Elizabeth Stevens-Strathman
Board-Certified Psychiatrist
I. INTRODUCTION
In 2 Tim 1:7, Paul writes to his lieutenant Timothy that, “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and a sound mind.”1 The proclamation of unbiblical theology will produce fear. This fear can have a devastating psychological impact on those who accept it.
II. A WORKS-BASED GOSPEL CAUSES MORE THAN THEOLOGICAL DAMAGE
The doctrine of eternal rewards is rarely taught or believed in our churches and seminaries today. It is often rejected and in its place surfaces a strange and damaging blend of works and grace.2 Instead of distinguishing eternal life (Eph 2:8-9) from the abundant life that comes through actively following Jesus (John 10:10), people conflate the two concepts.
This confluence—the hallmark of Lordship Salvation—leads to faulty conclusions. The typical Calvinist view would be that the one who fails to persevere was never a true believer in the first place. The Arminian would say that person is no longer a believer. Both introduce a threat of failure as a fundamental component of eternal salvation.
Works-based salvation theology breeds fear, or at the very least, uncertainty of one’s eternal destiny. Aside from a proclamation of false doctrine, the collateral damage to one’s mental health from this theology can be severe, stimulating symptoms of fear, anxiety, and obsessive tendencies related to the topic of eternal salvation.
There are various ways a person can respond to this stimulus. They can range from hedonistic behaviors and even substance abuse and addiction sought as coping mechanisms, to an almost cult-like mindset of attachment to this line of thinking.
These teachings are not only devastating to the individual, but degrade the collective as well. These beliefs promote a culture of people constantly measuring their performance and contrasting themselves with others. Ultimately, it creates communities of self-absorbed people who are looking to themselves for assurance, and in the end, will never find it. It destroys the sense of community and corporate emphasis, fostering a “survival of the fittest” mindset.
In this article, I will explore these toxic psychological consequences of heretical theology. This kind of theology breeds insecurity and fear in its adherents, rather than a life grounded in rightfully dividing God’s Word and thus motivated by truth.
III. PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF FEAR-BASED MOTIVATION
When a person experiences fear, multiple systems in the brain are involved. The amygdala is a part of one of these systems, and it has a significant function in emotional memory. The amygdala was found to be significant in fear conditioning. Ivan Petrovich Pavlov was a Russian neurologist and psychologist who discovered the theory of fear conditioning. He found that if there is a conditioned stimulus (e.g., a bell), paired with an unconditioned stimulus (e.g., a shock), then the participants’ fear response would soon be associated with the benign, conditioned stimulus. The participant would develop this fear response to the bell because of the anticipated shock. Fear conditioning shows that when a person associates a stimulus with a threatening stimulus, they then tend to avoid the benign stimulus to avoid the trauma.3
This correlates to works-salvation because it actually reinforces Biblical avoidance. In this case, God’s Word is the benign stimulus, and fear-induced biases engrained by the toxic message of this theology are the threatening stimuli. So, one response may be for someone to avoid seeking truth from Scripture because the lens by which they would view passages would be tainted by the Lordship Salvation message.
When people are fearful of their eternal destiny because they believe in some form of works-based salvation, they tend to defer to some form of spiritual leadership to tell them the path to eternal life. This is because of their incorrect, works-based, lens by which they view Scripture. With this lens, seeking the truth of God’s Word on their own would likely only perpetuate their fear and uncertainty.
In short, they are looking to be assured. But if they look to teachers perpetuating this same works-based theology, they are looking to those who can only provide more doubt and fear. These people are also effectively “trapped” by this false teaching. Many are unable to leave their church because they are told if they stop coming, they are considered apostates. To “fall away” in this manner is a sure test to prove that they will go to the lake of fire.
