July 3, 2009
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Fear
What place ought "fear" of God to occupy in the Christian's daily life?
Some people say that we may "reverence" God, but "fear" has no place... and they quote 1 John 4 --
17By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world. 18There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.
and Romans 8 --
1Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
and Hebrews 4 --
16Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
However, the Bible also says, in 2 Corinthians 5 --9Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him. 10For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.
11Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men, but we are made manifest to God; and I hope that we are made manifest also in your consciences.and 1 Peter 1 --
17If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one's work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth; 18knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, 19but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.
The Greek word in 1 John 4:18, 1 Peter 1:17, and 2 Corinthians 5:11 is the same word: "phobos", meaning "fear, dread, terror" (blb.org), from which we get the English word "phobia".
Thoughts? Is there a difference between the "fear" a Christian has of God, and the "fear" a nonChristian has of God? What place does "phobia" of God have in your life?
Comments (2)
Fear and love have an interesting relationship. If you think about it, many books and movies have this theme for example, Mary Poppins and Secondhand Lions, where the child or children are at first afraid but after a while find that while the fear was warranted, the caretaker had their best interest in mind.
I don't see any reason why the "fear of God" that I see demonstrated by the godly prophets (such as Moses, Isaiah and John the Revelator) shown by trembling and falling upon ones face in terror is out of place for the Christian. It's true that genuine believers have no need to fear God's damnation, but all who profess Christ are to examine themselves to see if they are in the faith (2 Cor. 13:5), and if they find themselves lacking, then they rightly fear hellfire.
Furthermore, we also fear God's discipline, even as little children fear their father's hand of correction. According to Luke, the historian, "Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events" when Ananias and Sapphira were struck down by the Lord. He will discipline His church when He sees fit.
"He's not a tame lion." -C.S. Lewis
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