See also Repentance.
Note: Many warnings are coupled with promises from God to those who trust in him and serve him faithfully.
1. The way of sin leads to death; the way of obedience to life.
Matt. 7:13–14. “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.”
2. Only those who hear and do God’s Word will have life.
Matt. 7:21–23. “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ ”
3. Jesus gave us the parable of the wise and the foolish builders.
Matt. 7:24–27. “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”
4. You will reap what you sow.
Prov. 22:5. Thorns and snares are in the way of the perverse; He who guards his soul will be far from them.
Prov. 11:19–21. As righteousness leads to life, So he who pursues evil pursues it to his own death. Those who are of a perverse heart are an abomination to the Lord, But the blameless in their ways are His delight. Though they join forces, the wicked will not go unpunished; But the posterity of the righteous will be delivered.
Gal. 6:7–8. Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.
5. No one can serve two masters—God will not accept a double life.
Matt. 6:24. “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”
6. God rejects the worship of one who is living in sin.
Prov. 15:8. The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, But the prayer of the upright is His delight.
Prov. 15:29. The Lord is far from the wicked, But He hears the prayer of the righteous.
Prov. 21:27. The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination; How much more when he brings it with wicked intent!
Prov. 28:9. One who turns away his ear from hearing the law, Even his prayer is an abomination.
7. If you keep ignoring God’s call to repentance, he will laugh at your calamity.
Prov. 1:24–33.
8. The Lord curses the wicked, but he blesses the righteous.
Prov. 3:33. The curse of the Lord is on the house of the wicked, But He blesses the home of the just.
9. The wages of sin is death.
Rom. 6:23. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
10. We are warned not to drift away from the Lord.
Heb. 2:1–3. Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away. For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him.
11. We are warned not to fall away.
Heb. 6:4–6. For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.
12. Those who have known the way but go on sinning are warned of the consequences.
Heb. 10:26–31.
Heb. 10:26–27. For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries.
Heb. 10:31. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
13. Don’t harden your heart; listen to his voice today.
Heb. 3:7–15.
Heb. 3:7–8. Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, In the day of trial in the wilderness.
14. On the judgment day Jesus will separate the sheep from the goats.
Matt. 25:31–46.
Matt. 25:34. “Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:’ ”
Matt. 25:41. “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels:’ ”
Matt. 25:46. “And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
15. What if you gain the whole world and lose your soul?
Matt. 16:26–27. “For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.”
16. We will all appear before the judgment seat of Christ.
2 Cor. 5:10. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.
17. Always be prepared for Jesus’ return, for the day and hour are not known.
Mark 13:32–37. “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is. It is like a man going to a far country, who left his house and gave authority to his servants, and to each his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to watch. Watch therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming—in the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning—lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping. And what I say to you, I say to all: Watch!”
18. Jesus gave us the parable of the ten virgins.
Matt. 25:1–13.
19. Only those who believe in Jesus will be saved.
John 3:16–18. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”
20. Blessed is the man who does not walk in the way of the wicked. The wicked will not stand in the day of judgment.
Ps. 1.
21. God’s judgment by the flood and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah are set forth as a warning to sinners today.
2 Peter 2:4–10.
Jude 6–7, 14–15.
22. The history of others is recorded as a warning for us.
1 Cor. 10:11–12. Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.
23. God punishes the guilty.
Nah. 1:1–6.
Nah. 1:2–3. God is jealous, and the Lord avenges; The Lord avenges and is furious. The Lord will take vengeance on His adversaries, And He reserves wrath for His enemies; The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, And will not at all acquit the wicked. The Lord has His way In the whirlwind and in the storm, And the clouds are the dust of His feet.
24. Woe to those who call evil good and good evil.
Isa. 5:20–21. Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, And prudent in their own sight!
25. One who has known the Way but turns away from the Lord will receive greater condemnation.
2 Peter 2:20–22. For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: “A dog returns to his own vomit,” and, “a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire.”
26. Unrepented sin separates one from God, so that he will not hear one.
Isa. 59:1–2. Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, That it cannot save; Nor His ear heavy, That it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear.[1]
[1] Kruis, J. G. (1994). Quick scripture reference for counseling (electronic ed.). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.
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