Then does a believer's sin cost him nothing?
Hebrews 12, the Lord's Supper at Corinth, and lost reward.
The short answer Settled
No. God disciplines him as a son, and he can lose reward. What he never faces is condemnation.
A Father's discipline
"For whom the LORD loves He chastens, And scourges every son whom He receives" (). To chasten is to correct, as a father corrects his son. Being disciplined does not show that a person is outside God's family. It shows that he is in it: "God deals with you as with sons" (). God does it "for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness" ().
Even to death, but not condemnation
At Corinth, believers were taking the Lord's Supper "in an unworthy manner" (). "For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep" (). In this letter, to sleep is to die: of those who saw the risen Lord, "some have fallen asleep" (). Then Paul says what it was: "when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world" ().
God's discipline is serious. It can take a believer's health and even his life. But it is a Father dealing with His child, so that he is not condemned with the world.
Loss of reward
"If anyone's work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire" (). The work is lost; the man is not.
The usual objection
Paul says that one who takes the Lord's Supper in an unworthy manner "eats and drinks judgment to himself" (). On this view a believer who sins badly enough comes under God's judgment and faces hell.
Paul says what that judgment is three verses later, and he uses two different words to do it: "when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world" (). To be judged, krinōGreekκρίνωkrinōjudge2919 · Verb; here a present passive participle, "when we are judged", is to have God rule on what a person has done. To be condemned, katakrinōGreekκατακρίνωkatakrinōcondemn2632 · Verb; here an aorist passive subjunctive, "we may … be condemned", is to be judged against: the sentence on the world. A believer who sins is judged, and the judgment is a Father's chastening. Condemnation is what it keeps him from. The warning in Hebrews 10 is taken up under question 6.
The words behind it
| Word | Where | Form | What it shows |
|---|---|---|---|
| παιδεύει paideuei, "He chastens" (Strong's 3811) | Present active indicative | What a father does for a son. | |
| κρίμα krima, "judgment" (2917) | Noun | A ruling; verse 32 says what kind. | |
| κρίνω krinō, "judge" (2919) | Verb; here a present passive participle, "when we are judged" | God rules on what a believer has done. | |
| κατακρίνω katakrinō, "condemn" (2632) | Verb; here an aorist passive subjunctive, "we may … be condemned" | Judged against: the world's sentence. | |
| ζημιωθήσεται· αὐτὸς δὲ σωθήσεται zēmiōthēsetai; autos de sōthēsetai, "he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved" (2210, 846, 4982) | Future passive indicatives | The work is lost; the man is saved. |
No textual variants affect the conclusion.
This study checks the Greek Received Text against the Majority Text, and the written Hebrew against its traditional reading. If a difference could change a conclusion, this note explains it. Otherwise it says that none does.