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DEGREES OF PUNISHMENT IN HELL
While Jesus was here on earth He made a special point in condemning the
unbelieving Jews of His generation.
He did this in two ways.
First, quite often He directly accused the religious leaders and those who
followed them as at Mat. 23.
"Woe to you Scribes and Pharisees."
And at other times, Jesus used hyperbole to shame the unbelievers who
rejected him.
In two different ways, Jesus compared the unbelieving Jews who lived during
His time, with the unbelievers of several different time periods.
FIRST, There is the more tolerable factor. Mat. 11:20-24.
SECONDLY, There is the witness factor. Luke 11:29-32.
I view both of these remarks by Jesus as hyperbole to give a strong rebuke
to the unbelieving Jews.
The comparison that He makes would be a very shameful thing to these
religious people who consider themselves to be favored by God more than any
others.
Sure, this interpretation might not be acceptable to some. There are still
many people who think that there will be degrees of punishment in hell.
I affirm that such an idea is not consistent with the absolute justice of
God.
Here, all I can do is present my reasons and let the readers evaluate.
In trying to interpret these two statements by Jesus, there are some
absolute factors that need to be established first.
1. All the unbelievers of the past are in Hades - in torment - and are fully
aware of their status of judgment.
2. When the unbelievers of Christ's generation die, they too will go into
Hades and be fully aware of their judgment.
3. All unbelievers who die in the future will go into Hades.
3. After the earthly Davidic kingdom the final great white throne judgment
will occur. Rev. 20:11-16.
4. All unbelievers will be raised up and stand before the Lord.
5. At that time there will be a formal declaration of every unbeliever's
equal status and all will be thrown into the lake of fire.
6. There is no indication in any other passage that suggests witnesses will
appear at the last judgment.
At the last judgment God will provide the JUDICIAL indictment on all
unbelievers.
Their will not be any COMPARISON of attitudes and actions of people who are
there and the pain of any comparisons will not be different for different
generations or categories of people.
At their death, all unbelievers go into hades and they all experience
equally the fact and the reason for their separation from God.
A person does not go to the lake of fire because of sins.
A person goes to the lake of fire because of the one sin of rejecting Jesus
as Savior.
A person's works do not determine whether they go to the lake of fire or
not.
The record of the future last judgment does not allow for degrees of
punishment.
Two sets of books will be opened.
1. The book of works. This is opened to show that no matter how many or what
quality of good a person has done in his life they all add up to being
totally deficient.
Eph. 2:8-9, we are saved not on the basis of works. But we are saved by the
ONE work of faith in Christ.
John 6:28-29
Therefore they said to Him, “What are we to do, so that we may accomplish
the works of God?”
Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe
in Him whom He has sent.”
Isaiah 64:6 declares, All our righteous deeds are as a filthy rag in His
sight.
The only righteousness that counts is God's.
That's why when a person trusts in Jesus, the righteousness of God is
assigned to that person. 2Cor. 5:21.
He made Him who knew no sin to be sin in our behalf, so that we might become
the righteousness of God in Him.
And secondly, the book of life is opened to show that the person never
trusted in Jesus, which of course, is the only factor that counts. John
3:18.
The one who believes in Him is not judged; the one who does not believe has
been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son
of God.
The book of life
A. Believers are in the book from the foundation of the world. Rev. 17:8;
Ps. 69:28; Phil. 4:3
B. Believers are not erased: Rev. 3:5
C. Unbelievers are blotted out. Ps. 69:28
D. Dead unbelievers are not in the book. Rev. 20:15
Likewise the description of judgment at Rev. 14:9-11 does not allow for
degrees of punishment.
Equal anger from God and equal torment.
“If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his
forehead or on his hand, 10 he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of
God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be
tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in
the presence of the Lamb.
And Paul's description at 2Thes. 1:9 indicates equal judgment. These people
will pay the penalty of eternal ruin,
away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power,
Related to this is what Jesus taught at Mat. 12:24-37
But I tell you that for every useless word that people speak, they will give
an account of it on the day of judgment.
For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be
condemned.”
Now let me assure you, such as I am, that no unbeliever is going to give an
explanation at the last judgment for every thing they said or did.
And likewise no believer is going to give an explanation for everything they
said or did at the reward seat.
See Topic: Reward seat of Christ
Briefly, considering the entire context, the every useless word is that
which demonstrates one's rejection of Jesus.
He will be held accountable for rejection of Jesus. He will render payment
for that rejection.
And of course the payment that will be made is eternal separation from God
in the lake of fire.
At Mat. 12.37, For by your words you will be justified, and by your words
you will be condemned.”
What a person SAYS, which of course is what they believe - about the person
and work of Jesus - will determine whether they have been justified - that
is - made righteous.
According to Rom. 10:10, it is with the heart a person believes, resulting
in righteousness,
and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.
