Does God punish Christians for sin?

[Cement]

There seems to be a split among some people who believe that since Jesus took up all our sins on the cross we no longer are punished for them and some people who state that God expects his adoptive sons to behave in a manner that is holy as it says in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10.

 

[HTacianas]

If you are asking "if a Christian sins will he be struck by lightning or grow warts" then no, God does not punish Christians for sin.

If you are asking "is it possible for a Christian to sin himself into eternal damnation" then yes, it's possible.

The earliest Church was firm in its belief that a single sin committed by a Christian was enough to warrant damnation, as the writer to the Hebrews conveys:

Heb 12:15 Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;

Heb 12:16 Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.

Heb 12:17 For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.

There are many others as well. I hope this answers your question.

 

[mukk_in]

Yes. Our sins are atoned for on the cross and hence we avoid hell. But, the consequences in this life will still have to be faced. If a Christian beaks the law, he/she will still have to pay his/her dues to society and is punishable by the law of the land (Romans 13:1-7, 1 Peter 2:14). The local authorities, even if they're ungodly, are God's rods of chastisement. Peace in Christ .

 

[SpiritSong]

I think God will not block earthly consequences. For instance, if you hit someone or something with your car, you would still have to go to court and so on.

 

[Sabertooth]

Per 1 John 1:9, if a Christian sincerely repents after they sin, they will be forgiven with regards to Eternity. I believe that He often lets us suffer the immediate consequences of our sins as a form of discipline, but He doesn't have to. Depending on His big picture, He may withhold some or all of said consequences.

Say someone is being sexually promiscuous and they contract an STD. If they repent, they will be forgiven, but not necessarily healed. If that STD ends up killing them, they will still be granted access to Heaven because of their repentance.

 

[brinny]

Does God punish Christians for sin?

Yes.

He does.

In some cases He'll "take them out".

Like He did with Ananias and Sapphira.

 

[Quid est Veritas?]

Sin has negative material consequences in the world, over and above any spiritual effects. If you overeat, you grow fat. If you sleep around, you get sexually transmitted diseases and don't value your partners as highly, destabilising relationships.
Sometimes people 'get away with it' in a worldly sense perhaps, but the value is lessened I think. Someone who worked hard to earn something, has more value than someone that cheated and stole to get there. It will show in their competence and character.

So sin has innate negative consequences, which you could certainly read as 'God punishing sin'. You reap what you sow.

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

Does God punish Christians for sin?

Yes.

He does.

In some cases He'll "take them out".

Like He did with Ananias and Sapphira.

We don't have enough information to state conclusively that Ananias and Saphira were genuinely converted to Christ in their hearts. Many people join the Church to be religious, but come short of making a true heart-felt commitment to Christ.

I agree with the previous posts that all sin has been forgiven, and that there is no further punishment for sin for the truly committed Christian. This is because Jesus is a complete Saviour, not a partial one.

If we go by the parable of the wheat and the tares, then we can apply it to our churches, because there is a mixture of religious and genuine Christians in our churches. But the foundation of God stands sure, God knows who are truly His, and on the Day of Judgment, the true believer in Christ will be separated from those who are motivated by just a religious spirit, and the Scriptural picture of the sheep being placed at the right hand of God and the goats at the left is of the separation between the true believer and the religious hypocrite.

Jesus said that trying to pull out the tares from the wheat before the Day of the Lord will damage the true wheat. This has happened in our churches when judgmental and legalistic people have tried to separate who they thought were the hypocrites and have harmed good believers instead. The problem with religious hypocrisy is that these people are so like true believers that it is impossible to tell them apart. This is because God can do what no man or woman can do: look into a person's heart. So He saw what was really in the heart of Ananias and Saphira, saw their hypocrisy, and dealt with them accordingly. Up until that time, no one, even the Apostles themselves knew that these two were hypocrites. Peter only found out through having this revealed to Him by the Holy Spirit as a word of knowledge. He could not have known otherwise.

But that is not an excuse for judgmental folk to misuse the Word of Knowledge to root out what they believe are hypocrites in the church. That misuse of the gift has caused widespread suffering, heartbreak and harm to good believers.

We need to take notice of what Paul said about himself. He would not allow any other person to judge him in the way he conducted himself, and furthermore, he would not even judge himself, but leave the judgment to his Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

If we are prepared to leave the judgment of people to the Lord, then as the Scripture says, their sin will find them out, if not in this life, certainly in the Judgment.

