Infinite punishment for finite sins?

Question

or even for honest disbelief?
Please explain?

So far, about what I expected.

Answer 1

Well, now you know your choices, so you must chose! infinite punishment for your refusal to accept God/Jesus, or be instantly cleared of that through the blood of Jesus Christ...

What will you chose? that is the question?

If you realy want to know in your heard I suggest you read the New Testament, it answers all your questions. Better than any man!

Answer 2

If you are referring to what Jesus is supposed to have done for us, it's because you do not understand the types of Christ of the Old Testament that you wouldn't understand what Jesus did covered.

In the Old Testament the Priest would make a sin offering for all the people once a year. He would go into the Holy of Holies and make the sacrifice with blood and sprinkle the blood on the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark was a type of Christ, The High Priest was a type of Christ, and the atoning blood was a type of the work of Christ. The Ark represented Christ, it was covered and placed a barrier between sinning man and God's righteousness. If that covering was removed, it would cause those on that area to die (1 Samuel 6:19) . So the covering on the Ark was called the Kapareth or 'Mercy Seat'.

Since Jesus provided a way, once and for all for the people, only those who claim the promise ( Hence: Believe in me and you will be saved) , are counted as being covered. The type of the Israelites can be said to represent those who claimed the promise throughout the world who do it after the resurrection.

So those "who do not believe are condemned already",
( John 3) and those who claim it are made free from the wages of sin. So the question of whether someone is 'covered' or not becomes important. Not that they sinned any particular way, but that they were not covered by the atoning sacrifice. It is quite clear that there is no other way to God other than by the sacrifice that Jesus provided.

Answer 3

Sin is a state of being. Infinite being, infinite punishment. For an infinite being honest disbelief is an oxymoron.

The assumption that everyone is infinite or has eternal life is a false assumption on the part of many religious teachers and believers. Without eternal life one can not live for ever, let alone suffer forever.

Answer 4

Honest disbelief's? Is that anything like "Oh, I didn't know that I lied." Or "I didn't mean to steal that". Or, "Whoops, that lust was just an accident." "The hate that is my heart, which God says is the same as murder, is OK."

Come on. You know that you do things that are called sin. Do you believe that you can just get by with what you do to others? How about what they do to you?

You can disbelieve all you want but, sin is still here. We are born with the sin nature. If you want to believe, you can by learning about Jesus and what He did for you. You will not believe until you know Him personally. Read the Bible! Listen to those who know Him.

Disbelief is not honest because you can change it... Our sin is punishable infinitely. Jesus will take care of that in your place, for you.

Answer 5

The way it was explained to me was that an offense against God was an offense against an infinite being, therefore worthy of infinite punishment. No, it doesn't make sense to me either... Also, it is important to note that in this perspective there is no such thing as honest disbelief. Non believers are at best willfully deceiving themselves.

Answer 6

You know, I find it very interesting that a belief in hell wasn't necessary in early Christianity. In fact, Saint Athanasius, the great apologist, believed that we die and return to dust... He believed that all people die and just rot, but Christians resurrect after a certain amount of time to join Jesus in ressurrection.

Everyone else just rotted peacefully I guess, and ceased to exist.

Belief in hell was not necessary then, and it certainly isn't necessary now. It's just a development of mythology over a couple thousand years based, not helped any by Dante's Inferno, sorta "confirmed" by a few metaphorical passages in the New Testament... (ie, Lazaous and the Rich man).

I am studying for the ministry and I will never tell a person they might face hell.... No, eternal punishment is cruel and I refuse to believe in a God like that.

Answer 7

You show an obvious misunderstanding of sin.

Sin isn't merely telling a lie, or even stealing a hubcap.

Sin is rebellion against God's rightful authority - high treason, as it were, placing YOU on GOD'S throne.

God created us in His own image, so that even though we have a beginning, we have no end to our existence.

God wants us with Him, but when we tell Him "No", you are rejecting Him (He never rejected you), so if you don't want to live WITH God, what other option, but to live AWAY from Him?

Now, keep in mind that "All good things come from God", that means that when you finally and eternally separate yourself from God's presence, you also seperate yourself from "all good things".

Let's see - what does that include? - Ummm - love is good. So is friends. Hope is also good. Eternity away from God (by your own choice) is an eternity without hope, help, friends, love, escape from pain, and anything else you consider good.

God said to choose Life that you may live. Jesus said "I am life".

Jesus said, "I am the way, I am the Truth, and I am Life. No man can come to the Father, but by me"

The reason for this is that you have closed all the doors, and burned all the bridges by your sins, so God sent Jesus as the final door, the final bridge to get back to God. Reject Jesus, and there is no other way back.

But if you turn to Jesus in honest repentance, then He can reconcile you back to your loving Heavenly Father (because He paid the penalty for YOUR crimes against God), and then He can adopt you into His Forever Family.

Really, the choice is yours. God's already done everything HE can do. The ball is now in YOUR court. Act on His invitation, or toss it out.

But don't go blaming God for your eternal destiny when YOU are the one choosing it.

One last thing - Jesus is the one who talked about "Outer darkness, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth", and Daniel describes a place of "Eternal shame". Let's keep things straight. There IS a heaven to look forward to, and there IS a hell to shun. It's in the Scriptures.

Answer 8

Sweet Pea the bible says the wages of sin is death. You are not held responsible for a sin if you have asked the Lord thy God to forgive you. See when you do that he cast in the lake of fire and has forgotten about it. we as people repeat those sins and that is how it is brought back up. It doesn't matter how many times you ask for forgiveness he will forgive you because he is just that type of God. He love you enough to know when you will make bad choices but forgive you anyway. Seek him out and he will reveal his love and spirit to you. God bless!

Answer 9

You're asking the logic impaired to explain something. Camus hit the nail on the head with respect to this piece of theological tripe in, The Myth of Sisyphus.

Answer 10

You don't throw the kid in jail for stealing a candy bar...

So "infinite punishment" sounds a little harsh for the transgression...

Make it "half" an Infinity...you'll be out on "good behavior" in just 1/3rd of Infinity...much more fair...