6th May 2026 Question box

Today’s question is an interesting one:

Are God’s judgments / rewards independent of our actions? Are there levels of joy in heaven and likewise punishment in hell?

Big question, let me try to give a short answer.

Let me start with the punishment side of things: I think the answer is “yes.” Jesus once talked about towns who refuse to welcome gospel messengers: “Truly I tell you, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town.” (Matthew 10:15). Or the letter to the Hebrews says: “Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot.” (Hebrews 10:28–29). And there’s other verses. And so while hell will be miserable for everyone there, it does seem that there is a deeper misery that comes to those who had a great opportunity to repent, but didn’t want to.
And it does seem to fit with the whole idea of justice, that some would be punished more severely.

OK, but what about levels of joy in heaven? Interestingly, as I explored this, I did not find the bible talking about levels of joy. In fact Jesus prayed that every believer “may have the full measure of my joy.” John 17:13. You can’t get more than the fullness of joy that is in the presence of God!

What Jesus does talk about are levels of reward. For example:

• “if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward.” (Matthew 10:42) Now if your reward is the same whether you give that cup of water or not… well then Jesus words wouldn’t mean anything.
• You might also remember that parable that Jesus told, about a king who gave responsibilities to different servants, and when the king came back he said: “Well done, my good servant!’ his master replied. ‘Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities.’
  18 “The second came and said, ‘Sir, your mina has earned five more.’
  19 “His master answered, ‘You take charge of five cities.’” (Luke 19:17–19).

And so it may be that in the new heavens and the new earth, some are given positions of honour and responsibility, as a reward for what they’ve done in this life. God is so kind that not only does he save us by grace alone, but he recognise the faithful sacrificial service of His people. However, that won’t diminish anyone’s joy. See, in this fallen world it might, because we complete, we envy, we’re not always happy to have others elevated above us. But when sin is no longer part of the picture, we’ll actually be happy to see others honoured and rewarded, it will actually increase our joy together as it says in 1 Corinthians 12:26 “if one part [of the body] is honoured, every part rejoices with it.”

And so: levels of punishment – yes. Levels of joy – no. Levels of reward – in God’s kindness, yes.

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This question was originally answered in our evening service on 15 February 2026. I’ll aim to post another question and answer next week. You can read about how our question box works here.