Save With Fear

This past week while walking by a table at a coffee shop, I noticed a Time magazine from earlier this year with the cover story “What If There’s No Hell?” My initial reaction was the title should instead read, “What If There IS a Hell?” Christians have nothing to lose by following the Lord except for their sin, sickness, and poverty. The heathen risk spending eternity in the lake of fire. I posted my thoughts about this magazine cover on my Facebook page. One friend responded with her belief that using hell for a fear tactic is satanic.

Romans 2:4 does say it’s the goodness of God that leads one to repentance. Personally, I prefer to hear more about the love of God than “fire and brimstone” preaching. On the other hand, Jesus gave many warnings in the gospels about hell. 

A fellow minister shared an interesting analogy with me. If you saw your children playing on a busy street, wouldn’t you immediately holler at them to come back into the yard? Of course, you would. A car might hit them otherwise. That’s not being judgmental. That’s love!

The mere suggestion that hell may not exist is a vain imagination that must be cast down (2 Corinthians 10:5). Sinners who refuse to repent must be made aware of the consequences. The eternal destinies of these precious souls are at stake.

“And on some have compassion, making a distinction; but others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh.” - Jude 22-23