August 15, 2023
Fear is one emotion that we all experience. Sometimes fear is debilitating. Excessive fear can ruin a person’s life. Think of the different types of phobias that many people are enslaved by. Often, fear is not something we appreciate. It can be hard to understand the necessity and importance of fear. Clearly, not all fear is bad, nor is all fear beneficial. Sometimes fear is helpful and keeps us out of trouble. Fear prevents us from harming ourselves and others. Fear can be both life-saving and life-destroying.
But can fear be a good thing? The fear of heights keeps many of us safe. The fear of speed does the same. The fear of fire helps us be safe when around flames. It keeps us from being burned or burning others. This kind of fear is essential for our safety and well-being. Without it, many more of us would be injured or die needlessly. When we consider our choices, the fear of punishment often keeps us from breaking the law. For some people, the fear of hell brings them to God.
Fear is much like pain. Pain is not pleasant, but it is critically important. If we did not feel pain, our injuries would be much worse, even fatal. Thank God for pain. Some pain is the result of others’ carelessness. Sometimes, pain is the result of stupid choices we make. Bodily pain often times tells us that something is wrong and that we need to seek medical help. Pain, like fear, is a very beneficial and necessary emotion. Put your hand into a flame and you will feel pain. You will also quickly remove your hand from the fire. That will take care of the pain and keep you from destroying a part of your body. Pain, like fear, can also be debilitating and destructive. Praise God for pain, fear, and even anxiety. And praise God that when we have debilitating fear and pain, we can run to Him for help and healing.
When was the last time you thanked God for fear? Could it be that we fail to recognize the vital role fear plays? Fear in the spiritual realm is also necessary and beneficial. However, many Christian teachers and pastors appear to believe that Christians should never be fearful, and especially not afraid of God. They seem to think the fear of the LORD is not something that should concern Christians. They say, we have nothing at all to fear from God, for His love is unconditional. Is that true? Should Christians fear God? Yes, Christians should fear the LORD. And no, the salvific love of God is not unconditional.
Let me suggest to you that without the fear of God, there is no limit to the wickedness “Christians” will practice. If there is one thing that the modern evangelical Church needs, more than gifts and manifestations of the Spirit, it is the fear of the LORD. Most Christians today, in my observation, have little or no fear of God. They have been brainwashed into believing that God has only one attribute, and that is love. While it is true that God is love, He is also light. He is holy. He is impartial. And He is just in all His doings. His love is not a permissiveness toward sin, as many mistakenly believe. This explains why churchgoers are as wicked as the world. We need to understand, and then accept, what the word of God says about the fear of the LORD and what it means to love God.
“And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not.” Exodus 20:20 emphasis added.
In this chapter in the Book of Exodus, God had just finished giving Moses the 10 Commandments. God was present in a visible manifestation. The spectacle on Mount Sinai was breathtaking and frightening to all the people. “And all the people saw the thunder-ings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and stood afar off. And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die.” Exodus 20:18, 19. The fear of God, in this passage and many others, is that we sin not. Sin will bring frightening results, and God is warning everyone to stop sinning so that we do not experience those dreadful consequences. The fear of the LORD is to keep us out of trouble and out of hell. The fear of God is a wonderful thing and a gracious gift from God. Have you ever asked God to give you the gift of the fear of the LORD?
You will notice that Moses told the people to “fear not” and, in the same sentence, Moses tells them to “fear God.” Moses told them not to fear the physical manifestations they were hearing and seeing as a result of God drawing near to them, but to fear God instead. Just like Israel, people today often fear the wrong thing. Instead of fearing God, we fear something or someone of much less importance. Fear can be misplaced.
You will recall the story of the 12 spies sent to spy out the Promised Land, not long after God delivered the children of Israel from Egypt. After 40 days, these men returned, and 10 of them gave an evil report of unbelief to the people. That evil report turned all of them against believing in God’s promise. Joshua and Caleb were the two spies who brought back a favorable report, stating that God’s promise to give them the land remained trustworthy, despite the presence of giants in the land and their fortified cities. Many pastors and teachers today are just like the 10 spies, who reported an evil account of unbelief. God’s command is to depart from evil and that “ye sin not”. Their false report is that it is not possible to subdue the enemy (the giants of sin in your life) and inherit the land. Their report suggests that we are expected to sin every day, despite God’s promises to the contrary. Woe to those who create unbelief in the promises and commands of God. Woe to those who claim that the blood of Jesus Christ is not sufficient to cleanse us from all unrighteousness and habitual sin, including the sin of unbelief.
“By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: And by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil.” Proverbs 16:6, emphasis added.
