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I figure if I could only generate 99% love for God, above all else, but 1% fear of Hell, then I would have been in deep kimchi.

It’s not an either or thing, Mark17. Fear of the Lord is a good reason to be sorry; love for the Lord above all else is in keeping with the great commandment and the means to salvation.

You do make a good point that all sin is serious. A speaker at a conference I attended a couple of years ago said that every time you sin, you sin against the first commandment, because you are putting something before God. That was the great sin of Adam; that he wanted to be like God.

Peace,
Rich

Well, I'm really sorry if you feel you are sinning against the law of sin and death. Jesus used His sinless blood to cover the law of sin and death. Paul proclaims to any who are in Christ Jesus that there is therefore now no condemnation! [Romans 8:1 Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. ]

One of the astonishing things about the Church Age --not the cath9olic church age, the Bride of Christ Church Age-- is the Truth that God has covered the Mercy Seat once, for all, forever.

What it means to be born into God's family, as the believers/faithers at Pentecost and in the house of Cornelius learned immediately, is that God IMMEDIATELY comes into the human spirit --heretofore dead to God, inherited that way from Adam.

The believers were Born From Above, and as Paul proclaims, suddenly dead to sin and death laws. Suddenly having the Holy Spirit of Promise in them, in a completely new alignment to God, as a family member, these people were new creations!

All of them at Pentecost and in Cornelius's house were no longer under the laws of sin and death that you feel you are striving against to obtain catholic salvation, eventually, after you trudge the salvation trail hallmarked by obedience to the sacraments and rites of an institution administrered by priests getting int he way of you and Christ having a one-on-one.

That freedom from the laws of sin and death is the wonderful Truth of the Gospel, that believers in Christ, those who walk Faithing on His Life in them to transform them, are in fact TRANSFORMED.

BY the Life of God in them, they put to death the tendencies to sin, so that day by day as the Spirit raises them up in the Way that they should go, they more and more exhibit the character of God in the life of the man or woman. Born from Above is not a decades long event, it is an immediate act of God's Spirit. Once born from above, the family members have direct access to the Lord From Heaven, with no need for meadiators or intermediaries.

The communion 'meal' of bread and wine puts us in REMEBRANCE of what Jesus Christ accomplished Once, for All, forever ont he Cross of Calvary.

I've been accused of just wanting to win an argument. Well, yes, the argument that one can work their way to salvation through obedience to Catholic sacraments and Catholic baptism and Catholic confessional, and Catholic body, blood, sou, and divinity consumption of Jesus (Who is in Heaven, not bowing to Catholic Priests whenever the priest commands), THAT argument is worth contending against. To contend is to seek victory over deception and false religion whichburbles up pride of self.

That was the great sin of Adam; that he wanted to be like God.

Well, he listened to Eve for whatever reason, disobeying God's will. She was doing the will of Satan by showing/offering the nixed fruit to Adam. And that event has been often repeated by others since then.

You do make a good point that all sin is serious. A speaker at a conference I attended a couple of years ago said that every time you sin, you sin against the first commandment, because you are putting something before God. That was the great sin of Adam; that he wanted to be like God.

There is no doubt sin is deceitful, and leads to hardness of heart. (Heb 3:13) It is a difficult concept to put into words, but perhaps you understand what I mean.
Yes, Adam and Eve wanted to be like God, but of course, Lucifer was the first to desire that, in the famous five "I wills" (Isaiah 14:12-15) I think Satan thought if he could get Adam and Eve to sin, then God would have to let him go, because he may have thought that God wouldn't send all those people to Hell. WRONG. God could have, but Satan never anticipated the cross.
I think mankind was created to "resolve the angelic conflict" to show Satan, that, some would serve God, no matter what the circumstances. Job comes to mind. Every sinner that comes to faith in Jesus Christ, is another nail in his coffin.