REWARD AND PUNISHMENT

  Proverbs provides so much insight into salvation, existence, Heaven, Hell, and the world. Today, I read of Solomon’s wise words from God on reward and punishment.

  Atheists don’t believe in God. Perhaps that is because they fear punishment as they know that God standards are high. They are quitters; they know they will fail, so why try? Their pretense is that belief in the unseen is irrational. However, the most irrational of all thinking is that existence happened by chance, without causation, and precisely ordered without anyone to organize it.

Some who portend to be Christians, believe the myth that Heaven is for real but Hell is not. They think that they deserve the reward, even for evil doings, and are not bad enough to be punished in Hell.

  Others believe that Christians only need be good, that the reward is in life. And others believe that life is Hell, and death is reward in itself.

  People prefer to live a lie because they know they do not deserve Heaven, but they do fear Hell. By denying the reward exists, eliminates the possibility that punishment may be forthcoming.

  Many, as myself, came to believe in Jesus, not out of love, but that punishment “scares the Hell out of us!”  Why is there Hell? Because there is a Heaven. Why are their prisons? Because there is freedom! For every thesis in life there is an antithesis. Reward and punishment are complementary, although rational people have the preference that they not be “complimented” with Hell!

  Denial of Hell is irrational thinking. It won’t go away just because sinners will it into non-existence. Is Hell for real? I trust that it and there is only one way to escape it! You might say, “I won’t go there because it doesn’t exist.” That is a possibility to be honest, but is a huge gamble. What if you are wrong; then you go there forever!

  Christians have two hopes: (1) That they escape Hell, and (2) that they will be rewarded in Heaven. Escaping Hell is great, but existing in limbo without existence is horrifying. Hell has two characteristics: (1) Isolation from God and even other sinners, and (2) torment by hatred and by fire. Possibly a third is that it is everlasting. Many would face Hell if it was for an instant, but Hell never ceases!

  The time element of punishment is what I most feared. I actually thought, I can withstand Hell for a short duration, but I cannot for eternity. Endless time in Heaven is a hope, but the same in Hell is a dread. Thusly, “time” scares the Hell out of people, and provides the hope for endless time in Paradise.

  Judgment separates the two. Thinking that you deserve Heaven is damning. Your punishment for esteeming yourself so highly is forever perishing in Hell. Ironically, knowing that you deserve punishment for your sin is preserving. You will be rewarded for your attitude of humility.

Knowing that you deserve punishment, but failing to submit yourself is also damning. You will indeed be punished.

  Understanding that you don’t deserve reward is rewarding. So, it’s not deserving or undeserving which rewards and punishes, but worthiness.

  Before I comment on worthiness, consider those who know that they deserve punishment but may be pardoned of the “crime.” Their attitude is right. They are the meek. Solomon described them this way:

The righteous shall never be removed: but the wicked shall not inhabit the earth. (Prov 10:30)

Compare that to what Jesus said about the humble:



  “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth” (Mat 5:5). Jesus was just restating His Word given to David in song: “But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace” (Psalm 37:11). “Peace” is Paradise; that place which is called Heaven.

Solomon phrased Heaven and Hell a little differently. “The righteous” are the meek. Their makeup is of the elements of the earth. As such, they will always have flesh. Eternal “flesh” is a glorified body in that it will be immortal and perfect with no sickness, hunger, or death! It may also be that they will reside forever on Earth when New Jerusalem comes down from Heaven (Rev 21:1).

  Then Solomon said, “The wicked shall not inhabit the earth.”  They will not have real glorified bodies, nor will they reside in the Paradise of New Jerusalem. The wicked shall lose out on glorified bodies and eternal Paradise whether in Heaven or the City of God on Earth.

The key question is then, “Who is worthy?” Worthiness is not what we do of our own efforts. “Worthiness” is meekness – those who know they have not the power to save themselves, but God does. They know their place in the eternal scheme of things. When sinners understand that premise, they are “born again” (John 3:7).

   It is not their own understanding that makes them worthy, but acknowledging the truth and responding to it for, “The truth will set you free.” (John 8:32). In that verse is, “knowing the truth.” That is understanding the Light which God has gracefully given unto you. (John 3:21). Their “deeds are made manifest.” They understand that they have sinned against God and deserve punishment.

  Sinners have an “understanding” problem. They don’t see things God’s Way. They perceive themselves as too good to deserve punishment. That elevates them to godhood, in their eyes, but “only God is good” (Mat 19:17).  “Sin” is ultimately man’s desire “To Be” – to be as God Is (Gen 3:5). They consider their own knowledge greater than God’s, so they perceive themselves as the “Ego Eimi” (Greek) which is the “I Am” rather than God who Is. “Sin” then is an offense against God, perceiving oneself as God rather than Him. It offends God that you think you know more than Him!

