Questions in this Episode. https://theblazingcenter.com/2017/03/what-does-it-mean-to-fear-god.html (1 Peter 1:24-25). Fix that problem! Your gift enables our worldwide outreach. We should “fear” offending God not because of his just punishment but because he is all good and deserving of our love. The fear of God keeps us from sin; the fear of man leads to sin, and that is what we are to avoid: “The fear of man brings a snare” (Proverbs 29:25, NKJV). It is like the relationship between parents and children. Also, the biblical command do not fear does not negate the need for prudence and caution in this world. | GotQuestions.org Set Your Heart to Understand. What exactly does that mean ? A hatred for sin; a seriousness about how enormously sinful it is. All rights reserved. frightening thing to fall into the hands of the living God” This relationship we have with Him will be carried on into eternity. Throughout the Bible we find this phrase, "Do not be afraid." Terms of Use: Apart from personal use, reproduction or redistribution of material from the ActiveChristianity website for use elsewhere is not permitted without prior written permission. In the case of the word “fear” it can mean “to be afraid, have a feeling of terror,” etc. 1. In our daily life, … But why should we fear God? For those individuals, the future holds judgment (Hebrews 10:31). The Surprising Good News of the Fear of the Lord “Let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.” —2 Corinthians 7:1 We all have experienced fear at some point. âAnd now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in His ways and to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the Lord and His statutes which I command you today for your good?â Deuteronomy 10:12-13. âThe fear of the Lord is to hate evil; pride and arrogance and the evil way and the perverse mouth I hate.â Proverbs 8:13. I think this distinction is helpful because the basic meaning of fearing the Lord that we read about in Deuteronomy is also in the Wisdom Literature, where we’re told that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” The focus here is on a sense of awe and respect for the majesty of God. Fear of God also lies at the heart of successful living in the world. Fear can be one of 2 things, a Godly fear or a worldly fear. KEY BIBLE VERSE: Moses said to the people, "Do not be afraid. When Luther struggled with that, he made this distinction, which has since become somewhat famous: He distinguished between what he called a servile fear and a filial fear. To fear God is absolute reverence and awe for an Almighty God, the Creator of all things. We usually fear something (such as a vicious dog or a violent storm) when we expect it to harm us. It’s that kind of dreadful anxiety in which someone is frightened by the clear and present danger that is represented by another person. ActiveChristianity® by Brunstad Christian Church aims to show how Godâs word challenges and empowers followers of Jesus to live 100% according to Godâs will, so we no longer need to fall in sin, but can come to a life of victory. Sproul I must remind you that the Old Testament was written by Hebrews, to Hebrews, in a Hebrew culture, and in the Hebrew language. Fearing God means to honor God. I don’t mean that as an insult (it’s not) but the Hebrew language has relatively few words. Fear God as He ought to be feared and do not die except as believers." If we truly fear God, this brings us into a deep personal love relationship with God. In other words, we fear something that has no concern for us, and is a source of constant danger to us. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning." What does it mean to have the fear of God? (Romans 7:13), To love Him with all our heart, all our soul, and all our strength, and to keep His commandments. Or it’s the kind of fear that a slave would have at the hands of a malicious master who would come with the whip and torment the slave. Why should believers fear God? Fear is what keeps us alive and as long as it isn’t immobilizing, it’s not a problem. We need to make some important distinctions about the biblical meaning of “fearing” God. When the Bible refers to the “fear of the Lord,” it means having a deep respect, reverence and awe for God’s power and authority. It is our hope that you will set your heart to understand, as Daniel did. But there is also a wonderful definition to this word and that is “to have … (Galatians 6:7-8) It is true that God is immeasurably full of grace and long-suffering for us, and that Jesus died for our salvation, so that our sins are forgiven when we repent of them. But what does it mean by “fear”? https://www.rethinknow.org/2020/05/18/what-does-it-mean-to-fear-god Some go so far as to say, they are afraid of Him, and that we should be afraid of Him. But there is forgiveness with You, that You may be feared.â Psalm 130:3-4. To fear God is to know him and to know him is to fear him. One last point: If we really have a healthy adoration for God, we still should have an element of the knowledge that God can be frightening. in all its fullness to as many people as possible. The word fear is the expression “fear of the Lord” means awe or profound respect. Human Fear. The Next 500 Years: 2017 National Conference, God in Our Midst: The Tabernacle and Our Relationship with God, Naming Ligonier the Beneficiary of a Bank or Investment Account, Gifts That Provide Income and Tax Benefits. Luther distinguished between that and what he called filial fear, drawing from the Latin concept from which we get the idea of family. Isnât God love? We donât need to fear His anger, unless we fear punishment due to a bad conscience and impenitent heart because of sin. What does it mean to “fear” God? Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, unless otherwise specified. The consequences of sin are enormous. And we certainly need this, as sanctification and freedom from sin are a process that we are in. Category: Articles. from R.C. And the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, so I like to define the fear of the Lord as a radical God-centeredness that shapes everything else in life, that you’re building your life around God. (Exodus 20:20, NIV) Fearing God does not mean being terrified of him. Some people fear loss of income. (Quran 3:102) Ibn Mas`ud explained what it means to fear God as He ought to be feared by saying: "It means that He is to be obeyed not disobeyed, remembered not forgotten, and shown gratitude not ingratitude." They fear the loss of a relationship because they turned their spouse into an idol…So, to fear God alone drives out our fear of other things and other people and other places. Again, to "fear" God is to have a proper view of Him that leads to love, service, and obedience. But to use that as an excuse for sin would show a lack of godly fear; a lack of love for God. But