Rewards and Punishments

Rewards and Punishments

Romans 6:16-23

            “In nature, there are neither rewards nor punishments; there are consequences.”  So said Robert Green Ingersoll, post-Civil War American political leader and orator.  Nicknamed “The Great Agnostic,” Ingersoll was on to something.  We might not agree with his religious stance, but his words have the ring of truth.

            We know he’s right.  Even if we can’t fully understand the laws of physics, we know we can’t break them.  We can’t be in two places at once (how many times have we used that as an excuse for not being able to do something for someone?).  We know two objects can’t occupy the same space at the same time.  We’ve either been in or witnessed enough automobile accidents to understand that one.  We know what goes up must come down.  We know—well, we know all that stuff.  Above all else we know that if we try to break the laws of nature we will suffer the consequences.

            Behavioral psychology is based on the same principle.  Behaviorists do not reward or punish, they set up consequences—as close to natural consequences as possible.  My father was not a behaviorist by training, but he knew how to set up consequences for my behavior.  When my parents went out with some friends after I was supposed to be in bed one night, I turned on the TV to finish watching a movie.  As a result, I was forbidden to watch a sporting event the following night.  (How did my father know I’d broken the rules?  He felt the TV set.  It was still warm.  I didn’t think of that.)

            God is a behaviorist.  We shouldn’t be surprised.  After all, God did create the universe, and with it, the laws of physics.  God can break those laws, but at least in our time, chooses not to.  We live within the universe God has given us, and must live within its laws.

            When it comes to our relationship with God there are also laws we must obey, and breaking them brings consequences.  God made an “if…then…” covenant with Israel.  “If you will be my people and worship me, and keep my commandments, I will be your God and will bless you.”  No rewards.  No punishments.  Just consequences.  That’s what an “if…then…” covenant is all about.

            Paul says much the same thing in Romans.  “The wages of sin is death,” he tells us.  We understand wages.  We work, we get paid.  If everything works right, we get paid what our work is worth.  No reward.  No punishment, just wages—just consequences. 

            If Paul had stopped there, we would indeed be the most miserable of creatures.  We’re sinners.  We’ve broken God’s law.  The consequence?  Death—eternal death.  But neither Paul nor God stopped there.  The verse has a second part: “but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

            What Paul is talking about is redemption.  We can do nothing to deserve nor earn redemption.  We just have to accept it.  Writing in Newsweek  (October 1&8 issue) Dilip D’Souza said:  “Punishment is black and white…But redemption?  For a complex world, that’s a complex idea.  Hard to flesh out, sometimes hard to sell, but fired with promise all the same.”

            Fired with promise!  Those are welcome words.  They cheer our hearts.  We can hear Paul saying, “But God’s gift, fired with promise, is life eternal, given to us through the life, death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

            Is hell a punishment?  No, it’s a consequence—a consequence of sin.  Is heaven a reward?  No, it’s a consequence—a consequence of the acceptance of God’s free gift of redemption.  A consequence fired with the promise of God’s covenant with us.