FORGIVENESS AND JUSTICE…
“… The Prophet David cried out when Nathan reproached him because of Bathsheba, “I have sinned against the Lord!” And the prophet told him, “The Lord has put away thy sin.” So, he was forgiven immediately yet he was punished throughout his life: first of all, the child that Bathsheba had, died. Then his son sinned against his sister Tamar. Afterwards his son Absalom pursued him – and he went through all of this after he had been forgiven. Do you see that even though the sin is forgiven the penance remains in proportion to the fault?”
Elder Joseph
~Monastic Wisdom