Terrence said:
Hey bro, I just wanted to correct something. It surely was not the fear of God that converted me, but God's love. It blew me away because I saw how Holy God is and rather than dealing with me as He should, he showed grace. I was a tear filled convert and not a fear filled one. I assure you, fear would not have bought me to God, but agian, His grace did. All that said however, it was during my studying and maturing did I come to know more about God's character and I've learned that His wrath is as horrible as His love is awesome. The only 2 attributes profitable to God are Love and Wrath, Ive learned that. And, it is because of learning more about His holiness and wrath that I can understand and appriciate Grace, you know? I am convinced, until a man sees himself as God sees him apart from Christ, He cannot be saved.
In Jesus!
Interesting.
Here Terrence admits that it isn't the fear of God, but the love of God that has attracted him. Yet his entire discourse in the OP emphasizes God's wrath and judgement.
I think, Terrence, that you are being dishonest when you say that the fear of God didn't drive you to God, for you must have known from reading the Bible about the consequence and penalty of sin and the fact that one needs to recognize the need for salvation (presumably from Hell) as an essensial step in coming to Christ. Fear had to drive you toward that at least initially before you could grasp the love of God. Once you've understood that Jesus died for your sins and rose from the grave, and acknowledge this in your own life, that fear gave way to love. You can now appreciate the love of God in your life and live to obey Him in love.
I suppose fear of Hell has it's place, and so does the reward of Heaven. But I think Terrence's point is that you cannot separate heaven or hell from God. For one represents life with God and the other represents life without God.
When it is our time to stand before God our maker, one of two things will happen. Either we will experience the overwhelming Love of God and His forgiveness, mercy, and grace. Or we will experience the fear and wrath of God. The basis of which one we will face depends on our relationship to God. For the creative life of Man is dependance on the Sustaining Power of God, that Tree of Life that was kept from Adam and Eve, and all mankind, because of Sin. If Jesus split the veil and allowed us access once again to that Tree of Life, the Spirit of God will give us life eternal and sustain us for all eternity.
"Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent." - John 17:3
Of course, we must make the choice to eat of that Tree of Life, for our God-given freewill, that same freewill that chosed the Forbidden Tree that brought death, demands that we are the master's of our destiny, the captain of our fate.
