Does God refuse people the gift of his salvation if they are afraid when they ask for it? Are they any less saved for it?
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
~Prov 9:10
"Jesus Saves" is only a partial gospel. You should be prepared to tell people what they are saved from if they ask.
You don't have a monopoly on truth. When it comes to this particular subject, you are more concerned with presenting
God as a nice guy than you are with truth.
The only time the New Testament says to fear God in the context of hell is because He can destroy both the soul and the body there.
Matthew 10:28
28Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Instead, fear the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
Or to fear Him who will consume (not eternally torment) His adversaries:
Hebrews 10:27
27but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume all adversaries.
The gospel of Christ isn’t a gospel of fear of eternal torment. Jesus never said there was any other reason to fear God. The New Testament approach to the gospel is that God doesn’t want us to have a spirit of fear, but rather a spirit of love.
2 Timothy 1:7
7For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-control.
Those who are God’s adopted children have nothing to fear. Those who are not God’s should fear the fire that will consume them, thus destroying their soul and body.
The Proverbs 9:10 verse is about fear in the sense of moral reverence, not frightened. As far as fearing God in the context of hell, the Old Testament and New Testament are in total agreement that the unsaved are destroyed.
Psalm 92:7
"Though the
wicked sprout like weeds and evildoers flourish they will be
destroyed forever."
Psalm 37:20
"But the
wicked will die... they will disappear like smoke."
Psalm 1:6:
"... For the Lord watches over the path of the godly, but the path of
the wicked leads to destruction."
Genesis 3:19
"For you were
made from dust, and to dust you will return."
Psalm 146:4
"When they breathe their last, they return to the earth, and all
their plans die with them."
Ecclesiastes 9:5
"For the living know that they shall die: but
the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten."
Ezekiel 18:20
The soul who sins is the one who will die.
Jeremiah 19:5
"They have built pagan shrines to Baal, and there
they burn their sons as sacrifices to Baal. I have never commanded such a horrible deed; it never even crossed My mind to command such a thing!"
Malachi 4:1, 4:3 "The day of judgment is coming, burning like a furnace. On that day the arrogant and
the wicked will be burned up like straw. They will be consumed—roots, branches, and all... On the day when I act, you will tread upon the wicked as if they were dust under your feet," says the Lord of Heaven's Armies."
My final question to you, answer if you wish. Do you still think permanent death and destruction of the wicked is some creepy fringe cult doctrine?