NOT about fear...?

Question

I said logically... That is not why I am a Christian, but I know that many people have started there. I am just wondering if people have ever explored that aspect. And it is the only religion with HELL as a consequence.

Answer 1

That is an honest question...
Yes, I sure did have a fear that God would send me to hell. I knew my sins against Him earned me a spot there. As I read His laws in comparison of what I had done with my life, I was very fearful and ashamed. The fear factor is not why I'm a Christian either, but it was one of the many factors that helped jump start me on my walk with God and get me on the road to becoming a Christian.

Answer 2

with HELL as a consequence. Only if you aren't a believer, otherwise you have eternal life in the most perfect Kingdom, with no pain no tears. I think some must not like it because it is so simple and easy to comprehend....

Answer 3

The tracts of Jack Chick use the fear motive to try to get people to convert. I don't know how often it works, though.

Answer 4

Well, the preachers kept the altar, but they no longer drench it in blood and cook on it with oxen, sheep, and doves as in the Bible. I'll let the preachers handle it.

Answer 5

I would never love someone that threatened me.
Tammi Dee

Answer 6

I think you have no idea about other religions !!!

Answer 7

Many professing believers seem to think that "fear" only has a place in the Old Testament age. The reason they think this appears to be twofold. First, what is to fear if one's salvation is guaranteed? Second, and closely related to the first, the full counsel of the scripture is generally not being taught particularly regarding all aspects of the nature of God. God is being created in the eyes of the contemporary culture rather than allowing scripture to reveal Him. As such, Jesus Himself is shaped into a happy-go-lucky guy with a 'good sense of humor' and who really isn't that concerned with sin. Nothing could be further from the truth. God's Son died a terrible death to ransom those who would trust in him away from the evil one. For example, the apostle John, "the disciple whom Jesus loved" (John 21:20), arguably knew the Lord better than anyone who has ever lived. He lived with Jesus for over 3 years and experienced all that Jesus said and did during His earthly ministry. Yet when John saw Jesus in his Revelation, he did not run up to Him and give Him a hug, but rather he "fell at His feet as a dead man", and Jesus had to reassure Him, "Do not be afraid" (Rev. 1:17). Clearly, John did not view Jesus as a friend only, but also as the the One appointed by the Most High God to judge all things.

The Greek word for "fear" that we are considering is transliterated "phobos" and the Greek scholar Vine has this to say about the word:

first had the meaning of "flight," that which is caused by being scared; then, "that which may cause flight," (a) "fear, dread, terror," always with this significance in the four Gospels; also e.g., in Acts 2:43; Acts 19:17; 1Cor. 2:3; 1 Tim. 5:20 (lit., "may have fear"); Heb. 2:15; 1 Jn. 4:18; Rev 11:11; Rev 18:10, Rev 18:15; by metonymy, that which causes "fear," Rom. 13:3; 1 Pet. 3:14, RV, "(their) fear," KJV "(their) terror," an adaptation of the Sept. of Isa. 8:12, "fear not their fear"; hence some take it to mean, as there," what they fear," but in view of Matt 10:28, e.g., it seems best to understand it as that which is caused by the intimidation of adversaries; (b) "reverential fear," (1) of God, as a controlling motive of the life, in matters spiritual and moral, not a mere "fear" of His power and righteous retribution, but a wholesome dread of displeasing Him, a "fear" which banishes the terror that shrinks from His presence, Rom. 8:15, and which influences the disposition and attitude of one whose circumstances are guided by trust in God, through the indwelling Spirit of God.

