There is a little bit of Job’s friends in all of us. We somehow believe even if we won’t say it out loud, that if you do good things for God, good things will happen for you. This performance based view of faith has manifested itself in many different ways. This post by Heather Pace is a must read:
“How do I know I’m really a Christian?”
In my teenage years I brought this question to a godly mentor. The answer I received was encouraging, seemingly logical, and dangerously misleading. “Why are you concerned about it?” was the reply. While I forget the details of the conversation, the point was clear: if you fear hell and you want to be a Christian, isn’t that evidence enough?