In my Bible, under “fear of the LORD” is this message. “In the Old Testament, this phrase describes someone who 1) has respect for the Lord, and 2) obeys his commands.” Both are what the fear of the LORD means. Those who have the fear of the LORD “depart from evil.” They “obey his commands.” Those who do not have the fear of the LORD do not depart from evil and do not obey his commands. It doesn’t matter how much they say they reverence and respect God. I have rarely heard Christians define the fear of the LORD correctly. What I have listened to most often is that the fear of the LORD is the awe and reverence of God, while not one word is said about “departing from evil and obeying his commands.” Have you ever noticed that? Pay close attention, and you will hear it soon enough.
“That thou mightiest fear the LORD thy God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command thee, thus, and thy son, thy son’s son, all the days of thy life; and that thy days may be prolonged.” Deut. 6:2.
In chapter 6 of the book of Deuteronomy, the fear of the LORD is what moves us “to keep all his statutes and his commandments.” Without the fear of the LORD, we will not keep His statutes and commandments, nor will we pass them on to our children, so they too will fear the LORD and keep His commandments. Raising godly children is difficult considering all the evil influences that abound in our culture. Raising godly children is made even more difficult if the parents are hypocrites and do not walk the talk. CINOs (Christians in name only) may fool a multitude of churchgoers, but they rarely fool their children. Your children know the real you, and so does God. Your children see if you really fear the LORD or if you actually fear man’s disapproval more than God’s.
“Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God; him shalt thou serve, and to him shalt thou cleave, and swear by his name.” Duet. 10:20
The fear of the LORD will keep us from serving and cleaving to others. Idolatry is the worship of others, including ourselves. The practice of idolatry is serving someone other than God. It is the clinging to that which is not God but something made by man. God hates idolatry. God will not share His throne with anyone else. He is a jealous God. We either serve God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength, or we do not. The children of Israel mistakenly thought they could worship and serve God and other gods at the same time, syncretism. Their destruction was horrific and completely avoidable.
“If thou wilt not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that thou mayest fear this glorious and fearful name, THE LORD THY GOD, then the LORD will make thy plagues wonderful, and the plagues of thy seed, ever great plagues, and of long continuance, and sore sicknesses, and of long continuance. Moreover, he will bring upon thee all the diseases of Egypt, which thou wast afraid of: and they shall cleave unto thee. Also every sickness, and every plague, which is not written in the book of the law, them will the LORD bring upon thee, until thou be destroyed…….And it shall come to pass, that as the LORD rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you: so the LORD will rejoice over you to destroy you to nought; and ye shall be plucked from off the land whither thou goest to possess it.” Deut. 28:58-61, 63
Those who refuse to fear the LORD will be punished severely. Why? Because the fear of the LORD will keep them from breaking the commandments of God and inciting His anger towards them. Instead of delighting in their wealth, health, and prosperity, God will rejoice over their destruction. I wonder how many professing Christians actually believe this phrase is true about the God they profess to love? God says He would rejoice over Israel’s destruction, if they choose not to fear Him, the LORD. If God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, then will God be any different toward New Testament believers today? If New Covenant believers “choose not to fear Him,” will He not rejoice over our destruction as He did Israel’s?
“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: His praise endureth forever” Psalm 111:19. Wisdom begins with the fear of the LORD. The wise man or woman is the one who fears the LORD and departs from sin. All others are not wise, even if they are well educated and highly respected professionals. Their knowledge may be impressive in various areas, but they are not wise if they do not depart from iniquity and obey God’s commandments.
Our culture, including the church, believes that the most important qualification for most leadership positions, including that of the pastor, is primarily academic education. That explains why we have so many well-educated but wicked men and women running our political systems, media, and our businesses. God says the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, not a person’s academic qualifications. Give me an honest and righteous person over an academic achiever every time.
“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: But fools despise wisdom and instruction” Proverbs 1:7. Knowledge and knowing things are not the same. Real knowledge begins with the fear of the LORD. Knowing things may impress most people, but it will never impress God. You know nothing if you do not fear the LORD. You may know a lot of things, but you don’t know anything of fundamental importance. How easily are we impressed by those who know lots of things, and how easily are we disdainful of those who have the knowledge of God? Knowing lots of things is not the knowledge we should strive for. We should strive to know God, and the fear of the LORD is the very beginning of knowledge.
“The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: Pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, And the froward mouth, do I hate” Proverbs 8:13, emphasis added. What does it mean to “hate evil?” Can a person hate something they regularly indulge in? Of course not. They may feel remorse over it, but hating it means they refrain from indulging in it. Years ago, I taught a large group of adults, and this passage was used to discuss what the fear of the Lord is. I can still remember how visibly upset (angry) a number of them were when I said that the fear of the LORD is to be militant against sin. Most Christians, I fear, are anything but militant against sin in their own lives. They seek out Pastors who will coddle them in their sins and make them feel secure while they habitually sin against God. God hates what we often love. If we feared the LORD, we would hate evil and stop doing it. If we do not stop, it means we do not fear the LORD, nor do we love God.