 

[brinny]

We don't have enough information to state conclusively that Ananias and Saphira were genuinely converted to Christ in their hearts. Many people join the Church to be religious, but come short of making a true heart-felt commitment to Christ.

I agree with the previous posts that all sin has been forgiven, and that there is no further punishment for sin for the truly committed Christian. This is because Jesus is a complete Saviour, not a partial one.

If we go by the parable of the wheat and the tares, then we can apply it to our churches, because there is a mixture of religious and genuine Christians in our churches. But the foundation of God stands sure, God knows who are truly His, and on the Day of Judgment, the true believer in Christ will be separated from those who are motivated by just a religious spirit, and the Scriptural picture of the sheep being placed at the right hand of God and the goats at the left is of the separation between the true believer and the religious hypocrite.

Jesus said that trying to pull out the tares from the wheat before the Day of the Lord will damage the true wheat. This has happened in our churches when judgmental and legalistic people have tried to separate who they thought were the hypocrites and have harmed good believers instead. The problem with religious hypocrisy is that these people are so like true believers that it is impossible to tell them apart. This is because God can do what no man or woman can do: look into a person's heart. So He saw what was really in the heart of Ananias and Saphira, saw their hypocrisy, and dealt with them accordingly. Up until that time, no one, even the Apostles themselves knew that these two were hypocrites. Peter only found out through having this revealed to Him by the Holy Spirit as a word of knowledge. He could not have known otherwise.

But that is not an excuse for judgmental folk to misuse the Word of Knowledge to root out what they believe are hypocrites in the church. That misuse of the gift has caused widespread suffering, heartbreak and harm to good believers.

We need to take notice of what Paul said about himself. He would not allow any other person to judge him in the way he conducted himself, and furthermore, he would not even judge himself, but leave the judgment to his Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

If we are prepared to leave the judgment of people to the Lord, then as the Scripture says, their sin will find them out, if not in this life, certainly in the Judgment.

I was not saying conclusively that either was or was not a genuine born-again believer.

In addition, it is written in the New Testament that, yes, God may "take out" some.

Do you know what verses i am referring to Oscarr?

 

[Chinchilla]

There seems to be a split among some people who believe that since Jesus took up all our sins on the cross we no longer are punished for them and some people who state that God expects his adoptive sons to behave in a manner that is holy as it says in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10.

God does not punish Christians for sins because they are sinless 1 John 3:9
but he chase them or let bad things happen to them so they learn , be stronger or turn away from doing thier will and do God's will instead .

For example God let Satan trouble saint Paul giving him wound in flesh so people can see that Paul was human because he was raising people from dead and people started to worship him .

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

I think you may be referring to this passage in 1 Corinthians 11"

27 So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.28 Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup. 29 For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves. 30 That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. 31 But if we were more discerning with regard to ourselves, we would not come under such judgment.32 Nevertheless, when we are judged in this way by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be finally condemned with the world.

A good commentary on the passage involves the broken body of Jesus in the atonement stands for wholeness and healing of our bodies, and the shed blood of Jesus is for the cleansing of our unrighteousness. As we come to the Lord's Supper we remember what Jesus did for us on the cross and we acknowledge the purpose of His broken body and shed blood.

The reason why people become sick and some died prematurely, is because they do not pay due respect for the broken body of Jesus for their continued health and wholeness. They treat the Lord's Supper as a religious ritual instead of what it really should be, and so the effectiveness of the broken body of Jesus for health and wholeness is lost for them.

In the Corinthian church, the Lord's Supper had degenerated into a gluttony and boozy fest instead of what it was designed for. Some acted like gannets and ate up so much of the food that others missed out, and others got drunk on excessive drinking of the wine. In the Early Church they did not have "the Lord's snack" like we have in our ritualised services.

So it wasn't because God was actually punishing anyone. People got sick and died prematurely because of their own actions, ie: disrespecting the Lord's Supper.

I can't think of any other passage in the New Testament about God ending the lives of Christian believers.

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

God does not punish Christians for sins because they are sinless 1 John 3:9
but he chase them or let bad things happen to them so they learn , be stronger or turn away from doing thier will and do God's will instead .

For example God let Satan trouble saint Paul giving him wound in flesh so people can see that Paul was human because he was raising people from dead and people started to worship him .

