Biblical Fear Of God.

Chopper

Chopper

If you were to ask me "What is the most serious lack in the lives of professing Christians today?" I would say without a doubt, Fear of God! Ecclesiastes 12:13 "Fear God and keep His Commandments, for this is the whole duty of man."

I find that the "fear of the Lord" is perhaps the most serious aspect of our relationship this is misunderstood....The Hebrew Scriptures (O.T.) use of the word fear is Heb. yare which means reverence. The N.T. fear is Gk. phobeo which means terrify....There appears to be a significant change in the two words.

O.T. reverence, N.T. terror. My feelings on this is, since the cross of Jesus the Christ of God, God holds Christians much more accountable for disgracing the sacrifice of His Son through sin. The main problem is, we think, if we sin, asking forgiveness for that sin, "thats it!" Well, that's not it. There are consequences to that sin that will come. Sometimes soon but most times later.

There are times when we don't understand why our prayers are hindered or trials come into our lives. Well guess what? We don't get away with sinning by disobeying the commandments of our Savior Jesus Christ. He said "if you love Me, keep my commands."

God is serious about His commands even when we're not....I'll stop here to see if any of you have wondered about the difference between the two fears. What do some of you think about fear of God?
 
Chopper said:
O.T. reverence, N.T. terror. My feelings on this is, since the cross of Jesus the Christ of God, God holds Christians much more accountable for disgracing the sacrifice of His Son through sin. The main problem is, we think, if we sin, asking forgiveness for that sin, "thats it!" Well, that's not it. There are consequences to that sin that will come. Sometimes soon but most times later.
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There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love
1 John 4:18 NASB

The price of our sins was paid on the cross, so Christian accountability in that since is unscriptural. The respect aspect of 'fear' is still what god expects. This is based in Love, and prefects us.

Concentrating on fear robs the Christian of the victory the Christ has already bought.

When we fail, we miss a chance to grow. If we trivialize sin and refuse to grow, we regress. But God's love is unconditional, and it is by His love we are perfected, not by our fear.
 
Chopper said:
If you were to ask me "What is the most serious lack in the lives of professing Christians today?" I would say without a doubt, Fear of God! Ecclesiastes 12:13 "Fear God and keep His Commandments, for this is the whole duty of man."

I find that the "fear of the Lord" is perhaps the most serious aspect of our relationship this is misunderstood....The Hebrew Scriptures (O.T.) use of the word fear is Heb. yare which means reverence. The N.T. fear is Gk. phobeo which means terrify....There appears to be a significant change in the two words.

O.T. reverence, N.T. terror. My feelings on this is, since the cross of Jesus the Christ of God, God holds Christians much more accountable for disgracing the sacrifice of His Son through sin. The main problem is, we think, if we sin, asking forgiveness for that sin, "thats it!" Well, that's not it. There are consequences to that sin that will come. Sometimes soon but most times later.

There are times when we don't understand why our prayers are hindered or trials come into our lives. Well guess what? We don't get away with sinning by disobeying the commandments of our Savior Jesus Christ. He said "if you love Me, keep my commands."

God is serious about His commands even when we're not....I'll stop here to see if any of you have wondered about the difference between the two fears. What do some of you think about fear of God?
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Hey Chopper! Great to see you here in CFS.. I remember you from another Christian Forum.. You knowledge and wisdom is something that CFS would benefit from :D Nice to see you here!

I did not know that fear meant 2 different things in NT and OT. But it is very hard for me to read NT verses with the meaning of terrify.. For an unbeliever, it is fear of judgement..For believers, the fear is just reverence.. Fear of God is different for someone having a personal relationship with God and one who doesn't.. For example, I manage a group of members at work. They fear me because they are reporting to me and they need to get the job done.. When they fail, they fear the punishment I might yield them.. Whereas my daughter does not fear about the punishment I would give.. She is only afraid of how the relationship would be affected.. So I don't think a believer would be terrified of God.. It might be appropriate for an unbeliever..

