Not even close....
What is this “fear” that we are told to have?
The proper fear of God is essential to those who would serve him. This profound fear of God is “the beginning of wisdom”, “the start of wisdom.” (Proverbs 9:10) It is not a morbid fear that tears down; “the fear of the Lord is pure.” (Psalm 19:9) This fear is defined at
Proverbs 8:13 as “the hating of bad.” It will prevent us from following a bad course, for
“in the fear of the Lord one turns away from bad.” (Proverbs 16:6)
This is a fear of displeasing someone you love...a fear of letting them down. It is not based on fear of death or punishment.
Ancient Israel teaches us valuable lessons.....mostly about what NOT to do in order to stay in God’s good graces. Since Jesus consigned the religious leaders of Israel to “Gehenna”, do you honestly think they just “made a mistake”?
What is the basis for God’s forgiveness? It is heartfelt repentance....something the Jews (as a spiritual nation) have never demonstrated since they hung Jesus on the stake to disgrace him. (Galatians 3:13) They cursed themselves and their children with Christ’s blood.....(Matthew 27:25) Why would God have grounds to forgive them? At times he just wanted to wipe them off the face of the earth. (Exodus 32:9-10)
Are you serious? What motivates our actions is more important to God than blind obedience out of fear of punishment. Catholicism counted on that to keep the masses in line for centuries. If our choices are not rightly motivated, then going through the motions is useless if our whole heart is not in it.
John 15:10...Jesus said....
“If you observe my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have observed the commandments of the Father and remain in his love.”
Think about Jesus’ words there....if we want to
remain in God’s love as he did, we have to be obedient to all of God’s commands as he was. If we are not obedient to God, we were never 'loved' by him to start with.
John 3:16 tells us that “God loved the world” (of mankind) enough to send his son to die for them.....but those who fail to obey God, do not have the blood of Christ applied in their case. Christ’s blood covers those who love God more than they love themselves. They remain in God’s love by their continued obedience to all of his commands.....but you cannot
remain in a place you never were to begin with.
What did Jesus say were the greatest commandments?
Matthew 22:28-30...
“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” 37 He said to him: “‘You must love the Lord your God with your whole heart and with your whole soul and with your whole mind.’ 38 This is the greatest and first commandment. 39 The second, like it, is this: ‘You must love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments the whole Law hangs, and the Prophets.”
You cannot love God, half-heartedly. If devotion to God is not whole-souled, it is unacceptable.
If you demonstrate love of neighbor, but do not love God with your whole being, it is futile. It just makes you a good humanitarian. Motivation is everything to God. I believe he makes that very clear. Empty ritual and mindless repetition will not save anyone.