The old Self, the person we are apart from God, "dead in trespasses and sins," "foolish, disobedient, deceived," "at enmity with God," is pathologically self-interested (Ro. 6:6; Eph. 2:1-3; Tit. 3:3; Col. 1:21). Above and before all, the carnal old Self wants to be gratified, and lauded, and served, it wants to be under its own direction, as much as possible, following its own course without criticism or correction (Jn. 3:19; Ro. 8:5-8; Phil. 3:18-19). This self-centeredness that characterizes the old Self was what the Serpent in Eden appealed to in Eve, and it is what is expressed in every sin we commit. Our natural selfishness sometimes displays itself in peculiar ways, however, helped into a warped shape by the devil. In the case of the question of the Eternal Security of the Believer (OSAS), this is certainly the case.
On the surface, the fear-based motive underpinning the SAL (saved and lost) doctrine is held up by those holding to the doctrine as a valuable feature of it. We all need to be very careful we don't step wrong with God or He'll give us the boot, kicking us out of His family and kingdom. The threat of salvation-lost is a necessary and powerful motivator of good works, keeping us from diving headlong into the wickedness that stands at our elbow at every moment, beckoning us into sin. Only if we're afraid of God, afraid of the yawning mouth of hell on the edge of which we stand at all times, will we live as we ought to do, spurning the lure of wicked temptation.
Can we truly walk with God as joyful, love-filled children, trusting in Him, resting peacefully in His compassion, mercy and power, while He constantly waves at us the terrifying prospect of our eternal damnation? No one knows how far is too far; no one knows, exactly, where the line is between saved and lost; and so, no one can say with any confidence that they'll get into heaven. Given God's perfect holiness, perhaps any sin, no matter how small, is a deep offence to God and thus sufficient to eject a person from His family and kingdom. For the Christian who "walks with God" as the flames of hell lick at their heels there is, then, only constant uncertainty and fear. God is not a gentle, compassionate, merciful Heavenly Father, but a Terrible Threat, a cruel Warden patrolling our lives for any reason to throw us onto Death Row.
One of the huge and obvious problems with this approach to being a Christian is that it is profoundly self-centered. The Christian who believes God may at any moment expel them from His kingdom and family is occupied with self-preservation, not with the Christ. Such a believer is acting always to keep themselves from the damning wrath of God, not "dine with Jesus," as God's word invites us all to do (Rev. 3:20). How is one to enjoy intimate, daily communion with God (1 Co. 1:9; 2 Co. 13:14; 1 Jn. 1:3; Ps. 36:7-9) while He remains the Greatest Danger to one's eternal well-being? In this dynamic with God, one's focus will always be upon oneself, upon keeping oneself safe from God's fiercesome wrath and punishment. God is merely a Danger to be avoided, not a Father to be loved and enjoyed.
Thus, the fear-motive in walking with God is a fundamentally selfish motive. The old Self delights in the attention, however negatively it is obtained, and the devil is happy, too, that the Christian's eyes are not fixed in love and joy upon Christ (He. 12:1-3; 2 Co. 3:18), but upon themselves. This is why the fear-motive cannot ever be a motive God accepts in our walk with Him. It is fundamentally self-interested, which is the very opposite of what God calls His children into in their walk with Him. We are to die to ourselves, setting aside our self-interest, our natural self-preoccupation, walking in sacrificial love and joy with God, instead (Matt. 16:24-25; Jn. 12:24-25; Ga. 2:20; Col. 3:1-3).
How does the NT describe the life of the born-again believer? Is it described in terms of fear and threat?
Romans 8:15-17
15 For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.”
16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,
17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ...
1 John 4:16-19
16 And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.
17 Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.
18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.
19 We love Him because He first loved us.
Ac. 13:52
52 And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.
Romans 14:17
17 for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
Galatians 5:22-23
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
And so on.
Fear is conspicuously absent from these verses/passages, which it must be if love, joy and peace are to characterize Christian living. In fact, the apostle John rules out a craven fear of God entirely, saying that the one who fears God in this way, who fears Him as wrathful Judge and Punisher, has not been made perfect in God's love. The effect, too, of the indwelling Holy Spirit, who spiritually regenerates the lost person (Ro. 8:9-13; Tit. 3:5), is that his love is shed abroad in their heart (Ro. 5:5). His "fruit" in the life of the Christian is "love, joy, peace..." not fear.
The believer who is secure in their relationship with God, who understands that their acceptance by God is entirely the consequence of the perfection of Christ in whom they have been placed spiritually (Eph. 1:1-13; 2 Co. 5:21), is liberated from self-interested fear and able to truly walk with God in love, and peace, and joy.