We will now make a very brief review of the use of this term in the New Testament. It is used over 40 times and is almost always associated with the genuine, sincere motivation of actually fearing the Lord first because of His awesome holiness and righteousness and second, so as not to displease the Lord for fear of incurring His chastisement.

a) In Luke 12:5, Jesus says, "But I will warn you whom to fear: fear the One who after He has killed has authority to cast into hell; yes, I tell you to fear Him!" Stern and grave words by the Master to His disciples. If Jesus believed that love was the only motivation necessary for His disciples, why would he say this? In addition, Jesus is basing fear on the consequences of placing one's opinions of men higher than God - that consequence being the possibility of being "cast into hell".

b) After watching the Son of God calm the storm, His disciples "became very much afraid and said to one another, 'Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him'?"(Mark 4:41)[italics mine]. Notice how the disciple's fear of the Lord surpassed their fear of the storm. Hear is a clear example of the fear of the Son of God produced by glimpsing the power granted him by his Father.

c) In the book of Acts, sin against God brought death to Ananias and Sapphira and as a result, "great fear came upon the whole church" (Acts 5:6, 11). The entire corporate attitude of the believers described in Acts included "going on in the fear of the Lord" (Acts 9:31).

d) Peter writes, "And if you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each man's work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay upon earth" (1 Pet. 1:17) Peter says in essence, 'understand the price of your redemption and live in fear of displeasing the One Who redeemed you'. And what displeases the Lord? Disobedience / rebellion / sin.

In Revelation, the concept of fear of the Lord is continued in passages such as 14:7 and 15:4. Then Rev. 19:5 says, "Give praise to our God, all you His bond-servants, you who fear Him, the small and the great"[italics mine]. In this great passage of God's triumph over the harlot who "was corrupting the earth with her immorality", God's bond-servants are described as "you who fear Him". Notice particularly that God's bond-servants are not described in this particular passage as 'you who love Him'.

Since fear of the Lord has a place in Jesus' teachings and New Testament teachings, the question must be asked, why should we fear Him if it is impossible for us to forfeit our salvation? I believe the first part of the answer to this question is simply because Who He is warrants our fearing Him. God's holiness and righteousness should at times produce awe and yes, fear. Fear is an emotional response to something/someone. We are to fear God only, not men (Luke 12:5) or anything else. Perhaps fear, or reverential awe, of the Lord occurs as one matures. For example, a young scientist may develop a thermonuclear bomb and know all about its abilities to destroy on paper, but he only experiences fear/awe when he actually sees it detonated i.e. he has come to "know" it more fully. In the same way, those relatively young in the faith can't appreciate all facets of God's nature (truly 'see' Him) and therefore His awesomeness and perfection is experienced less frequently until one's faith matures. Behold the maturity of John's faith as he falls at the Lord's feet in fear (Rev. 1:17).

The second part of the answer to the question of why we should fear God, however, does in fact involve our salvation. God sent His beloved Son and he was mocked, spit upon, tortured and nailed to a tree in order to ransom us and show us the Way to the Father. This love is truly difficult to grasp. Because He loves us so, he laid down his life for us at Calvary and now offers the fruit of that work, salvation, to all who will receive it through repentance and belief. And even though the gift is free to us, it is the most expensive gift ever purchased. In addition, and most remarkable of all in light of His free offer to all, we all deserve to go to hell for our unbelief and sin against the Lord. We in fact justly deserve eternal punishment and don't deserve His mercy! As such, if we choose to receive that gift of eternal life made possible by His mercy, we will desire to love, thank and honor the One who gave it to us. If we do choose to receive God's mercy and that incredible gift of His forgiveness and eternal life, then love/gratitude compels us to love Him back and give Him the place in our hearts and lives that He rightfully deserves as our Creator, Provider, Sustainer, Savior and Lord.

Therefore, for one to receive His salvation and yet subsequently "trample[d] under foot the Son of God, and [to] regard as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified" by continuing to willfully sin - knowing the ransom price that Jesus paid for those sins - that willful sin will lead to a turning away from the Lord and thereby the forfeiture of that person's salvation (Heb. 10:26-29). This is why scripture warns us to fear and hate sin against the Lord (Jude 23), for if we willfully continue to sin, it will lead to a willful turning away from the Lord and a forfeiture of our salvation through unbelief.

