You must have never read Jude. I came to Christ out of fear of hell. My wife came to Christ out of love knowing that God had compassion on her. Jude says it takes both
Jude 1:21Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.Jude 1:22And of some have compassion, making a difference:Jude 1:23And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.Jude 1:24Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,Jude 1:25To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and for ever. Amen.
But we have to much preaching now a days, that He is a loving God and He won't send anyone to hell, I was preaching the other day on presenting our life pleasing to God about living the Holy life He wants us to live, had a teenager speak up and say that God didn't expect her to be perfect, cause if God had wanted her to be perfect He would had made her perfect, see one thing we walk away from when we walk away from fear is respect. Fear is still needed in today's Chruch.The Bible's definition of wisdom is the fear of God.
Job 28:28And unto man he said, Behold, the FEAR of the Lord, that is WISDOM; and to depart from evil is understanding.
Pr 1:7
The FEAR of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise WISDOM and instruction.
To fear God or Know the Love of God is not the thing here, but rather know that God hates evil and if we are one of His, we must also hate evil
I know
1jo 4:18There is no
FEAR in
LOVE; but perfect
LOVE casteth out
FEAR: because
FEAR hath torment. He that
FEAReth is not made perfect in
LOVE.
But My friend tell me How many people do you know that has perfect love ?
For God
so loved the world... What does anyone have to fear about the cross? What aspect of the cross do we have to fear that God did through the death, burial and resurrection of His Son? Do we fear the death part, the burial part, the resurrection part, the ascension, the believing part? Jesus Christ said that He came not to condemn the sinner (John 3:17, 8:11) but He did come to condemn sin in His own flesh (Rom 8:3). The only ones Christ condemned when He was here, were the Pharisees and Sadducees who were condemning people for breaking the law.
The fear you refer to is in those verses have to do with an awe and reverence toward who God is and what He has to say. That is a healthy fear that puts our heart in a place to receive from God. The fear mentioned in (Jude 23), even if it refers to the salvation of the unbeliever (and it may), it refers to only some that need fear to get their attention to respond to the love of God. There are those that preach Christ of envy, strife, good will (watered down), contention, not sincerely, some of love, some in pretense and some in truth (Phil 1:15-18). Paul said he rejoiced and would continue to rejoice because in all Christ was preached. Go figure!
God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of love, of power and a sound mind (2Tim 1:7). Don't take (1John 4:18) lightly because there is no fear in love. God is love and we are in Him through Christ. Being in Him, hid with Christ, we have the Holy Spirit that has sealed us (Eph 1:13, 4:30) and that sheds His love abroad in our hearts (Rom 5:5). This love is to abound and grow in knowledge and all judgment (Phil 1:19) so that we can have a perfect (mature) love. Remember this, that all those that are fearful will have their part in the lake of fire (Rev 21:8). God draws people to Himself with lovingkindness (Jer 31:3), so let's not scare people away through fear, even though God may lead us to some that may need it to be saved.