that isn’t what God is like! In Godâs righteousness, even when we have been forgiven for our sins, we still have to reap the results of having committed sin. In this regard, Luther is thinking of a child who has tremendous respect and love for his father or mother and who dearly wants to please them. What does that mean?” and other questions can be found in our Questions Answered section. Wisdom literature makes it clear that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, a fear equated with the "knowledge of the Holy One" ( Prov 9:10; 1:7; Psalm 111:10). This should cause an inexpressible love and gratitude and reverence to grow and increase in my heart! These distinctions can be helpful, but they can also be a little dangerous. This causes us to fear to sin against Him, because we want nothing else in this world than to be pleasing to Him, and to bring honor to His name. (Psalm 89:7; Hebrews 12:28-29), To stand before His face in all we do in order to be pleasing to Him, without allowing ourselves to be influenced by wanting the good opinion of people. Rather than causing someone to be afraid of God, a proper “fear of the Lord” leads one to love Him. Whatever you fear, ultimately is your God. In the blog post on How to overcome fear in life, we looked at worldly fears, in this post we look at the fear of God. My friend was surprised to find out that in the Bible ‘the fear of the Lord’ and ‘the love of God’ stand side by side. As Pope Francis has said: 1:7). You take God more seriously than anything else, whether that’s … To know that we donât give account to anyone but God for our actions. Many Christian leaders seem determined to convince their hearers that they should never experience any emotional discomfort when contemplating God’s holiness, justice, and judgment; “the fear of the Lord” is always understood to mean respect or awe and never, we are told, indicates that we should actually be afraid of God. “It is a frightening thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Heb. (Deuteronomy 6:4-5; Deuteronomy 10:12-13; Matthew 22:36-38). As sinful people, we have every reason to fear God’s judgment; it is part of our motivation to be reconciled with God. No, certainly not. The Hebrew word for fear (yare'), in verses such as Deuteronomy 6:24, means "reverence" or “awe.” In a sense, it means to have a certain amount of respect for a powerful being. God does not desire that any believer be filled with fear—even when it comes to meeting Him: “God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. Proverbs 1:7 helps us understand who God is and the need to develop a reverential fear of Him, for, without Him, we cannot have biblical wisdom.. Biblical wisdom comes only from understanding who God is and that He is just, holy, and righteous (Deuteronomy 10:12,20-21).The fear of the Lord is the basis for the people of God walking in His ways and serving Him in all of life. Shunning the Evil Trends and Not Living Lives of Eating, Drinking and Cavorting. To trust him and to abhor wickedness amounts to the fear of the Lord. How can we believe that God loves us, and at the same time, that we should fear Him? … But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.â, Godly fear isnât the same as fear of a tyrant, or a dictator. Jan 12, 2018 It refers to the fear that a child has for his father. https://activechristianity.org/what-does-it-mean-to-fear-god When we weigh our words and actions on the scales of godly fear, then we gain wisdom and understanding and virtue, because then we learn and do Godâs will. They fear loss of their job. I have Christian friends that say we should “fear the Lord” or “fear God”. Donate Now. Fearing God gives knowledge. The only ones who are to "fear" God in the sense of "being afraid" are those who have not placed their faith in Jesus Christ. This disregard for God makes us foolish and does not lead to any kind of spiritual growth. A little fear is a good thing because that makes us cautious when climbing ladders, using power tools, or driving a car. This Almighty God has called me by name to serve Him, and He is working in me so that I can be saved to be with Him for eternity. —Michael Horton. We are invited to call Him Abba, Father, and to have the personal intimacy promised to us, but still we’re not to be flippant with God. It does not mean literal fear of God’s power but an awe and respect for the absolute majesty of God. In fact, this is the very reason we fear and love God: âIf You, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? The Ligonier Ministries site requires Javascript, but you’ve got Javascript disabled. And as we live in God… It is written: âYou shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve.â Luke 4:8. The fear of the Lord is the fear of a loving child or a dutiful servant: it is such a reverence for God that the one who fears Him is gripped by a holy desire to please Him. In the Bible we get a few glimpses into heaven, and we see the heavenly creatures worship Him around His throne continually, crying out âHoly, holy, holy!â and covering their faces. To fear to dishonour Him with our actions. Fearing the Lord means to be in awe of his holiness, to give him complete reverence and to honor him as the God of great glory, majesty, purity and power. Servile refers to a posture of servitude toward a malevolent owner. drifting away from the living God in a kind of hard-heartedness Therefore, if you want to understand what it means, you need to look at what the Hebrews say it means, specifically what their words mean. “Throughout the Bible we are told to fear God. If we donât fear God, we will not take sin seriously enough. The servile fear is a kind of fear that a prisoner in a torture chamber has for his tormentor, the jailer, or the executioner. I don’t fear Him, He’s my Father and I’m not afraid of Him. Yet, 1 John 4:18 clearly tells us that: âThere is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. W hat does it mean to fear God or fear the Lord? Over and over in the Bible we are exhorted to fear God, to have the fear of the Lord, to live in godly fear. We fear to cause Him sorrow or grief, knowing how incredibly wretched sin is, how much God hates it, and how much it hurts Him when we sin. 10:31). What type of fear is it speaking about? This … You have to understand that ancient Hebrew is a very “word poor” language. “You shall follow the Lord your God and fear Him; and you shall keep His commandments, listen to His voice, serve Him, and cling to Him” (Deut. âTherefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.â Hebrews 12:28. âLet us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is manâs all.â Ecclesiastes 12:13. © bcc.media foundation, To have the proper reverence and awe for Him, so we do whatever is required of us to serve Him. (Romans 2:5-9). 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