Mary Baker Eddy explains the sin and punishment in this reading. Justice is the handmaid of mercy. If you sin, you will be punished in order to learn to mend your ways. Once sin ends, the suffering ends.
This argument (to me), until a few years ago, seemed a hard sell. Then I had kids.
Now I identify with her follow-up statement and understand the whole argument:
It is useless to suppose that the wicked can gloat over their offences to the last moment and then be suddenly pardoned and pushed into heaven, or that the hand of Love is satisfied with giving us only toil, sacrifice, cross-bearing, multiplied trials, and mockery of our motives in return for our efforts at well doing.
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