  Some believe that there may be punishment for their offenses, but that God is not really God. What makes a God is His Power to Create. If there is a God, and there is, then His mind must be Almighty enough to make all things happen (Mat 6:33). One of God’s attributes is all-knowing. That is called “omniscience.” Another is almightiness, which is called “omnipotence.” And another of his Powers is “omnipresence” – always there. Solomon understood God as shown in his writings:

The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good. (Prov 15:3)

  Therein Solomon speaks of God’s always-presence, and all- knowingness. Because evil and good requires discernment, therefore God is all-knowing as well. That saying is important because God knows everything about you; there are no secrets, and all the sins you do in private may as well be on display in the sky for all the good secrecy will do.

  I don’t worry so much about my sins as I do my thoughts. Only God and I know them; God hates my thoughts, and my own thoughts terrify me because the fantasy of sinning is just as objectionable as sinning (Mat 5:28).

  Christians have more of a problem with that than do atheists and pagans who just don’t care what God thinks. As such, we are not gods as our mental sins reveal! We think that we are strong, but when temptation comes, we find that we are weak. Sinning Christians have little self-control, yet they once claimed to be masters of their own souls!

  Our thoughts convince us that we are not gods if we only listen to our thoughts! Because we are human, we were born in iniquity (Psalm 51:5).

The way of the wicked is an abomination unto the Lord: but he loveth him that followeth after righteousness. (Prov 15:9)

  Yes, we are born wicked. All have sinned, and deserve punishment! That includes even you that think they have done good. “Goodness” is not only the humane things (Commands 5-10) as the rich young man (Luke 18) discovered but Commandments 1-4 as well! The Ten Commandments are ways to be righteous. Living righteously by obedience as Solomon wrote, is how Christians demonstrate their love for God.

  Loving God makes them worthy of reward, and failing to love God worthy of punishment. Does it not make sense that people should love our Creator? Denying creation makes that sensible notion nonsense.

  That’s one reason the world does not believe that it was created, but just happened. A Christian must not only believe in the Creator, but love Him for generating us and our habitat. Likewise, that love extends to loving God for regenerating us, and for providing for us an eternal habitat where our reward is promised.

  Now look at the first key verse about reward and punishment:

The Lord will not suffer the soul of the righteous to famish: but he casteth away the substance of the wicked. (Prov 10:3)

  “Famish” is “starved from nourishment.” Just as God provided for man in the Garden of Eden, all our needs will be provided in Heaven. Since our reward is Paradise, there will be no famishing there! Socialists should like the idea of Paradise because it will provide in Heaven what they seek on Earth. However, they don’t because their false god promises them reward on Earth, and deny the existence of God, Heaven, and Hell.

  “The substance of the wicked” is the flesh and soul of sinners who have not sought redemption. Somehow, their flesh will burn for ever but never quite perish. John 3:16 says that God “wants that none should perish.” That’s not dying once but perishing is dying endlessly!

  Think of having lung cancer without morphine and its pain… and that pain never ending. Hell is infinitely worse than cancer and the burning and torment never stops.

  Why would we deserve that? Because of unbelief. If someone does not believe in a Savior, why would they expect to be saved? Indeed, what are sinners saved from? Hell! God made the heaven and earth, and he also made Hell. The problem with some is that they have no God to turn to, and some actually think that doing humane things will save them from punishment!

The wise in heart will receive commandments: but a prating fool shall fall. (Prov 3:8)

  Some have been convinced by Calvinists that the Ten Commandments are no longer valid. Think not? Do you really believe that you can murder someone and God will overlook it? Do you really think that you can have another “god” and the jealous God not care? Such distortion of scripture is heresy. Think on The Ten Commandments as “The Ten Prescriptions” for healing of the nations, and you will understand why Jesus came to fulfill them, not replace them.

  God can be an angry God, although He is loving. Why would He be angry with His creatures? Because they think they can outwit, outlast, and outplay God! They presume His Supremacy, not unlike Lucifer himself who is their real father. Now look at the next reward and punishment:

Blessings are upon the head of the just: but violence covereth the mouth of the wicked. (Prov 3:6)

  “Blessings” are blissings. Bliss is in Heaven alone. Living justly results in the reward of eternal bliss. However, the wicked shall be treated with violence.

  Think of torture, perhaps of an ISIS-type of punishment only  multiplied. As pain is inflicted on the damned, just like ISIS, demons will taunt, as they also mocked Jesus. They also murdered him, and when people have hatred that is as murder (1 John 3:15). Hatred is offensive to God and is the greatest sin. How is that known? Because to love is The Greatest Commandment! Solomon contrasted love and hatred:

Hatred stirreth up strifes: but love covereth all sins. (Prov 10:12)

  Name all the sins possible. If God, others, and even enemies are loved, there would be no sin. Why is there sin? Because we love ourselves more than God or others, and certainly our enemies. True Christians detest that feeling of hatred. I have to fight not hating God’s adversaries. I try to do that for Him. That too is sin even though done with good motives!

