2. _Why?_ Because justice demands it. [Gal. 6:7+] God cannot be unjust.
He cannot overlook or excuse sin. [Eccl. 11:9] Earthly governments must
and do punish offenders, or they would be unjust to those persons who
obey the law. A law without a penalty would amount to nothing. God, who
governs the universe, is and must be just. [Gen. 18:25+]

3. _How?_

_In this World_ God punishes sin by Pangs of Conscience; [Matt. 26:75,
Matt. 27:3-4] Pains and Sufferings which are the results of wrong-doing,
[Jer. 17:10] _e.g._, the results of drunkenness and licentiousness;
Legal Penalties which the State, as God's servant to punish crime,
inflicts by fines, imprisonment and hanging; [Rom. 13:4] Special
Judgments upon individuals [1 Cor. 10:5] in the form of sickness,
accidents and reverses, though we must remember that afflictions are not
always a judgment, but are often sent upon the godly as a chastening;
[Heb. 12:6+] General Judgments upon wicked communities, such as that
which God sent upon Sodom and Gomorrah. [Gen. 19:24]

Children are often obliged to suffer for the sins of their parents.
[Jer. 31:29] If the children also are wicked, their sufferings are a
punishment; [Ezek. 18:20, Prov. 3:12, Rom. 8:28] if they are godly,
their sufferings are a chastening.

_In the Next World_ God will punish by Exclusion from Heaven and from
His Presence; [Matt. 22:13] and by Eternal Misery in Hell. [Rev. 21:8,
Matt. 25:41]

II. BLESSING.