1. “Being judged by the Lord, we are disciplined”; “The Father of spirits...disciplined...for what is profitable” (1 Cor. 11:32; Heb. 12:9-10).
Some believers think that the punishment of believers when the Lord returns shows that the Lord’s salvation is not complete, but we know that His salvation is absolutely complete. Even though the Lord’s salvation is complete and we are saved, we can still be punished if we do not apply the Lord’s salvation to a particular point or matter in our living. If we apply the Lord’s salvation to every matter, the Lord’s salvation will save us from difficulties and temptations by the power of His indestructible life and wash us of our failures by the efficacy of His precious blood. If we do not apply the Lord’s salvation to such matters, His salvation cannot be operative for us, even though the Lord’s salvation is absolutely complete. The power of the Lord’s life and the efficacy of His blood must be given the chance to save us and wash us. The Lord’s complete salvation cannot function if it is not applied. Without its application, a day will come when the Lord will punish us for our failure to apply His salvation. His future punishment does not affect the completeness of His salvation or prove that His salvation is incomplete.
First Corinthians 11:30-34 speaks of believers being judged and punished by the Lord for sin after being saved. Hebrews 12:6-11 also speaks of the children of God being disciplined and punished by God for things related to unrighteousness. The punishment that is spoken of in 1 Corinthians 11 and the discipline, or chastisement, that is spoken of in Hebrews 12 both occur in this age. All believers accept the truth in these two portions, and none think that God’s punishment, discipline, and chastisement of the believers today affects the completeness of His salvation or proves that His salvation is incomplete. Nevertheless, some of God’s children have a different opinion about the Lord’s future discipline of the believers. They think that any future discipline would affect the completeness of the Lord’s salvation and prove that it is not complete. But if the Lord’s punishment of the believers in the future proves that His salvation is incomplete, would not His judgment and chastisement of the believers today likewise prove that His salvation is incomplete? Is not the principle the same? How can the Lord’s chastisement of believers not affect His salvation today but affect His salvation in the future? This is illogical. If the Lord’s chastisement of the believers today does not affect His salvation, future punishment also will not affect it. If the Lord chastises us today, it is because we have not applied His salvation to a particular matter. In the same way, if the Lord chastises us in the future, it will be because of our failure to apply His salvation to a particular matter.
In conclusion, the Lord will not punish us if we apply His salvation, but if we do not apply His salvation, He will punish us. Thus, the Lord’s punishment is for matters that have not been dealt with through the application of His salvation, regardless of whether this punishment is now or in the future. The time for punishment does not matter; it will be freely chosen by the Lord. We do not have any choice about the time. If we fear the Lord’s discipline, we should quickly apply the Lord’s salvation. If we fear the Lord’s discipline in the future, we should quickly apply the Lord’s salvation today. The Lord will not chastise us for any matter to which we have applied His salvation. The Lord’s chastisement is His judgment. Everything about us is under the Lord’s condemnation, and the Lord will judge any matter that has not passed through His salvation. Our being judged by the Lord, either today or in the future, does not affect the Lord’s salvation.
2. “If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin not unto death, he shall ask...There is a sin unto death; I do not say that he should make request concerning that. All unrighteousness is sin, and there is sin not unto death” (1 John 5:16-17).
These verses speak of a believer committing sins that are not unto death and sins that are unto death. A sin that is not unto death means we can continue to live on the earth after we commit such a sin. A sin that is unto death means we must die and cannot continue to live on the earth after we commit such a sin. Only God can determine what is a sin that is not unto death and what is a sin that is unto death. This is not something we can determine, because it is according to the level and position of each individual’s salvation, which only God knows. However, this shows that it is possible for a believer to commit a sin that would lead to his death, even after obtaining the Lord’s complete salvation. The fact that he has obtained the Lord’s complete salvation does not free him from the requirement of death. Therefore, while the Lord’s general discipline of the believers does not affect His salvation, even a special discipline of death for certain kinds of sins will not affect His complete salvation. Since the Lord’s discipline of the believers today does not affect His salvation and does not disprove the completeness of His salvation, the Lord’s punishment of the believers in the future also does not affect His salvation or disprove the completeness of His salvation.
The Lord’s redemption on the cross is completely effective. But after we receive the Lord’s redemption, we must apply it every time we fall, sin, become stained or dirty, or commit an offense before the Lord. If we apply His redemption, we will be forgiven and cleansed of these sins. This is like the Israelites who were saved and cleansed by God but who still needed to cleanse themselves, according to Numbers 19, with water mixed with the ashes of the red heifer whenever they became filthy. Despite the fact that they had been cleansed, they were considered filthy before God if they did not continue to use the water of impurity to cleanse themselves of any defilement. In the same way, we have been redeemed and cleansed of our sins by the Lord’s precious blood, but before God we may become defiled with sin if we do not continue to apply the cleansing of the Lord’s precious blood whenever we sin. First John 1 shows that after we receive the Lord’s life, we must confess our sins to God and ask Him to cleanse us whenever we sin (v. 9), and we must allow the Lord’s blood to manifest its efficacy again and again (v. 7). If we do not confess to God, ask Him to cleanse us, and allow the Lord’s blood to continually manifest its efficacy, God cannot forgive us even though the Lord’s blood is efficacious. Therefore, God will still judge and punish us for sins that He has not forgiven and cleansed. Therefore, we should quickly confess our sins, deal with them before Him, and ask for His forgiveness and cleansing. During the kingdom age, the believers will receive judgment and punishment if they have unconfessed sins and offenses because they did not deal with them or ask for God’s forgiveness and cleansing. If we have not allowed the Lord’s blood to be efficacious with respect to all our sins, God will judge and punish us for these sins. However, this judgment will not affect the completeness of the Lord’s salvation and certainly will not prove that His salvation is incomplete.