I Mainly Go to Church Because I Don’t Want to Burn in Hell. Is That a Problem?

The Gospel

I Mainly Go to Church Because I Don’t Want to Burn in Hell. Is That a Problem?

25 min

The Gospel

I Mainly Go to Church Because I Don’t Want to Burn in Hell. Is That a Problem?

25 min

Episode 446 Show Notes

From the Show

Hell is a real place. And I think that the fear of hell drives people to God at times but that shouldn’t be our only or even our main motivation. Being in a Catholic church or a Lutheran church isn’t what’s going to get you into heaven either. Jesus saves. My question for you isn’t where do you go to church, but do you know Jesus? Do you trust in him instead of yourself to save you? Do you recognize that apart from him you’re hopeless? The fear of hell doesn’t save us either; faith in Jesus does, and Jesus doesn’t want you to live with this overwhelming terror of condemnation.

—Adriel Sanchez

Questions in this Episode

1. Is it okay to pray in the morning instead of at night before you go to bed?

2. I am a Christian. I committed a sin that is hidden from everyone except God. This sin affected many people but they don’t know it. I have asked and begged God for forgiveness. I don’t feel like I’m forgiven. Is it because I have not confessed the sin to the people involved? Is that required?

3. I was raised Catholic, now go to Lutheran Church. My main driving force is, I don’t want to burn in hell. Is that a problem?

4. A lot of weight gets put on doctrinal unity and churches are parts of denominations for that purpose. However, is their biblical warrant to give weight to “geographical” unity even across denominational lines? Further, how would we properly balance doctrinal unity and geographical unity?

Resources

Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Christian in Community by Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Obeying God Out of Slavish Fear by Adriel Sanchez

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Michael Horton (Ph.D., Wycliffe Hall, Oxford and Coventry University) is the J. Gresham Machen Professor of Systematic Theology and Apologetics at Westminster Seminary California and Founder & Editor-in-Chief of Sola Media.

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