Am I completely off track? If so, excuse me.. I have been sleeping so little for many weeks! :D
 
Siloam said:

There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love
1 John 4:18 NASB

The price of our sins was paid on the cross, so Christian accountability in that since is unscriptural. The respect aspect of 'fear' is still what god expects. This is based in Love, and prefects us.

Concentrating on fear robs the Christian of the victory the Christ has already bought.

When we fail, we miss a chance to grow. If we trivialize sin and refuse to grow, we regress. But God's love is unconditional, and it is by His love we are perfected, not by our fear.
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Thank you for your reply. Your starting verse 1 John 4:18 has to do with the final judgment at the end of the ages as Verse 17 shows. Please keep your references in context. As time allows, I'll answer your objections.
 
Ravindran said:
Hey Chopper! Great to see you here in CFS.. I remember you from another Christian Forum.. You knowledge and wisdom is something that CFS would benefit from :D Nice to see you here!

I did not know that fear meant 2 different things in NT and OT. But it is very hard for me to read NT verses with the meaning of terrify.. For an unbeliever, it is fear of judgement..For believers, the fear is just reverence.. Fear of God is different for someone having a personal relationship with God and one who doesn't.. For example, I manage a group of members at work. They fear me because they are reporting to me and they need to get the job done.. When they fail, they fear the punishment I might yield them.. Whereas my daughter does not fear about the punishment I would give.. She is only afraid of how the relationship would be affected.. So I don't think a believer would be terrified of God.. It might be appropriate for an unbeliever..

Am I completely off track? If so, excuse me.. I have been sleeping so little for many weeks! :D
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So good to hear from you again my friend. What you say is true. The fear that the N.T. speaks of is a fear that leads to holiness. I will be commenting on this purpose of fear in my next post. You see, something needs to keep us from sinning, and something needs to drive us toward holiness. Fear is that something.

2Co 7:1 Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.
 
Chopper said:
You see, something needs to keep us from sinning, and something needs to drive us toward holiness. Fear is that something.
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Absolutely.. That is why Proverbs says fear of Lord is beginning of wisdom. Which leads to the question, what is wisdom. The general definition of wisdom is discernment between right and wrong. In Biblical terms, understanding will of God and walking in it. So wisdom is nothing but knowing what sin is and keeping away from it. Thus, fear of Lord is starting for that.. Exactly what you said!
 
Ravindran said:
Absolutely.. That is why Proverbs says fear of Lord is beginning of wisdom. Which leads to the question, what is wisdom. The general definition of wisdom is discernment between right and wrong. In Biblical terms, understanding will of God and walking in it. So wisdom is nothing but knowing what sin is and keeping away from it. Thus, fear of Lord is starting for that.. Exactly what you said!
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There you go, Home Run for you! Hopefully I'll speak more about the correct usage of fear in the New Covenant.
 
Chopper said:
There you go, Home Run for you! Hopefully I'll speak more about the correct usage of fear in the New Covenant.
Click to expand...

I'm looking forward to your sharing of the wisdom, that you have gained as well! And i am looking to see if the love of God fits in this thread too!
Blessings
 
@Chopper ,
Hello My Friend,
To Fear the Lord used to trip me up alot a very long time ago. Now it beckons me to know more and under stand much deeper His Holiness and His Majesticness ( my word ). I know what to reverence means and to Honor and Love and abide in BUT what I do not know is How to Honor and Respect and Abide in Him in such a fashion that it reflects unto HOW Holy and Majestic He truly is.

I mean I know how to respect authority and honor their authority but in all rectrospect how can you compare this to what He deserves ? I mean you can not create a scale 1 to 10 and say 1 is for the highest official here on earth and 10 for God ? That would be limiting God.

For me the level of understanding of how Loving and Majestic and Holy He is, well it just wont do for I desire a deeper understanding and I am not going to stop seeking. This may have gone in the wrong direction Chopper from where you are going and I apologise for that.
What I seek has been growing over the years and I am way ahead of my understanding now then I was a year ago but with all this attacking of brethren and ministires going on it just pushes me more to rise up in Him.