“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: And the knowledge of the holy is understanding” Proverbs 9:10. We are told again that the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom. When we understand that God is holy and that He expects us to be holy, we have understanding. That knowledge of the holy is wisdom from God. If we are not holy, it is because we lack wisdom, understanding, and knowledge about the most important thing of all. We do not understand God or what pleases Him, or we do not care.
“For all those things hath mine hand made, And all those things have been, saith the LORD: But to this man will I look, Even him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, And trembleth at my word” Isaiah 66:2 Emphasis added. The person who trembles at the Word of God is the person who fears God. This person believes what God says, despite all those “men of God” who tell them otherwise. God is impartial, and He will not play favorites. If the God of love damns nonbelievers for their sin, and He does, He will also damn Christians for their sin because He is impartial. He is just in everything He does. Based on my observation, Christians who “tremble at His word” are few and far between. God looks to those who “tremble at His word” and His commandments. God looks to those who do not think more highly of themselves than they ought to. God looks to those who are humble and those who “tremble at His every word” to do it.
“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love” 1 John 4:18.
Perfect love casts out fear. Why is that? That is true because, by definition, loving God means obeying His commandments. Jesus said ‘If you love me, you will keep my commandments. To say we love God but don’t obey His law is a contradiction according to God’s Word. There is no fear in real love. That is not because God overlooks or turns a blind eye to our sin. It is because we cease from sin, and the result is that there is nothing to be fearful about. The fear of God is obedience to God’s laws. When we walk in obedience to His will, there is nothing to fear from God. If we do not, there is much to fear from God (see passage from the book of Hebrews below). To obey God is love and “there is no fear in love”.
It’s a frightening thing to fall into the hands of the living God. That is a passage from the book of Hebrews. Yet, how many of us truly live as if we believe it? Many professing Christians, who sin habitually, think they have nothing at all to fear from a Holy God. A Christian who lives in sin shows that they do not really believe it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. False teaching on the “believer’s security” has deceived them. They do not know the great danger they are in. God’s word is clear: the Lord shall judge His people. Those who claim to be Christian but live like the unsaved are at great risk of eternal damnation.
“For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries……….For we know him that hath said, vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, the Lord shall judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” Hebrews 10:25-27 and 30, 31.
This passage is written to those who “received the knowledge of the truth”. The unsaved have not received that knowledge; Christian’s have. If Christian’s “sin willfully” after receiving the knowledge of the truth, “there is no other sacrifice for sins, but a fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation.” Hypocrites have a great deal to fear from God. Israel thought they had nothing to fear from their God, but they were sadly mistaken. Countless numbers died horrible deaths because they refused to fear God and obey His commandments.
“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your conscience.: 2 Corinthians 5:10, 11, emphasis added.
How many evangelical Christians truly understand the terror of the Lord? Do you know of any? How can they grasp the gravity of the Lord’s terror when this clear passage is often and falsely interpreted to mean that Christians will appear before the judgment seat of Christ not for condemnation but to receive rewards or face loss based on their faithfulness or unfaithfulness? No wonder evangelical Christians lack fear of God and are unaware of the terror of the Lord, especially when they regularly hear lies from the pulpit. Sinning Christians have bought into the lie that they are eternally secure despite their unfaithfulness to God.
The fear of the LORD
We have established what the fear of the LORD is and what it isn’t. It is not the awe and reverence of God detached from obedience to His laws, as many evangelical pastors today proclaim. They say the fear of the LORD is our awe and reverence for God, and most definitely not the dread or real emotional fear of a holy God. Christians living in sin have nothing to fear from God, so they say. The false prophets in Jeremiah’s day told the Jews the same thing. How did it work out for them?
