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I am studing the bible with Jehovah's witnesses.
One of the women that conducts the study asked me"do you love Jehovah more since studying the bible.
I shouldn't have answered the way I did but I said "no".
Reason being,I already loved him. But I actually fear him a little more than I love him.
I think the JW say God wants to be our friend,a loving father. He doesn't want us to fear him.
Which brings me to this question: can someone believe in God and Jesus,goes to church,obeys the commandments,etc but not love him?(doing these things out of fear instead)
What would happen to such a person?
Hmmmm...it's a good question.
Someone once described to me they always felt like God was holding their hand, like a loving father does. I never had a loving father figure in my life- mostly an absence. So, for me it has been a struggle to 'feel' what a loving father relationship is. We have many life experiences that shape, or frame, how we handle other situations and I guess this why I struggle with it.
However, reading the bible accounts that demonstrate God's love for us has helped me get closer to Him. I don't fear Him so much as the consequences that my choices may bring. Also, the fear I feel is more so of a fear of hurting His feelings...willfully doing something that would be insulting to Him.
I am studing the bible with Jehovah's witnesses.
One of the women that conducts the study asked me"do you love Jehovah more since studying the bible.
I shouldn't have answered the way I did but I said "no".
Reason being,I already loved him. But I actually fear him a little more than I love him.
I think the JW say God wants to be our friend,a loving father. He doesn't want us to fear him.
Which brings me to this question: can someone believe in God and Jesus,goes to church,obeys the commandments,etc but not love him?(doing these things out of fear instead)
What would happen to such a person?
I believe that many people come to God initially out of fear, but as the relationship grows and as we learn about the love of God, that we come to see that God is our Father, and wants us to trust Him for who He is. The apostle John says that there is not fear in love and that perfect love casts out all fear (1 John 4:18) I hope and pray that you ask God to fill your heart and mind with the revelation of how much He does love you and all of us. God bless.
Jehovah is a specific set of descriptions about the nature of God and His motives that are attributed to the one and only God . . . our loving Father. If the descriptions are believed . . . no sane person SHOULD love Jehovah or believe that those descriptions are true about our loving Father. This does not mean they would not love God . . . the only one in existence . . . whose true nature was revealed and exemplified by Jesus Christ. It just means that those descriptions are the result of our human ignorance, superstitions and savage barbarity.
[Can] someone believe in God and Jesus,goes to church,obeys the commandments,etc but not love him?(doing these things out of fear instead)
What would happen to such a person?
That's an interesting question. I personally believe that not only is faith without works dead, but that works without faith are also dead. Going through the motions seems to be pretty pointless to me. I wouldn't say that the person described in your question would end up burning in Hell forever (for starters, I don't believe in that concept myself), but his obedience would be recognized by God as being insincere and without love. Since love of God and our fellow men are stressed as being the most important of all the commandments, this person is obviously falling way short of what's expected of him.
I am studing the bible with Jehovah's witnesses.
One of the women that conducts the study asked me"do you love Jehovah more since studying the bible.
I shouldn't have answered the way I did but I said "no".
Reason being,I already loved him. But I actually fear him a little more than I love him.
I think the JW say God wants to be our friend,a loving father. He doesn't want us to fear him.
Which brings me to this question: can someone believe in God and Jesus,goes to church,obeys the commandments,etc but not love him?(doing these things out of fear instead)
What would happen to such a person?
That person would go to hell.
Jesus is Jehovah.
Jesus said that no one will be allowed into heaven by obeying the commandments.
Jesus also said that no will come unto the Father except through him ... he never included an organization.
I believe that many people come to God initially out of fear, but as the relationship grows and as we learn about the love of God, that we come to see that God is our Father, and wants us to trust Him for who He is. The apostle John says that there is not fear in love and that perfect love casts out all fear (1 John 4:18) I hope and pray that you ask God to fill your heart and mind with the revelation of how much He does love you and all of us. God bless.
So if I'm understanding this correctly,fear of GOD eventually will lead to love of God?
That's an interesting question. I personally believe that not only is faith without works dead, but that works without faith are also dead. Going through the motions seems to be pretty pointless to me. I wouldn't say that the person described in your question would end up burning in Hell forever (for starters, I don't believe in that concept myself), but his obedience would be recognized by God as being insincere and without love. Since love of God and our fellow men are stressed as being the most important of all the commandments, this person is obviously falling way short of what's expected of him.
Works without faith is dead,is there a scripture that's support that?
Does the bible tell us to fear God and love him at the same time?
Works without faith is dead,is there a scripture that's support that?
There isn't a scripture that says, "Works without faith is dead," but I'd say it's pretty much just a matter of common sense, since there is quite a bit of Biblical evidence that our works are incapable of saving us. Hence, if we do good works and do not have faith in Jesus Christ, our works will be pretty much worthless -- i.e. dead. To me, it is impossible to truly have faith in Christ without being faithful to Christ.
To quote C.S. Lewis, "Regarding the debate about faith and works: It’s like asking which blade in a pair of scissors is most important." To me, he was saying that faith and works should complement each other, not compete against each other.
Martin Luther's explanation of how the two work together is also excellent. He said, "O it is a living, busy active mighty thing, this faith. It is impossible for it not to be doing good things incessantly. It does not ask whether good works are to be done, but before the question is asked, it has already done this, and is constantly doing them. Whoever does not do such works, however, is an unbeliever. He gropes and looks around for faith and good works, but knows neither what faith is nor what good works are."
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Does the bible tell us to fear God and love him at the same time?
Yes, it definitely does. To me, though, to have a fear of God is merely to recognize and respect His power and authority.
Can you not love someone who sent his son to die in your place? Who forgives your sins freely by grace, the grace that cost him dearly? Yes fear God, that is how you can get saved and how you can have a good clean life on this earth, but love him because he saved you and for who he is, he gave us life.
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