Imagine a scenario where you are being held hostage, and your life threatened daily. Then also imagine that if you try to escape, you will be killed immediately. But if you don’t try to escape, they might kill you anyway. This is the type of psychological abuse people have to deal with under these false teachings; only it is not physical death that is threatened, it’s eternal death. It’s a Catch-22. This vicious cycle leads to enslavement by fear and makes it extremely difficult to process the truth of God’s Word and combat the powerful negative messaging the person continues to hear. The people who proclaim this false message may or may not realize the impact they are having on people, but Satan knows exactly what he is doing through his psychological warfare.
IV. INSECURITY PROMPTS A VICIOUS CYCLE
The insecurity felt in response to a lack of assurance of one’s eternal life can influence people to hyper-focus on their works to prove to themselves that they are worthy of salvation. This form of introspection can lead to scrupulosity, a type of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) where the patient suffers from pathological guilt surrounding religious or moral issues.4 To relieve this pathological guilt, people who suffer with this disorder resort to rituals and listen intently to seemingly credible teaching to reassure themselves of something that can never be reassured in their minds. The false teaching of insecurity of one’s eternal destiny perpetuates this disorder and brings no relief in sight.
Although there are many limitations in retroactively diagnosing someone, there are psychologists who have hypothesized that Martin Luther and other historical theologians had this disorder. One such limitation in diagnosing Martin Luther with this disorder is that scrupulosity was culturally accepted and even encouraged in his day.5
I have treated several people in my practice who have been plagued by this disorder. But this fear of failure and ruminations of inadequacy are not limited to those with diagnosed psychiatric disorders. While perhaps not to the same clinical severity, for many, the fear of the prospect of eternity in the lake of fire compels them to return to further works-salvation teaching. This is out of the futile pursuit of hope that the teaching will instill some sense of assurance.
But of course, this sense of assurance is foreign to works-salvation teaching. The result is a downward spiraling path of constant personal evaluation to subjectively assess whether they are worthy of eternal life. The emphasis on works and rituals to find assurance, and find relief from negative obsessions, is mentally exhausting and makes a person more susceptible to continued indoctrination—strikingly similar to the concept of brainwashing—under the framework of that theology.6
However, not every person is equally susceptible to these fear tactics. For some, instead of a path of fear, another path is more likely. This is a cycle of pride and self-deception, believing that they truly are good enough to earn eternal life and attain perfection. Instead of being “the prey,” these individuals become “the predators.” Their mindset leads to narcissistic tendencies and hypocrisy, and is a blindness that further perpetuates the enslavement of others.
Our brains were created with an adaptive response to stress that is designed to prepare a person for an imminent or near threat by enabling the person to have the capacity to escape, to freeze, or to fight. The brain accomplishes this by chemically signaling sensations of dread, triggering changes in physiological arousal.
But in extreme cases, when these signal and arousal networks are dysfunctional, severe problems like Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder can manifest.7 But even in less severe cases, a normal response to anxiety is not substantially different from the brain’s adaptive response to fear. In fact, those suffering from severe anxiety can even develop a fear reaction to completely benign stimuli. In other words, they develop something akin to a fear response to something completely non-threatening.
Anxiety disorders are quite common. For example, in the United States, approximately 19% of the population—40 million adults— suffer from an anxiety disorder.8 How many of those Americans are struggling because they are living life without real purpose and motivated by fear?
V. GOD CREATED OUR HEALTHY ABILITY TO LEARN AND ADAPT
Fortunately, there is a much healthier method of learning than fear conditioning. There is a better way of living life than living with a constant sense of dread. The human brain produces a powerful neurotransmitter called noradrenaline that helps the brain stay active and effective under both positive and negative stressors. Also known as norepinephrine, and as powerful as this neurotransmitter can be, it can also wreak havoc in someone diagnosed with PTSD. It can also perpetuate an addiction to stimulating the release of adrenaline.9
Researchers recently discovered a pathway in the brain that enhances learning when responding to aversive stimuli.10 Noradrenaline is created in the brain stem in an area called the locus ceruleus, where researchers studying mice discovered that instead of routing noradrenaline to the amygdala—which would produce a fear response—the brain routed the neurotransmitter to the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). The mPFC helps regulate the HPA axis, an area of the brain that can easily become overburdened during episodes of trauma and high stress.11
To state it concisely, the medial prefrontal cortex is the area of the brain that is involved in executive function, organization, and rational thinking. This pathway to the mPFC actually promotes fear extinction, adaptive and flexible behavior, and enhanced learning.12