Blessings My Friend
Jim
 
Fish Catcher Jim said:
@Chopper ,
Hello My Friend,
To Fear the Lord used to trip me up alot a very long time ago. Now it beckons me to know more and under stand much deeper His Holiness and His Majesticness ( my word ). I know what to reverence means and to Honor and Love and abide in BUT what I do not know is How to Honor and Respect and Abide in Him in such a fashion that it reflects unto HOW Holy and Majestic He truly is.

I mean I know how to respect authority and honor their authority but in all rectrospect how can you compare this to what He deserves ? I mean you can not create a scale 1 to 10 and say 1 is for the highest official here on earth and 10 for God ? That would be limiting God.

For me the level of understanding of how Loving and Majestic and Holy He is, well it just wont do for I desire a deeper understanding and I am not going to stop seeking. This may have gone in the wrong direction Chopper from where you are going and I apologise for that.
What I seek has been growing over the years and I am way ahead of my understanding now then I was a year ago but with all this attacking of brethren and ministires going on it just pushes me more to rise up in Him.

Blessings My Friend
Jim
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Right on my old friend! I will share five Scripture's that deal with the New Covenant Fear that leads to holiness. I have known personally, men who don't believe that fear should motivate a Christian in any way, just Love. Now I'm not saying that those in this Forum are not holy folk, what I'm saying is that those who I personally know, holiness has taken a back seat in their form of Christian expression.

What you have just said is a fantastic springboard to a proper relationship with with our Holy God who expects all His followers to live and acknowledge His supreme authority, majestic Ruler-ship over mankind, and His hatred of all sin which, in a sense "spits in His Face".
 
Chopper said:
If you were to ask me "What is the most serious lack in the lives of professing Christians today?" I would say without a doubt, Fear of God! Ecclesiastes 12:13 "Fear God and keep His Commandments, for this is the whole duty of man."

I find that the "fear of the Lord" is perhaps the most serious aspect of our relationship this is misunderstood....The Hebrew Scriptures (O.T.) use of the word fear is Heb. yare which means reverence. The N.T. fear is Gk. phobeo which means terrify....There appears to be a significant change in the two words.

O.T. reverence, N.T. terror. My feelings on this is, since the cross of Jesus the Christ of God, God holds Christians much more accountable for disgracing the sacrifice of His Son through sin. The main problem is, we think, if we sin, asking forgiveness for that sin, "thats it!" Well, that's not it. There are consequences to that sin that will come. Sometimes soon but most times later.

There are times when we don't understand why our prayers are hindered or trials come into our lives. Well guess what? We don't get away with sinning by disobeying the commandments of our Savior Jesus Christ. He said "if you love Me, keep my commands."

God is serious about His commands even when we're not....I'll stop here to see if any of you have wondered about the difference between the two fears. What do some of you think about fear of God?
Click to expand...
A great comment brother!!! (y)
 
Today, I will post five Scriptures that speak of a proper New Covenant fear of God.

1. 2 Corinthians 7:1 "Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God."....So what are these precious promises?

2 Corinthians 6:16b "For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, "I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 17 Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, 18 and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty."

I see that God Almighty Himself will walk among us, and in His Holy Spirit, dwell among us. Any place in Scripture where anyone came into the presence of God, they fell on their faces in fear and awe of such holiness.

2. Ephesians 5:21 "Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God." Just as we would submit ourselves to the authority of God, we likewise should submit to each other. The following verses picture a marriage with each submitting to each other in their respective positions that are ordained by God.

3. Philippians 2:12 "Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling." Someone might think that this word "fear" is like the O.T. reverence, look again at what this N.T. word means from "Strongs."

φόβος
phobos
fob'-os
From a primary φέβομαι phebomai (to be put in fear); alarm or fright: - be afraid, + exceedingly, fear, terror.
Total KJV occurrences: 47

4. 1Pe 1:17 "And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear." The same Greek word for fear is Phobos.
1Pe 3:2 "While they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear." Fear = Phobos

Folks, these are ample Scriptures that display a fear (Phobos) that our Holy God expects us to order our lives in. This Phobos is a restraining factor in our lives that causes us to think twice before we sin against this wonderful merciful God who allowed His precious Son to be mutilated and hung on a shameful cross so that we could live with Him. To fear sinning and therefore treating this loving God with so much contempt to do something that He hates? God forbid! WE MUST NOT!
 