I listened to a sermon by John Bevere about the fear of God. There was much in it that I appreciated and agreed with. However, like many Pastors, he went out of his way to inform his church group that the fear of God is not that we should be afraid of God. In other words, the fear of God is not that we are fearful of God; rather, it is the reverence we have for God. It is something else. Could that be more confusing? Why is it that the idea that we Christians should be afraid of a Holy God is so repulsive to most Christians? John Bevere then talked about the cleansing power of the fear of God, which endures forever. He mentioned Satan before he sinned, Adam and Eve before they sinned, other leaders who at one time enjoyed the presence of God in their ministry, but then, because they did not fear God, they sinned and did not endure forever. They fell. He talked about televangelist Jim Bakker (without mentioning his name), who lost the fear of the Lord and ended up in prison. In reflection on what happened to him, Bakker says he loved God while he was living in sin, but didn’t fear Him. That is how he ended up in prison. I am sure he felt something toward God, but that affection is not love. Biblical love is obedience to God. What if Satan, Adam, Eve, Jim Bakker, and many others were actually afraid of God? What if they understood that God is not partial and doesn’t have favorite “children” that He allows to sin with impunity? Is it possible that their stories might have ended differently if they were actually afraid of the Holy and just God they professed to serve?
I do not understand why Christians are unwilling to admit what I think is obvious: we should be afraid of God. Why should we be fearful of God? He is a Holy and just God who will render to every person according to what they have done in this life. The Book of Hebrews tells us it is a fearful thing to fall into His hands. We must be afraid of God. We must fear Him, or we will inevitably presume on His grace and sin. We must not think that because we have been used of God and done much for Him that He will let us get away with sin in our lives. That is a fatal and damnable error.
The fear of the Lord encompasses many things, and one of them is being afraid of a Holy God who will never take your sin lightly or excuse it. He will never allow you to presume on His grace in arrogance. We must fear God. We must stand in awe of Him. We must reverence and respect the Lord. We must obey His word and His will immediately, without murmuring. We should tremble at His word. All of these things define what it means to fear the Lord. A Christian who lives in unrepentant sin does not truly fear the LORD and will face hell if they do not repent.
Have you ever noticed that Christians often act and talk as if God is their best friend? And like a best buddy, God is not overly demanding of them. These folks would never think of treating the President of the United States or any other prominent leaders as casually as they do God. God said that He will be treated as Holy by those who draw near to Him. The phrase “familiarity breeds contempt” comes to mind immediately. Could it be that many Christians treat God with contempt (dishonor and disrespect) because they assume a familiarity that is not appropriate? God may call us His friends and His children, but never presume that allows us to treat Him as anything less than holy. Never presume to think that the Holy God will accept your unbelief and sin just because you think of Him as your friend and indulgent father. This is not wisdom, nor is it the fear of the LORD.
What about the fear of man?
The fear of man is a snare. It rules most of the world and most people, not the fear of God. People will do almost anything to be liked and accepted by others. It takes great courage to walk with God and no courage to walk with man. Courage is not the absence of the emotion of fear but the fortitude to do the right thing no matter the cost or who dislikes it. When people fear the loss of approval from others more than the approval of God, the result is what we see all around us. We see it even in the Christian Churches in North America, which are as morally bankrupt as the world at large. Misplaced fear is deadly.
Pastors who tell you that the fear of God is the awe, the reverence, and the respect for God, but not that ‘the fear of God’ is to hate evil and put sin out of your life; these are the people you should fear. Why should you fear them? Their approval may, in fact, mean damnation for you. Their disapproval may mean eternal life for you! This is why they should be feared. They will lead you to hell by telling you what you want to hear, not what you must listen to.
When the northern kingdom of Israel was taken captive by the nation of Assyria, their king told his people to find one of the priests they had carried away from Samaria. The priest “taught them how they should fear the LORD.” 2 Kings 17:28. “They feared the LORD, and served their own gods, after the manner of the nations whom they carried away from thence.” 2 Kings 17:33. “So these nations feared the LORD, and served their graven images, both their children, and their children’s children: as did their fathers, so do they unto this day.” 2 Kings 17:41. Like Israel of old, false teachers today teach their congregations that they can “fear the LORD” and serve their idols at the same time. If Christians are told that they can fear the LORD (awe and reverence) and serve themselves or some other idol at the same time, they are in the utmost danger of damnation. When Christians are told that the fear of the LORD is awe, reverence, and respect for God, even if they never repent of any of their sins, they are close to the gates of hell.
“They feared the LORD and served their own gods.” Is this not precisely what many Pastors are teaching their congregations? Christians are taught that they can fear the Lord and sin habitually (serve their gods) simultaneously. If they actually feared the LORD, in reality and truth, they most definitely would not “serve their gods.” The idols or gods of today are self-gratification, fame, fortune, power, wealth, pleasure, pride, and sex. When Christians fear the LORD, they repent of everything that offends God Almighty. No one who truly loves God can serve Him and their gods simultaneously. It is impossible, according to 2 Kings 17 and many other passages.
Listen to what Jesus said, “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul; but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Matthew 10:28.” Fear God, who can kill both body and soul in hell, not man who can only kill the body. That sounds like Godly wisdom to me. Rightly placed fear, properly understood, will save your soul.
