THE FEAR OF THE LORD

The fear of the Lord doesn’t mean the same thing to everybody. Do you fear God? Why or why not? There are two situations in which to fear God; fear as a Christian, or fear as a non-repentant sinner.

To the Christian, it means to revere, love, and obey Him (see Hebrews 12:28-29). The Christian understands that:

●     God is the Creator and owner of the universe and everything in it (see Psalm 24: 1-2).

●     He has absolute power and authority over all creation.

●     He is holy and hates sin, and therefore must and does punish sin. “The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

●     He has the power to make alive and to destroy, and no one can stop Him. “Fear God, who has the power to kill you and then throw you into hell. Yes, he’s the one to fear” (Luke 12:5).

●     He is love and desires an ongoing Father/child relationship with us. Although He could demand that relationship of us, He doesn’t; he wants each person to make the choice willingly. And of course, He makes it clear to us what the implication of each choice would be. “To all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12).

●     He is faithful and keeps all His promises. “The LORD always keeps His promises; he is gracious in all he does” (Psalm 145:13).

●     He demands respect and obedience, and when He’s denied them, He has the power, authority, and responsibility to reprimand. “Because you are stubborn and refuse to turn from your sin, you are storing up terrible punishment for yourself. For a day of anger is coming, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed” (Romans 2:5).

●     With all these attributes, one wouldn’t expect Him to be slow to anger, forgiving, and giving repeated chances for repentance - yet, that is exactly what He does. “The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promises, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent” (2 Peter 3:9).

But to the unbeliever, fear means the judgment of God and eternal separation from Him in hell. (See Luke 12:5; Hebrews 10:31). So, why is the unbeliever’s fear so different?

●     The unbeliever knowingly or unknowingly denies God’s existence by not acknowledging or feeling accountable to Him. “Only fools say in their hearts, ‘There is no God'” (Psalm 14:1).

●     They don’t understand their sinful status and therefore don’t see the need for forgiveness through Jesus Christ. “Everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standards” (Romans 3:23). 

●     He uses God’s name in vain. “You must not misuse the name of the Lord your God. The Lord will not let you go unpunished if you misuse his name” (Exodus 20:7).

●     He does not give Him thanks; he takes credit that belongs to God.

God declares that unbelievers are His enemies for rejecting Him, and for that, He’ll repay them by taking revenge on them (see Deuteronomy 32:39-41). This revenge isn’t going to be a small thing; the Scripture reminds us, “It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31).

According to the Scriptures, the fear of the Lord is the foundation of true knowledge (Proverbs 1:7) as well as the foundation of wisdom (see Proverbs 9:10). So, if you claim to be wise, make sure the basis of your claim is the fear of God. Some people claim to be wise, but their claim is based on the fact that they’re able to get away with crimes like theft and scamming (street-smarts).

How do we develop fear for the Lord? Godly fear is only possible after one has been born again. Before that, people only use His name in vain, showing no reverence; they passionately use God’s name when they curse others. At conversion, however, when one understands who God is and what His role is in the world and in our lives, a change occurs. Scripture puts it this way: “Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old is gone; a new life has begun!” (2 Corinthians 5:17). So, after conversion, because of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, reverence for God and worshiping Him become second nature.

The fear of the Lord for a Christian is the show of respect and reverence that leads to adoration and obedience. If you love someone, you’ll go out of your way to please, respect, and do whatever is necessary to nourish and maintain a healthy relationship with them. If we can do that with humans, we should be able to do at least that much in our relationship with God.

The fear of God leads to knowledge and wisdom because God is wise and knows all things; as we seek to be obedient to Him, we’ll be doing things His way—the right way-- and thus our wisdom will be evident to the world. For instance, He commands us to, “Owe nothing to anyone—except for your obligation to love one another” (Romans 13:8). If we obey this command, we’ll stay out of debt—a wise thing to do.

After the Teacher had examined and assessed life, he concluded, “Fear God and obey his commands, for this is everyone’s duty” (Ecclesiastes 12:13). So, the fear of the Lord is a must for everyone, but surprisingly, God rewards those who fear Him, even though He doesn’t have to. After all, we must fear Him. 

How then does He reward us?

Our reward is the immense love He shows to those who fear Him; love that covers all aspects of our lives! See the verses below:

“His unfailing love toward those who fear him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth” (Psalm 103:11).

“The LORD is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him” (Psalm 103:13).

“The love of the LORD remains forever with those who fear him. His salvation extends to the children’s children of those who are faithful to his covenant, of those who obey his commands” (Psalm 103:17-18).  

We’ve seen that God blesses those who fear Him. But how about those who don’t?

If unbelievers believed hell was real, they’d seek God while they still had time. Sadly, the devil has blinded their minds, so they think God will not send anyone to hell: “He is too kind to do that,” they say. They, however, don’t know or choose to forget that He is holy and just, and does not go back on His Word.

May God help us to continue to walk with Him in fear and reverence, and may He help us share the gospel with compassion and urgency. The window of opportunity is closing for many every day as they pass into a Christless eternity.