Is God Judging Us or Disciplining Us? - Part 1

All of us as Christ-followers can make one of two mistakes, which I will explore in this post and also in part 2.

Erroneous Idea #1: 

I must pay for certain sins in spite of what the Bible says to the contrary.

Some of us think God judges and punishes us for our sins instead of grasping that Christ alone pays for our sins. Because as Paul reminds us, if we pay for our sins “then Christ died needlessly” (Galatians 2:21).

“God Is Punishing Me!”

Do you remember the old village stocks? They were wooden structures positioned in the village square. Many had a hole through which the head was placed, and two holes for the left and right hands. Some had holes for the feet. The person then stood or sat there for a lengthy period of time as punishment for their crime. People in the village who passed by might throw tomatoes to humiliate the individual. Some refer to this wooden structure as the pillory since the punished were pilloried. Whatever wrong the person did, that person would pay for it through physical pain and social humiliation.

Some believers have this idea that God is intent on putting them in old village stocks, so to speak, until they have paid for their sins by suffering through some imposed punishment. They think that the minute they step out of line, God judges them for what they did wrong, sentences them to suffer for a period of time, inflicts some kind of punishing pain, and then after they have paid the penalty, they will be good to go—until the next time.

For example, a person might think, “Oh, I screamed at my spouse and child, smashed a set of dishes, and then left for two days. I was selfish, out of control, and cruel. God will get back at me, I just know it. He will make me pay for what I did wrong. Something bad will happen to me as punishment. God will cause a piano to fall on me."

Their feelings of guilt communicate to them God is about to judge and punish them.

However, God does not punish us for our transgressions. Instead He disciplines us, which I will address later. Sadly, though, when a person feels God is out to punish them for their sins, they almost become superstitious. Superstition is the belief in supernatural causality. In this instance, they might think, “What I do wrong over here causes God to do something against me over there.” You know, stay off the cracks in sidewalks since the superstition is that when “I step on a crack, I break my mother’s back."

Some have developed a superstitious mind-set when it comes to their relationship to God that is comparable to making sure you do not let a black cat cross your path, you do not break a mirror, you keep your fingers crossed, and you hang a horseshoe on the wall just right. Fail to do these things and the supernatural is out to punish you.

So, as a Christ-follower, the erroneous idea says that if you disobey God then you better look out.

A man says, "I have often felt like I am waiting for the other shoe to drop. This comes from a life of commands (words that play over and over again in my head) that was instilled by my dad. I heard 'God is punishing us' more than a few times growing up. I have had to forgive my dad for a lot, and I know that colors my view of my heavenly Father."

Why is this the case more often than it should be? Some of this thinking is not without a degree of biblical logic. As Christ-followers we read in the Old Testament about the national law of Israel that set forth the teaching of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. This is referred to as the law of retaliation. One must repay. Tit for tat.

So, when we disobey God, the degree to which we hurt Him, He hurts us in return, unless He decides to let us off the hook or finds Himself preoccupied with a tsunami that trumps His interest to retaliate toward us. But on any given day when we disobey, we must pay the divine piper.

The Jews created a whole set of laws from God’s ordinances that had nothing to do with God’s will or heart. Jesus made reference to this when He said in Luke 13:15, "You hypocrites, does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the stall and lead him away to water him?” Later He asked in Luke 14:5, "Which one of you will have a son or an ox fall into a well, and will not immediately pull him out on a Sabbath day?” In other words, they had a rule against untying an ox or donkey on the Sabbath, but even they did not keep that commandment. 

But that did not stop them from creating a legalistic system that made most of them feel quite unrighteous.

Did you know that the leaders among the Jews derived 613 commandments to obey? These 613 were written in what is called the Mishnah. Volume after volume prescribes what a Jew must do.

In a similar fashion, some Christ-followers create rules like praying so many minutes a day, reading the Bible every day, talking about Jesus each day, making sure they comment on anything that contradicts the Bible, and so on. None of these are bad in and of themselves, but some Christ-followers conclude that if they fail to do these things, God will punish them for their sinful disobedience. Though they do not think God will drop a piano on their head, since they qualify for some grace, He will let a piano key pelt them on the shoulder.

Real agony comes over the Christ-follower who willfully sins. It is one thing to neglect the good but quite another when pursuing carnal desires. In torment, they think, “Because I committed adultery, God will punish me. God will get back at me big time; it is just a matter of time. I know my Bible. After King David committed adultery with Bathsheba and she had his baby, God caused the child to die. God judged David. God made David pay. God will do the same with me."

To these folks, God is a divine executioner. Step out of line and suffer punishment. The score must be evened.

Is a Believer Punished for Sin?

Because of what Jesus Christ did on the cross for me, God no longer judges me for my sin in the sense that He punishes me for that sin. God will not impose some external punishment to make me pay for my wrongdoing. Though He disciplines me, He does not judge me. There is a difference. The former is positive. I have gotten off track and God enacts consequences to lovingly shepherd me back to the right path. It is not eye for an eye. It is not punishment for my practice of unrighteousness but loving discipline that helps me practice righteousness.

Christ Paid the Penalty

Something new and glorious transpired under the new covenant. Christ paid for those sins. As Peter wrote, “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross” (1 Peter 2:24). God does not make us pay for our sins.

If we must pay for our own sins, then why did Jesus Christ die on the cross? As I referenced earlier, if that were true, then as Paul said, “Christ died needlessly” (Galatians 2:21).

Most of us know John 3:16. "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” Tim Tebow, the famous football player, wrote it under his eyes and people hold up the sign at football games.

Do you know what we read after 3:16? John 3:17-18 states, "For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged . . ."

God will not judge the believer.

Christ went to the electric chair, so to speak, for the crimes we committed. He took the rap for what we did wrong.  

John the Baptist called Jesus the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). Every Jew grasped the meaning of this since they sacrificed lambs on an altar for their sins. The Jew's sin was placed on the lamb and God forgave.

So, Erroneous Idea #1 is that I foolishly think that I must pay for certain sins in spite of what the Bible says to the contrary.

But the following scriptures say differently. 

Galatians 3:13 says, "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, "CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE.” The word “redeemed” means to buy back. Jesus bought us back by paying for our sins. This means God will not take into account our sins. 

Romans 4:7-8 says, "BLESSED ARE THOSE WHOSE LAWLESS DEEDS HAVE BEEN FORGIVEN, AND WHOSE SINS HAVE BEEN COVERED. BLESSED IS THE MAN WHOSE SIN THE LORD WILL NOT TAKE INTO ACCOUNT.” This means we will not be judged and punished for our sins. 

And Romans 8:1 states, "Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” This means the Christ-follower need not walk around in fear of God placing them in the village stocks!

However, though God no longer judges the Christ-follower for their sins, that does not mean He does not discipline us. For “God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline?” (Hebrews 12:7).

We will discuss God’s discipline in part 2 when we break down Erroneous Idea #2.