Thoughts on Punishment from God

Thoughts on Punishment from God

Hebrews 12:6

 The Desire for Wrong

It is quite obvious that people naturally want wrong, or rather, what they perceive to be most desirable, and that would be something of which they do not have, such as their own way. Most often people get tangled up into the notion that we all want what is best, and this is more than slight error. To hold such a theory is to say that we all want is eternal, because it is perfectly normal for every human being to desire to live. Nonetheless, when the option of eternal security arrives, people scatter, running to what they believe to be a place of safety. And, as is also quite clear thanks to the modern way of thinking, people almost always chose that which is wrong when the choice is left up to themselves. When there is a choice between one or two roads (or more), it is more likely that we are going to chose the wrong road. Most people don’t often consider this in any of their thinking, and just shrug it off and say something along the lines of “That’s normal.” Yet it clearly has escaped their minds that, when it comes to life and death, it is more likely that they will chose the path that leads to death. This is so very clear in the modern world, as most people are running to the idea that there really is no ruler, creator or any other higher power, and that we are all just a convenient accident (although the realization that an accident knows it is just that still puzzles me). Why people run to this may also puzzle many believers. Why do most people desire to live, yet chose death when the choice is left to themselves?

What happens when wrong is done?

It is more likely that a person will regret their wrong once the slightest sign of punishment is seen. This is why thieves, murderers and even little children whom have committed a wrong deed run and hide. We fear punishment, yet are stupid enough to do that which leads to that which we fear (if that makes sense).

Punishment, as is known by all, is a painful result to a wrongdoing. Be it (most often) physical pain, or even emotional pain (which is often felt by one’s own doing). Punishment is also seen as wrong, and in today’s train of thought, it is to be avoided at all costs. Strange, because if punishment is considered wrong, and we naturally want wrong, one would expect that there would be more punishment. But that is another subject.

Both punishment and the fear of it have something in common. They both show signs of a desire for something. Those who punish others for wrongdoing do so because they do not wish the evildoer to continue in their ways (such as a murder, who takes a life), and the one who fears the punishment, because they do not want to lose anything. And, as is also likely, the one who is bringing the punishment about often fears that it will not be enough, or in today’s view, too much. This then brings about the distorted view of punishment that we refer to as “common.”

God

There is something that keeps many, if not all (at one time or another), focused on what they are doing, and that is the fear of perfect punishment. Such a thing would be considered “revolting” to today’s society. How could a loving God punish someone who did nothing wrong? Well, as a matter of fact, how could a loving God keep from punishing all of us? The statement “How could a loving God… *insert idiotic statement here*” makes me sick, not because of the person that is saying (that would be entirely subject to my opinion of the person), but the outright arrogance that is spattered all around in it. To say that those who not only sinned against God, but nailed His Son to a cross, don’t deserve punishment is to say that we are above God.

So, who does God punish? The answer is simple; Sinners. Than we are all doomed! This could be a place where I go out and call out that we are all dead men walking, yet that would be an error. Without Christ, we all deserve punishment. There is not one human alive that is innocent from sin (Rom. 5:12), and we cannot pay the debt that we owe God for our sin (Rom. 3:23; 7:24), therefore we are all to be punished. That is, as I mentioned, without Christ.

Does God Punish Believers?

We all have sinned. Thus, we are all worthy to be punished. This is something no one can deny, in the state without Christ. Even believers, who fail many times, and are also fearful of punishment. Yet, if a believer fears such a thing, than they are not fully confident in the work of Christ. Did He not die for us? Did He not pay the debt fully? To say that God still punishes us as believers is to say Christ did not take the full punishment, which means we are still worthy of death. We are not sinners anymore, and “no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me” (Rom. 7:17, NASB). We are no longer slaves to sin, but slaves to Christ (1 Cor. 7:22, Eph. 6:6). Christ lives in us, thus we no longer desire to sin. It is not us. How can we be slaves to sin and slaves to Christ?

It is always important to remember that Christ took our punishment. So no, He does not punish us. But why then, do bad things happen to me?

First off, I said He does not punish us, but he does discipline. Why does a father discipline his son? Not because he hates him, but because he does not want him to grow up to be a foolish man. And God loves us (believers), thus we are disciplined (Prov. 22:15, Heb. 12:6). So, instead of looking at bad things in our lives as “bad”, perhaps we should look on them as a reminder that He, above all others, loves us.

There is another aspect to “bad” events that I also must point out. We should never look on our struggles as bad in the meaning of something that we should not want. God does not bring these things to us to punish us, but they are brought to us as a trial. A test of faith, shall we say? In fact, we should desire more tests, rather than less. How else do we show our faith to God? By claiming it? Nay! Many can say they are faithful to God, yet when He sends a test, they shatter like a glass cup dropped off of a tall building. As soon as there is stress, they break. But for us, we are to look forward to these things (Acts 20:19, James 1:2, 1 Pet. 1:6).  

The Reality

The answer to the question is quite simple when our position in Christ is realized. We all have sinned and are worthy of punishment, Christ came and took the punishment of those who follow Him (John 3:16), so we are to serve Him, not by hating the trials God sends, but by looking forward to them, and longing for more, so that we can prove our faithfulness to Him. For those who reject Christ, there will be punishment, so never think that they get away from their sin. By continuing in sin, they reject the One who can save them from the punishment, so in a sense, they want punishment. And by that I mean that they live for the moment. They consider the freedom, but love the time they are in now, and reject salvation for a brief moment of “fun”, only to come to the punishment at the end of their lives.

“For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good. So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.” – Romans 7:15-20, NASB.