In summation regarding fear in the New Testament, the issue is simply this - love and gratitude are supposed to be our highest motivation, but God, in His wisdom, knows how sinful we really are, and as such, our lack of faith in Him necessitates His having fear as the secondary motivator. As we mature in the faith, love should become more and fear should become less in terms of motivation for obedience - yet at the same time our reverential awe of Him should also increase as we come to see God for all of who His is. Remember, true love, agape, is BEING/ACTING like the Son - not feeling good about oneself, which is selfish if not experienced through doing the will of God. God wants us to ACT like His Son, because He is glorified by it and because He knows this is how the maximum amount of true love will be manifest among this sinful race. We are to fear the Lord when our love for Him fails to bring us to act like Jesus. If we rely solely on "feeling or experiencing His love" (oftentimes selfish) rather than obeying Him (which is truly selfless), which is true love (2 John 6), we deceive ourselves and thereby should fear forfeiting our salvation as the scripture makes abundantly clear (John 15:6; 2 Pet. 1:10).

CONCLUSION:

Oftentimes those with a strong Calvinist theology who disagree with the conclusions reached in this paper resort to mocking the idea of a believer "losing" his salvation by stating it is like a child picking petals from a flower saying "he loves me, he loves me not". This sarcastic barb is aimed at an erroneous assumption that the position of forfeiting one's salvation calls into question the nature of God's love and makes it fickle. As should be obvious, this is not the position stated in scripture or this paper. God's love is both infinite and unchanging and He is always pouring His love out on both the believer and the unbeliever. It is the objects of His love and mercy who have the problem of either no response or a changing response. However, one point is clear in scripture, THAT IF ONE DOES CHOOSE TO FORFEIT ONE'S SALVATION, THEN HE WILL NOT BE BROUGHT BACK TO REPENTANCE (Heb. 6:4, 6) AND HAS COMMITTED THE UNFORGIVABLE SIN (Matt. 12:31).

Therefore, the position stated in this paper does not entertain the possibility of a "he loves me, he loves me not" back and forth possession of one’s salvation. Possession of eternal life is a one time state-of-being and you either choose to abide in the Lord through faith after being truly born again and thereby retain eternal life, or you forfeit eternal life never to receive it again. If a believer continues to willfully sin and ultimately reaches a place of turning their back on the Lord, then that is it - they seal their doom in the everlasting fires of hell (Matt. 12:31). Unfortunately, at the point of turning away, they will not be able to see this dreadful price since they will be at a place of unbelief (Heb. 3:12-4:2) and will thereby deny in their heart that their is a hell to go to or a Lord to send them where they choose to go. This is the fearful cost of trampling under foot the Son of God after having received His incredible love and mercy.

Clearly many are "professing" believers in this nation, but equally clearly many who profess to be believers are not (Matt. 7:13-14 & 21-23). In regard to the context of this paper, many who teach the bible claim that most professing born again believers who do not obey Jesus were never actually saved in the first place. This is said since it is commonly believed that one cannot "lose" one’s salvation. I hope this paper has demonstrated otherwise. In addition, this claim simply cannot stand up against countless personal testimonies to the contrary.

This author’s own personal beliefs on this issue are as follows. I don't claim to know how many professing believers who don’t live like Jesus commands either never were truly born again in the first place (counterfeits), or eventually turned their back on the Lord and forfeited their salvation (apostates). There are, however, two places in scripture which shed some light on this issue. The first is the parable of the sower already partially examined in this paper. In Luke 8:11-15, the Lord explains the parable He gave in verses 5-8 by explaining, "Now the parable is this: the seed is the scripture. And those beside the road are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart, so that they may not believe and be saved. And those on the rocky soil are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no firm root; they believe for a while, and in the time of temptation fall away. And the seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to maturity. And the seen in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance."

