Someone recently asked me why God was so harsh toward sin in the Old Testament yet so forgiving and compassionate in the New Testament. They brought up the example of Deuteronomy 21:18-21 that called for a stubborn, rebellious son to be stoned, compared to “The Parable of the Prodigal Son,” where the father’s response toward his rebellious, wayward son conveyed God’s love, compassion, and forgiveness* (Luke 15:11-24).
The Bible teaches that God remains unchanged, regardless of how things may appear on the surface. He is the same God in both the Old and New Testaments. Malachi 3:6 says, “For I am the Lord, I do not change,” and Hebrews 13:8 says, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”
As such, God’s view of sin did not change in the New Testament compared to the Old but remains consistent, as does His decreed penalty for sin: physical and spiritual death. Genesis 2:15-17 says, “Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, ‘Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.’” Additionally, Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death.”
Considering these facts, the difference between what we see in the Old and New Testaments centers on one crucial thing: the cross!
When Jesus hung on the cross as “The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29), God transferred all His righteous judgment and wrath against sin onto Him. Additionally, Jesus not only suffered for our sins at Calvary, but He became sin for us on the cross. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
For these reasons, the most excruciating aspect of the wrath and punishment Jesus suffered on our behalf was experiencing separation from His Father for the first and only time ever. Jesus’ agonizing cry on the cross before He died, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” embodied His unparalleled anguish over His Father’s desertion and abandonment at that moment (Matthew 27:46). Yet Jesus willingly went to the cross for us so that we would never have to experience His Father’s judgment and wrath for our sins, nor be forsaken by Him, should we place our faith in Jesus for forgiveness and redemption.
Colossians 2:13-14 says, “When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.” Or, as John MacArthur summarized, “On the cross, God treated Jesus as if He lived your life so He could treat you as if you lived His.”(See also Isaiah 53:5, 1 Peter 2:24-25, and 1 Peter 3:18.)
It is important to note, however, that those who reject Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross will experience the full measure of God’s wrath and righteous indignation for their sins because no other sacrifice exists apart from (or outside of) Him. Hebrews 10:26-31 says, “For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said, ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord. And again, ‘The Lord will judge His people.’ It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”
I hope this information helps put the cross into perspective and explains and reconciles the difference between God’s treatment of sin in the Old Testament versus the New Testament. I also hope it gives you an even greater appreciation for all that Jesus went through on your behalf so that you could be forgiven and saved through faith in His finished work at Calvary.
*The difference between the two texts presented by the questioner (Deuteronomy and The Parable of the Prodigal Son) was repentance. God required rebellious sons in Deuteronomy to be stoned because of their stubbornness and failure to heed their parents even after disciplinary measures were administered. In other words, they refused to repent of their sinful behavior. However, the Prodigal Son’s father, who represented God in Jesus’ parable, demonstrated grace and forgiveness toward his rebellious son because he ultimately humbled himself and repented of his sins.
