1. As Pope Francis has said: (Romans 2:5-9). Category: Articles. (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. It refers to the fear that a child has for his father. He has a fear or an anxiety of offending the one he loves, not because he’s afraid of torture or even of punishment, but rather because he’s afraid of displeasing the one who is, in that child’s world, the source of security and love. A hatred for sin; a seriousness about how enormously sinful it is. 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. 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. I don’t mean that as an insult (it’s not) but the Hebrew language has relatively few words. 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. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning." Fear is what keeps us alive and as long as it isn’t immobilizing, it’s not a problem. Rather than causing someone to be afraid of God, a proper “fear of the Lord” leads one to love Him. A lack of godly fear leads to us doing our own will. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge” (Prov. (1 Peter 1:24-25). —Michael Horton. Over and over in the Bible we are exhorted to fear God, to have the fear of the Lord, to live in godly fear. in all its fullness to as many people as possible. 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. To fear to misrepresent Him or His Word in the world. But there is forgiveness with You, that You may be feared.” Psalm 130:3-4. 13:4). To fear God is to know him and to know him is to fear him. 1:7). Human Fear. Shunning the Evil Trends and Not Living Lives of Eating, Drinking and Cavorting. We should “fear” offending God not because of his just punishment but because he is all good and deserving of our love. © bcc.media foundation, To have the proper reverence and awe for Him, so we do whatever is required of us to serve Him. To fear to dishonour Him with our actions. Some people fear loss of income. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.”, Godly fear isn’t the same as fear of a tyrant, or a dictator. 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. 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. In our daily life, … 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). 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. Donate Now. What does it mean to “fear” God? God wasn’t trying to scare the people. Fearing God means to honor God. 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. drifting away from the living God in a kind of hard-heartedness The church has become weakened by humankind’s need to please and fear of criticism. I respect His authority, and I know He’ll correct me when I … To fear to take the weight and importance of what God has called us to, and the ministry He has given us lightly. https://www.rethinknow.org/2020/05/18/what-does-it-mean-to-fear-god (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. (Exodus 20:20, NIV) Fearing God does not mean being terrified of him. The word fear is the expression “fear of the Lord” means awe or profound respect. Your gift enables our worldwide outreach. from R.C. Fix that problem! In the case of the word “fear” it can mean “to be afraid, have a feeling of terror,” etc. What does it mean to have the fear of God? “It is a frightening thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Heb. frightening thing to fall into the hands of the living God” 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. 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. “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. I don’t fear Him, He’s my Father and I’m not afraid of Him. What exactly does that mean ? 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. Fear of God also lies at the heart of successful living in the world. 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). 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. The Bible certainly does not contradict itself. This disregard for God makes us foolish and does not lead to any kind of spiritual growth. But why should we fear God? ActiveChristianity® by Brunstad Christian Church aims to show how God’s word challenges and empowers followers of Jesus to live 100% according to God’s will, so we no longer need to fall in sin, but can come to a life of victory. 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. 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. 10:31). (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." (Romans 7:13), To love Him with all our heart, all our soul, and all our strength, and to keep His commandments. W hat does it mean to fear God or fear the Lord? This will make sure that we act righteously and with love and goodness to our fellow man. The Ligonier Ministries site requires Javascript, but you’ve got Javascript disabled. It does not mean literal fear of God’s power but an awe and respect for the absolute majesty of God. I have Christian friends that say we should “fear the Lord” or “fear God”. In God’s righteousness, even when we have been forgiven for our sins, we still have to reap the results of having committed sin. 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. 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. