Perhaps I should admit right to begin with that this thesis is playing with words to make a point. Some find this thesis appealing; others find it alarming. But, by means of a story, let’s try to understand the truth involved.

One day I was driving the backroads, going well over the speed limit, trying to make up for lost time. I was late for a funeral! But before long, a second cloud of dust joined mine- and inside that second cloud of dust was a state trooper.

He pulled me over to the side of the road, and at first was quite stern in demanding to see my license and my car registration. But after he heard who I was and the nature of my “emergency,” he softened up a bit.

He said, “I thought I had a stolen car here. But now I don’t know what to do with you. If I give you a ticket, it will be printed in the town newspaper tomorrow, and that will embarrass you before your parishioners. And I don’t think a ticket is the answer anyway.”

I said, “No sir, I don’t think so either!”

Finally he said, “Go on. Go ahead. You’re on your own.” And he went his way, and I went mine-slowly!

This traffic officer did what God does not do, and illustrates the difference I’m trying to draw between the forgiveness of sinners and the forgiveness of sins. The officer “forgave my sin” in exceeding the speed limit. But in so doing, he was not fair to the law of the land which prohibits traveling above a certain speed.

God does not change His law. He does not make exceptions. When man transgresses, it is not one of His options to simply say, “That’s OK. Never mind. We’ll overlook it this time.”

“Had it been possible for the law to be changed or abrogated, then Christ need not have died. But to abrogate the law would be to immortalize transgression, and place the world under Satan’s control. It was because the law was changeless, because man could be saved only through obedience to its precepts, that Jesus was lifted up on the cross.” - The Desire of Ages, pp. 762, 763.

What God does is to forgive sinners. There is a difference! If the traffic officer had treated me as God treats me, he would have had no option but to give me a ticket. I would have been called into court, and the judge would have declared me guilty and fined me a certain amount of money.

If I didn’t have the money required, I would have to spend time in jail. And when that was determined, the police officer would have stepped forward, taken out his wallet, and paid the fine himself so that I could go free. If he had done that, he would have upheld the law and at the same time saved me from the penalty of my lawbreaking.

Mankind broke the law of God. Because God could not forgive sins, He could not shake His head at Adam and Eve and say, “Go ahead. You’re on your own.” If He had done that, His whole universe would have been in jeopardy.

The government of our country sometimes lets us get by with quite a bit. We can sometimes break the law and not get caught. In fact, some estimate that at least 80 percent of crimes go unresolved. Even when we are caught, we may be permitted to escape the penalty of our sins.

But not so in the divine government. Sin does not go undetected, and it cannot be passed over.

Romans 6:23 is always true:

“The wages of sin is death.”

Because of His love, God found a way out. The death of Christ on the cross freed Him to forgive sinners. Thus He secures both His justice and our deliverance.