Punishment

You know, I think a lot of confusion about who God is and how He operates could be cleared up by just reading the Bible and understanding the New Covenant.
Jesus does not want His blood to go to waste. He will save as many people as He can before He comes back. God isn't trying to keep people out of the Kingdom by killing them for sinning. He went out of His way (because He "So loved the world" (John 3:16) ) that He sent Jesus to live as we do so that Jesus could sympathize with us in our weaknesses (Hebrews 4:14).
At this point, God is still pointing people to Jesus and His finished work. He isn't causing cancer, earthquakes, and floods to teach people a lesson. There will be a time for punishment. Read the passage below.
⁶God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you ⁷and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. ⁸He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. ⁹They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power ¹⁰on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you.
(2 Thess 1:6-10)
God really loves Jesus. You need to keep in mind that He (Jesus) has the name above every name.
⁹Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,¹⁰that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,¹¹and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father. (Phil 2:9-11)
His finished work on the cross will not be disrespected or made void because "God is sovereign and can do whatever He wants." God exalted Jesus. Listen to the Son because He represents the Father. (Hebrews 1:3, Luke 9:35)

Forgiveness

"The forgiveness of sins is not merely the beginning, but it is the foundation, the source; it is, so to say, the mother of all divine blessings." - Adolph Saphir

It's true.

Look in Matthew 9. There is a story where a paralyzed man is brought to Jesus. When he sees the man he has compassion on him and says, "Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven."

Later he says to the man, "Get up, take your mat and go home."

Do you see what came first? Forgiveness of sins. There are several other accounts where Jesus does the same thing. Even when the apostles are preaching in the book of Acts, we see times when people hear the message of the Gospel and are healed.

It is important to know where your forgiveness comes from and how it is measured.

It does not come from and is not measured by anything you do or don't do. As you can see in the story above all the paralyzed man did was come to Jesus. He was then forgiven and healed.

Your forgiveness is measured by God's abundance of Grace (His unmerited favor). Look in Ephesians 1:7.

"In him (Jesus) we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace"

Accept grace. Rest from your works. Let the Grace of God teach you and lead you.

Approaching God

In Revelation 12:10 it says, "(Satan) the accuser of our brothers,
who accuses them before our God day and night,
has been hurled down. "

What do you notice about this passage? What do you see Satan doing?

He is talking to God day and night! He is the most evil person ever but he still talks to God.

A lot believers today think they are disqualified to talk to God. They think that their sin keeps them away or that they are not holy enough. But if the devil himself can come before God, how much more can we as believers who have been qualified by the blood of Jesus through the cross come before him!

If Satan can accuse you before God, then you (sons and daughters of the living God), can come boldly to Jesus' throne of grace. (Hebrews 4:16)

Salvation

Do you know about crucifixion and its social implications? It was reserved for the lowest and most despised criminals. It was incredibly shameful and dishonorable. We know Jesus didn't deserve it, but when we read in Luke chapter 23, we find that there were two others crucified with them. They had to have been pretty low in society and would have done some terrible things to end up where they were. They deserved what they were getting.

They were really big sinners! Really big!
They were getting their just reward; death.
(DISCLAIMER - I was also a really big sinner and that is the point of this post. Jesus still accepts me. I am not condemning the criminal.)
BUT!

Look in Luke 23:42:43 - As they are hanging on their crosses, one of the criminals says to Jesus, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your new kingdom."

Jesus replies, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."

Wow.

This criminal did bad things probably his whole life and didn't deserve to live. But right at the last moment he recognized that Jesus was the Christ, the son of God, our Savior, and he accepted Him. And what was his eternal reward??????

Paradise with Jesus. That means intimate relationship with God, forever.

I love how Jesus says, "TODAY you will be with ME in PARADISE."

There was no spiritual limbo or judgement to go through. He went directly into paradise with Jesus. He was immediately cleared of his sins BEFORE Jesus was even dead and then resurrected. This is a testament to God's saving love and faithfulness.
Think for a second though.... How did the criminal have so much confidence to even talk to Jesus? To even ask Him to "remember me". He had to first hear about how good Jesus was to people. That Jesus eats with tax collectors and doesn't condemn prostitutes.

So with boldness and a confident heart he asks Jesus to be his savior. That is the same confidence we can have today when we are in times of trouble. Come to the throne room of Grace in your time of need (Heb. 4:16). Jesus will not abandon you.

Righteousness

Romans 5:14-16 (NIV)
Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come.
But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God's grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!

You might come across theology that says "Positionally, you are righteous before God because of Jesus. But practically you aren't righteous; you are a sinner because of the evil things you do."

It sounds right, doesn't it?

But let me ask you a question: Based on the verse above (Romans 5:14-16), how many sins did it take YOU to become a sinner? One? Two? Twenty?

The answer is none. You were born a sinner. Even if you kept the Law of Moses perfectly you were still considered sinful.


So how many good deeds/works/things must you do to be righteous then? One? Two?

The answer is none. You are born-again righteous. You will never be more or less righteous because Jesus made you righteous forever.

If you have accepted Jesus Christ, all of your sins are forgiven (Past, Present, and Future). You are the righteousness of God thanks to Jesus.

People will never be set free, healed, or transformed if you don't preach Grace radically just like the Apostle Paul did.

Shalom Peace

John 14:27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. -Jesus
This word "peace" in Hebrew is "Shalom". It actually means peace, prosperity, health, completeness, soundness, and safety.

If Jesus gave this peace to you, wouldn't you say that anything opposite of it isn't from God? Confusion, lack, sickness, and insecurity are the works of the devil.

Don't credit this evil to Jesus.