  Hating enemies stirs up strife as Solomon said. We are to love even our enemies which covers the sin of hatred!

  Another Calvinist misrepresentation is sola gratia – by grace alone. That idea is admirable because God alone died on the cross, and was abandoned. We had no part in shedding blood for our own sins, and dying because of them. To Jesus goes all the credit.

  However, what should be the attitude of the pardoned? Christians should desire to do right. Love is indeed hard work! It is not efficacious to work for our salvation, but laboring to do right things is counted as gratitude on our behalf. Doing righteous things is thanking Jesus for His gift of redemption. Our labors reveal our gratitude or vanity, if we do not labor! Wise man Solomon knew that love is hard work and laborious:

The labour of the righteous tendeth to life: the fruit of the wicked to sin. (Prov 10:16)

  There were two types of fruits on the trees in the middle of the Garden of Eden. The fruits of the Spirit were twelve. Those with gratitude would show patience, kindness, love, and so forth. The forbidden tree had many “fruits”. They were such things as lasciviousness, fornication, envy, and such (Gal 5). People are known by their “fruits”. Right fruits provide reward, and wrong fruits punishment. All of those characteristics are what people are willing to do with their lives!

  Do not fool yourselves; what you do and think has a great bearing on your sincerity and relationship with Christ. It is not that Calvinism is totally wrong, but misapplied in many places. It may actually encourage unrighteousness!

  I mentioned before that the Commandments were more like “Prescriptions.” Prescriptions are instructions of things to do for healing and to maintain healthy lifestyles. Rather than viewing prescriptions as commands, look at them as “Instructions” as Solomon did:

He is in the way of life that keepeth instruction: but he that refuseth reproof erreth. (Prov 10:17)

  Instructions, or Commandments, are how to keep “the way of life.” Well, Jesus is the Way (John 14:16) and The Doctrine of Christ is the straight gate. To where? Reward in Heaven! Jesus’s “doctrine” is love. It is the “prescription” for reward. The “Ten Prescriptions” are Ten Ways to love the Lord and others!

  We all use instructions to understand the workings and intents of new things. God’s Instructions are your own operating manual to perform very good. When glorified in Heaven, very good will be to perfection!

  Given instructions, if they are not followed, there may be dire consequences. Following instructions provides rewards; in this case, eternity in Heaven. Failure to follow instructions is at your own peril. God provided the Way in His Instructions, but whose fault is it if the instructions are not followed?

It’s obvious that those who ignore prescriptions may die. What people fail to understand is death! It is more than the cessation of breathing Earth’s air, and loss of thinking; it is eternal misery!

  Christians do the best they can with the instructions. God recognizes their intent, and provides what’s missing by grace! That is Jesus fulfilling the prescriptions that we are unable to fill ourselves. In other words, God provides the vaccine but we must take it!

As the whirlwind passeth, so is the wicked no more: but the righteous is an everlasting foundation. (Prov 10:25)

  That verse is another set of the rewards and punishments, said in a different manner. Life is a whirlwind. Only the elderly can vouch for that.

  Children think they will live for ever because time seems to pass so slowly for them. The wicked worry only about life on Earth. As they age, life indeed passes as fast as a whirlwind. In fact, tomorrow may never come; we just expect that. When least expected, like the tornado after a silence, the end will come for us all.

  The wicked should only expect eternal death, but for the righteous, their expectation should be an everlasting foundation. Ironically, life began, according to Jews, on The Foundation Stone in Jerusalem, and will be everlasting on that same stone when New Jerusalem comes down! The City of God will endure forever as will the New Heaven and the New Earth for their substance will change.

  To obtain the reward requires the good fight. Solomon spoke of that as well:

The way of the Lord is strength to the upright: but destruction shall be to the workers of iniquity. (Prov 10:29)

  There is an invisible revolution in progress, and there has always been. Lucifer, now fallen, would be king of the Heaven and Earth whereas now he is merely a prince of the power of the air (Ephes 2:2). Once sinners are born again, Satan doesn’t leave them alone. He steps up his attacks using demonic angels. That “whirlwind” of which Solomon spoke is the Prince of the Power of the Air. Satan keeps on blowing, blowing, and blowing, and won’t go away until we’re dead! The Holy Ghost provides safety and comfort until Christians are safe in Heaven. What saves and from what are Christians saved from?

Righteousness delivereth from death. (Prov 11:4b)

  First off, Adam and Eve failed to understand death. They had no idea since it had never occurred before, and with sin they saw no change. They seemed to remain living souls. However, they did not realize that death is really dying souls with death never quite consummated! That’s what sinners are saved from, and of course, it occurs when Satan has no more influence over them. That is the rapture or physical death whichever occurs first.

