Punished Before Our Wedding?
Q. First I would like to thank you so much for what you provide for all of us out here, you are a blessing.
Recently a Bible teacher whom I respect greatly wrote an article concerning our judgment for sins after we die as Christians. My whole Christian life I have been painfully aware of my sins. Even the good things I try to do result in moments when a I realize my motives are suspect. The only hope I have is the knowledge that all my sins are covered by Jesus and the sacrafice he made. I have been looking forward to the Rapture when all this life will be set aside and we will be free from this burden of sin.
Now I find out that it isn’t all over then … God hasn’t forgotten our sins … he hasn’t sent them as far away as the bottom of the sea or as far as the East is from the West. According to the Bible teacher as soon as we die or are raptured we face God’s judgement and he will bring up every sinful thought and deed we ever had. I am almost in tears thinking of the shame I will feel.
Now the rapture doesn’t seem like something I am looking forward to but is something I dread. Now I see every shameful thing I feel … every time I think a bad thought about someone as like being written on a post-it note and stuck to my body … by the time I face God there will be hundreds of thousands and even tho I asked God to forgive me, he has only forgiven me the penalty (death) and not the actual sin itself … and he will take each post-it one by one and shake it in my face to remind me of how much a bunch of filthy rags I really am … how can I comfort myself with this thought?
A. Stop and think. God knew every sin of your life before He went to the cross, and died for them all. He did this before you even knew Him, because He knew you and loved you enough to die for you. (Ephesians 2:1-5). Now that you’ve professed your love for Him does it make sense that He’d punish you for the very things He died for so you could be forgiven? What kind of a loving God would that make Him? Would a man speak to his soon-to-be bride that way at their first meeting? Then why would the Lord speak to His church that way?
Stop listening to fallen men’s opinions and stay focused on what God has said. There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1). Your sins aren’t pinned to you, they’ve been nailed to the cross and taken away (Colossians 2:13-15). In God’s sight you are a new creation, as righteous as he is (1 Cor. 5:17,21) If you’ve confessed, you’ve been forgiven and have been purified from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).
