What happens if I reject God?

God is a God of love.

We know from what He says through Peter that He does not want anyone to be destroyed. (2 Peter 3:9: The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.)

I was reading this morning and came across this in Deuteronomy 7.

7“The Lord did not set his heart on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other nations, for you were the smallest of all nations! 8Rather, it was simply that the Lord loves you, and he was keeping the oath he had sworn to your ancestors. That is why the Lord rescued you with such a strong hand from your slavery and from the oppressive hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. 9Understand, therefore, that the Lord your God is indeed God. He is the faithful God who keeps his covenant for a thousand generations and lavishes his unfailing love on those who love him and obey his commands. 10But he does not hesitate to punish and destroy those who reject him. NLT

This passage affirms that God chooses to save people because of His love, but contains the chilling statement that He does not hesitate to punish and destroy those who reject Him.  This is consistent with John 3:18:  “There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son.” (NLT)  Two verses earlier in John 3:16 God tells us that He loved the world so much that He gave His one and only son so that anyone who believes will not perish. 

The chilling fact remains that those who reject this offer of salvation will perish.