no sin I can do to cause God to bless me less. There is no good thing I can do to cause God to bless me more.” This is a blatant lie and contradicts the Scripture. While God may not suffocate them or destroy their home when they are willfully sinning, God will still withhold some blessings.
First, let’s look at how sin dampens God’s blessings. When Jesus healed the man at the Pool of Bethesda, (John 5:14) Jesus said, “See you have been made well. Sin no more lest something worse may happen to you.” Whatever the man had done, Jesus let the man know his sin had caused his paralysis. The man’s suffering was a direct consequence of his sin. Please know many forms of suffering are not direct results of sin (godly Elizabeth’s barrenness until God blessed her and Zechariah with son John, Job’s suffering, Daniel as an exile suffering, and more).
But sin can cause people to suffer, directly for their sins. Look at the Israelites in Jeremiah’s day. They believed the temple and city of Jerusalem would keep them safe, like good luck charms. But these people also worshipped idols, murdered their children (in idol worship), committed adultery and robbed the helpless. So God told them about their lost blessings, (Jer. 25:5) “Your iniquities have turned these away, and your sins have kept good from you.” The nation was sacked by the Babylonians, and many Israelites died.
God does not even have to punish us directly. Our sin can bring our pain. Paul mentioned this in his letter to Timothy (1Tim.6:10) “For the Love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.” This is also true in Gal. 6:7-8 where we are warned, “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.”
In both the Old Testament and the New, God promised physical blessings but only when the person was already generous. In Malachi 3:10, “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this way, says the Lord Almighty, and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.’” And 2 Cor. 9:8-9, “and God is able to bless you abundantly so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. As it is written: ‘They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor: their righteousness endures forever.’” Paul told the Corinthians they would be blessed, if they gave generously to the poor.
We receive warnings, such as this one in Cor.11:30-32, “For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep{died}. But if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord so that we will not be condemned along with the world.” These people brought on their own suffering by their sins, which they refused to acknowledge.
God told the Israelites, they had a choice of blessings or curses when they entered the promised land. “Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse; a blessing if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you this day: And a curse, if you will not obey the commandments of the Lord your God…” (Deut. 11:26-28).
Paul spoke of God’s blessings (being blameless and above reproach, Col. 1:22) but only when we obey “If you continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the Gospel,” (Col. 1:23).
King David said “the Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands has he recompensed me,” in Psalm 18:20. And when David kept his sin to himself, (with Bathsheba), he suffered emotional and physical agony (Psalm 51). While God gives us many blessings, no mater how weak our Christian walk, not all of God’s blessings are automatic. We must develop Godly character to see more of God’s blessings in our lives. This is true in Psalm 37:4 “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.” We will not find those desires of our heart UNTIL we delight in the Lord.
How many young people are suffering, yet they do not honor their parents? Eph. 6:2 says, “Honor your father and mother, which is the first commandment with promise that it may be well with you.” When these young people dishonor their parents, they are wasting the blessing and likely bringing on themselves sorrow and loss instead.
Although God longs to bless us, Jesus spoke of blessings with conditions. “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples,” John 15:7-8. As much as Jesus wants us to bear much fruit for him, he will not enable us to do so when we act out of our flesh instead of abiding in Him. Jesus also said, “If you shall ask anything in my name, I will do it,” (John 14:14) and 1John 5:14, “If we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.” James explained that the opposite does happen, when we ask according to our lusts, we do not receive the blessings (James 4:3).
There are so many examples of the “if, then” promises, that I will just list a few more here:
If we wait, then God provides (Psalm 27:14, Psalm 37:7, Isa. 40:31)
If we trust, then God directs (Ps.25:1-3, Ps. 62:8, Prov. 3:5-6)
If we commit, then God establishes (Pr.16:3, Ps. 37:5, Ps.90:17)
If we obey, then God blesses (Ex. 19:5, Deut. 7:12, 1Chron.28:7, Ps.25:10)
If we delight in Him, then God grants his favor (Ps. 37:4, Ps. 84:11, Ps. 112:1)
If we endure, then God will reward (Gal. 6:9, James 1:12)
If you ask, seek and knock, you will find (Matt. 7:7)
According to your works, Jesus will give to everyone (Rev. 2:23)
We need to grow in the Lord and repent of our sins and never favor a “pet sin,” and condone it. When we favor our sins, we forfeit some of God’s blessings. He will likely not kill us, but we will still not enjoy the closer relationship with him, and we may suffer in some ways (that only God will reveal to us), including missing out on blessings God wanted to give us.
Please be aware, that in our innocence (when we are not willfully sinning), as believers, we will suffer for our faith. That is not due to our sins, but due to the devil’s attacks on us. We will always enjoy God’s unconditional love, but to enjoy all of his blessings, we need to keep our walk of faith pure.
May the Lord bless you, now that you have read this, and may he draw you close to him, in obedience so you can enjoy all the blessings he wants to pour on you! Thanks for joining us as we examined Scripture today.