There are a lot of different doctrines out there on how the Lord deals with his children when they sin. We will look at an extreme case in the Bible.
I Corinthians 5:1- It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father's wife.
Paul is writing the Corinthians to tell them how to deal with a man who is having adultery with his step mother. First off, let me say that sin is sin to God; there are no sins that God looks at as being worse than others- for all have sinned. But this man's sin was something that he wasn't sorry for and he wasn't going to forsake! That's why Paul saw the need to address it.
I Corinthians 5:4-5- In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
Paul is telling them to deliver the offender over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh. We really don't have to pray this prayer. Sin has built in consequences and the Lord is going to let you go through those consequences. But the Cornithians were still hanging out with this guy! Paul wanted them to back off and let the consequences happen without him feeling like he was justified in his sin.
I Corinthians 5:2,9- And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you.I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators:
So, how does God deal with the Christian?
Hebrews 12:5-8-And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.
God chastens his children. Sin has built in consequences and God makes sure they are carried out!
What do we do once we've sinned?
I John 1:9-If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
We are to confess our sins. Name as many as we know we have committed and confess them to God. Why name them? So we understand that those things were sins. What if we forget to name some or don't realize that some deeds were a sin? That's the beauty of verse above. Ask forgiveness and he'll cleanse you from ALL sin!
When we confess our sins, then God can help us through those consequences instead of allowing more consequences because of our stubborn hearts!
The best picture of this is the Prodigal's Son.
Luke 15:20-21- And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.
The son goes to the father and confesses his sins to the father. The father forgives the sins and accepts the son back!
Luke 15:22-24- But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.
The son didn't have fellowship with the father while he was sinning, but he was still his son. The son may have questioned their relationship, but the father never did. When we sin, we cannot go to our Heavenly Father with the same relationship we had before until we confess our sins and get it right, but we never stop being a child of God!
If you leave your father and you say, "I never want to have anything to do with you!" You can have surgery, change your name, whatever! But, your blood will show who your father is! We have been saved by the blood of Christ! The blood will show who our father is.
But, what does a Christian lose when he sins?
The prodigal son never lost the sonship; he lost his inheritance!
Revelation 3:11- Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.
We will all stand before God and get rewards for what we've done. We will also get to reign with Christ.
II Timothy 2:12-13- If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us: If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.
He will deny us a reign with him if we live for ourselves- no inheritance! But, he will not deny our sonship because it's in the blood and he cannot deny himself!
Lamentations 3:39-41- Wherefore doth a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins? Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the LORD. Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens.
Don't waste your time and energy with complaints about the punishment for your sins. Instead, use that time and energy to get back to serving God!
