I would rather live my life as if there is a God, and die to find out there isn’t, than live my life as if there isn’t, and die to find out there is!


Tuesday, October 6, 2009

The Bible speaks of "fear of God." Should we live in fear or terror of God?

The Bible speaks of "fear of God." Should we live in fear or terror of God?

No, we should not. The fear the Bible is referring to is not the kind of fear that makes us tremble. This fear is actually another word for reverence or worship. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of all knowledge. I think this suggests that if we properly acknowledge God and give Him the worship He deserves we will begin to gain wisdom. We are to approach God with an attitude of humility and awe, not dread and fright. We should fear God in our daily lives, whether relating to money, work, marriage or other issues we face, giving God the honor due Him by obeying His will in each of these areas. A wise person will seek God's perspective on matters before acting. God deserves our fear, but we are not to be afraid of Him.

Relevant Scripture:
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline. Proverbs 1:7

Be blessed,
Wayne

www.Capstone-Ministries.org

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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great post! Just to expand on a point you mentioned - that fearing God, for believers, is knowing who He is, which results in the reverence and worship you talked about.

Deuteronomy 10:12 (NIV) says, "And now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the Lord’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?"

These instructions are based on the laws given through Moses - essentially, God revealing Himself to Israel. What did God reveal? That He is a perfect, holy, jealous, just, and righteous God. To fallible humans, this is incredible and deserves our utmost reverence and awe!

katahdinme said...

"Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled ... Moses said to the people, "Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin." Exodus 20:18, 20 ESV

Cf. Heb 12:18-29 ("How much the more") NB "Moses said, "I tremble with fear" v. 21 and "... acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire," v. 28f

These texts and others, not to mention the definition of fear, suggest God wants a fear that borders on, well, fear. It would of course oversimplify to suggest that fear is the only response God desires for us, though.

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