2 Types of Punishment

[Juliet]

There are 2 types of punishment. God's punishment and the Devil's punishment. The difference is God's punishment is to give us over to the consequences of our false beliefs and our sins for the purpose of repentance.

The Devil punishes us because we are bad, bad, bad, and no repentance will ever make us whole or good enough again. And by the way, this type of punishment is all God's fault. (Which is a lie).

Alma's son Corianton was upset about God's punishment and had a hard time seeing it as fair. Why would a good God punish someone? Corianton assumed God's punishment was out of a desire to hurt us and was unjust to instill misery in us.

Alma 42:1 And now, my son, I perceive there is somewhat more which doth worry your mind, which ye cannot understand—which is concerning the justice of God in the punishment of the sinner; for ye do try to suppose that it is injustice that the sinner should be consigned to a state of misery.

Luckily as Alma explains, God is not evil or sadistic. The reason He allows punishment is for one purpose only, and that is to push us to repent:

16 Now, repentance could not come unto men except there were a punishment, which also was eternal as the life of the soul should be, affixed opposite to the plan of happiness, which was as eternal also as the life of the soul.

17 Now, how could a man repent except he should sin? How could he sin if there was no law? How could there be a law save there was a punishment?

18 Now, there was a punishment affixed, and a just law given, which brought remorse of conscience unto man.

Everything God does for us is to help bring about remorse so we can repent and do what is right. God loves us enough to bring about conditions that will lead us to repent and come home to Him. God is merciful even in punishment, and He loves us.

Satan punsishes us because of a sadistic desire to inflict suffering upon us for eternity. And if we hearken to him he will want to persuade us to believe it is God who is the sadistic one. But God is good and has provided a way out of hell if we listen to the voice of Jesus calling us and leading us out of all sin and deception and back into the arms of Heavenly Father.

So next time you feel the pains of hell and sadness and torment of mind, remember you are not meant to be stuck feeling this way forever. Jesus is calling you so reach out for Him to rescue you from your hell and bring you peace. Jesus' burden is light and His yoke is easy.

[brianj]

I am not confident that Satan punishes us. If Satan wants us to be bad, why would he use a negative reinforcement instead or rewarding our bad behavior? Wouldn't he punish us for behaving well in an attempt to turn us toward bad behavior?

I believe that a lot of what people call punishment is nothing more than the natural consequences of our actions. And a lot of what people call punishments are really trials, not given to us because of disobedience but to guide us on the path Heavenly Father wants us to follow.

[Dusty52]

I am always amazed when people get convicted of a crime and their defence is the devil made me do it!
Can a person attribute blame to him? I don't think so

[Juliet]

I am not confident that Satan punishes us. If Satan wants us to be bad, why would he use a negative reinforcement instead or rewarding our bad behavior? Wouldn't he punish us for behaving well in an attempt to turn us toward bad behavior?

I believe that a lot of what people call punishment is nothing more than the natural consequences of our actions. And a lot of what people call punishments are really trials, not given to us because of disobedience but to guide us on the path Heavenly Father wants us to follow.

I agree on your last paragraph. But your first paragraph, it depends. Some people really want to be good at all costs. So those types of people Satan will punish for their mistakes and make them feel bad and hopeless. Yes if you enjoy being wicked in this life Satan will reward you.

[Juliet]

I am always amazed when people get convicted of a crime and their defence is the devil made me do it!
Can a person attribute blame to him? I don't think so

Only if they are ignorant. It is our fault for listening to him because once we do he can be pretty good at beguiling us. The trick is not to listen but to hearken to Christ.

[brianj]

I am always amazed when people get convicted of a crime and their defence is the devil made me do it!
Can a person attribute blame to him? I don't think so

That defense is an abdication of personal responsibility. Sadly, the world is full of people who believe they should not e accountable for their own actions. It's his fault I murdered him because he disrespected me. It's her fault she was raped because she was asking for it. And so on.

[gardener4life]

In worrying about punishment we often fail to take into several important details that we're fighting against. These 3 or 4 details are why we need to think about consequences, and why it's sometimes better to be spanked than the alternative.

1) The Fall of Adam
2) Physical Death
3) Spiritual Death
4) State of our Eternal Family and its affairs
5) The Atonement of Jesus Christ has less cost to us now compared to if we waste it.

The first 3 are fairly explanatory. We're fighting against the consequences of life, and for our eternal future. We can't neglect consequences of decisions until later because of it. If we do, then the punishments get worse because we spin out of control and nose dive more into addiction, problems, consequences, etc.

For #4, I would point out some people are praying to not be with family members in the hereafter that continually hurt them in this life. You don't want to be one of those people that a family member is praying to end their suffering with.