"Nevertheless, when we are judged in this way by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be finally condemned with the world." 1 Corinthians 11:32 NIV
Does God judge His own people? Or is judgement reserved only for the unsaved? In the New Testament, judgement does not only refer to the final condemnation from which those who have believed in Christ are delivered, but it also describes God's response of discipline toward His own, when they sin. The object of this judgement is to bring them to repentance, not to condemn them. The reason God judges His children is so they are not condemned with the world. If He doesn't judge us here, then He will have to judge us there, and in His love, He chooses to judge us here and now.
As a loving Father, He will not let His children continue in that which has potential to destroy them, nor will He ignore their actions that misrepresent Him to the world. He will bring discipline to caution and deter them from actions that are capable of harming them, and others around them. To teach the loving kindness of God without His loving discipline is to entirely misrepresent what the love of God is.
"And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says, "My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son." Hebrews12:5-6 | NIV
Toni
