Love for God or Fear of Punishment?

Beloved brothers and sisters in Christ, there is unfounded anxiety among Christians, a fear that certain post-apocalyptic prophets are sowing as they brazenly prophesy grave natural disasters in various parts or regions of the planet,

others who dream of or are transported to visit hell, others who carry generational curses with them, and still others who, because the sheep of the flock they care for do not follow certain laws of the Old Testament, accuse them of being under a curse, tormenting or manipulating them in pursuit of personal interests.

This whole atmosphere of spiritual harassment leads many Christians to see God as though He wanted to win souls for His kingdom by subjecting His servants through fear, through dread of punishment in hell—even, as though it were blackmail: “Either you are with me, or look what will happen to you.” I do not believe God acts that way, or that His pastors should win souls through fear rather than love.

The teaching Jesus Christ left us was and is one of LOVE, LOVE FOR THE FATHER ABOVE ALL AND LOVE FOR OUR NEIGHBOR. He only felt sorrow for those who, for various reasons, did not follow Him. But He never threatened them with punishments in hell, for it is understood that whoever is not with God is on the other side, and certainly nothing good can be expected when the devil carries off one of our neighbors. Given the free will God has given each person, He cannot force them, much less threaten them.

All Christian teaching rests on love, love even to the point of sacrificing one’s life for faith in our Savior. The first Christians experienced this firsthand: their love for Jesus Christ was so great that they were not afraid to lose their lives amid torture and death in its cruelest forms. Their love was so great that they even asked forgiveness for their executioners.

It is that love which should guide us toward an encounter with our Creator, not fear of calamities or dread of the fires of hell. Nor fear of the horrifying faces of infernal demons. If we act that way, we are acting like children without mature judgment, whose lives are governed only by fear. It seems we have not understood the true teaching of Jesus Christ. We are still caught up in medieval forms of religiosity, and so we pay more attention to false prophets with false teachings, who are merely making fortunes from the word of God and the ignorance of many Christians. The Word of God rightly says, “My people perish for lack of knowledge.”

No, my brothers and sisters, true Christians draw near to Jesus Christ out of love—pure, sincere love, not self-interested love.

A marriage between a woman and a man is founded on bonds of love that have grown between them, and in that great love they will face every kind of difficulty; through that love, they will make it through.

It is good to remember what the Holy Scriptures say in Ephesians chapter 3, verses 14–21: For this cause I bow my knees before the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name, that He may grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power in your inner being through His Spirit; that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, so that, rooted and grounded in love, you may be fully able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth, the length, the depth, and the height, and to know the love of Christ, which surpasses all knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

And to Him who is able to do all things far more abundantly than we ask or understand, according to the power at work within us, to Him be glory in the church in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever.

Ultimately, I think it would be very good if those who lead or bear responsibility for guiding God’s people in our congregations could distinguish more precisely between fear and reverent awe, because the Word of God clearly distinguishes them. Not everyone who begins to receive the Word in a church already has solid, well-established knowledge; and if we add this mishandling of fear and reverent awe, we end up with congregations whose full, sound understanding of the Bible is greatly limited.

As I said before, may those who draw near to Christ do so out of love, aware that we must change many things in our conduct and in our lives, that we must strive to improve each day so as to become even slightly more like Him, and that we must struggle for and guard our salvation with fear and trembling, reverently—not out of fright, not because of the things planted in our minds by those who sometimes act from other motives and interests. Those people indeed have neither reverent awe nor fear.

May the church we continue to nurture here on earth, even in the difficult times we live in, not be a church that is intimidated and lives in fear. May it indeed have the fear of God and act accordingly, but not be a frightened church, a church filled with the bad things others may sow. Rather, may it be a strong church that examines things, knows the Word of God, and can discern what is happening around it; a church not blinded by following its earthly leaders, but with clear vision so that it can trust only what Jesus said; a church certain that when we cry out to God and ask according to His will and in obedience, He hears us.

May we find peace, as Jesus told us in John 14:27—the peace He left us, the peace He gave us, not as the world gives it—so that our hearts may not be troubled, so that we may not be afraid.

May the Lord help us understand this and enable us to attain it in His perfect Love. God bless you.