Does God punish us?

When we commit sin, there is a punishment. This punishment doesn’t come from God but we are punished by our own sins. The sin itself punishes us. The moment we commit sin, we fall in the hands of Satan. We give ourselves into his hands. It is Satan’s decision and it is he who punishes us. 

We read in the word of God, ‘the thief comes to steal, kill and destroy.’ Here it confirms that it is Satan who comes to destroy us. This is why we need to remember that it is Satan that punishes us. Therefore, we need to obey the Law of God, the commandment of God to continue to be in His holy grace.  

Why are the commandments given? Commandments are given so that we don’t fall into the power of Satan but rather continue to follow in the way and power of God. Commandments are not rules and regulations but they are health and safety measures that God has given us. This is God’s protection; it is His covering. Hence, it is important to know and obey all these commandments. If we don’t know the commandments, we need to learn them because they are related to our existence.  

In Leviticus 5:17, we read, “If any of you sin without knowing it, doing any of the things that by the Lord’s commandments ought not to be done, you have incurred guilt, and are subject to punishment.” It means even if you commit a sin unknowingly, there is a consequence to it. If it was God who was punishing us, we could beg pardon in front of God, saying, “Please forgive me. It was a mistake. I didn’t know the seriousness of this sin. Please forgive me.“ God would have forgiven us. But it is not God that is punishing us. It is the sin that is punishing us. It is the evil one who is in charge and continues to punish us. He is waiting to trap us. It doesn’t matter how we committed sin, knowingly or unknowingly. The sin we commit will follow us. 

This is why the bible says we need to be aware of the law of God, which is the commandments of God. In front of God we can be ignorant about the constitution of a particular country but we can’t say we were ignorant about His commandments. This is our basic knowledge. This is already engraved in our conscience. We often hear our conscience saying, “Don’t do this!” but we still do it. Then, in this case, we cannot justify ourselves. 

We need to know the difference between right and wrong, good and bad. In order to know the difference, God has provided us with the Bible, His teachings, our teachers, our parents, and so many people to help us. We need to make sure that we take their help and correct ourselves so that we remain in the power of God and not in the power of Satan.