Q: Can any saved believer be better saved than they already are by Hell Fire and Brimstones preaching?
A: If we are truly saved by grace through faith and not by our works of any kind, then we cannot be saved any better than this forever (Eph 2:8). If atleast 1% of our own works are needed to be added to the existing salvation we received in order to maintain it, we can be able to boast atleast something before God. But as it is 100% a gift of God, we cannot boast anything on our own for our own salvation (Eph 2:9). If we can boast, we can only boast in the Lord (1 Cor 1:31; 2 Cor 10:17). To me this is the best position and the greatest gift a man can receive to be thankful for God and enjoy Him all our lifetime. Praise the Lord!
So a believer cannot be better saved by His works than what he alreay is. Coming to the Hell Fire and Brimstone's preaching, such preaching will only bring man made fear to believers who hear it continuously (Matt 15:9). Most people who keep on hearing such preaching will fall in to a trap of self-righteousness easily and get deceived. The Pharisees were of such types who got tickled by hearing the law preached to people again and again in authority of Moses and Jesus too agreed with it (Matt 23:1-3). By preaching the law of Moses which stressed on Death and Hell Fire for the offenders of it, they came to a place where they became hypocrites. They became conceited and self-condemned because they bound heavy burdens on men's shoulders, but because of lack of God's grace they themselves were practicing the things which they preached against and condemned others who do it (Rom 2:1-3; Matt 23:4). It is better to avoid such preaching of condemnation that comes through law if we have already received the grace of God that comes through Jesus Christ (Gal 3:24-25).
MAN DOESN'T SIN BECAUSE OF LACK OF KNOWLEDGE ABOUT HELL (Rom 1:32), MAN'S SINS BECAUSE OF HIS SINFUL NATURE THAT LIES INSIDE HIM (John 3:18; Psa 51:5). The couple of Scriptures that comes to my mind regarding salvation is, "...the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation" (2 Peter 3:15,a) and "... the goodness of God leads [us] to repentance" (Rom 2:4). If speaking about hell will bring salvation, many fiery preachers of the past would have by now changed the whole world with it. But according to the word of God, only knowing the goodness of God more and more leads us to repentance. So the message to turn the world upside-down is not the message of hell fire and stop sinning, but God loves us in spite of our sinful failings. This only makes us realize the value of the gift of God's Grace....We need to be overwhelmed by grace to overcome sin. Where sin abounds, grace much more abounds leading us to eternal life in Christ Jesus' righteousness (Gal 5:20-21). JESUS REACHED PEOPLE THROUGH LOVE NOT BECAUSE HE THOUGHT IT WAS A POPULAR WAY, BUT GOD WANTED IT TO BE THAT WAY THROUGH HIM. GOD REVEALED HIS LOVE FOR US THROUGH JESUS CHRIST (Rom 5:8). The law came through Moses, but GRACE AND TRUTH CAME THROUGH JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD (John 1:17). "16 And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.... 18 No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him." (John 1:16, 18). Jesus' message was a message of love and forgiveness. Remember, "Love covers all sins" (Prov 10:12). Praise the Lord!
One friend of mine responded to my answer by saying, "Try preaching that "sweet love sermons" to the type of people I deal with and they try to make a woman out of you. lol...But I do understand a lot of people are more thinned skinned and need mothering; but the folks I deal with need to know hell is real, deep and wide, also there is no water inside. Depends on the person your trying to reach.
The word of god is like a double edge sword; it cuts going in and coming out. Also the spirit of the prophet is subject to the prophet. We all have different personalities among other things to consider here. I like a fiery sermon myself, because I am on the meat. I do not need to be wooed with the word, I want the cold hard facts from a seasoned, spiritually matured; spirit filled preacher. If someone comes at me so sweet that sugar would not melt in his mouth, I would be out of there. LOL.."