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Questions in this Episode. But that isn’t what God is like! Luther distinguished between that and what he called filial fear, drawing from the Latin concept from which we get the idea of family. This should cause an inexpressible love and gratitude and reverence to grow and increase in my heart! We’re always to maintain a healthy respect and adoration for Him. Fear can be one of 2 things, a Godly fear or a worldly fear. Fearing God gives knowledge. The mission, passion and purpose of Ligonier Ministries is to proclaim the holiness of God To know that we don’t give account to anyone but God for our actions. I must remind you that the Old Testament was written by Hebrews, to Hebrews, in a Hebrew culture, and in the Hebrew language. But what does it mean by “fear”? 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 God’s will. All rights reserved. (Deuteronomy 6:4-5; Deuteronomy 10:12-13; Matthew 22:36-38). We don’t need to fear His anger, unless we fear punishment due to a bad conscience and impenitent heart because of sin. We need to make some important distinctions about the biblical meaning of “fearing” God. … As sinful people, we have every reason to fear God’s judgment; it is part of our motivation to be reconciled with God. https://activechristianity.org/what-does-it-mean-to-fear-god Fear God as He ought to be feared and do not die except as believers." And as we live in God… And we certainly need this, as sanctification and freedom from sin are a process that we are in. The consequences of sin are enormous. Sproul For those individuals, the future holds judgment (Hebrews 10:31). If we truly fear God, this brings us into a deep personal love relationship with God. The servile fear is a kind of fear that a prisoner in a torture chamber has for his tormentor, the jailer, or the executioner. If we don’t fear God, we will not take sin seriously enough. It’s that kind of dreadful anxiety in which someone is frightened by the clear and present danger that is represented by another person. 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. 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. They fear loss of their job. Some go so far as to say, they are afraid of Him, and that we should be afraid of Him. Yet, 1 John 4:18 clearly tells us that: “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, unless otherwise specified. We usually fear something (such as a vicious dog or a violent storm) when we expect it to harm us. KEY BIBLE VERSE: Moses said to the people, "Do not be afraid. In fact, this is the very reason we fear and love God: “If You, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? 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. 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. But there is also a wonderful definition to this word and that is “to have … In other words, we fear something that has no concern for us, and is a source of constant danger to us. Servile refers to a posture of servitude toward a malevolent owner. | GotQuestions.org The Lord requires it of us. Jan 12, 2018 It is like the relationship between parents and children. What does that mean?” and other questions can be found in our Questions Answered section. 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. 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 Bible we get a few glimpses into heaven, and we see the heavenly creatures worship Him around His throne continually, crying out “Holy, holy, holy!” and covering their faces. 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. These distinctions can be helpful, but they can also be a little dangerous. But to use that as an excuse for sin would show a lack of godly fear; a lack of love for God. How can we believe that God loves us, and at the same time, that we should fear Him? We get very flippant and cavalier with God, as if we had a casual relationship with the Father. Isn’t God love? A little fear is a good thing because that makes us cautious when climbing ladders, using power tools, or driving a car. Set Your Heart to Understand. This … No, certainly not. Whatever you fear, ultimately is your God. Used by permission. There can be many different meanings to one word. 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. To fear God is absolute reverence and awe for an Almighty God, the Creator of all things. “Throughout the Bible we are told to fear God. “And 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?” Deuteronomy 10:12-13. “The fear of the Lord is to hate evil; pride and arrogance and the evil way and the perverse mouth I hate.” Proverbs 8:13. You take God more seriously than anything else, whether that’s … This relationship we have with Him will be carried on into eternity. To trust him and to abhor wickedness amounts to the fear of the Lord. Also, the biblical command do not fear does not negate the need for prudence and caution in this world. Why should believers fear God? Throughout the Bible we find this phrase, "Do not be afraid." That’s often lacking in contemporary evangelical Christianity. “Therefore, 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.” Hebrews 12:28. “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all.” Ecclesiastes 12:13. https://theblazingcenter.com/2017/03/what-does-it-mean-to-fear-god.html 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. You have to understand that ancient Hebrew is a very “word poor” language. What type of fear is it speaking about? It is our hope that you will set your heart to understand, as Daniel did. It is written: “You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve.” Luke 4:8. 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