Please acknowledge a difference between discipline and punishment. Discipline for the saved, punishment for those not.
Can you provide proof of such a distinction? Including proof that "punishment" is not disciplinary? The Greek word often translated "punishment" (kolasin) at Mt.25:46 can mean "correction" & some translations render it there as such or "chastening", etc.
Strong's Greek: 2851. κόλασις (kolasis) -- correction
Hab.1:12 O LORD my God, my Holy One, you who are eternal--surely you do not plan to wipe us out? O LORD, our Rock, you have sent these Babylonians to correct us, to punish us for our many sins.
Because I have sinned against him, I will bear the LORD’s wrath, until he pleads my case and upholds my cause. He will bring me out into the light;I will see his righteousness. (Micah 7:9)
Isaiah 12:1
Then you will say on that day, "I will give thanks to You, O LORD; For although You were angry with me, Your anger is turned away, And You comfort me.
Hosea 6:1
"Come, let us return to the LORD. For He has torn us, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bandage us.
Isa.57:17 “Because of the iniquity of his unjust gain I was angry and struck him;
I hid My face and was angry, And he went on turning away, in the way of his heart.
18“I have seen his ways, but I will heal him;
I will lead him and restore comfort to him and to his mourners,
Mat 18:34 And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him.
Isaiah 29:24
"Those who err in mind will know the truth, And those who criticize will accept instruction.
Dan.4:33 The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar: and he was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles' feathers, and his nails like birds' claws.
34a But at the end of that period, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him...
36 At that time my reason returned to me. And my majesty and splendor were restored to me for the glory of my kingdom, and my counselors and my nobles began seeking me out; so I was reestablished in my sovereignty, and surpassing greatness was added to me.
37 Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, exalt and honor the King of heaven, for all His works are true and His ways just, and He is able to humble those who walk in pride.
Yes God does at times punish the wicked in this age. Sadistic, so you judge God. Look to God's righteous punishment of Sodom and Gomorrah. Look at the flood. Do you think this was discipline with the hope that they would repent and had a loving purpose in mind?
I rightly judge God, in agreement with the Sacred Scriptures, to not be a "sadist". Do you not agree?
There is no comparison between the momentary, light, just judgments of Sodom or the flood - and that of endless torments. Yes, such temporary judgments are always done in love by One Who is, above all, Love. Just as a father disciplines a child.
When your judgments come upon the earth, the people of the world learn righteousness." (Isa.26:9b)
Likewise there is:
1 Cor 5:4 In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, 5 To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
1 Cor.11:29 For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. 30
That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep.
