If you accept or follow God just becaue you're afraid of Hell then it isn't love, but if God wants us to truly love him then why even have a Hell?
With true devotion, the threat of Hell would be unneccessary.
2007-06-20 18:55:23 · 22 answers · asked by Daisy Indigo 6 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Yes, but if they are coerced or threatened then it is not love.
2007-06-20 19:01:46 · update #1
imnickdell
That's pretty good, except I couldn't truly love someone that cheated on me.
2007-06-20 19:10:28 · update #2
Two issues need clarifying: First - the love of Christ. Anyone prepared to say Jesus Christ was not full of love? Well, who - in the Bible - spoke more forcefully about the dangers of hell than Jesus Christ?
Second - the holiness of God. Anyone prepared to say God is not utterly holy? Well, who - in all of creation - could imagine they can come into God's heaven, into God's presence, with any taint of sin? Not one of us deserves to approach God (not even in prayer) until we are 'covered' by the blood of Christ, and his righteousness is imputed to us. That's why he died sacrificially. All those who believe in Christ and trust only in what he did to redeem them have their sins forgiven, then they can approach God and have no fear of hell.
True devotion comes about with a balanced view of the love and the holiness of God. That balanced view includes the reality of hell. It's not a threat - it's a horrendous fact. What loving parent would not warn their child about reaching up to the cooker to touch a pan of boiling water? "You'll get scalded! Don't touch it!" Bad parent, or loving parent?
2007-06-21 08:50:35 · answer #1 · answered by Annsan_In_Him 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
True, but some folks need to be coerced, led, or threatened into some actions.
True enough, but sometimes that is all the "love" some people get or understand.
Besides, everything written about Heaven, Hell and God's love are the opinions and biases of the men that created and wrote about them.
2007-06-20 19:00:41 · answer #2 · answered by Always Curious 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Hell was not originally created for humans. It was created for the devil and his angels. We will join him if we refuse to accept the gift that God offers us in the form of Jesus' sacrifice. there would be no need of hell if Adam and Eve had not sinned. People don't usually become Christians because of fear of hell. They become Christians because they realize that they are not worthy of entering God's heaven without Jesus at their side, and that God created a way for us to enter. It is the realization that we are sinners and need a savior. With true devotion there is no threat of hell. only the promise of heaven.
2007-06-20 19:07:20 · answer #3 · answered by Yo C 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
He is not threatening us with Hell-He originally made hell for Satan and his demons at the end of the Millennium when they will be bound and cast there forever but when man sinned in the garden and we were born with the sin nature, He loved us so much He sent Jesus to die for our sins so we would not have to pay the penalty of hell and eternal separation from Him in His holy kingdom for all eternity. He was warning us and would you not warn your child of some terrible thing that could happen if they ignored your warning.
God does not send us to hell, the bible says he would not that any should perish but have everlasting life..."-we choose by refusing to confess and repent that we are sinners and cannot do anything to save ourselves but we can choose to believ e and accept Jesus and Lord and Savior or turn our backs on Him and thereby we have sealed our eternal doom.
Many think this is a fairy tale and what a horrible horrible awakening they will have when they are before His judgment seat and informed of it. God created us to love Him as He so loves us and to fellowship and have a good life as the bible instructs us. Many follow satan who hates us and God but he never died for your sins and he is the fathers of lies which is why you do not believe let alone choose the blood Jesus shed for our sins in our place. No greater love has our Lord.
The more you fight turning away from Him and towards Hsin, the more He will pursue you by His Holy spirit but if you keep hardening yhour heart, as did Pharoah of Egypt, there will be no more chances. At age 40, after not wanting Jesus running my life, I was then suicidal and turned to Him and I have peace that goes beyond human comprehension that I will be in heaven for eternity,not because I am peachy keen but because of what He did for me...
2007-06-20 19:12:17 · answer #4 · answered by marlynembrindle 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
hell could be real, it might not be, regardless of what you beleive, if there is a God, im guessing since hes about love and peace and forgiveness, he wont be sending anyone to hell. i think there was some sort of mix up that dates farther back that what people of today will ever be able to fix/figure out/understand or whatever. I think people need to start thinking for themselves alil bit and stop taking the book SO literally
2007-06-20 19:08:03 · answer #5 · answered by dustinlindellstudios 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
God does not threaten us with it, because He does not punish us. We all sin, therefor, we are not of God. Jesus died on the cross so that we could repent of our sins and join Him in eternal paradise. That's a sign that He doesn't want us to go to Hell. If we do not repent we go to Hell, because there is no sin in Heaven and there is no other place to go other than Hell.
2007-06-20 19:14:24 · answer #6 · answered by Spike 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
A loving god could never send someone to hell for not feeling the right way. Would you punish your children for not loving you enough? Even if you were a dead beat dad and they never saw you?
2007-06-20 19:12:27 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
The question is not that we love God, but that He loved us first. How could you not love a God that loved us enough to send His Son to die for us so that we can know Him, and live with Him forever. I do not follow Him because I am afraid of Hell- I follow Him because He is worthy to be followed and worshiped.
2007-06-20 19:06:49 · answer #8 · answered by AdoreHim 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
You have to be enlightened.
That's a frank advice to you.
Did you know that hell was intended by God for the devil and his angels?
Let's read Matthew 25:41
"Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels: "
For whom does the eternal fire prepared?
For the devil and his angels.
Not for humans.
That's how much God loves the human race He created. He did not prepare the eternal fire for humans.
If humans will be also brought there, it's because they're worthy to be there. Not because God wants any man to be there.
God's will is for all men to be saved.
1 Timothy 2:4
"who would have all men to be saved, and come to the knowledge of the truth. "
He wants everyone to REPENT and be saved.
2 Peter 3:9
"The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some count slackness; but is longsuffering to you-ward, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. "
God is a God of justice and equity.
If he has to punish the devil and his angels for their sins, and if there are humans which will also be thrown there in eternal fire, it's because they deserve it.
But if you only don't question God, but instead appreciate the LOVE which he showed for the human race he created, you'll inherit the kingdom which God hath prepared for them that love him.
Did you know that God created the angels to serve his servants who are men?
Let's read Hebrews 1:7,14
" And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels winds, And his ministers a flame a fire:
...
Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to do service for the sake of them that shall inherit salvation? "
And that the Angel of the Lord was sent to protect those who fear God and keep his commandments.
Psalms 34:7
"The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them. "
Imagine that.
God so loved the world, he gave his ONLY BEGOTTEN SON.
John 3:16
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. "
If you can just appreciate God's love, you'll love him and you'll learn how to love.
1 John 4:19
" We love him, because he first loved us. "
So don't question God. We have no right to question God who created us.
Romans 9:20
"Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? "
What you have to do is to appreciate God's love for us. Thank him. Obey his commandments.
Ecclesiastes 12:13
"Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. "
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http://esoriano.wordpress.com
http://www.truthcaster.com
http://www.theoldpath.tv
2007-06-20 20:01:47 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
God doesn't threaten us with hell. He warns us that unless we repent of our sin, that's what awaits us. God can't allow anyone who's sinned into heaven, so if you sin, you have to get rid of it by following Christ. God doesn't want us to go to hell, He wants us to follow Christ so that we'll go to heaven. It isn't a threat, it's a warning of the consequence of our sin. If you want a choice without consequence, then that's your issue.
2007-06-20 19:04:28 · answer #10 · answered by STEPHEN J 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