1 Corinthians 4:5
ESV - 5 Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God.
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Believers will not be judged for the things you mention. It is unbelievers that Paul is referring to. Allow me to offer you the TRUE good news: Jesus Christ died on the cross for ALL of your sins. He took the punishment that we all deserved. He was buried, but defeated both sin and death in His resurrection so that we too may have eternal life with Him by belief. There is no need to ask God for the forgiveness of your sins because God is not judging ANYONE based on their sins today. Our sins are dead to Him, were buried with Him, and stayed in the tomb of Christ, who knew no sin, but was made to be sin for us (2 Cor 5:21), so that when He rose on day three, He rose away from both sin and death for us (who are incapable of this requirement on our own)! What God wants you to do today is to believe in what He has done for you! Why? Because He loves you and wants you to love Him in return by acknowledging that what He did was out of His LOVE! There are verses about unsaved sinners and there are verses about how believers should now live. We are saved by having faith alone in Jesus Christ. That is the easy part because it is gifted to us by God upon our having faith alone. We do not (and are unable to) work for God's free gift. The hard part comes AFTER salvation, which is to now live for God as best as humanly possible. We try to live spiritually now for Him and no longer carnally for ourselves. We, by our sin nature, are so used to serving ourselves in this flesh that the process of walking out of it and into the Spirit is difficult! Paul describes even his difficulty in doing this in Romans chapter 7, but his final words should give you comfort in knowing that God will never punish a TRUE believer for how well they serve Him in their lifetime. We may lose some eternal rewards on the way (1 Cor 3:14-15), but NEVER our salvation (Eph 4:30). We are sealed by the holy Spirit of PROMISE until the day of redemption...not just until we sometimes fail and sin again. Rom 7:24-25 "O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? 25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin." What must you do to be saved for ETERNITY? Believe on our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (Acts 16:30-31), who died nearly 2,000 years ago for the forgiveness of our sins (2 Cor 5:19). Sins that you will NEVER be punished for because of what Jesus Christ did for you on His cross out of His love. 1 Cor 15:1-4 "Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; 2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. 3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; 4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:"
Notice 1 Cor. 3:10-15, which says that even if we are found to have no good works, we will still be saved. 2 Cor. 5:10 states that we’ll all face judgment before Christ, for what we did in this life, good or bad. Works have to do with wages earned, while salvation is a gift received by faith, and Rom. 4:4-5 make it clear that works/wages cannot be mixed with gifts. So there’s no need to fear 1 Cor. 4:5 being a possible loss of salvation.
In this passage of Scripture the Apostle Paul is speaking about judging one another, and that he was not even persuaded by the opinions of the Corinthians. He also stated that even though his conscience was clear, it didn't mean that he was right, however he mentioned that it is Jesus who is Our Judge! Jesus is the one who knows all things, there is nothing hidden from him! In 1 Samuel 16:7b, it states, "For the Lord sees not as man sees; for man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart." Which has to do with the thoughts and intentions of the heart! In Hebrews 4:12, it states, "For the Word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." Everything that we do in the name of the Lord Jesus should be done in love! If it's done otherwise it will be revealed in the light of God's Word!
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