- Jan 12, 2018
- 31
- 33
- Country
- United States
- Faith
- Lutheran
- Marital Status
- Private
Hi all,
My OCD shifts and changes, and I picked up a new type of OCD recently where I fear that perhaps I'm not sorry enough for my sins. For example, what if I am only sorry for them in the sense that I fear eternal punishment and separation from God? And what if I'm not worried about displeasing God for the sake of displeasing someone I love, but I'm worried because I don't want to make God angry at me? I thought, if I'm worried about whether I truly fear and love God or not, then I must truly love and fear Him, but what if I only am worried about whether I truly love and fear Him because I've heard you cannot get into heaven if you don't fear God as a father, and only fear Him as God (i.e. filial fear is fear of Him as a father, and servile fear is fear of Him because He determines your salvation, like Martin Luther talked about.)
I'm quite tired of googling the issue and hearing "You'll burn off the bad karma/servile fear in purgatory" since I'm Lutheran and don't believe purgatory exists, and I'm also even more tired of googling it and hearing "You'll go to hell if you don't fear God as a father, and instead just fear Him because you don't want to go to hell." So if anyone has anything to say on the topic that is encouraging or comforting, please do!
Thanks for reading, and God bless!
EDIT: I'd also like to add, that John 3:16 says "Whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life," and I am whoever (As is everyone else), and I do believe Jesus is Lord, and I am sorry for my sins- my concern is that, is my repentance out of fear, or out of love and reverence? And can the former keep you out of heaven, since you are obeying God out of fear?
My OCD shifts and changes, and I picked up a new type of OCD recently where I fear that perhaps I'm not sorry enough for my sins. For example, what if I am only sorry for them in the sense that I fear eternal punishment and separation from God? And what if I'm not worried about displeasing God for the sake of displeasing someone I love, but I'm worried because I don't want to make God angry at me? I thought, if I'm worried about whether I truly fear and love God or not, then I must truly love and fear Him, but what if I only am worried about whether I truly love and fear Him because I've heard you cannot get into heaven if you don't fear God as a father, and only fear Him as God (i.e. filial fear is fear of Him as a father, and servile fear is fear of Him because He determines your salvation, like Martin Luther talked about.)
I'm quite tired of googling the issue and hearing "You'll burn off the bad karma/servile fear in purgatory" since I'm Lutheran and don't believe purgatory exists, and I'm also even more tired of googling it and hearing "You'll go to hell if you don't fear God as a father, and instead just fear Him because you don't want to go to hell." So if anyone has anything to say on the topic that is encouraging or comforting, please do!
Thanks for reading, and God bless!
EDIT: I'd also like to add, that John 3:16 says "Whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life," and I am whoever (As is everyone else), and I do believe Jesus is Lord, and I am sorry for my sins- my concern is that, is my repentance out of fear, or out of love and reverence? And can the former keep you out of heaven, since you are obeying God out of fear?
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