Respectable People in Hell - A "How To" Guide (page 2)

not a captive

Fear of God is only the beginning of wisdom. Only love endures.

tec

Twice in scripture God reminds us that the key to wisdom and understanding is fear. - Perry

N-A-C has it right. Fear is the beginning of wisdom, not the key to wisdom.

I serve Christ out of love. I love the example he set, and the truth he taught us about his Father. I love that he showed mercy and forgiveness to 'sinners' and I love that he asks us to do the same.

Because I love him, I want to please him.

I do not serve Him out of fear. Nor can I truly love someone that I am afraid of... not really. For a long time, I did fear God, and that fear had me saying that I loved Him. (though I did not know what love of God could be until after I loved Jesus) Yet, I did nothing special to serve God when I feared him. In fact, I mostly ignored faith and religion for more than a decade, until after I had children and considered my responsibilities to them.

So some might follow the commands and rules out of fear of God and his punishments, (as some of the Israelites did - though most of them failed to recognize Christ)

But this is not love. This is simply fear of punishment, and fear is not nearly as strong a motivator as love.

'Least not in my opinion.

Tammy

Chalam

Some great posts here :)

Proverbs 9:10-11 (New International Version)

10 "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom,
and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

11 For through me your days will be many,
and years will be added to your life.

Indeed!

Now who is "the Holy One"?

Psalm 16:10 (New International Version)

10 because you will not abandon me to the grave,
nor will you let your Holy One see decay.

Acts 2:22-27 (New International Version)

22 "Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. 23 This man was handed over to you by God's set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, [ a ] put him to death by nailing him to the cross. 24 But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. 25 David said about him:
" 'I saw the Lord always before me.
Because he is at my right hand,
I will not be shaken.
26 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
my body also will live in hope,
27 because you will not abandon me to the grave,
nor will you let your Holy One see decay.

Blessings,

Stephen

AK - Jeff

Something is fishy here. Smells like baloney fish.

Jeff

isaacaustin

Thanks for that post Perry. Hope all is well with you.

THE GLADIATOR

Perry, that's one frightening scary god you have chosen to believe in. If I believed in him, I would be shaking in my shoes.

Ever thought of becoming a modern Christian? You could love the man from Galilee and he could love you. So much nicer don't you think?

Perry

fear is not nearly as strong a motivator as love.

Hi Tammy,

I agree with your post about love. Regardless of where we start out, love is the foundation of our relationship with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Personally, I was burned out by all the fear of man that was installed in me as a kid, so I had little fear of the Lord, partly because of fear burn-out and partly because of the false WT doctrines I posted about above.

Having walked with the Lord for a few years now, I have a new-found fear of the Lord when I contemplate the fate of his enemies.

My wife is different than me. She doesn't go for much emotional hype and is not touchy/feely with people she doesn't know well. She is a former atheist. She is a little embarrassed to give her Christian testimony because she feels like it is not very interesting.... like over-coming a drug addiction, or searching high and low for God after being taught lies. Her testimony is simply this: She read a book about the rapture and believed. She was fearful that she'd be left behind.

It is interesting to me that whether a person starts off from a standpoint of love or fear, Belief MUST preceed both. I believe many motives are valid, even if they don't quite fit our particular idea, or may not be popular to modern sensibilities.

Once Jesus was telling his disciples how nearly impossible it would be for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God. Many were somewhat fearful at this revelation. Peter appeared not to be; but rather cut to the chase about what was important to him. Peter wanted to know what was in it for him ...from a practical standpoint. Jesus did not rebuke this motive.

And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved? But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.

Then answered Peter and said unto him, Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore?And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life. But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first.

The Kingdom of God is a big house and accomodates all kinds of people .... all who believe.

designs

Perry, Christianity is a mishmash of differing views, the Eastern Orthodox branches believe differently than the Catholics and differently than the Protestants and certainly you Fundamentalists/Literalists.

Church History and a simple walk through many Seminaries proves how shallow your statement is about beliefs.

You are no different than the Pioneers we use to see or even were with blinders on pitching their agenda rather than addressing the real needs of humanity and this earth..... but you'll get there.

Perry

designs,

Like I mentioned earlier, you are welcome to entertain any world view that you choose. That's called freedom. Totally different than the WT Pioneers.

rather than addressing the real needs of humanity and this earth

So you would like to perform a sales pitch on the "real" needs [in your opinion] of humanity? Isn't this just what you accused me of doing?

Honestly, what needs of humanity could possibly compare to the "real" human problem of death?

PSacramento

I stop fearing God a long time ago.

Then I found Jesus and the only fear I have now is the fear of not being as good a person as I can be, not being as good a father, husband, son and brother.

My only fear is to not loves as much as I shoudl because my ego won't let me.

So, do I fear God?.

I "fear" not being worthy of God's gift of Grace and I fear being less that I can be.

Respectable People in Hell - A "How To" Guide

Proverbs 9:10-11 (New International Version)

Psalm 16:10 (New International Version)

Acts 2:22-27 (New International Version)

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