The proper fear of the Lord is a little like a lineman's healthy fear of electricity. It is not the kind of fear that causes you to freeze in terror and be good for nothing, but neither is it just honor or an attitude of "wow". Christians in the New Testament had a healthy fear, and sometimes when they didn't, God acted so they learned to (Acts 5:1-11 "...So great fear came upon all the church and upon all who heard these things.")

"This, I believe, is the heart of what it means to fear God. It is this acting out of sensitivity to what grieves Him and what pleases Him. The right type of fear of God is just another aspect of the right type of love for Him. Love seeks the other’s benefit, and fears to hurt the other" (The Character Of Job)
 
Fadingman said:
The proper fear of the Lord is a little like a lineman's healthy fear of electricity. It is not the kind of fear that causes you to freeze in terror and be good for nothing, but neither is it just honor or an attitude of "wow". Christians in the New Testament had a healthy fear, and sometimes when they didn't, God acted so they learned to (Acts 5:1-11 "...So great fear came upon all the church and upon all who heard these things.")

"This, I believe, is the heart of what it means to fear God. It is this acting out of sensitivity to what grieves Him and what pleases Him. The right type of fear of God is just another aspect of the right type of love for Him. Love seeks the other’s benefit, and fears to hurt the other" (The Character Of Job)
Click to expand...

I like your picture of fear. That's a home run my friend.
 
Chopper said:
Today, I will post five Scriptures that speak of a proper New Covenant fear of God.

1. 2 Corinthians 7:1 "Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God."....So what are these precious promises?

2 Corinthians 6:16b "For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, "I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 17 Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, 18 and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty."

I see that God Almighty Himself will walk among us, and in His Holy Spirit, dwell among us. Any place in Scripture where anyone came into the presence of God, they fell on their faces in fear and awe of such holiness.

2. Ephesians 5:21 "Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God." Just as we would submit ourselves to the authority of God, we likewise should submit to each other. The following verses picture a marriage with each submitting to each other in their respective positions that are ordained by God.

3. Philippians 2:12 "Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling." Someone might think that this word "fear" is like the O.T. reverence, look again at what this N.T. word means from "Strongs."

φόβος
phobos
fob'-os
From a primary φέβομαι phebomai (to be put in fear); alarm or fright: - be afraid, + exceedingly, fear, terror.
Total KJV occurrences: 47

4. 1Pe 1:17 "And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear." The same Greek word for fear is Phobos.
1Pe 3:2 "While they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear." Fear = Phobos

Folks, these are ample Scriptures that display a fear (Phobos) that our Holy God expects us to order our lives in. This Phobos is a restraining factor in our lives that causes us to think twice before we sin against this wonderful merciful God who allowed His precious Son to be mutilated and hung on a shameful cross so that we could live with Him. To fear sinning and therefore treating this loving God with so much contempt to do something that He hates? God forbid! WE MUST NOT!
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Those who fail to understand this tend to be those who refrain from renewing the mind in Gods written word. They fail to keep His words before their eyes because they have no real understanding how important this truly is. There is reading His written word as in a way from fear if I do not then God will be mad and in this case you pretty much for the most part do not get any meat or nourishment from His word that will aid you in your day to day struggles in this life.

Then there are those who go to His written word with the desire to draw close to God and get to know Him and His ways or how He thinks. They know that His very written word holds the key to anything they face or are dealing with. These people are the ones who listen to sundays sermon on monday and through out the week. They look up the scriptures and seek God in how to apply them to their life. It is these people who learn the true Holiness and Love of God.

It has been said that how you treat or respect the written word of God is how you view or see the one who wrote it. Another words, little respect for His written word then you have no real knowledge of Him or who He is and this keeps you from truly knowing what it means to not only fear the Lord out of respect but from a humbling every knee will bow and every voice will confess Jesus Christ is Lord unto the great I am that I am, the creator of our existence and the one who holds our breath in His hands.