The verbal confession - acknowledgment - of faith in Christ is the EVIDENCE
that one is saved.
But a person's failure to verbally make such a confession does NOT nullify
the faith that justified him.
Any words that express a rejection of God and of Jesus would show evidence
that he might be an unbeliever.
However, it should be clear that WE who hear the words cannot be the judge
of whether the person is a believer or not.
And in general we should not make that kind of judgment one way or the
other.
We can evaluate that the life style; words and actions of a person, show a
character that is not consistent with the way a believer is supposed to
live.
But such a life style does not nullify a genuine faith decision that might
have been made at some time in his life before.
See Topic: Salvation security
See Topic: Judging
At the rapture it will be clear who is and who is not a believer.
After the rapture only unbelievers will remain on the earth. From these many
will trust in Jesus.
During the 45 days after Armageddon, all people who are left alive will be
evaluated whether they have trusted in Christ or not.
At that time God will remove all unbelievers from the earth and place them
in Hades.
Only believers will go alive into the earthly Davidic kingdom.
After the 1000 years of that earthly kingdom all unbelievers will appear
before the great white throne at the last judgment.
So, whether any unbeliever is in Hades, or later will appear at the formal
great white throne -
The judgment declared upon them is the same for all.
And the final factor for every person is whether they are in the book of
life or not.
CONCERNING THE MORE TOLERABLE FACTOR
At Mat. 11:20-24, the teaching of Jesus hints at the idea that there are
degrees of punishment in hell.
Then He began to reproach the cities in which most of His miracles were
done, because they did not repent.
Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles had
occurred in Tyre and Sidon
which occurred in you, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and
ashes.
Nevertheless I say to you, it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in
{the} day of judgment, than for you.
And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You shall
descend to Hades; for if the miracles had occurred
in Sodom which occurred in you, it would have remained to this day.
Nevertheless I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for
the land of Sodom in {the} day of judgment, than for you.
To make an absolute statement, there are no degrees of judgment or of
punishment.
There are no degrees of what must be tolerated. It is equal condemnation to
all unbelievers.
This is HYPERBOLE directed to the religious Jews as a whole. Individuals are
not in view.
But it functions as a severe rebuke upon the hearers for their unbelief.
Only three cities are mentioned and that also should tell us that Jesus is
using hyperbole to shame the hearers.
The mention of miracles refers to the visible manifestation of Jesus as the
Messiah and indicates that greater revelation was given to Christ's
generation than to the former generations mentioned.
However, lesser revelation does not mean inadequate revelation.
People of the past received sufficient gospel information to enter into a
salvation relationship with God.
See topic: salvation in the Old Testament.
The people mentioned as "they would have repented," is hyperbole to shame
the Christ rejecters of His generation.
All unbelievers of every generation will be held accountable for their
unbelief and all will be assigned to the lake of fire.
It is this term, "more tolerable," that introduces the theory of degrees of
punishment for the unbeliever.
It suggests that the unbelievers of Christ's time will be more severely
judged than those people of the Old Testament.
However, elsewhere, Jesus describes the future judgment on the wicked as
absolute.
One example is at John 3:18, the one who does not believe in the Son has
been judged already.
At the last judgment God will provide the JUDICIAL indictment on all
unbelievers.
There will not be any COMPARISON of attitudes and actions of people who are
there and the pain of any comparisons will not be different for different
generations or categories of people.
At their death, all unbelievers go into hades and they all experience
equally the fact and the reason for their separation from God.
Another passage that suggests the theory of degrees of punishment is the
parable of servants at Luke 12:41-48 and
Mat. 24:45-51.
See Commentary: Luke 12:41-48
Now concerning the witness factor.
Now as the crowds were increasing, He began to say, “This generation is a
wicked generation; it demands a sign, and so no sign will be given to it
except the sign of Jonah. For just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites,
so will the Son of Man be to this generation.
The Queen of the South will rise up with the men of this generation at the
judgment and condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to
listen to the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, something greater than Solomon
is here.
The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment and
condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold,
something greater than Jonah is here.
I believe that this also is hyperbole.
Jesus used this form of comparison to shock the hearers and emphasize the
nature of their rejection of Himself as the Savior of the world.
First, there is no other passage that even hints there will be witnesses
called at the last judgment.
Second, there is no NEED for witnesses to be called because ALL are equally
guilty and equally judged.
Third: Notice that this is NOT an individual idea.
This is a generational issue; a national and ethnic issue - as Jesus
clarified at other times
as at Mat 23.36, all these things will come upon this generation.
and Luke 19.44, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.
At the last judgment each unbeliever will appear before the great white
throne and be individually indicted and sent to the lake.
There will not be any generational, national, or etnic factors involved.
And there is no reason for any personal accountability for words and
actions. The ONLY issue is trust in Jesus as Savior.
And as already stated, the book of life shows who has believed in Jesus and
who has not.
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