Your agreeable post reminds me of the passage in John Bunyan's Pilgrims Progress where Christian was being beaten over the head by a guy with a big stick. When he asked who it was who was beating him, he was told it was Moses. The principle behind this was that it is Moses and the Law that beats us over the head with a stick, not Jesus. Jesus has come to seek and save sinners, not beat them for their sin. He says that it is not the righteous who need a healing physician, but those who are sick (ie: sinners). While Moses would beat sinners with a stick, Jesus died for them on the cross to take their sins away when they receive Him as Saviour. And when they do receive Him, there is no more Moses to beat them, but a loving Saviour who will forgive and cleanse them when they confess their sin to Him.

 

[brinny]

Your agreeable post reminds me of the passage in John Bunyan's Pilgrims Progress where Christian was being beaten over the head by a guy with a big stick. When he asked who it was who was beating him, he was told it was Moses. The principle behind this was that it is Moses and the Law that beats us over the head with a stick, not Jesus. Jesus has come to seek and save sinners, not beat them for their sin. He says that it is not the righteous who need a healing physician, but those who are sick (ie: sinners). While Moses would beat sinners with a stick, Jesus died for them on the cross to take their sins away when they receive Him as Saviour. And when they do receive Him, there is no more Moses to beat them, but a loving Saviour who will forgive and cleanse them when they confess their sin to Him.

Moses didn't beat anyone with a stick, Oscarr. It is written that he was the humblest man on earth.

Speaking of "beating with a stick", did Jesus ever do the equivalent of that, Oscarr?



.

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

I work with a budgeting agency that assists people with overwhelming debt and facing repossession of assets and mortgagee sales on the homes. Our policy is not to grill them on how they got themselves into debt in the first place, but we give them hope and confidence for their future. Why we are able to successfully assist people, and have done so for the last 25 years, is that we are totally non-judgmental.

But there are many Christians in our churches who would be fired on the first day if they adopted the same attitude to our clients as they do to fellow members whom they see as "sinning". They would berate the clients for getting into debt, thereby increasing their sense of hopelessness.

Jesus never berated ordinary people over their sins. He certainly berated the religious hypocrites over their hypocrisy, but He always gave hope to sinners and proved it by dying on the cross for them. The instruction is to let the same mind be in us as it was in Jesus. Problem is that too many legalistic and judgmental church goers have the mind of Moses instead of Jesus.

 

[Sabertooth]

In regards to the title of this thread, God will not punish otherwise faithful Christians, but He will discipline us as He sees fit.

"For whom the Lord loves He corrects,
Just as a father the son in whom he delights." Proverbs 3:12 NKJV

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

Moses didn't beat anyone with a stick, Oscarr. It is written that he was the humblest man on earth.

Speaking of "beating with a stick", did Jesus ever do the equivalent of that, Oscarr?



.

You obviously have never read John Bunyan's Pilgrims Progress, otherwise you would have understood the allegory.

What Bunyan was pointing out was that the Mosaic Law beats sinners over the head while Jesus saves them. Bunyan explains through is allegory that the Law will always bring punishment to us, while mercy and grace are in the hands of Jesus.

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

In regards to the title of this thread, God will not punish otherwise faithful Christians, but He will discipline us as He sees fit.

"For whom the Lord loves He corrects,
Just as a father the son in whom he delights." Proverbs 3:12 NKJV

As has been previously posted, He does it through the natural consequences that arise out of sinful behaviour. The first thing that happens when believer sins, he loses fellowship with God. This means that he is out of touch with what the Spirit needs to say to him to continue to guide his thinking and actions. It is only when the person confesses his sin to God that the fellowship and communication is restored.

 

[brinny]

You obviously have never read John Bunyan's Pilgrims Progress, otherwise you would have understood the allegory.

What Bunyan was pointing out was that the Mosaic Law beats sinners over the head while Jesus saves them. Bunyan explains through is allegory that the Law will always bring punishment to us, while mercy and grace are in the hands of Jesus.

I have read it. Yes, God's grace was/is poured out through His only begotten Son, Jesus the Christ.

However, Jesus Christ was not/is not without righteous anger, is my point. Thus my question from my previous post:

Speaking of "beating with a stick", did Jesus ever do the equivalent of that, Oscarr?

See post #15.

Sometimes this involves a "stick".

 

[brinny]

In regards to the title of this thread, God will not punish otherwise faithful Christians, but He will discipline us as He sees fit.

"For whom the Lord loves He corrects,
Just as a father the son in whom he delights." Proverbs 3:12 NKJV

Amen.

 

[Sabertooth]

This means that he is out of touch with what the Spirit needs to say to him to continue to guide his thinking and actions. It is only when the person confesses his sin to God that the fellowship and communication is restored.

Though I think that the Holy Spirit convicting us of sin would be the exception.