Posted on 12/21/2017 6:42:59 PM PST by metmom
"If the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?" (Heb. 2:2-3).
There is certain judgment for everyone who does not receive Christ as Savior and Lord.
Today the majority believes that God is a God of love and grace, but not of justice. One brief look at Hebrews 2:2-3 ought to convince anyone otherwise. The writer's point is this: Since the Old Testament makes it clear that transgression and disobedience met with severe and just punishment, how much more so will equal or greater punishment be rendered under the New Testament, which was revealed by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself?
Both the Old and New Testaments confirm that angels were instrumental in bringing the law (Deut. 33:2; Acts 7:38). The law the angels spoke, primarily the Ten Commandments, was steadfast. That meant if someone broke the law, the law would break the lawbreaker. The law was inviolable; punishment for breaking it was certain.
"Every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense" (v. 2). Transgression refers to stepping across a line—a willful, purposeful sin. Disobedience, however, refers to imperfect hearing—the sin of shutting one's ears to the commands, warnings, and invitations of God. It is a sin of neglect or omission, doing nothing when something should be done.
Hebrews 2:2 also puts to rest the notion that God is not fair. The writer says every sin received a "just recompense." God, by His very nature, is just. Every punishment He meted out to those who defied Him was a deterrent to the sin He wanted to stop.
God severely punished the nation of Israel because they knew better. That leads to the important principle that punishment is always related to how much truth one knows but rejects. The person who knows the gospel, who has intellectually understood it and believed it, yet drifts away will experience the severest punishment of all.
Suggestion for Prayer
Ask God to give you an even greater appreciation of the punishment He has saved you from to motivate you to pursue the lost more vigorously.
For Further Study
Read Matthew 11:20-24, 12:38-42, and Luke 12:47-48 to discover Christ's attitude toward those who know the truth yet rebel against it.
Studying God’s Word ping
Paging 5.
“””””Hebrews 2:2 also puts to rest the notion that God is not fair. The writer says every sin received a “just recompense.” God, by His very nature, is just. Every punishment He meted out to those who defied Him was a deterrent to the sin He wanted to stop. ”””””
I believe God is fair and just and am willing to receive all I deserve.
In the past I asked this question that no one would give me a yes or no answer to.
Do you believe a righteous/just God can punish you or I for something He cannot prove a man can do? IE, live a sinless life.
Is that something you will answer? I believe it pertains to the subject of this post. God’s righteousness.
May God our Father lead us to His truth, BVB
God has told us that sin must be punished. The soul that sins must die.
We not punished because we can’t live perfect life. We are punished for our sin.
However, God knows we canmot live a perfect life and has made provision for us to be judicially declared righteous.
When we accept God’s provision in Jesus Christ, we are declared righteous because Christ took our place and took God’s judgment for us.
Thank you for the response.
I agree with most of what you posted including Gods provision in Jesus the Christ.
That puts us back to the question I asked which you did not answer; “Do you believe a righteous/just God can punish you or I for something He cannot prove a man/us can do? IE, live a sinless life.”
May God our Father lead us to His truth, BVB
OK, if you want it clearer, yes.
He is just because He must punish sin and to not punish sin is an unjustice.
It’s especially an injustice to the victims of the sin.
However, it’s got nothing to do with whether He can prove or not something we can or cannot do. That’s not what makes Him just or unjust.
And what makes Him just is that even if it can be proved that God requires soemthing of us that we cannot give, He made provision for justice to be served without punishing the offender theough Jesus Christ, so really, the question is moot.
It doesn’t matter if He is punishing people for something they cannot do, be perfect. They have an out and they can choose to accept it or reject it. It’s on their heads then.
And the issue isn’t that God is punishing us for something we cannot do.
He’s punishing us for something we did do, which is sin.
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