Bible Verse of the Day Saturday October 14th, 2023

Matthew 10:28 Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

The primary focus of Matthew 10 is the calling and sending out of the twelve Apostles. Their original audience was the house of Israel only; the ministry of the Gentiles would come later. It makes sense that the Apostles would be apprehensive about going to the Jews and preaching a new message from what they had known for many Generations.

Suppose we remember when we first started witnessing to other people about the saving grace of the Gospel of Christ Jesus. In that case, we might not forget our apprehension and nervousness. Imagine what these twelve that Jesus sent out to carry an unfamiliar message to the Jewish people must have felt like. Now, look at the result when this message went out to not only the Nation of Israel but to the ends of the earth. We might think that carrying the message of the Gospel to a small number of people in our surroundings would never have that kind of worldwide influence, but always remember, "With God, all things are possible." (Matthew 19:26).

Most of the fears we go through in our lives never seem to come to fruition. Moreover, fear is the opposite of faith, and it is not pleasing to God (Hebrews 11:6). Most of the time, when the snare of fear gets us caught in its clutches, a human or humans are involved in the mix somewhere. There is a limit to what humans can do to anyone; they may be able to destroy the body, but they cannot kill the soul. Only one can destroy the body and soul in hell, and that is God.

Even though one might take our lives here in this life, God will cause us to live again in the resurrection. Naturally, we might fear humans, which might cause physical death; however, Jesus told us that the eternal perspective was much more important than our physical perception. Most importantly, we should not fear humans, only God. Another point we should not forget is that fear of humans and God are two different standpoints. Fear of humans is a void of faith in God. Fear of God is faith and respect for God; in other words, if one has the right relationship with God, one need not fear God in a human perception.

As followers of Christ Jesus, we need not fear hell because of the selfless sacrifice Christ Jesus made on the Cross on our behalf. Jesus took on our hell so that we might have His heaven. Jesus paid the sin debt for all the sins of everyone who accepts Him as their Lord and Savior. There is not one sin we could commit for which Jesus did not pay. Furthermore, God will not banish us to hell because we believe and trust that Jesus did pay our entire sin debt. God will never go back on his word or the promises he has made to humanity.  He paid for all our sins; there is no sin for which He did not pay. Therefore, God will never put someone in hell when we surrender our lives to Him, trust and believe that Jesus paid for our sins on the Hill of Calvary. God will never go back on His Word or promise.