FEAR Him? NO WAY!..wait, or MAYBE, Wait YES?!! Something seems to want me to say YES.

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slave

slave

Senior Member
Mar 20, 2015
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So how does fear of God, who is perfect love, take away fear?
William D. Eisenhower puts it this way in his article 'Fearing God" in Christianity Today:

Unfortunately, many of us presume that the world is the ultimate threat and that God's function is to offset it. How different this is from the biblical position that God is far scarier than the world …. When we assume that the world is the ultimate threat, we give it unwarranted power, for in truth, the world's threats are temporary. When we expect God to balance the stress of the world, we reduce him to the world's equal …. As I walk with the Lord, I discover that God poses an ominous threat to my ego, but not to me. He rescues me from my delusions, so he may reveal the truth that sets me free. He casts me down, only to lift me up again. He sits in judgment of my sin, but forgives me nevertheless. Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, but love from the Lord is its completion.
 
We know we have the fear of the Lord Jesus when everything else is dead to the right to ourselves, and fully dependent on God thru Christ Jesus.

We are told by Scripture the fear of the Lord is the beginning to knowledge and so inlays our preemptive beginning with God; yet, it is also our eternal position.

Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the duty of mankind. (Ecc. 12:13). :)...

and before someone simply says, this is Old Testament: let me add a NT inclusion:

"Therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God - this is your true and proper worship." (Romans 12:1).

You could include then, (Romans 12:2, and 1 Peter 2:18-25 as well in understanding how fear is a good thing if we apply it to the light of His life's-blood offering. A wine fully poured out for us and us fully poured out to Him.

The subject becomes even more mysterious when we read something like (1 John 4:18) that says: "perfect love expels all fear." So how do we make sense of these two diametrically opposing thoughts? How can we fear God while he expels all fear?

Scripture is full of examples of how fearing God is a positive, rather than a negative thing. For example in (Gen. 42:18), Joseph wins his brothers' trust when he declares he is a God-fearing man. It was because the midwives feared God that they obeyed him instead of the authorities by sparing the Hebrew babies (Exodus 1:17).

Pharaoh brought disaster on his nation because he did not fear God (Exodus 9:29-31).

Moses chose leaders to help him on the basis that they feared God and wouldn't take bribes (Exodus 18:21) and told the Hebrews that God met with them in a terrifying display of his power so that they wouldn't sin (Exodus 20:20).

The Mosaic Law cites fear of God as a reason to treat the disabled and elderly well (Leviticus 19: 14,32).

And lest you think this is only an Old Testament idea, note that Jesus states this stronger than anyone when he says, "Don't be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot touch your soul. Fear only God, who can destroy both soul and body in hell" (Matthew 10:28).

Paul says to work toward complete holiness because we fear God (2 Corinthians 7:1).

So it's clear from these passages, that fearing God is "good" because it saves us from caving into our own sinful nature. That's why when we hear someone is God-fearing, it actually makes us trust that person more. If they fear God, they are more likely to keep their word and treat others with kindness. In fact, Romans 3, a classic chapter on sin, says that our chief sin is that we "have no fear of God at all" (Romans 3:18).

The ultimate example of fear and perfect love working together is Jesus Christ. He warned us at every turn to fear God, not men - and he confirmed that in everything about his life and death. He spoke lovingly, but frankly, to all and didn't mince words when people needed to face their sin and repent. But he also demonstrated love beyond human understanding when he lived out his words, "There is no greater love than to lay down one's life for one's friends (John 15:13)." With love like that, what is left to fear but God?
 
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Saint or sinner, everybody's life is in the hands of the one and only creator. no other god can lay claim for creating mankind ,but the almighty God. You belong to him,and always will be his, whether in heaven, or hell.. That is what he mean by fear not the one that can destroy the body, but not the soul, but fear the one that can destroy body, and soul.
 
well I agree with the facts you bring up....but whether we are in hell or heaven changes the point drastically for us. To fear God for the sake of ending up in hell still is meaningless. So, this is all about an eventual end of practical outcomes that affect our lives to the real core end.

It is true whether we go anywhere and do anything, Jesus is all and in all, He is ruler over heaven and earth, despite satan coming down to earth to rule the world, given the world for a spell of time by God; yet, never over God's ultimate rule.

So, AMEN! I would say You were created by Him, and always will be... I would also say, He willed to keep you always with Him. But there is the objective fact that by the power He has placed in our will, we must chose to whom we belong Spiritually. And if we have not chosen Him He will, in His timing, cast us out and away from Him those who have not chosen Him - eternally. God still will rule over hell, but He will have chosen to let those go whom have made their choices against Him.

His fellowship with us at that point and time will be lost. Jesus tells us he has left Hope here on earth, and no matter what we do on earth hope still exists in being reconciled to God. But we will all die once and be judged, then the choices we made on earth will be whether we fellowship with God for eternity, or whether He says, " Depart from Me." The fear is not a lie of untruth at this moment is it? For we need to respect that what He says, will happen as He says it. Both in relationship to Love and in judgement.
 
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fearing God is good because it saves us from caving into our own sinful nature. That's why hearing someone is God-fearing actually makes us trust that person more. If they fear God, they are more likely to keep their word and treat others with kindness.
Click to expand...

Yes, and the fear of God should be a result of the realization that God knows, sees and hears everything that we do.

Hebrews 4:13 "And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account."


Thank you for your insight! I enjoyed reading it.
 
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