VI. WHY DO PEOPLE KEEP GOING BACK TO THOSE EVOKING FEAR AND ANXIETY?
If God beautifully designed and created our brains to effectively learn, why do many choose a far inferior method of learning—and teaching—by fear-based methods? For example, we see the power of the media to draw people into the negative stories and provoke fear in those who watch. But why do people continue to watch the news with such negative messaging?
The psychology of this ironic attraction to fear lies in what is called the negativity bias.13 Have you often wondered why you can remember an insult from your distant past, but can’t remember a compliment you received yesterday? The answer is that our brains tend to hold on to negative information and ruminate on it. We might watch a news story with footage of a train derailment, and as destructive as it is, we might find it difficult to look away. Researchers have found that, in fact, the amygdala responds more to negative and harmful input than to beneficial and positive input.14 So, when people are fearful, their ability to make decisions can be jeopardized,15 as well as their ability to learn.16 Furthermore, stress may cause someone to become more rigid, habitual, and less adaptive in their learning.17 This is a ripe environment for those seeking influence over others, and seeking control by evoking fear, presenting themselves as the sole remedy to that fear.
The media, political leaders, and even religious leaders capitalize on this negativity bias and fear conditioning to manipulate and control people.18 People can become enslaved by the propaganda of the pastor, political leader, or the media. This enslavement is the opposite of God’s truth. Jesus said, “The truth shall set you free” (John 8:32).
VII. THE PSYCHOLOGICAL POWER OF GRATITUDE
As believers in Jesus, we have much for which to be grateful. At the moment of faith in Jesus for everlasting life, there is so much more that takes place above and beyond settling the matter of our eternal destiny. Lewis Sperry Chafer noted that the Bible teaches us that at that moment of faith, God graciously grants thirty-three things to the new believer.19 Those who respond to this bestowal of grace positively are motivated by gratitude, and receive emotional and physical rewards as well.
Furthermore, gratitude increases the activity in one’s hypothalamus.20 The hypothalamus is essential in regulating eating, sleeping, stress, and other essential bodily functions. Researchers have even found that gratitude improves sleep,21 anxiety, and depression.22 Gratitude is also powerful enough to be a catalyst for positive growth in someone who has experienced trauma.23 It is really no coincidence that Paul instructed the Philippian church to pray with thanksgiving (Phil 4:6).
However, when someone incorrectly interprets God’s Word and believes that he or she must earn eternal life in some way, it takes away from the remarkable sacrifice and gift that Jesus offers everyone freely. The fear-based, striving mentality that ensues is a poor environment for gratitude, short-circuiting the natural and optimal pathways in the brain.
VIII. ISOLATION AMPLIFIES FEAR
As noted previously, one of the by-products of a theology purporting works-based salvation is the degradation of the corporate emphasis that the church is intended to fulfill. When people are held captive by fear, their natural inclination is then bent toward individualism. But this individualistic bias only exacerbates the problem through a sense of loneliness.
Loneliness destroys not only our mental health, but also our physical health. A recent study showed how loneliness and social isolation increased the rate of coronary heart disease by 29% and increased the risk of having a stroke by 32%.24 Only through sound Biblical teaching can we overcome our own natural tendencies toward self-centeredness. Knowing that we are not alone in our struggles is a powerful psychological tool.
