The flip side of a believer’s efforts to gain God’s approval is a fear of never attaining to it, which results in a fear of going to hell. Despite the fact that a desire for God may be the motive, fear of going to hell is not faith in God. It’s the opposite. Only faith in God leads to salvation. Fear of hell is having “faith” in the possibility of going to hell because even when we dread something that might come to pass, we are believing it could happen. Even if it’s something we fear, it is a distorted form of faith. I heard once that fear is faith in reverse. It’s the dread of what could happen as opposed to “the assurance of things hoped for” (Hebrews 11:1). Either way, fear or faith, our focus is on our expectation of what is ahead. Only faith in God and His goodness will save us, whether in our various circumstances now or eternally.
People who fear they may be going to hell are generally preoccupied with trying in some way to earn their way into God’s favor. Or perhaps they are trying to maintain a “holy” way to remain in God’s favor, though chances are, if they fear falling away, they aren’t resting in His peace to begin with. If our fear is for someone else because we see their lives heading in an ‘unholy’ direction, it’s not our fear or worrying that will keep them from hell no matter how much we agonize over how they’re living their lives. Whether it’s for ourselves or someone else, if we’re looking at the darkness and hoping to see light, we’re looking in the wrong direction. It’s only faith-filled God-trusting confidence in the Lord, His goodness and His faithfulness to answer believing prayer that that gets the desired results.
by Lonnie Lane
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