Jerry Falwell (?)

[talbert]

Oh please, Jerry Falwell's statement that we are being punished by God for our wicked ways. My mother! Made the same statement that God was given us a good spankin'. Oh please MY MOTHER!!!!!! I love her dearly..... her blood is coarsing through my veins.....
If you agree with that then any bad thing that happens to you waould qualify as "punishment" from God.
I personally don't think God punishes us (we do that ourselves). What would God gain from it? Is He so needy? My God doesn't need or require anything from me. We too often put our human characteristic on God.

[ANDY-J]

I don't believe that God punishes anyone-even the most wicked individuals.I believe that we are governed by the law of cause and effect or karma-that which we sow is that which we shall reap.All human beings are a part of the universal consciousness,not seperate and distinct from God.We have I believe been given free will in order that we can make mistakes in life and learn from them and thereby grow spiritually until at some point in the future we can return to the Godhead.An individual who sins against God is misguided and the only punishment which he will endure is to experience the same hurt and suffering which his actions have caused to others.

[talbert]

Well put.
If man sins against God, he sins against himself. We are (I believe) one with God.

[StevenWallace]

God can, of course, do anything He wants to, but He says (the Bible says) that The Word will never change and it will go on forever. That means He will not "change the rules" on us. That's good if you like stability.

Jesus admonished us to avoid sin because He loves us, and He doesn't want His loved ones to get hurt (i.e. to hurt themselves). OTOH, He recognizes that "people will perish for lack of knowledge", and that means falling into sin. Long story short: God does not act with injustice; he acts according to the just laws He gave us in His Word. If we, as a people, decide to do the other thing, we should know that there are consequences. He never said "just do whatever you want to", but people seem to think that they are little gods unto themselves who know better about these things .... it just makes Faith absurd to talk that way.