One of the questions that has often troubled the minds of good, Bible-believing people, is whether or not there will be “levels” or “degrees” of reward and punishment in the afterlife. Certainly we know that there will be both reward and punishment when this life is over, but many are curious about this particular aspect of the question, seeking some response to their query whether the Bible ever addresses the matter or not.

We believe that the Scriptures are very affirmative in this regard. They speak with a resounding “yes” in both cases. However, the precise nature of those “degrees” is not fully explored in the Bible. Many passages teach this principle, but not one of them is sufficiently explanatory to give us all that we might like to know about the matter. All of them are rather general, affirming in some way the fact of it without defining for us the precise nature of this aspect of the concept.

To give a few illustrations of the point, consider that in the case of positive rewards for the faithful, the Word of God reveals that all of those who are saved will be blessed “every man according to his deeds” (Matt. 16:27). This idea is found often in the Bible, even back in the Old Testament: “And shall he not render to every man according to his work?” (Prov. 24:12). In both the Parable of the Pounds (Luke 19:11-27) and the Parable of the Talents (Matt. 25:14-30), Jesus explained that certain individuals were given more into their hands, and then later were rewarded with even greater benefits at the end of the story. Is there something to be read out of this, or is it just window-dressing in the story? We think that it is certainly more than this in both instances.

Jesus said, “Unto every one that hath shall be given, but from him that hath not, even that which he hath shall be taken from him” (Luke 19:27). One man was given five cities to rule over. The next was handed ten cities to rule. The last man had everything taken from him, and he was left with nothing in his hands. This seems to suggest both positive rewards and levels of punishment. The same is true with the Parable of the Talents, where the Lord of the servants told both the first and the second servants, “Thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will set thee over many things; enter thou into the joy of thy Lord” (Matt. 25:21, 23). Once more, when the unfaithful servant was stripped of his responsibility, it was said, “Take ye away therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him that hath the ten talents. For every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance; but from him that hath not, even that which he hath shall be taken away” (Matt. 25:28, 29).

The Bible also teaches that those who have been given heavy responsibilities in the Kingdom of God will be judged with a stricter set of standards than those who have not borne such obligations. James said it very plainly: “Be not many of you teachers, my brethren, knowing that we shall receive heavier judgment” (James 3:1). The true prophet in the Old Testament was also warned of this principle in God’s dealings with those who had been commissioned to serve him in speaking to his people of their sins and transgressions. If they failed to deliver the message of divine warning, then “his blood will I require at thy hand” (Ezekiel 3:20). Others were not given this responsibility. So, in a sense, he was being held to a higher standard than others because God had commissioned him to speak his Word to his people.

Thus, the faithful of God in every age should be about the work of the Kingdom while there is yet time and opportunity (cf. John 9:4), because Jesus has given us fair warning that he expects us to be productive in his service: “Behold, I come quickly; and my reward (“the pay of a hired man,” “pay, wages, recompense”, ho misthos) is with me, to render to each man, according as his work is” (Rev. 22:12). Note that once again, the Lord stresses that each will receive “according to his works.” We must therefore be busy and productive, so as to receive a “full reward” (2 John 8). If there is a “full reward,” then there must be something less in the future for those who have disappointed God and put him to the test. It is probably best for us not to experience this end result, since it cannot possibly represent a conclusion that we would wish for.

This identical principle applies in regard to the notion of degrees of punishment in the world to come. Similar language occurs frequently in the Bible. And so, very many passages teach this concept in one way or another, and yet, just as in the case of the former idea, we are left without sufficient information in our possession at the end of the process to paint a full picture of what this all means.

This rather limited data on the topic has led different people to imagine various ways of understanding it and dealing with it. For example, some have posited levels of Hell where mass murderers like Adolf Hitler and his henchmen, John Wayne Gacy, and other such people of the worst kind would be at a level where it is hotter and more unbearable than in the case of the person who was simply ignorant of the Lord’s will and failed to do it. The Lord’s teaching in one instance has been taken to mean something akin to this:

And 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 be beaten 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 (Luke 12:47, 48).

This passage most assuredly teaches degrees of punishment. That much seems certain. But what exactly this language might mean is not revealed to us in any sort of definitive detail. We comprehend the concept, for that much is plainly taught, but not the detail of it, since that part is not enumerated.

Another passage that teaches this idea in a powerful way is found in Matthew 11:

Then began he to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they repented not.  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. But 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 (Matt. 11:20-24; cf. also Luke 10:13-15).

In each instance here our Lord was describing people who will be lost at the Judgment, but explains that for one group it will be (as the various versions tell us) “more bearable,” “better,” “easier” or “more tolerable” than for the other, who will be “worse off” on account of their greater depravity in the face of many more blessings and benefits shed upon them by God. With greater blessing comes greater responsibility.

A comparable notion is set forth in describing the benefits of the Hebrew Christians who had slackened in their service, and many of them were near to quitting:

Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Hebrews 10:29-30).

This author is describing punishment that is “more severe” than that which is to be visited upon those who were ignorant of God’s truth and thus did not understand their duties to him. Those people did not do right because they did not know to do right. These Christians, on the other hand, could not plead ignorance in the Judgment. They not only had been taught, but they were well taught! They had enjoyed the best teaching and preaching that was available to anyone in those years when the Apostles were all at Jerusalem. They knew their responsibility, and yet they were in the process of slowly backsliding into the arms of the world.

Peter also taught that those who left the church and fell back into sin were in a more frightening position than those who had never come to know the Lord or the riches of his grace and mercy:

For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire (2 Peter 2:20-22).

How could things be worse for them unless they were somehow more painful, more punitive, more agonizing, than for those who were lost and had never had the benefit of learning the Gospel and obeying the truth? Of course, eternal damnation is a frightening prospect, whether it is meted out by degrees or not. The wise person will not want to challenge God’s capabilities in this regard. But these Scriptures all give fair warning to the child of God that he or she ought never even consider turning back to the world and abandoning the service of the Lord. Some consequences are far too tragic even to contemplate!