Pertanyaan: 477. Apakah Kita Dihukum karena Dosa-Dosa Ketika Masih di Dunia Ini?
Mungkin sulit untuk membuktikan bahwa ada hukuman langsung, tetapi pengalaman membuktikan bahwa hasil dari dosa seringkali sangat pahit dan menyakitkan. Terkadang, dampaknya dirasakan pada tubuh, ketika dosa-dosa masa muda menyebabkan penyakit yang berlangsung seumur hidup. Dampaknya sering terlihat pada kasus-kasus orang Kristen yang memberikan contoh buruk sebelum bertobat, dan mereka merasa sedih ketika melihat orang muda, yang mereka ajak ke dalam kejahatan, semakin menjadi-jadi. Hasil dari dosa mengabaikan pendidikan anak seringkali sangat menyedihkan. Anak tumbuh dewasa dan terjerumus dalam dosa, dan kemudian orang tua merasakan penyesalan, karena merasa bahwa jika mereka hanya melakukan kewajiban mereka sebelum terlambat, anak tersebut mungkin bisa diselamatkan. Dalam banyak cara lain, melalui hukum alam, dosa menghasilkan hukumannya sendiri.
Question: 477. Are We Punished for Sins While Yet Here on Earth?
It might be difficult to prove that there is direct punishment, but experience proves that the results of sin are often very bitter and painful. Sometimes they are felt in the body, when the sins of youth bring on disease which lasts all through life. They are often seen in the cases of Christians who set a bad example before their conversion, and they grieve when they see young people, whom they led into evil, grow worse and worse. The results of the sin of neglecting the training of children are frequently very sorrowful. The child grows up and falls into sin, and then the parent suffers remorse, as he feels that if he had only done his duty before it was too late, the child might have been saved. In many other ways, by natural law, sin works its own punishment.
