Why would any NT believer need to ‘fear God’ since Jesus loves us and has promised us we’d spend eternity in heaven with Him after we died if we would just ‘accept Him as Savior’? I suppose if you were taught that your ‘salvation was guaranteed’ (or secure), even though God knew you would always continue to sin, being the wretched sinner you are, then that might explain that opening question. ‘Everyone knows’ all we have to do is just ask Jesus to forgive us and we are ‘good with God’, right? I wonder if this was the same message those ‘many’ we read about in Matt. 7:21-23 heard?

The concern here is for the ‘many’ today who have been lulled into a false sense of security because of twisted teachings that both Paul and Jeremiah warned us about. (2 Cor. 11:3-4; 1 Tim. 4:1; Jer. 23:16-20; 1 Thess. 5:1-3). Those who have been convinced that “nothing evil shall come upon us” (Jer. 23:17) would be puzzled to read such NT passages like Acts 2:43; 5:5; 9:31; 2 Cor. 7:1; Heb. 4:1; Phil. 2:12, just to name a few.

Why would Paul admonish us to consider both the ‘goodness of God and severity of God’ ? (Rom. 11:22). Friends...I share with you here candidly...I was severely misguided by such false teachings early on in my walk of faith. I was led to believe that ‘God is not like that’ and that a ‘good and loving God’ we saw in Jesus was not like the ‘God of the OT’. And let me assure you, the goodness of God cannot be understated. We see His goodness and love and mercy wrapped up in Jesus, which is why we are warned of the danger of ‘neglecting so great a salvation’. (Heb. 2:3-4; 10:26-31)

Yes, I was greatly influenced in those early years by the ‘faith, health, and wealth’ gospel that was spreading like wildfire. It was not the same ‘gospel’ message that Jesus preached, nor the one the early church fathers preached, both of whom warned the early church might happen with ‘other gospels’ and ‘another Jesus’ that would deceive many. (Matt. 24:4-5,11,23-25; 2 Cor. 11:3-4)

It seemed that the central core of such ‘gospels’ boiled down to simply ‘having faith’ and ‘just believe in your heart’ ...was all that mattered to God. If you were not healthy and all your needs were not being met, it was a matter of not having enough faith, or a lack thereof. I mean, just look at 3 John 2 where God’s will for us is clearly stated: “I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers”. And what earthly parent does not want that for their own children, right? (Matt. 7:11; Luke 11:13)

The problem that so many teachings led to in those early years was all the emphasis was placed on God’s children ‘prospering and being in health’ while neglecting what it meant to have one’s ‘soul...prosper’. And friends, there was more to it than just going to church regularly, reading your Bible daily, and avoid doing those ‘big sins’.