Not only are we not alone, but God has also graciously given us His Holy Spirit to empower us and spur us on to live righteously (Rom 4:25). He also has given us an eternal family to support and love us. So many sadly come from broken families—whether biological or ecclesiastical—where they have been mistreated, neglected, or abused. At the moment of faith, believers are born into God’s family; corporately, we are in this life together as the body of Christ (Eph 4:16). As part of this corporate body, we are to motivate and encourage one another in the truth (Heb 10:24), and equipped with the guarantee of eternal security, we must continue to exhort one another in the truth. We need to be closely involved in each other’s lives so we know how to pray for one another, and how to encourage each other (Heb 3:13). It is easy for this world and the lies of this world to choke out growth (Matt 13:3-9) and to lead us astray. Works-salvation theology effectively undermines all of this, by eradicating motivation by gratitude and offering only motivation by fear as a replacement.
IX. A BIBLICAL SOURCE FOR MOTIVATION
Through correct interpretation of the Bible, one finds rewards throughout. Rewards are separate from people believing in Jesus for His guarantee of eternal life (John 11:26). Even more, the concept of rewards of blessing is not only found in the NT. In the OT, the Israelites were rewarded with abundant crops and peace in the land if they obeyed God. In the NT, the theological doctrine of rewards is more fully developed, and Jesus Himself commands believers to lay up treasures in heaven (Matt 6:19–21).
Conversely, the fear-based tactics prevalent in works-salvation theology reject the concept of eternal rewards. They pervert God’s blessing of rewards intended to motivate faithful believers into a tool of extortion to require one’s works as the basis for eternal salvation. This fear-based mentality encourages people to live from the power of the flesh, which is enslavement and leads to death. For those who don’t believe in Jesus for everlasting life, the flesh is all they have. But for believers, a Spirit-led mentality produces a lifestyle of freedom through gratitude, leading to reaping eternal rewards (Gal 6:8).
As believers, we are not immune to the enslavement of the flesh perpetuated by false teachings or falling back to our old patterns or ways of thinking. But we have access to freedom and a clear conscience through rightly dividing the Word of God and through walking by the Spirit (c.f. Gal 5:1).
Contrary to works-salvation theology, Free Grace theology simply and correctly delineates between matters of eternal salvation, and matters of discipleship and rewards. Not only does God reward us for following Him, but He empowers us and equips us with all we need. This is the opposite from what is found in works-based systems of theology. Instead of being set up for failure, we are set up for success. The neurochemicals, pathways, and the physical design of our brains as God created them give us the advantage to respond from His proper sources of motivation. Not only that, but God has given us the power of the Holy Spirit for a clear conscience (1 Pet 3:21). This is the freedom people enslaved by false teaching are craving.
Knowing that everything we do for God and suffer in this world for Him is seen and will be vindicated is truly motivating and encourages gratitude. But there are times in our lives when gratitude isn’t enough motivation, and this could very well be the majority of the time for most people. As our Creator, God knows us so well. He knows intimately how He created our minds to be properly motivated, and then graciously provides us with those incentives of rewards for motivation.
Especially in those really dark times in our lives when we feel like we can’t even put one foot in front of the other, Jehovah El Roi—The God Who Sees—sees us and knows how difficult our path is. And one day, when the pains of this life are over, we will reap an everlasting harvest (Gal 6:8). We can only imagine how much Paul had to suffer, yet he called that suffering only a “light affliction” (2 Cor 4:17-18).
While theologically more developed in the NT, eternal rewards as a motivator for faithfulness do appear in the OT (Heb 11:39-40).25 Job certainly was aware of the resurrection, and certainly the concept of rewards as well; to be redeemed is to be vindicated. That hope—that expectation—was part of his motivation to continue to worship God despite all of his loss and suffering (Job 19:25–27).
I thank God for His mercy and love. He didn’t have to pay for the sins of the world. He didn’t have to offer us eternal life freely. God wasn’t required to give us even more incentive to serve Him, but He did. Not only that, but He has given us a remarkable assurance of our eternal destiny. This security gives us the ability to have more of an open mind to the truth, and it creates the possibility for the optimal environment for us to learn, grow, and be transformed (Rom 12:2).
