God wouldn't condemn me...
... Just for not believing, would He?
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.
John 3:36
People often say, "I don't believe God would condemn someone just for not believing in Jesus." Though those who make this statement clearly lack understanding, and they often think God won't punish those who don't believe, the statement is, in actuality, correct. God does not condemn people for not believing in Christ - He condemns people for their sin:
"for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" - Rom. 3:23
"For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." - Rom. 6:23
The key to understanding John 3:36 lies in a single word: remains. The person who does not receive Christ is already under condemnation for His sin. By rejecting Christ, that person "remains" under condemnation. This is also clarified earlier in the text:
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God." - Jon 3:16-18
Whoever does not believe is condemned "already." God didn't send Jesus to condemn people, but rather, to save those who already stood condemned. Considering we all have sinned and are deserving of condemnation, the real question we ought to ask is, "why would God save anyone?" Praise God for His grace and mercy that He chose to sacrifice His Son, Jesus Christ, to save people from the condemnation they deserve!
We stand condemned already, it is God who made the way for redemption , There is only one worthy to be praised and one worthy to be believed therefore that faith and belief placed in anything else stands in its original form, condemned. Just saying.
My belief has been for some time now that God will not punish me for my ignorance of His Will for me. I am always questioning if I am on the path that God WANTS me to be on. I have had people misunderstand what I am saying in stating this belief. I certainly DO believe in God and I CERTAINLY believe that the ONLY path to Him is through Christ our Lord.
Personally I believe it is egotistical for someone to think they know exactly what the Will of God is for ANYBODY aside from praising Him and seeking his Glory through Christ. The specifics of how we live our day to day lives is still very much a blur to me because I AM a sinner and it is difficult for me to adhere to some of the teachings laid out for us in the Bible.