Scare Tactics
Suppose for a moment one could actually dangle a person over hell fire and brimstone. The body secured with just a thin chord, which could easily be severed, sending the poor soul into the unquenchable flames. Would that put the fear of God in anyone? No way.
I doubt God would use any kind of scare tactic just to bring a person into relationship with Him. This is never to say hell is irrelevant or even non-existent, but scaring someone would never work, at least for the person who sincerely wants to be changed and rearranged to be fit for heavenly life.
The scoundrel in the midst of a raging battle may call out to God for deliverance inside the foxhole; however, once the danger has passed, he simply carries without giving thought to the Creator and how his very life rests in His hands. No, scaring in never enough to bring wayward souls into the temple of the Lord to learn at the feet of the Messiah.
What God does is He sends the Son into this world to be incarnated as a man, and He lives among people, to have fellowship with them. But there is more to the picture than just that, the Son also goes to the cross to die on behalf of sinners and He resurrects to life again on the third day, so that whosoever believes can have eternal life (John 3:16). It is when one enters into covenant relationship with the God of the universe that they can understand their need be changed and rearranged for heavenly life, and they surrender their own life over to God to make this happen.
Jesus spoke quite a bit about hell, as a way of describing the utter ruin of a life lived in opposition to God and godly things. But when it came to how people would find their way into heaven, He said, “follow Me” (Mark 1:17).
I doubt God would use any kind of scare tactic just to bring a person into relationship with Him. This is never to say hell is irrelevant or even non-existent, but scaring someone would never work, at least for the person who sincerely wants to be changed and rearranged to be fit for heavenly life.
The scoundrel in the midst of a raging battle may call out to God for deliverance inside the foxhole; however, once the danger has passed, he simply carries without giving thought to the Creator and how his very life rests in His hands. No, scaring in never enough to bring wayward souls into the temple of the Lord to learn at the feet of the Messiah.
What God does is He sends the Son into this world to be incarnated as a man, and He lives among people, to have fellowship with them. But there is more to the picture than just that, the Son also goes to the cross to die on behalf of sinners and He resurrects to life again on the third day, so that whosoever believes can have eternal life (John 3:16). It is when one enters into covenant relationship with the God of the universe that they can understand their need be changed and rearranged for heavenly life, and they surrender their own life over to God to make this happen.
Jesus spoke quite a bit about hell, as a way of describing the utter ruin of a life lived in opposition to God and godly things. But when it came to how people would find their way into heaven, He said, “follow Me” (Mark 1:17).
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