When we see God through the correct lens, we are transformed and grow. This lens begins with an open mind to the truth, an understanding of our eternal security the moment we believe in Jesus for eternal life, and continues as we pursue Jesus and lay up treasures in heaven. Those of us who know all of these motivating factors that God has given us to follow Him are without excuse. God equips us with all we need and gives us more incentives than we can even imagine. As believers, we are responsible to love others by sharing the truth, and by doing so, we might bring that psychological and spiritual abuse to an end for some.
Eternal rewards are not a topic that we can compromise upon. If they are rejected by false teaching, the doctrine of salvation by grace alone is sure to be compromised as well. Eternal rewards are— metaphorically—a “hill to die on.” When the doctrine of rewards is dismissed, a false gospel of salvation is sure to follow. People will take teachings on rewards in the Bible and the need to work for those rewards as requirements for eternal life. The tactics of this works-based salvation theology will ensnare its followers into a desperate vicious cycle of psychological anguish and fear.
As Free Grace believers, we cannot be shy about teaching the doctrine of rewards. Sharing the truth is one of the main ways that we love others, as we share it gracefully with them. As we do, we can help them find freedom. Attending a church that promotes false teaching enables the perpetuation of false doctrine, and it may be only a matter of time before believers who attend will get sucked back into a damaging and enslaving mindset. God has equipped us to be overcomers, not only by the guarantee of everlasting life by faith alone, but by the motivating incentive of eternal rewards, and by creating our physical minds and bodies to respond to Him.
X. CONCLUSION
This article began with Paul’s exhortation to Timothy in which he speaks of the possibility of fear. A works-based salvation will produce that fear. Our brains are built that way.
Later, Paul speaks of the importance of teaching the truth. This truth will allow those who hear to “escape the snare of the devil” (2 Tim 2:26). A works-based salvation is such a snare. Good works are necessary to receive rewards in the world to come. To reject the doctrine of rewards and apply those teachings to eternal salvation will cause those who hear to fall into that trap.
May we be diligent in speaking the truth. Eternal life is given by faith alone apart from works. It cannot be lost. Rewards will be given for obedient works. Such doctrines will also have a wonderful impact on our psychological health.
1 Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
2 Paul warns us that we cannot mix grace and works (Rom 11:6).
3 Tom Beckers, et al., “Understanding Clinical Fear and Anxiety through the Lens of Human Fear Conditioning,” Nature Reviews Psychology 2, no. 4 (2023): 234, https://doi.org/10.1038/s44159023-00156-1. Accessed Jun 24, 2024.
4 American Psychiatric Association, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (American Psychiatric Association, 2013).
5 Paul Cefalu, “The Doubting Disease: Religious Scrupulosity and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder in Historical Context,” The Journal of Medical Humanities 31, no. 2 (2010): 111, https://doi. org/10.1007/s10912-010-9107-3. Accessed May 15, 2024.
6 Robert N. McCauley and George Graham, “Scrupulosity, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, and Ritual,” in Hearing Voices and Other Matters of the Mind (Oxford University Press, New York, 2020), 103.
7 Anxiety is defined in the DSM-V as excessive worry and apprehensive expectation. Sometimes people can confuse excited anticipation with anxiety, but anticipation is a healthy reaction. Anxiety is not.
8 “Anxiety Disorders,” NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness, April 27, 2023), https://nami. org/About-Mental-Illness/Mental-Health-Conditions/Anxiety-Disorders. Accessed Jun 10, 2024.
9 This pattern is what most would recognize as an “adrenaline junky.”
10 Akira Uematsu, et al., “Modular Organization of the Brainstem Noradrenaline System Coordinates Opposing Learning States,” Nature Neuroscience 20, no. 11 (2017): 1602–11, https://doi. org/10.1038/nn.4642. Accessed Apr 19, 2024.
