FEAR
GOD
By Sister Shirley E. Gailord
When you hear “Fear God” or see it written
in the Bible, what does it really mean to you? Does it mean that
you are to be
afraid of God? How often have you heard a Christian say, “I
am afraid of God because he punished me once for something I had
done; I am afraid of God because the Bible says to fear God”.
Many Christians say that they are afraid that God will punish them
by bringing bad things into their life, or by taking things away
from them, or even killing them or making them sick. Because they
believe God will bring bad things into their life, they try to live
good lives to avoid any more punishment.
Now, I know that God is not the cause of the bad things that happen
to us. Disease, sickness, accidents, death, etc, come as a result
of the fall of man, and Satan is the author of all these things.
But I do believe God allows these things to happen, because He gave
us a free will, the choice to do the will of God or the will of Satan.
I also know if you choose to do the will of Satan, God will not interfere.
But if you are a Christian, a born-again believer, God has already
given you the POWER to ward off any negative thing. The scripture
states, God’s wrath will be sent down during the Tribulation.
When the Church age is over, judgment will fall on the world but not
the church, because the Rapture would have taken place. The only judgment
the church will face is the Judgment Seat of Christ. So, I know God
didn’t punish them.
Fear God! Yes, I love and respect God, but because I know God I am
not afraid of Him. believe as long as I continue to love and respect
Him, I am more than a conquer. So why should I be afraid of my “Daddy”?
Isn’t He a loving God? Isn’t He the Father to all who
will call on His name? Isn’t he the Father who loves and cares
for his children? Why should I be afraid of someone I love and who
loves me? How can I love someone I am afraid of? How can I be afraid
of someone I love? I love and respect my parents, but as a child
I wasn’t afraid of them. Yes, I was afraid of the consequence
of my disobedient. Therefore, there has to be more than one meaning
for fear. What does “fear”, when referring to God, in
the Bible means?
My Dictionary/Concordance states:
1) to respect highly; to feel reverence and awe for.
2) to be afraid of(n) profound reverence toward God; anticipation
or awareness of danger.
Also my Webster’s New World Dictionary, Second College Edition
states:
1) a feeling of anxiety and agitation caused by the presence or nearness
of danger, evil, pain, etc.; timidity; dread; terror; fright; apprehension
2) Respectful dread; awe; reverence (a feeling or attitude of deep
respect, love, and awe)
Because I believe “fear”, when referring to God, in the
Bible means respect, love, and in awe of, the time to be afraid of
the wrath of God is when you don’t fear God. That is, if you
don’t love and respect God, you should be concerned about you
life.
If a Christian claims to know God and doesn’t obey Him, he
is lying and the truth isn’t in his heart. Remember that a
Christian (a born-again believer) is the righteousness of God— he
is in right standing with God. When a righteous man turns away from
God’s righteousness, he is no longer a Christian. But if he
turns back to God, that is, if he confesses his sin to God, God can
always be trusted to forgive him and take his sins away (First John
1:9). Therefore, if you fall or make a mistake, confess your sin
and God is faithful and just to forgive you. God sent His Son to
be your atonement. He shed His blood for you. Through the Anointing
and His Anointed One (Christ Jesus) you can be more than a conquer
(Romans 8:1)
As you can see the Fear of the Lord is not a negative thing. Our
Father is not only a loving Father, but He is also a caring Father.
He knows the difficulties we face and wants to protect us, just as
any loving father would. So, He teaches us the fear of the Lord for
our protection.
Now when I see “fear”, when referring to God, in the
Bible, I just put “love and respect” in its place. There
are many blessings promised to those who love and respect the Lord:
The fear love and respect of the Lord leads to life: Then one rests
content, untouched by trouble. (Proverbs 19:23)
The fear love and respect of the Lord is a fountain of life, turning
a man from the snares of death. (Proverbs 14:27)
“
Let those who fear love and respect the Lord say: ‘His loves
endures forever’.”(Psalms 118:4 NIV)
“
To fear love and respect the Lord is to hate evil; I hate pride and
arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech.” (Proverbs 8:13
NIV)
Through love and faithfulness sin is atoned for; through the fear love and respect of the Lord a man avoids evil. (Proverbs 16:6)
As you can see, I have replaced “fear” with love and
respect. So whenever I see “fear”, when referring to
God, in the Bible, I just put love and respect in its place.
Now that I have noticed that the words and phrases used in The Bible are not
always our current meaning, I always have a good concordance and Bible dictionary
on hand when studying the Bible.
John 16:7; John 10:10; John 3:16; Roman 10:9-10; Luke 11:9-13; 2Corinthians
5:21; Rev. 12:9