Dear Catholic Exchange:
I have been trying to find an answer to this question: “Where in the Bible does God in His own words condemn a person?”
NJD (Nicholas)
Dear Nicholas,
Peace in Christ!
Part of this answer depends on how strictly to interpret the notion of God speaking “in His own words.” God often, for example, spoke through the prophets or by other means. Solomon wrote that God will condemn the man of evil devices (12:2), but this is not God directly speaking, of course. Another contingency is what kind of condemnation you refer to. For example, the angels who went to Sodom and Gomorrah warned that God intended to destroy the cities; an event that St. Peter characterizes as God condemning to extinction the peoples of Sodom and Gomorrah (2 Pt 2:6). Lastly, do you want the actual word “condemn” or does the act of condemning suffice?
Jesus, Catholics profess, is God come in the flesh. Thus, when Jesus speaks, it is God speaking. In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus is describing what He will say to those on the last day who did not do the will of the Father. He will say, “I never knew you; depart from me you evildoers” (7:23). By denying these persons entrance into the Kingdom, it follows Jesus has condemned them to another fate. Similarly, in Matthew 25, Jesus speaks of the final judgment, in which He will say to those who denied Him in the guise of those in need, “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (v. 41).
Reading through the prophets reveals many instances of God bringing judgment upon unrepentant covenant-breakers. God spoke directly to Moses during Korah’s rebellion and said, “Separate yourselves from among this congregation that I may consume them in a moment” (Nm 16:21). Did He intend to condemn them eternally or for this life only?
The most important message concerning God’s judgment or condemnation of others is to remember that “these are warning for us, not to desire evil as they did” (1 Cor 10:6). God desires a life lived in fellowship with Him, so sometimes in Scripture the consequences of sin are shown so that men and women will know the truth about sin. However, it is not God’s desire to condemn or to separate people from Himself, but warns that “your iniquities have made a separation” between man and God (Is 59:2). The Lord is patient, “not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (2 Pt 3:9). “Condemnation” is a word that evokes a sense of permanence. Correctly understood, God does not condemn anyone, in the sense of an irrevocable sentence, until each one’s particular judgment at the moment of death.
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