To this my response is, do not be too concerned about what people think. Even Jesus and the apostles were called mad and was mocked for sticking on to the gospel truth and grace (John 10:20; 1 Cor 1:23; 2:13-14; 4:10). Paul was called by the many to have gone mad because of his zeal to proclaim the gospel truth (Acts 26:24).
Never should any believer try to substitute the work of the Holy Spirit with the preaching that he is anointed to do, if it is done then that becomes a problem. The Holy Spirit convicts people when they are sinning and He turns them from the world if we continue to preach his word. No man can turn another man, you can try your whole life and see the result. But if we stay true to the word, the Holy Spirit will start to work. What did Jesus promise to us His disciples, "8 And when He [i.e. the Holy Spirit] has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 of sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10 of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; 11 of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged." (John 16:8-11). Let the Holy Spirit to reach people through the good news of the gospel. The problem with many is that they make it a bad news by trying to turn people from their sins. The apostles were not seen even one time to be preaching about hell continuously to turn people from sin, instead they held on to the good news and God worked with them by confirming the word through accompanying signs (Mark 16:20). We need to stick on to the apostolic pattern which is the only Biblical way.
Don't ever call the hell fire and brimstone preaching as mature preaching. No, it is not. I agree that God may raise many prophets to warn his people about sin, but that doesn't bring spiritual growth to them. Prophetic word turns people towards the Lord (1 Cor 14:24-25). Spiritual growth comes only when a person is established in the grace of our Lord Jesus (Heb 13:9).
To tell that hell is real is not wrong, but trying to convince people to turn to righteousness because of the horror of hell will not help any one a bit. No matter what kind of audience, love of God will break the heart of the vilest of sinners if it comes through the Holy Spirit. This Love will draw people to the Cross and not the vice-versa. God loved the world before He could exhibit His Son on earth to draw people. It is better to love people and make them love God, this is the way God draws people (John 12:32).
Blessings....
A: If we are truly saved by grace through faith and not by our works of any kind, then we cannot be saved any better than this forever (Eph 2:8). If atleast 1% of our own works are needed to be added to the existing salvation we received in order to maintain it, we can be able to boast atleast something before God. But as it is 100% a gift of God, we cannot boast anything on our own for our own salvation (Eph 2:9). If we can boast, we can only boast in the Lord (1 Cor 1:31; 2 Cor 10:17). To me this is the best position and the greatest gift a man can receive to be thankful for God and enjoy Him all our lifetime. Praise the Lord!
So a believer cannot be better saved by His works than what he alreay is. Coming to the Hell Fire and Brimstone's preaching, such preaching will only bring man made fear to believers who hear it continuously (Matt 15:9). Most people who keep on hearing such preaching will fall in to a trap of self-righteousness easily and get deceived. The Pharisees were of such types who got tickled by hearing the law preached to people again and again in authority of Moses and Jesus too agreed with it (Matt 23:1-3). By preaching the law of Moses which stressed on Death and Hell Fire for the offenders of it, they came to a place where they became hypocrites. They became conceited and self-condemned because they bound heavy burdens on men's shoulders, but because of lack of God's grace they themselves were practicing the things which they preached against and condemned others who do it (Rom 2:1-3; Matt 23:4). It is better to avoid such preaching of condemnation that comes through law if we have already received the grace of God that comes through Jesus Christ (Gal 3:24-25).
