"Just open your eyes, and see how the wicked are punished" (Psalms 91:8, NLT).
"But I will punish you [the nation Israel] according to the fruit of your doings..." (Jer. 14:21, KJV).
"You [Israel] only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities" (Amos 3:2, KJV).
"God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscience, but shouts to us in our pains." (C. S. Lewis).
"Why should a living man complain, a man about the punishment of his sins?" (Lam. 3:39, ESV).
God has forgiven all our sins (past, present, and future) at the cross, judging them in the blood of Christ on our behalf and there is no double jeopardy with God's justice. However, on the other hand, God's children are not without divine discipline, pruning, and corrective action. He will do virtually anything to mold us in His image and to dislodge any un-Christlike flaw He sees. Do not equate punishment with pruning, viva la difference! When we bear fruit, God prunes us in order that we bear more fruit and sometimes this is inconvenient and unwelcome, but it's for our own good. We can be assured that all that befalls us is Father-filtered and the devil cannot wreak havoc on our lives without His divine approval. He has no power to even touch us! 1 John 5:18
If we are without discipline when we are wayward, we are not children (Heb. 12:5ff), for what child isn't corrected by a loving parent? "Then why should we, mere humans, complain when we are punished for our sins?" (Lam. 3:39, NLT). "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Be zealous therefore and repent." Rev. 3:19 If God were to actually punish us for our sins, we'd have to go to hell for ever to suffer for them! But there is no double jeopardy with God. God has judged our sins on the cross, but we will reap the consequences of what we sow according to Galatians 6:7 and that means we don't get away with sin, even as believers! If we sow the wind, we'll reap the whirlwind (cf. Hos. 8:7).
As one of Job's friends said, God had punished him less than he deserved (we all are given mercy and are given less chastisement than deserved--there's no karma or cause and effect relationship between actions and events): "What has happened to us is a result of our evil deeds and our great guilt, and yet, our God, you have punished us [Israel] less than our sins deserved and have given us a remnant like this" (Ezra 9:13, NIV). God always tempers His justice with mercy. Habakkuk 3:2 Zophar speaks in Job 11:6 (ESV): Know then that God exacts of you [punishes] less than your guilt deserves." Eliphaz challenged Job: Whoever perished being innocent? (Job 4:7).
God punishes nations (like the great Nineveh) for their injustice and cruelty; however, we are always judged individually. We are to behold the "goodness and severity of the Lord" (cf. Romans 11:22). God is treating us as children, so try to conceive of how much severer the punishment will be for those who trample on the Son of God putting Him to open shame (cf. Heb. 10:29)? Let us heed the words of the psalmist in Psalm 119:67 (NLT) in summation: "I used to wander off until you disciplined me, but now I closely follow your word." ("Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now I have kept thy word," in the KJV). Soli Deo Gloria!
"But I will punish you [the nation Israel] according to the fruit of your doings..." (Jer. 14:21, KJV).
"You [Israel] only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities" (Amos 3:2, KJV).
"God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscience, but shouts to us in our pains." (C. S. Lewis).
"Why should a living man complain, a man about the punishment of his sins?" (Lam. 3:39, ESV).
God has forgiven all our sins (past, present, and future) at the cross, judging them in the blood of Christ on our behalf and there is no double jeopardy with God's justice. However, on the other hand, God's children are not without divine discipline, pruning, and corrective action. He will do virtually anything to mold us in His image and to dislodge any un-Christlike flaw He sees. Do not equate punishment with pruning, viva la difference! When we bear fruit, God prunes us in order that we bear more fruit and sometimes this is inconvenient and unwelcome, but it's for our own good. We can be assured that all that befalls us is Father-filtered and the devil cannot wreak havoc on our lives without His divine approval. He has no power to even touch us! 1 John 5:18
If we are without discipline when we are wayward, we are not children (Heb. 12:5ff), for what child isn't corrected by a loving parent? "Then why should we, mere humans, complain when we are punished for our sins?" (Lam. 3:39, NLT). "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Be zealous therefore and repent." Rev. 3:19 If God were to actually punish us for our sins, we'd have to go to hell for ever to suffer for them! But there is no double jeopardy with God. God has judged our sins on the cross, but we will reap the consequences of what we sow according to Galatians 6:7 and that means we don't get away with sin, even as believers! If we sow the wind, we'll reap the whirlwind (cf. Hos. 8:7).
As one of Job's friends said, God had punished him less than he deserved (we all are given mercy and are given less chastisement than deserved--there's no karma or cause and effect relationship between actions and events): "What has happened to us is a result of our evil deeds and our great guilt, and yet, our God, you have punished us [Israel] less than our sins deserved and have given us a remnant like this" (Ezra 9:13, NIV). God always tempers His justice with mercy. Habakkuk 3:2 Zophar speaks in Job 11:6 (ESV): Know then that God exacts of you [punishes] less than your guilt deserves." Eliphaz challenged Job: Whoever perished being innocent? (Job 4:7).
God punishes nations (like the great Nineveh) for their injustice and cruelty; however, we are always judged individually. We are to behold the "goodness and severity of the Lord" (cf. Romans 11:22). God is treating us as children, so try to conceive of how much severer the punishment will be for those who trample on the Son of God putting Him to open shame (cf. Heb. 10:29)? Let us heed the words of the psalmist in Psalm 119:67 (NLT) in summation: "I used to wander off until you disciplined me, but now I closely follow your word." ("Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now I have kept thy word," in the KJV). Soli Deo Gloria!