In a recent post.....a certain poster{ I will not reveal his identity to protect him from his post}
a certain poster made this claim and suggested I was wrong and teaching error;
Unbelief is sin and anyone denying Jesus will perish for sure......that is not the question.
The question is.....does God punish each and every sin according to His Holy law?
This poster reacted this way, unfortunately;
Does God intend to punish all sin?
Or does God only punish unbelief?
Do people who do not hear about Jesus have their sin punished at all?
There is a close correlation between unbelief and disobedience in Scripture. The two are clearly synonymous at times.
Example:
Hebrews 3:19
King James Version (KJV)
19 So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.
Hebrews 4:11
King James Version (KJV)
11 Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.
Sin is ultimately disobedience to the will of God, but, that is not what keeps men from Heaven. Unbelief is displayed by anyone being disobedient to God's Will. So unbelief and every sin fall, in my view, into a same category though we distinguish direct disobedience to the Gospel as seen as reaping a more severe form of punishment than those who rejected Moses' Law (and this goes to severity of punishment based on particular sin).
What keeps men from Heaven is that in order for men to go to Heaven...they must be born again. That operation of God which includes the remission of sins and transforming that which could no more go into Heaven than we can reach into the television and grab a burger when a McDonalds commercial comes on into something that can come into God's presence.
I would have to say that it is clear all sin will be punished, as this again can be seen in the differing degrees of punishment we see in Scripture. But at the same time we know that it is the lack of relationship with God that keeps us out of Heaven. Even if it were possible for one not to sin, that would not be the reason God allowed them into His Realm. Babies that die in the womb are a good example of that, because they have not sinned, yet, it is not because they have not sinned that they go to be with the Lord in Heaven, it is strictly by grace they are allowed. That doesn't mean w do not consider what Scripture teaches concerning man's condition, which is one of not having life. We also consider that to obtain life, we must believe in Christ and be born again. At that moment, and not a moment before, then are we made into new creatures having life, fully forgiven, and entering into God's presence through the Veil which is Christ and His death on the Cross.
God bless.
