why should we fear god if he is all loving?

[Angela53510]

The Bible tells us to FEAR GOD!

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;
all those who practice it have a good understanding
His praise endures forever! Psalm 111:10

"Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain,
but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised." Prov. 31:30

God is Almighty. He is awesome in wonder, the Creator, the Beginning and the End. God is holy above all!

"Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out,“Hallelujah!
For the Lord our God
the Almighty reigns." Rev. 19:6

Western Christianity needs to find a sense of that fear of the Lord. Then no one would have to argue the law versus faith. We would just all follow Christ, and bow down before him, and his power.

"Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, [SUP]10 [/SUP]so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, [SUP]11 [/SUP]and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Phil. 2:9-11

Yes, God is also love, and set Jesus to die on the cross for us! But that love is the flip side of God's justice. Jesus died because we sinned!

"God demonstrates his love for us in this, that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8

God's character is holiness, justice and love. Therefore, we should be in awe and fear God, for he has done great things for us.

"The Lord has done great things for us,
and we are filled with joy." Psalm 126:3

 

[CRC]

Fear a God of Love?
Because fear of God is not the abject, paralyzing fear that grips people in some situations. It is the kind of fear that a child may feel for his father, even though he loves his father and knows that his father loves him.
Fear of God is really a profound reverence for the Creator that stems from the realization that he is the complete embodiment of righteousness, justice, wisdom, and love. It involves a healthy dread of displeasing God because he is the Supreme Judge with the power to reward and to punish. “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God,” wrote the apostle Paul. (Hebrews 10:31) God’s love is not something to be taken for granted, nor is his judgment something to be downplayed. That is why the Bible reminds us: “The fear of Yahweh is the start of wisdom.”—Proverbs 9:10.
We should remember, however, that while Yahweh has the power to punish those not obeying him—and has often done so—he is by no means bloodthirsty or cruel. He is really a God of love, even though he, like a loving parent, sometimes gets righteously angry. (1 John 4:8) That is why fearing him is wholesome. It leads us to obey his laws, which are designed for our good. Obeying God’s laws brings happiness, while disobeying them always brings bad results. (Galatians 6:7, 8) The psalmist was inspired to declare: “Fear Yahweh, you holy ones of his, for there is no lack to those fearing him.”—Psalm 34:9.

 

[PennEd]

I had a very healthy "fear" of my father. I knew he loved me. I loved and respected him but knew if i got out of line in disobedience or disrespect, that my fear was justified. I hope this helps you reconcile how we can fear and love at the same time.

 

[JesusLives]

I think because we are sinful humans we fear God because we realize that we are not worthy to be in His presence. But we are told in the Bible to come boldly before the throne of grace. So God wants us to come to Him and Jesus is our sacrifice to help us get our relationship back with God the Father.

There are different kinds of fear
One is a reverence, awe, respect, love, loyalty, admiration of God the Bible also says to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. I think this kind of fear is what they were talking about.
Second kind of fear is the afraid, scared kind and this is the fear that the unrepentant sinner has every right to have because even though our God is loving if they don't surrender their hearts to God they are lost. God has given sinners everything when He gave Jesus to die on the cross for our sins. If they don't accept Jesus sacrifice what more could God do for them?

The Bible also says that perfect love casts out all fear. So when we love God and have surrendered to Him we have nothing to fear.

 

[RedTent]

I had a very healthy "fear" of my father. I knew he loved me. I loved and respected him but knew if i got out of line in disobedience or disrespect, that my fear was justified. I hope this helps you reconcile how we can fear and love at the same time.

I like this. My spirit wrestled with this problem for years. I thought I couldn't be afraid of God and love Him at the same time. Now, I manage to do that--and I don't mean fear as in reverence, but fear as in I am afraid. I am afraid of what would happen to me if I decide to live outside of His Kingdom. The book of Revelation points out this difference we choose by the way we choose to live.

I am in awe of the love God showers on us who are in His family. I have studied, outside of scripture, the history of the ancient nations surrounding Israel that lived outside the Kingdom, and compared it with the life God outlines for us. Even today we can see it in the lives of those around us. Add to this Christ, God's Son, and all that means to us, and the love I feel surpasses any of the many loves I have for family here on earth, even, and I would give my life to protect my children.

 

[Fishbait]

God cannot sin, or lie. He's told us there's a hell. If not then God lied.

Some redefine the fear of God for believers to “respecting” Him. While respect is definitely included in the concept of fearing God, there is more to it than that. A biblical fear of God, for the believer, includes understanding how much God hates sin and fearing His judgment on sin—even in the life of a believer. Hebrews 12:5-11 describes God’s discipline of the believer. While it is done in love (Hebrews 12:6), it is still a fearful thing. As children, the fear of discipline from our parents no doubt prevented some evil actions. The same should be true in our relationship with God. We should fear His discipline, and therefore seek to live our lives in such a way that pleases Him.

Believers are not to be scared of God. We have no reason to be scared of Him. We have His promise that nothing can separate us from His love (Romans 8:38-39). We have His promise that He will never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). Fearing God means having such a reverence for Him that it has a great impact on the way we live our lives. The fear of God is respecting Him, obeying Him, submitting to His discipline, and worshipping Him in awe.

 

[Rockbysea]

It’s not the fear of punishment…. It’s the fear of letting Him down: like letting down your best friend who has saved your life on more than one occasion, or your longtime, devoted and loving spouse who has been true and faithful from the beginning, or very loving parents who invested a lot of time, love and money to make sure you had the best. And then you turnaround after all that and repay them with disrespect and ingratitude by leaving them and excluding them out of your life to gratify your own selfish interests.

 

[overcomer2]

why should we fear god?

just a question .... what is your own personal response ......
if you want to copy and paste a scripture fine but please explain after !

well, for one he can send your soul to hell. However, we fear losing him not fear him as a monster. Did you ever have a boyfriend/girlfriend you didn't want to lose. you did all in your power to keep the relationship right. Okay, this is like the fear of the Lord. We don't want to lose the one we love. You know the other one comes around calling and we pay a little attention to them and we get the one jealous, etc.

 

[4enlightment]

why should we fear god?

just a question .... what is your own personal response ......
if you want to copy and paste a scripture fine but please explain after !

Some people committed adultery against their spouse, but be living in fear that their partner will get up and leave if they had found out about the affair. I guess the one that is having an affair love the one that they are with, rather the one that they are in an affair with.

Psalm 51:11
Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.

Revelation 2:4
Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first.
Hosea 6:6
For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.

 

[GreenNnice]

The Fear of the Lord is not about being afraid, but instead realizing His Power and Might. It is to be in constant awe of Him who hung the Earth on nothing. To realize that He made gravity to keep us on the ground instead of flinging us throughout space.

And they sang the song of Moses, the bond-servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, "Great and marvelous are Your works, O Lord God, the Almighty; Righteous and true are Your ways, King of the nations! 4"Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy; For ALL THE NATIONS WILL COME AND WORSHIP BEFORE YOU, FOR YOUR RIGHTEOUS ACTS HAVE BEEN REVEALED." 5After these things I looked, and the temple of the tabernacle of testimony in heaven was opened,