(1 Corinthians 11:31-32 TNIV) But if we were more discerning with regard to ourselves, we would not come under such judgment. Nevertheless, when we are judged in this way by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be finally condemned with the world.
Pay attention to God’s leading and do what you can to stay on the path of the righteous for if you don’t judgment will come but if it does know that God has brought you to this place so that your soul remains in tact. I think sometimes Christians get the idea that we are exempt from God’s correction and because we’ve been shown “the way” somehow that makes all of our future decisions holy but that couldn’t be further from the truth. We find Paul correcting the Corinthians and though his words sting a little bit it is better than God’s judgment.
(1 Corinthians 11:28-30 NLT) That is why you should examine yourself before eating the bread and drinking the cup. For if you eat the bread or drink the cup without honoring the body of Christ, you are eating and drinking God's judgment upon yourself. That is why many of you are weak and sick and some have even died.
But even God’s judgment as His children is better than what God has reserved for those who refuse to follow Him and on that terrible day those who received God’s correction while on earth will be glad for the hardships and difficulties faced because the alternative is beyond human comprehension. God is more concerned about the state of our souls than the comfort of our flesh.
(Matthew 25:41 NLT) "Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, 'Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons.
I recently watched a documentary on Hell. It was by religious people interviewing other religious people and I was surprised how far people would venture from the truth to explain something that confounds them but there was one interview of an atheist and his perspective was closer to the truth than any other. It seems the religious world gets tripped up on how a God being good could condemn people to a place of untold pain and horror but if we take what Paul told the Corinthians it is clear there are lines set before us that we cannot cross without facing consequences, these lines were set in place before man appeared on the scene. God does not make us cross those lines, as a matter of fact God made a decision when He made man to allow us to have free will and without taking that away from us He does everything possible to keep us from choosing spiritual death. God gave us the law so that we might know right from wrong, He corrects us to show us when we’ve made a bad decision that will ultimately hurt us, He has sacrificed His Son so that the price we owed for sin might be paid, and after all of this there are those who still refuse to turn from their wicked ways. So I ask you, who condemns us? We do by our own free will! I believe those who have never heard about Christ Jesus will still be judged justly. I believe God has the ability and right to judge them based on the amount of truth that has been revealed to them. I don’t pretend to know how, I only know who and I know holiness and righteousness requires payment, why else would God send His only Son to die? Was that fair that a righteous King should send His only Son to die for sinners already condemned to die? And if that is required why wouldn’t our decision to live life according to God’s righteousness be required? If an ultimate payment is not real then what is all this about, doesn’t life lose its meaning?
