Is Sin Taxable?

The price of an already expensive pack of cigarettes may rise again significantly if the Congress gets its way. It appears now that the House and Senate are trying to devise a veto-proof bill to further tax tobacco products. If passed, the increasing of one of the so-called ‘sin taxes’ would top $1.00 per pack and would be used to fund the State Children's Health Insurance Program.

Philip Morris USA, the nation's largest cigarette maker, has been urging people to pressure lawmakers to try and stop the proposal and have stated on their website, "Taxing smokers is unfair." But fair or not, few have forgotten how the major tobacco companies agreed to pay over 52 billion dollars in 1998 for smoking-related health care troubles.

While the two opposing sides scurry for allies, very few would any longer debate the fact that sin, especially when habitual, can be very damaging and costly! Those who have experienced any severe addiction can easily relate to the difficulty of breaking free when helplessly enslaved by some brutal habit.

In Romans 6 the Apostle Paul speaks about being a slave to sin. In verse 16 he relates the impact and devastating end results which occur when sin completely dominates a life. "Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one's slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?"

That is the bad news. But the very next verse presents the good news. "But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness."

In Psalm 51, King David realized the far-reaching implications of his great personal sin. In verse 1 he agonizes before God crying out, "Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your loving kindness; according to the multitude of Your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done this evil inYour sight, that You may be found just when You speak, and blameless when You judge."

Obviously sin is costly. But its impact is far greater than anything brought on by health or economical issues. It breaks and blocks the relationship between God and man. It ruins lives and can bring unimaginable eternal consequences. But it also caused the single most ‘unfair’ event ever! Man’s rebellion prompted the flawless Son of God to fully pay the wretched price for our sins. His sacrificial death on the cross, the solution to mankind’s universal plague, was beyond terrible. It was beyond our understanding. And it was also far beyond unjust. But fortunately, Christ’s sacrifice was not beyond the amazing mercy and redemptive plan of a loving Savior and Creator.

Romans 5:20 sums it up well. "Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more."

Bill Breckenridge