Here Jesus contrasts two ways people choose - life in him or death without him. The first three choose different paths to death, whereas the last one chooses life by abiding and persevering in Messiah. Those people whose hearts are described as "beside the road" hear the Word of the Gospel of Jesus, but allow Satan to quickly give them reasons to not believe. These were never born again as the phrase "...so that they may not...be saved" tell us. However, the next two types of people are saved and then forfeit their salvation. The people whose hearts are described as "rocky soil" give up on Christ after a "while" when temptation comes. The people whose hearts are described as "among the thorns" eventually give up on Christ and choose to love the world instead of Jesus (1 John 2:15). What appears to be a common theme underlying the context of this passage is that the people who forfeit their salvation do so relatively recently after having been saved. Those with hearts described as "rocky soil" appear to be relatively young in the faith. Therefore, I would conclude that the majority of people who claim to follow Jesus yet don’t, if they forfeited their salvation, did so relatively recently after having been saved. This insight from the scripture calls for our diligence in prayer and especially tender and diligent discipling of newly saved people. Just after repentance and being born again is a critical time to love one further into the Kingdom of God and to make true disciples of Jesus.

The last type of people who do not choose life in Messiah, are those whose hearts are described as being "among the thorns". In Matt. 12:30 Jesus says "He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters". Although Jesus addresses this to the unbelieving Pharisees, the principle of "gathering" or "scattering" applies to everyone, including believers (Mark 9:40). Clearly the "among the thorns" people are among those who choose death instead of the Way, the Truth and the Life (Luke 8:14; John 14:6).

I have heard many professing believers run to Paul to nullify Jesus' teachings on this point of the "among the thorns" people Jesus refers to in Luke 8. Their favorite verse of nullification is 1 Cor. 3:1-3 which they use to justify their sins and their lack of a loved-based devotion to the Lord. This strongly indicates that they are scattering away from the Lord since the essentials of loving the Lord include a humble, contrite, sincere and repentant heart that is seeking Him. Open justification of sin and rationalization of worldliness could very well describe either counterfeits (never truly saved) or those who choose to make their hearts "among the thorns" (either unsaved through apostasy or on that road). One thing is certain - one cannot continue indefinitely to stay fleshly in one’s walk with the Lord, for if one does, then he is "...choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and [he will] not mature". Friends, that which does not mature by bringing forth fruit dies (Matt. 21:18-19; Matt. 7:16-23; John 15:6). That which is alive grows - only that which is dead does not grow. Grow or die - abide in, gather, persevere OR fall away, scatter, apostate - this is what the scripture teaches are the only two options for the true believer. True believers love their Lord and Master and delight in seeking him by reading his Words and talking about him with others and talking with him in prayer and witnessing of his Father's great love for the lost. Counterfeits (tares) do not delight in seeking him and find it difficult or unpleasant to seek him by reading his Words and talking about him and his Kingdom with others. Counterfeits (tares) generally dislike witnessing to unbelievers and their heart-set is the opposite of what Luke 6:22 teaches. May the close and prayerful examination of the preceding verses in the scripture be a solemn warning to all those who claim the precious name of Jesus yet essentially ignore their alleged first love and refuse to pick up their cross and follow Him.

For those people who read this paper and sense conviction, turn to God's marvelous mercy. If you sense conviction or that you have been grieving the Holy Spirit, then it is never too late to repent and finally and fully embrace the Lord with all your heart and live a life pleasing to Him. If you continue to fall short and sin, don't despair, simply turn to the Lord and confess your sin to Him and to other mature brothers or sisters and He will remain faithful and true to forgive you your sin and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness (1 Jn. 1:9). The key to the disciples life is simple intellectually but oftentimes extremely difficult for our wills, and it is this: Have a repentant, humble, sincere and contrite heart towards the Lord and continue to seek Him with all that is in you. If you do this, you will experience His incredible blessing as you grow in your relationship with Him. Love Him with all your heart and there will be no limit to the ways He will use you to His glory, for your good, and to the benefit of all those around you.