MAN DOESN'T SIN BECAUSE OF LACK OF KNOWLEDGE ABOUT HELL (Rom 1:32), MAN'S SINS BECAUSE OF HIS SINFUL NATURE THAT LIES INSIDE HIM (John 3:18; Psa 51:5). The couple of Scriptures that comes to my mind regarding salvation is, "...the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation" (2 Peter 3:15,a) and "... the goodness of God leads [us] to repentance" (Rom 2:4). If speaking about hell will bring salvation, many fiery preachers of the past would have by now changed the whole world with it. But according to the word of God, only knowing the goodness of God more and more leads us to repentance. So the message to turn the world upside-down is not the message of hell fire and stop sinning, but God loves us in spite of our sinful failings. This only makes us realize the value of the gift of God's Grace....We need to be overwhelmed by grace to overcome sin. Where sin abounds, grace much more abounds leading us to eternal life in Christ Jesus' righteousness (Gal 5:20-21). JESUS REACHED PEOPLE THROUGH LOVE NOT BECAUSE HE THOUGHT IT WAS A POPULAR WAY, BUT GOD WANTED IT TO BE THAT WAY THROUGH HIM. GOD REVEALED HIS LOVE FOR US THROUGH JESUS CHRIST (Rom 5:8). The law came through Moses, but GRACE AND TRUTH CAME THROUGH JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD (John 1:17). "16 And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.... 18 No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him." (John 1:16, 18). Jesus' message was a message of love and forgiveness. Remember, "Love covers all sins" (Prov 10:12). Praise the Lord!
One friend of mine responded to my answer by saying, "Try preaching that "sweet love sermons" to the type of people I deal with and they try to make a woman out of you. lol...But I do understand a lot of people are more thinned skinned and need mothering; but the folks I deal with need to know hell is real, deep and wide, also there is no water inside. Depends on the person your trying to reach.
The word of god is like a double edge sword; it cuts going in and coming out. Also the spirit of the prophet is subject to the prophet. We all have different personalities among other things to consider here. I like a fiery sermon myself, because I am on the meat. I do not need to be wooed with the word, I want the cold hard facts from a seasoned, spiritually matured; spirit filled preacher. If someone comes at me so sweet that sugar would not melt in his mouth, I would be out of there. LOL.."
To this my response is, do not be too concerned about what people think. Even Jesus and the apostles were called mad and was mocked for sticking on to the gospel truth and grace (John 10:20; 1 Cor 1:23; 2:13-14; 4:10). Paul was called by the many to have gone mad because of his zeal to proclaim the gospel truth (Acts 26:24).
Never should any believer try to substitute the work of the Holy Spirit with the preaching that he is anointed to do, if it is done then that becomes a problem. The Holy Spirit convicts people when they are sinning and He turns them from the world if we continue to preach his word. No man can turn another man, you can try your whole life and see the result. But if we stay true to the word, the Holy Spirit will start to work. What did Jesus promise to us His disciples, "8 And when He [i.e. the Holy Spirit] has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 of sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10 of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; 11 of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged." (John 16:8-11). Let the Holy Spirit to reach people through the good news of the gospel. The problem with many is that they make it a bad news by trying to turn people from their sins. The apostles were not seen even one time to be preaching about hell continuously to turn people from sin, instead they held on to the good news and God worked with them by confirming the word through accompanying signs (Mark 16:20). We need to stick on to the apostolic pattern which is the only Biblical way.
Don't ever call the hell fire and brimstone preaching as mature preaching. No, it is not. I agree that God may raise many prophets to warn his people about sin, but that doesn't bring spiritual growth to them. Prophetic word turns people towards the Lord (1 Cor 14:24-25). Spiritual growth comes only when a person is established in the grace of our Lord Jesus (Heb 13:9).
To tell that hell is real is not wrong, but trying to convince people to turn to righteousness because of the horror of hell will not help any one a bit. No matter what kind of audience, love of God will break the heart of the vilest of sinners if it comes through the Holy Spirit. This Love will draw people to the Cross and not the vice-versa. God loved the world before He could exhibit His Son on earth to draw people. It is better to love people and make them love God, this is the way God draws people (John 12:32).
Blessings....
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22 And of some have compassion, making a difference:
23 And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh." Jude 1:23
...
So, not by my opinion, but by the Holy Spirit Inspired Word of God, the answer is yes; a Believer can maintain their salvation and benefit from preaching that brings to light the reality that Hell is a consequence for sin. Also the Bible also tells us this:
"Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with FEAR and TREMBLING." Philippians 2:12
When you are a TRUE and SINCERE man/woman of God, and bring His Word in the name of Jesus, the fear that occurs is not of man, but of God Himself.
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