Punishment by Degree

May 13

(Luke 10:12-14 NIV) ““I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town. {13} "Woe to you, Korazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. {14} But it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you.””

(Hebrews 10:29-31 NIV) "How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? {30} For we know him who said, "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," and again, "The Lord will judge his people." {31} It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God."

Rewards await those who welcome and follow Jesus -- punishment awaits those who will not. But did you know that there are varying degrees of reward and punishment in eternity? Scripture teaches that heavenly rewards will be greater for some than others. This won’t be a problem, as the envy and jealousy of our sin natures will be gone. Jesus also taught that there are different degrees of punishment in hell. He said that it would be “more bearable” for Sodom than for those who rejected him. He said it would be “more bearable” for Tyre and Sidon, than for Bethsaida and Korazin. “More bearable” means there must be varying degrees of punishment. Hebrews 10 says that those trampling the Son of God underfoot” will be punished more severely than others. How can that be unless there are different degrees of reward and punishment? Seek Christ, and then, seek the greater reward. -- Friar Tuck’s Word of the Day