Tim Maas Retired Quality Assurance Specialist with the U.S. Army

If the "us" in the question is referring to believers, God may discipline believers, with the goal of making them progressively more Christlike. This discipline may seem unpleasant or as a form of punishment (just as when human parents discipline their children), but, in both cases, it is intended for the ultimate good of those who are being thus disciplined (Hebrews 12:4-11).

Believers should always seek the positive (again, from the eternal standpoint of becoming more Christlike) perspective, aspect, or result that, with God's help, can be obtained or achieved through dealing with adverse events or circumstances.

August 31 2022 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

Rick Baugh Follower of Christ cleverly disguised as a software engineer

Not yet. There are two times coming when God will punish, as spoken of in scripture. The first is on this Earth when the days of the Great Tribulation come. God will pour out His wrath upon all the Earth for the great sins of the people. It is easy today to see some of what God might be angry about: murder of the unborn, genital mutilation of children, sexual perversions of all kinds, open Gaia and Satan worship, and the violent persecution of the bride of Christ, His church. God predicted that at the end of days, man would sink into unspeakable moral depravity, like in the days of Noah. In response God will unleash plagues, wars, great earthquakes, hail as large as cars, and because man shed so much blood, give man nothing but blood to drink. Men will realize that it is God who is punishing, and ask the mountains to fall on them so that they won't have to see the face of His anger, and about 3/4 of the Earth's population will perish under God's wrath.

The second time will be at the Great White Throne judgment, when ALL the dead will be raised to face their God. There the books will be opened of each persons deeds in life, and the Book of Life will be opened of those who are in Christ. And any man not found in the Book of Life will ultimately be cast into the "the lake of fire", that is, hell. There will be no "parties in hell', as some have mocked, nor will you "be with your friends" within it's infinite expanse. Hell exists for one purpose only; to punish for all eternity those who refused the Lord, to believe His Word.

But how, you may ask, can this be "fair"? Perhaps an analogy can shed some light. Suppose you saw your child stomping on an ant bed. You may ask your child to stop, more out of concern for you child being bitten than any concern for the ants. But suppose you saw your child stomping on a puppy. Now you might be truly alarmed and outraged to see your child "doing wrong". Even more so if another child were being stomped and killed. The greater the perceived worth of the victim, the greater the crime. But the great crime that will cast people into hell is the equivalent of stomping on God, a being far greater, infinitely greater, in worth than a child is above an ant. A crime so great that the punishment is infinite, a crime that will require an infinity of time for a finite being to pay.

But this day, Jesus offers us mercy. This day Jesus will hear our petitions for peace. He will receive the sworn terms of our surrender, but they are His terms, not ours. And His terms are simply this: repent of your sins, believe in the salvation offered you by His blood, and redeem your remaining days walking as His disciple. If you have not done this, do it now for you are not promised tomorrow. If you die in your sins you will face God's everlasting punishment. Or you may face God's wrath upon this Earth, which may come any day now.

September 03 2022 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

Jack Gutknecht ABC/DTS graduate, guitar music ministry Baptist church

Does God punish us? That’s a good question, Armando!

He certainly could if he wanted to, and for 2 reasons. For one, He is a holy God and nothing unholy can live in His presence. (Habakkuk 1:13) – “Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrongdoing.”

The other reason is that we are sinful: “For all have sinned and fall short of His glory" (Romans 3:23); and sin, God says, demands a punishment. Romans 6, verse 23 says, “The wages of sin is death.” But holy Jesus, knowing how sinful we all are, chose to die our death to pay the penalty for our sins (Hebrews 7:26; Romans 5:8). So He took our punishment. 

We must accept his payment, though. Otherwise it does us no good. He says in Revelation 3:20, “Behold, I stand at the door [your heart’s door] and knock. If you open the door, I will come in and fellowship with you.” Do it today, and you won’t be punished by God!

September 04 2022 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

Mark Vestal Proud of nothing of myself. Freed by Christ who did it all!

No. Believers are not subject to God's wrath or covenant law. We are currently in God's dispensation of grace (1 Thes. 5:9, Eph. 3:2, Rom. 6:14, Gal. 3:23, 1 Cor. 6:12). Jesus Christ received the punishment on the cross that we deserved (2 Cor 5:21, Eph 1:7, Col 1:14).

It is of utmost importance to rightly divide the word of truth (2 Tim. 2:15), the gospel of our salvation (Eph. 1:13), that was given to Paul, from the gospel given to biblical Israel (such as the book of John) when studying the bible. Jesus, while living on earth, and the 12 apostles were to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, which is not you or I (Mat. 10:5-6, Mat. 15:24).

The sin barrier between God and man was removed by the death of Jesus Christ (Rom. 6:22, 2 Cor. 5:21). God can now work through us once we've removed ourselves from His path (Col. 2:14, Phil 1:6). We can now focus on what we can do for Him once we've stopped focusing on ourselves and our iniquities (Rom. 7:22-25).

Our apostle Paul received the revelation of the fellowship of the mystery from Christ ascended (Eph. 3:9), which was before kept secret since the world began (Rom. 16:25). Had this mystery information been known prior to Christ's death, the princes of this world would not have crucified Christ (1 Cor. 2:8).

Christ's message to Paul from heaven, our gospel, differs from that of the 12 apostles to biblical Israel (James 1:1), who did works to prove their faith in 'times past' (Rom. 11:6, James 2:24). We, who are living during the dispensation of the grace of God (Eph. 3:2), are to simply have faith in the finished cross-work of Jesus Christ (Rom. 3:28, 1 Cor. 1:23). Works for salvation actually put us into debt with God as this shows lack of faith (Rom. 4:4). Basically, we do not work today in order to be saved, we work because we are saved (Eph. 2:10, Eph. 4:12).

During God's dispensation of grace (Eph. 3:2) there is no difference in Jew or Greek (Gal. 3:28). Believers today are members of the church, the body of Christ (Col. 1:24). God now sees Christ in us, and not who we see when we look in the mirror!

Since we're unable to find our own way to salvation (Titus 3:5) we need someone who can, a savior. That's what it means to have faith in Christ, belief that He died on the cross for the forgiveness of all our sins (1 Cor. 15:3), was buried, but rose again (1 Cor. 15:4), so that we may have everlasting life (Rom. 6:22, 1 Cor. 15:22). 

When you’re a passenger in a vehicle, you have faith that the driver will safely get you to your destination. Jesus Christ is our ‘spiritual vehicle’ (Rom. 5:10, Rom. 8:32), and the Holy Spirit is our 'spiritual seat-belt' (Eph. 4:30), that seals our souls until the day of redemption (Eph. 1:13)!

Our good news today is that our belief in what Jesus Christ did on our behalf makes us the righteousness of God (1 Cor. 1:30, 2 Cor. 5:21). Amen!

September 01 2022 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report