How Should Christians Deal With Sin and Guilt?预览

Does God Punish Christians?

Many Christians ask if God still punishes sin today or if we are waiting for a punishment to come when Christ returns and we face the judgment seat of Christ.

There is much teaching given to the Christian explaining what God has done in saving us. There is such attention given to that because we tend to forget what God has done for us in Christ. 

Having been justified by faith in Jesus Christ, we now have peace with God (Rom. 5:1). From the standpoint of God as our Judge, there is no condemnation left for us (Rom. 8:1). Christ, our Savior, took our punishment upon Himself when He died on the cross as our substitute. We lack nothing for complete acceptance by God because our righteousness before God is not our own—it’s God’s gift to us. The righteousness of God’s Son has been imputed to our account; it has been given to us as a gift received by faith. 

All sins are forgiven. We have a perfect standing with God the moment we trust in Christ. As a Christian, when I consider God as a Judge, I have nothing to fear. Nothing. On my best days, I am no more pleasing to God in the eternal realm as on my worst days. On my worst days, I cannot be displeasing God in the least. From the standpoint of God as a Judge, God’s pleasure in me is explained by His Son’s perfect life, death, and resurrection. 

However, when we go to passages like Hebrews 12 and see God as Father, we learn that God disciplines His children. When we stop seeing God as a Judge, and we consider Him our Father…

Is it possible for me to displease the Lord? Yes. 

Is it possible for me to experience discipline for my sins? Yes. 

Is it accurate to say that I can live in sin just because I’m saved, and no repercussions will come? Of course not. 

In this temporal realm, am I punished for my sins? Yes. 

Discipline is painful. Sin carries its punishments. As a Christian, I still experience the repercussions of my sinning in the temporal realm. God still corrects me from my sinning because He loves me. 

What about punishment in the sense of God as Judge and everlasting damnation? No, I stand before God wholly accepted in His Son.