Evidence of Retribution Beyond the Grave.

If we pay attention to our own inner lives, one thing becomes clear very quickly: whenever we go against our moral sense, the result is always moral decline. We lose strength of character, and with it, self-respect. That inner damage immediately triggers a powerful expectation that harmful results are coming. 

 

We find it almost impossible to shake the feeling that some sort of retribution awaits every person. The moral law carries an authority that commands our respect at the deepest level. Because of that authority, we are compelled to believe that it can enforce its demands through reward and punishment. In other words, sin and suffering, righteousness and well-being, are bound together in ways that cannot ultimately be broken.