Degrees of punishment in the aferlife

Alan McDougall · 12-14-2007, 01:18 PM

DEGREES OF ETERNAL PUNISHMENT

If there are degrees of reward in heaven, will there likewise be degrees of punishment in hell? Yes indeed. On several occasions, when speaking of eternal torment, the Bible mentions those who will suffer to a lesser or greater degree. And each time such a reference occurs, the punishment is proportionate to the opportunities missed. Those who are blessed with numerous opportunities to obey the gospel and still reject it will receive greater condemnation than those who have little or no occasion to accept Christ. Jesus echoed this sentiment in His rebuke to the inhabitants of the cities of Bethsaida and Chorazin.
Woe unto thee, Chorazin! Woe unto thee, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon which were done in you, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. However, I say unto you, it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the Day of Judgment than for you. And thou, Capernaum, shalt thou be exalted unto heaven? Thou shalt go down unto Hades: for if the mighty works had been done in Sodom, which were done in thee, it would have remained until this day. But I say unto you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the Day of Judgment, than for thee (Matthew11:21-24)

Jesus offered this censure to those Jewish cities where He had done much of His preaching, and where, on occasion, He even had performed miracles. The citizens of those towns had more opportunity to accept the Messiah than many others living around them, yet they persisted in their rejection of Him. On the other hand, the Gentile cities of Tyre and Sidon—renowned for their wickedness—would receive a lesser punishment at the Day of Judgment for the simple reason that they had been deprived of direct exposure to Christ’s message and miracles. All were to endure punishment, for all had rejected God’s law. Nevertheless, it would not be equal punishment. The writer of Hebrews further emphasized this point when he addressed the “sorer punishment” that was to befall those who had “trodden underfoot the Son of God” (10:29). Notice also Peter’s stinging statement regarding the terrible fate that awaits unfaithful, backsliding Christians:
For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein and overcome, the last state is become worse with them than the first (2 Peter 2:20-21).
If Peter’s statement teaches anything, it teaches degrees of punishment.

However, perhaps the most convincing argument for the concept of degrees of punishment derives from Jesus’ parable of the wicked servant, as recorded in Luke 12:42-48.
In addition, the Lord said, “Who, then, is the faithful and wise steward, whom his lord shall set over his household, to give them their portion of food in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. Of a truth, I say unto you, that he will set him over all that he hath. But if that servant shall say in his heart, ‘My lord delayeth his coming,’ and shall begin to beat the menservants and the maidservants, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken; the lord of that servant shall come in a day when he expecteth not, and in an hour when he knoweth not, and shall cut him asunder, and appoint his portion with the unfaithful. In addition, that servant, who knew his Lord’s will, and made not ready, nor did according to his will, “shall be beaten with many stripes”; but he that knew not, and did things worthy of stripes, “shall bebeaten with few stripes”. And to whomsoever much is given, of him shall much be required: and to whom they commit much, of him will they ask the more”

The meaning of the last section of this parable is inescapable. All the wicked will be punished; however, those limited in their opportunities to learn about Christ will be punished “with fewer stripes” than those who knew the truth and obeyed it not.

I do not believe that a non Christian that has lead a fairly good and honest life with few transgressions would be punished by God in everlasting, pain, torment loneness and utter hopelessness. The terrible ultimate hell depicted in Revelations chp: 20 is for Hitler and his kind for the unspeakable evil they perpetrated in the earthly lives

We must always remember God is the “Righteous Judge” and it follows logically that his judgments will be fair and just.

Everything above is based on the Word OF GOD,

May God bless his word to your heart?
Alan

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