Salvation: Can Love Be Bought With Threats of Punishment or With Promises of Reward?

Question

Many Christians I have spoken with believe that people who do not believe as they do or people who do not love Jesus will suffer eternal torment in hell. The question I have for believers who adhere to this doctrine is this: Can love be bought with threats of harm or with promises of reward?

If you love Jesus because you want something (heaven) from him, how are you any different than a prostitute? In this case, what is it that you really love: Jesus or the thought of heaven?

On the other side of the coin, is it right to worship something simply because you fear it? Is it right to bow to a dictator, no matter how evil this dictator is, if doing so will keep you from going to the gas chambers or to the ovens? Who is more worthy of admiration, an individual who refuses to succumb to an evil dictator, regardless of the threats of harm, or an individual who sells his soul for the promise of a reward?

Looking at it in a slightly different way, if a man said to a woman, "Love me or I will hurt you" is there anyone in their right mind who believes that the woman would really love the man to avoid being hurt? She might profess love and she might, in order to avoid being hurt, behave in a manner that seems loving, but deep down inside, I doubt that she would ever really be able to love such an individual. I know I wouldn't.

What would Christians who believe that hell awaits those who do not become Christians think of a mother who said to her child, "Love me by the time you are six, or I will bake you in the oven." In this case, the parent does give the child a choice, but what kind of choice is it?

Some Christians have compared Jesus sending people to hell to a parent who says to a child, "Don't go into the street or you will be hit by a car." This analogy fails, however, for many reason, the most obvious one being that in the case of Jesus, hell (unlike the cars) does not exist beyond his ability to control it. A more accurate version of the analogy of the parent warning his child about the dangers of going into the street would be a parent who says to his child, "Don't go into the street or you will be hit by a car." Then when the child goes into the street, the parent jumps into his car and runs the child over.

Many Christians, when evangelizing, attempt to paint a kind and compassionate portrait of Jesus by stressing how deeply saddened he is when he has to put people in hell. However, if the parent who bakes her child in the oven when the child fails to love her weeps as she preheats the oven in which to bake her child, would we really believe that she was grieved over her decision? Or if a parent weeps as he beats his child to death, should this cause us to believe that the parent is a compassionate and loving individual, who only has his child's best interest at heart?

Some people might argue with these analogies, saying that not everyone is God's child. Even if this is true, however, unless you are a Calvinist, you would have to believe that God loves everyone and desires for everyone to come to know him. If God really does wish for everyone to know and love him, then why would he put a limited-time-offer on his invitation to know him and why would he endlessly torture people who failed to accept his invitation? Only the most egotistical and psychotic of lovers tortures those who fail to accept his offer for a dinner date, and we as a society agree that an individual who hurts those who fail to love him should be severely punished. If we as a society agree that this type of behavior is psychotic and worthy of punishment, why do we glorify these monstrous and hitleresque qualities in a god?

Some people say that our society is sick and that we as a people are in need of salvation. Perhaps there is some truth to this. But is the religion (Christianity) adopted by our society really the cure or is it merely one more manifestation of the disease?

answer to Concerned Ch...:
Why should I forget HELL? I think if I become a Christian I will go to HELL. ho ho.

Answer 1

You asking a question or writing a book?

Answer 2

Maybe a different illustration will help. Note though that these are illustrations and extending them to the point of breaking them down doesn't in fact make an argument against the question.

You are on a boat and the current is taking you to the treacherous waterfalls. Whether you are or are not aware of the danger, you float on to an inevitable path to destruction that cannot be averted, the current is too strong, and the flow of the river cannot be reversed. it is a hopeless situation from which there is no way out.

However Jesus sees you and he loves you. He can't stand to see you die, but the only way you can be saved is by him going there and throwing you back on the bank. In doing so, he takes your place on the boat, and he takes the fall for you.

Despite this ultimate scarifice though some people on the boat don't want to leave. Some refuse to believe there is any danger, or question Jesus' credibility; others however see the danger and choose to let Jesus save them. They depend on Jesus and put themselves in his hands. He throws them to safety, Jesus remains on the boat.

There is no end to God's love. But there will come a time when it comes too late, and people who have not accepted Jesus will die. This is not God causing the river to flow or failing to save them from the river (and here the illustration breaks down since God can do anything) - people simply were not willing, right up until the very end when it became crystal clear they were headed for death and did not trust Jesus.

The relationship of christianity is not a forceful 'be saved or die' matter. It is a lifeline to a hopeless situation. And God will respect a person and give them the chance for them to willingly choose life and jump off the boat of death. If God forced everyone to live then they would not really be His - and God wants his love in people, for people to come to him for no other reason than that they love him.

God never causes hell. By a choice of mankind, sin entered the world, and for reasons only he knows, he allows the devil to remain until the right time to be imprisoned and killed. Because of freewill, God lets mankind choose the hard way, then uses the devil's attempts to upset God's plans to actually further God's purposes. But people always have to choose God, not be forced by Him to be his, because it just doesn't happen.

Those that do not accept the lifeline by the end have no excuse - God's offer was made, and this lifetime is a time of choosing and testing - anyone who rejects his offer right at the end can only truly not want God. And God lets them have their way too.

Anyone who seeks God will be found by Him. So no-one has an excuse. God doesn't cause hell; only the absence of God is hell, and those who reject God won't be forced. With how much love God has for them shown throughout their lives and through history, through Jesus' death on the cross for them, and the offer of life through him, the choice cannot be more clear, the heart of God more open, the rejection of him more clear too. make no mistake, God doesn't give up his only Son to pay for the sins of mankind unless it was the only way left. And he did it for us. He died for us. Yet the choice is still up to us to accept, or reject.

Answer 3

Apparently you can tempt people into giving up whatever intelligence they may have had for promises of a fictional "candy land" after they die.
Of course, this is the ultimate scam. Since they die and find out there is NO afterlife, they can't very well come after you now can they?
Gee, I wish I could run a con-job like this one, but I'd be in jail faster than Oprah jumps on a Baked ham!

Answer 4

That was really long so I didn't read it all. But I did read the first line. Love can be purchased from some people in that manner. Actually it can be purchased from the majority in that manner. You saw Iraq. The people didn't start disrespecting Saddam until they were standing next to British and American tanks. Up until that point they loved Saddam. They even voted for him in a democratic election in which he was the only name on the Ballot because everyone loved him so much they wouldn't run against him.

Answer 5

Love cannot be bought. It is not a purchase. Sometimes you must earn it. It is something selfless in itself, to care for another person so totally. You should not threaten or punish someone you wish to love but you should not promise them rewards to love you. Thats not right. They should be in love with you, not the gifts and shouldn't be threatened to love you. That would never work out and would be cruel and unfair.

Answer 6

certainly, punishment & reward is legalistic love, which isn't grace us. Destroyer (regulation) isn't Saviour (Grace). The God of all grace (no regulation) "upbraideth not": neither bites nor smites, and would have all adult males both kept and conscious what kept from: regulation. Reconciliation to "that God" (of this/that Gods) does not impute their trespasses unto them; And such is globe-all, not partial.

Answer 7

That's it exactly! Most only show the punishment or reward they will get (or what others will get) AFTER they die. It seems that is all most look forward to and forget the gift we have right now... LIFE.

Answer 8

Look at it this way if you do believe in God and Jesus you will have eternal life, forget hell, that is enough for me.