Does God punish Christians for sin?

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MOC

Member
Mar 20, 2020
78
67
18
#1
First, we must distinguish between God's punishment for sin and His discipline for sin. As Christians, all of our sins; past, present, and future, have already been punished on the Cross. Its because of our Savior, Jesus Christ, we will never be sent to the Lake of fire as punishment for our sins. Because of the blood that was shed, God sees only the righteousness of Christ when He looks upon His children. The sin that remains in Christians lives sometimes require God's discipline. If we continue in knowing unrepented sin, God then brings His Divine discipline down upon us. Sometimes through death, which the Bible teaches is "the sin unto death." As a believer in Jesus Christ, our punishment for sin has already been paid for, but the discipline we receive for sin will be handed out accordingly by our Heavenly Father.

Romans 8:1 "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit." The saved will never lose their salvation as punishment for their sins. God will use Divine discipline to correct His children.

Hebrews 12:7-11 "If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the Father chasteneth not?" Just as we discipline our own children for their welfare, so does our Heavenly Father lovingly corrects His children for their benefit.

We must remember to not view God's judgement upon us as punishment, but rather His loving discipline. Through Divine discipline our eyes are opened and we see more clearly through God's perspective on our lives.

Psalm 32:1-6 Here, discipline is cleansing and growth.
Romans 12:1-2 Discipline presents us with the opportunity to learn and to conform ourselves to the image of Christ.

Romans 3:10, 23 "There is none righteous, no, not one." V.23, "For all have sinned." Fighting with the sinful desires of the flesh is a constant battle in the Christian life. Part of God's discipline is allowing the natural consequences of sin to take part in our lives so that we can learn through our sinful mistakes. We are all sinners.

One common mistake that people believe is that God punishes those who live their lives rejecting Him. Its not until their death that those who rejected Christ will be punished. God lovingly and patiently allows their free will to take shape on those who doesn't believe and allows them ample time to accept Jesus as their savior. Never punishing them while they remain alive here on earth. Those who are saved in Christ, He disciplines them, motivating His children to behave correctly. When difficult situations come into our lives, we must look beyond ourselves and toward our Heavenly Father to get us through those challenging times.
 
Jun 28, 2022
1,258
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#2
🤔 Our sins are taken upon God-Jesus on the cross and we whom God elected to his grace, giving irrevocable faith and Salvation to we his Elect, as God shall remember our sins no more.
But he'll discipline us in this life for ....our sins.
 

Dino246

Senior Member
Jun 30, 2015
24,709
13,392
113
#3
God does not punish, but He does permit consequences.
 

Amanuensis

Well-known member
Jun 12, 2021
1,457
460
83
#4
Hebrews 12 tells me that he will discipline us if we need it, with the goal of causing us to partake of his holiness.

If a true child of God ignores the conviction of the Spirit and continues yielding to a secret lust they can find themselves in a situation that is designed to discipline them. God loves me so much that He has me on a short leash and if I were to try and backslide I would suffer discipline that would be such that I don't seem to get away with the same amount of wickedness that the unbeliever does.

I have seen this sort of thing played out through the decades. Part of the benefit of getting older in the faith, is that we speak from experience and not just theory.

I don't think that every negative thing that happens to us or our finances is a discipline from God because we did something bad.

But let's say a believer went on vacation and got drunk on tequila and knew it was a sin but didn't tell anyone. And imagine them finding excuses to go on vacation so they could get secretly drunk. If they don't repent of that and keep doing it, and they came home one day and found that their house had burned down from an electrical fire would they be correct in thinking "this happened to get my attention as discipline because of my secret sin?" I could see that. I know others will say no, but I think God would do something like that to save our souls.

Others think that the secret drunkeness would not cost them their salvation but I can see God disciplining them to warn them that it most certainly will lead to damnation if they don't repent. God will not tolerate secret lusts. He will discipline first and if we still don't repent then over the years we can be given over to the sin and no longer care, inventing a doctrine that it is not a sin after all and doing it openly what we used to try and hide. When this happens such a person does not encounter discipline because they have been given over to their lusts and the judgment awaits them.
 
Jul 16, 2022
389
104
28
57
North Carolina
#5
First, we must distinguish between God's punishment for sin and His discipline for sin. As Christians, all of our sins; past, present, and future, have already been punished on the Cross. Its because of our Savior, Jesus Christ, we will never be sent to the Lake of fire as punishment for our sins. Because of the blood that was shed, God sees only the righteousness of Christ when He looks upon His children. The sin that remains in Christians lives sometimes require God's discipline. If we continue in knowing unrepented sin, God then brings His Divine discipline down upon us. Sometimes through death, which the Bible teaches is "the sin unto death." As a believer in Jesus Christ, our punishment for sin has already been paid for, but the discipline we receive for sin will be handed out accordingly by our Heavenly Father.

Romans 8:1 "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit." The saved will never lose their salvation as punishment for their sins. God will use Divine discipline to correct His children.

Hebrews 12:7-11 "If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the Father chasteneth not?" Just as we discipline our own children for their welfare, so does our Heavenly Father lovingly corrects His children for their benefit.

We must remember to not view God's judgement upon us as punishment, but rather His loving discipline. Through Divine discipline our eyes are opened and we see more clearly through God's perspective on our lives.

Psalm 32:1-6 Here, discipline is cleansing and growth.
Romans 12:1-2 Discipline presents us with the opportunity to learn and to conform ourselves to the image of Christ.

Romans 3:10, 23 "There is none righteous, no, not one." V.23, "For all have sinned." Fighting with the sinful desires of the flesh is a constant battle in the Christian life. Part of God's discipline is allowing the natural consequences of sin to take part in our lives so that we can learn through our sinful mistakes. We are all sinners.

One common mistake that people believe is that God punishes those who live their lives rejecting Him. Its not until their death that those who rejected Christ will be punished. God lovingly and patiently allows their free will to take shape on those who doesn't believe and allows them ample time to accept Jesus as their savior. Never punishing them while they remain alive here on earth. Those who are saved in Christ, He disciplines them, motivating His children to behave correctly. When difficult situations come into our lives, we must look beyond ourselves and toward our Heavenly Father to get us through those challenging times.
Great scriptures provided that answer your own questions: however, I must say that not everything we view is a chastisement from our everlasting Father, but is the result of our own actions. There are consequences for what we do, and that is just natural, but many view that as punishment from God. God, as merciful and Just as He is, has been accused unjustly for many things He had no hand in. That is how I view it and I consider myself just learning meat and weening myself from milk, so it may not make much sense. I do apologize in advance. Be well and Blessed.
 
Dec 9, 2011
13,740
1,728
113
#6
Galations 6:7
King James Version

Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
 

Dirtman

Well-known member
Jul 19, 2022
1,151
441
83
#7
God forgives sin all of them always. However some times there may be natural consequences, that God will allow. Sometimes He may alleviate some of or all of the natural consequences. God is the judge and he does for us what he deems best, so that we learn to live our lives in repentance, humility, and in His service.
 

Aaron56

Well-known member
Jul 12, 2021
2,522
1,428
113
#8
“My son, do not take lightly the discipline of the Lord,
and do not lose heart when He rebukes you.
For the Lord disciplines the one He loves,
and He chastises every son He receives.”

Endure suffering as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? If you do not experience discipline like everyone else, then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. Furthermore, we have all had earthly fathers who disciplined us, and we respected them. Should we not much more submit to the Father of our spirits and live?"


The Father corrects His sons.
He also puts challenges in His sons' lives so that they might mature through the experiences. For a maturing son who recognizes and submits to the Father's correction, most discipline is like the latter.