  Those who believe but do not repent should fear death; it will come quickly, like that “whirlwind.” If they admit wickedness, they should expect punishment. Remembering that doubters (evolutionists) do not understand God’s time, they do not understand that the punishment is not for a short time, but forever. Consider the following passage in that regard:

When a wicked man dieth, his expectation shall perish: and the hope of unjust men perisheth. (Prov 11:7)

  Wicked men, at least those who admit it, expect to perish but may fail to understand that death is forever, and what is called “living Hell” – dying but constantly aware of it.

  The hope of the wicked is that somehow they can escape justice and go without punishment. Perhaps they prefer annihilation, but “nothingness” is an atheistic myth to just get by. Heaven or Hell are the only two doors on Eternal Price is Right! Sinners can only wish there was a door number three with a step off into void!  “Wishing” is false hope. The hope of the righteous is not to perish. We see from the passage above that for unjust men, perishing commences in this life for they have no hope. Think on that; is life really living if there is no afterlife? They as well be dead already without hope! Continue on:

As righteousness tendeth to life: so he that pursueth evil pursueth it to his own death. (Prov 11:19)

Right-living is the responsibility for Christians. Those who want a reward pursue it through living according to God’s Will. Christians are held accountable for their spiritual condition. Wisely, they choose Heaven and the only Way to get there is through Christ. There is no other way, according to scripture!

  Likewise, evil people are responsible for their punishment. But what do we hear from them? They blame God. “A good God would not send anyone to Hell.” Unrepentant sinners, not only choose Hell for eternity, but by continuing in sin, pursue Hell. Blaming is part of the original sin.

The wicked are overthrown, and are not: but the house of the righteous shall stand. (Prov 12:7)

  Not only will the wicked be overthrown, but they will be thrown into Hell, the bottomless pit, along with their father, Satan. The righteous will stand before God’s throne forever yet never tire. Some wicked “Christians” cannot even stand a few minutes of church each week!

Righteousness keepeth him that is upright in the way: but wickedness overthroweth the sinner. (Prov 13:6)

  Wickedness is joining forces with the Devil. Even young children are prone to wickedness as they lie about mundane things. Their temper-tantrums for nourishment and attention continues on in life.

People keep themselves from being upright as that is human nature since the fall of man. Unless born again, that childish behavior will continue on throughout life until eventually, Satan’s dark angels will overthrow those little make-believe gods. Satan wants to be God; Why would he entertain they idea that you are? Strictly, as most despots, until he has no further use for your service! Continuing on in that vein of thought, consider this verse:

The house of the wicked shall be overthrown: but the tabernacle of the upright shall flourish. (Prov 14:11)

  The “house” and “tabernacle” are the souls of the wicked and the righteous, respectively. Like the “House” that Solomon built for God, it was empty for God always lived in men’s hearts. Their empty “houses” will be thrown into the lake of fire and burn, never quite burning down, but burning forever. That “house” will be the wicked person’s soul.

  Righteous Jews looked from their tabernacles at God’s Tabernacle where He appeared to them Thus, the tabernacles of Christians are their immortal souls. They are referred to as Temples of the Holy Ghost (1 Cor 6:19).

  People are afraid of ghosts; so much so that they took Jesus’s Holy Ghost from scripture, excepting the King James Version. That “Ghost” is God’s Holy Spirit who experienced death with God’s Flesh on the cross. Ghosts are spirits of dead men. When Jesus died, he had God’s Spirit, but gave up the Ghost as he died, as all righteous men do. Experience with humanity transformed God’s Spirit.

Jesus is the Way to eternal life in Heaven. Without his Name, then there is no other Way to get there to obtain the reward. Those who take God’s Name vainly, and the Son’s Purpose, forfeit the Way of life because they refuse to go the Way to obtain the prize.  Examine the following:

The way of life is above to the wise, that he may depart from hell beneath. (Prov 15:24)

  The Holy Cross is the directional indicator for Heaven and Hell. The Way of the Life points upward toward Heaven on the cross toward the Kingdom of God. That is the reward for those who are wise enough to take the path less taken! The other end the Holy Cross is imbedded in earth, and is planted in rocky soil. The punishment for those without wisdom to allow God to save them is Hell beneath. Righteous people escape Hell by looking up at Jesus on his “pole.” He became sin to kill the Serpent who had hung on his own tree right before! (Judas Iscariot.)

  God is Just. Your reward is up to you, and the work is merely having God-given faith that Jesus saves. The flip-side is that the unwise go to Hell beneath. We see from that last passage, that salvation is departing from Hell beneath because that is the destination of those who are not wise!

Reward or punishment. It’s your choice! Choose paths wisely, I suggest.