When a person arrives into this realm of knowing God our Heavenly Father they shutter them selves at the thought of sinning against God or another words truly think before moving on any act that will not line up with the style of life we are to live in Christ. HOWEVER......Grace....Thank God for His Grace for He is so loving that He will help us back up on our feet and and not be holding it against us and loving you right back into His right standing. Now how can you not fear a God like this if nothing but out of loving respect and awe?

He takes our filth and sin and gives us His righteousness. He lays it out in His written word how to simply abide in Him. He guides us as He builds us when we diligently and honestly seek Him. Another words He makes it so simple that we need help to miss it.

Now why would any one NOT want to learn what it is to properly fear Him always and in all ways ?
 
As I think about how this fear plays out in real life, I see how we need it so much.

Someone who works at translating the Bible needs to do so in fear of God, not so much that God will zap him if he doesn't pick the exact words he should, but keeping in mind the potential consequences of a poor choice of words for those who will later rely on that translation. Could an imprecise word or phrase become a stumbling block that would lead to a false doctrine or cult? (In past translations, I think of the word translated as "hell" in Psalm 16:10 and Acts 2:27, leading to the belief that Jesus suffered in hell after He died on the cross.)

Someone else who works a secular job needs to do so in fear of God, also to prevent stumbling blocks for the lost who must hear the gospel - so they won't blaspheme God. While the world makes a lot of false accusations of evil against Christians, there are also many true ones. This doesn't help to bring them to Jesus.

Beloved, I beg you as foreigners and sojourners, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, having your behavior honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation.
1 Peter 2:11-12 (VW)​
 
Thank you all for this discussion. It is much needed and appreciated.

I believe one of the biggest problems in the church today, which directly relates to this lack or absence of the fear of the Lord among God's people, is that the gospel of salvation has been diluted (altered) to be acceptable to the people of this sinful world. Words such as "sin", "repentance," and "obedience" are classified as "works-based salvation" or "legalism." Instead of teaching the gospel according to Jesus Christ and as taught by the apostles, they completely leave out our need to be crucified with Christ to sin, to be reborn of the Spirit of God, and they ignore the fact that Jesus died so we would no longer walk after the flesh, but after the Spirit, and that he died so we would no longer live for ourselves, but for him who gave himself up for us, and that his grace which brings us salvation teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we wait for his return.

Instead, they give their adherents the notion that all they have to do is pray a prayer and they have their ticket into heaven which can never be taken away from them, no matter how they live their lives from this point on. So, they don't feel the necessity to walk in the fear of the Lord because they feel they have eternity in heaven guaranteed, and so they feel the freedom to continue in sin without guilt or remorse. They are even taught that Jesus requires nothing of them at all - no love, obedience, repentance, submission, etc. So, in that case, why should they need to fear God? Satan has so deceived the church. Yes, we as true believers are secure in Christ, but we must be believing in Christ, actively, continuously, and we must remain (continue) in Christ. We are not saved (past) just so we can go to heaven when we die. Our salvation is given to us to free us from slavery to sin and to free us to walk in righteousness and holiness. People have lost the fear of God because they are not being told that they are called to be holy (set apart from - unlike - the world, because they are becoming like Christ).

There are all kinds of warnings in the New Testament about having a false sense of security based in a lie, and about believing messages that make us feel good and that tickle our itching ears, and warnings that when we stand before God we may not hear, "Well done thou good and faithful servant," but we may hear, "Depart from me, I never knew you," because we did not walk in the fear of the Lord, and we did not repent of our sin, and we did not obey Jesus, and we did not walk according to the Spirit, but we continued in sin and we continued to walk according to our sinful flesh. If we continue in sin, thinking we have fellowship with God, we are deceived! If we take these warnings seriously, and we take God and his word and sin seriously, as he does, and we are serious about walking in the Spirit in holiness and righteousness, then we know what it is to walk in the fear of the Lord.
 
Yes, yes, yes.
I like it. Look at this:
Exodus 20:20 (NKJV)
20And Moses said to the people, “Do not fear; for God has come to test you, and that His fear may be before you, so that you may not sin.”
Now look at this. What does it teach?
2 Corinthians 5:9-11 (NIV)
9So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. 10For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.
11Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade others. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience.
 
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