Scared Straight
"So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God...For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad." (Romans 14:12; 2 Corinthians 5:10)
The above is scary enough to curb some peoples actions. Even those faithful to their particular religion are scared because none of us are perfect. Especially when taught that if you are not really, really saved, off to hell you go into eternal conscience torment for even one unrepented sin. Even the most holy people wonder whether they are really saved, so their evangelists use "damnable doctrines" to get some folks Scared Straight and back to the religious assembly. And it works sometimes...for about a month or so.
A.E. Knoch (1874-1965) once said in his work, Solid Comfort for the Bereaved:
"Men have corrupted God's holy Word. The Bible has been mistranslated to agree with the damnable doctrines of degenerate men. They have changed Him from a God of boundless love who wills the salvation of all to a demon of damnation, more dreadful than all of the idols of the heathen. They have altered His temporary discipline into endless punishment and eternal torment. But they have not succeeded in blotting it all out. The Bible still teaches that all shall be saved (1 Timothy 4:10) and justified (Romans 5:18) and vivified (1 Corinthians 15:22) and reconciled (Colossians 1:20), and thus contradicts the false "hell" and the fictitious fire of eternal torment."
Mr. Knoch was right on course - and could not be Scared Straight.
"God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation." (Romans 5:8-11)
The above is scary enough to curb some peoples actions. Even those faithful to their particular religion are scared because none of us are perfect. Especially when taught that if you are not really, really saved, off to hell you go into eternal conscience torment for even one unrepented sin. Even the most holy people wonder whether they are really saved, so their evangelists use "damnable doctrines" to get some folks Scared Straight and back to the religious assembly. And it works sometimes...for about a month or so.
A.E. Knoch (1874-1965) once said in his work, Solid Comfort for the Bereaved:
"Men have corrupted God's holy Word. The Bible has been mistranslated to agree with the damnable doctrines of degenerate men. They have changed Him from a God of boundless love who wills the salvation of all to a demon of damnation, more dreadful than all of the idols of the heathen. They have altered His temporary discipline into endless punishment and eternal torment. But they have not succeeded in blotting it all out. The Bible still teaches that all shall be saved (1 Timothy 4:10) and justified (Romans 5:18) and vivified (1 Corinthians 15:22) and reconciled (Colossians 1:20), and thus contradicts the false "hell" and the fictitious fire of eternal torment."
Mr. Knoch was right on course - and could not be Scared Straight.
"God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation." (Romans 5:8-11)