11 Jason J. Radley, Carlos M. Arias, and Paul E. Sawchenko, “Regional Differentiation of the Medial Prefrontal Cortex in Regulating Adaptive Responses to Acute Emotional Stress,” The Journal of Neuroscience: The Official Journal of the Society for Neuroscience 26, no. 50 (2006): 12967, https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4297-06.2006. Accessed Jun 29, 2024.
12 Akira Uematsu, et al., “Modular Organization,” 1602. Accessed Apr 28, 2024.
13 Amrisha Vaish, Tobias Grossmann, and Amanda Woodward, “Not All Emotions Are Created Equal: The Negativity Bias in Social-Emotional Development,” Psychological Bulletin 134, no. 3 (2008): 383, https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.134.3.383. Accessed Feb 10, 2024.
14 Praneeth Namburi, et al., “A Circuit Mechanism for Differentiating Positive and Negative Associations,” Nature 520, no. 7549 (2015): 675, https://doi.org/10.1038/nature14366. Accessed Jan 28, 2024.
15 Sean Wake, Jolie Wormwood, and Ajay B. Satpute, “The Influence of Fear on Risk Taking: A Meta-Analysis,” Cognition & Emotion 34, no. 6 (2020): 1143, https://doi.org/10.1080/0269993 1.2020.1731428. Accessed Feb 5, 2024.
16 Lars Schwabe and Oliver T. Wolf, “Learning under Stress Impairs Memory Formation,” Neurobiology of Learning and Memory 93, no. 2 (2010): 183, https://doi.org/10.1016/j. nlm.2009.09.009. Accessed Mar 12, 2024.
17 Susanne Vogel and Lars Schwabe, “Learning and Memory under Stress: Implications for the Classroom,” NPJ Science of Learning 1, no. 1 (2016), https://doi.org/10.1038/npjscilearn.2016.11. Accessed May 3, 2024.
18 The use of fear-tactics is a common weapon employed in psychological warfare.
19 Lewis Sperry Chafer, “33 Riches of Grace upon Believing,” PMI Center for Biblical Studies, August 3, 2015, https://pmicenter.wordpress.com/2015/08/03/33-riches-of-grace-upon-believing-dr-lewis-sperry-chafer/. Accessed Feb 20, 2024.
20 Roland Zahn, et al., “The Neural Basis of Human Social Values: Evidence from Functional MRI,” Cerebral Cortex 19, no. 2 (2009): 279.
21 Alex M. Wood, et al., “Gratitude Influences Sleep through the Mechanism of Pre-Sleep Cognitions,” Journal of Psychosomatic Research 66, no. 1 (2009): 43, https://doi.org/10.1016/j. jpsychores.2008.09.002. Accessed Jan 8, 2024.
22 Geyze Diniz, et al., “The Effects of Gratitude Interventions: A Systematic Review and MetaAnalysis,” Einstein 21 (2023), https://doi.org/10.31744/einstein_journal/2023rw0371. Accessed Mar 18, 2024.
23 Julie Vieselmeyer, Jeff Holguin, and Amy Mezulis, “The Role of Resilience and Gratitude in Posttraumatic Stress and Growth Following a Campus Shooting,” Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice and Policy 9, no. 1 (2017): 62, https://doi.org/10.1037/tra0000149. Accessed Jun 3, 2024.
24 Nicole K. Valtorta, et al., “Loneliness and Social Isolation as Risk Factors for Coronary Heart Disease and Stroke: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Longitudinal Observational Studies,” Heart (British Cardiac Society) 102, no. 13 (2016): 1009, https://doi.org/10.1136/ heartjnl-2015-308790. Accessed Feb 18, 2024.
25 All the OT saints in the chapter knew they had eternal life. They lived their lives in order to gain rewards in the world to come.
