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I’m going to ask you to take a minute and ponder this question: When you think of the word “fear” what are the first things that come to mind? Where do your thoughts go when you hear this word? Maybe major things like death, pain, or things we don’t want to lose come to mind…or maybe it could be minor things like heights, snakes, spiders, or being alone in the dark. I would venture to guess that for the vast majority of us, the moment we hear the word “fear” we start thinking about things we find unpleasant, things we want to avoid altogether, or, quite simply, things we are afraid of.
But what if I told you that the word Fear does not have to be associated with any of those things? What if I told you the word Fear can actually be our ally or an incredible weapon in our life? In fact, what if I told you that Fear can be such a powerful weapon that if we fear the One we should, He will give us the strength, because of his power, to Fear Not? Stay with me here and let me explain.
You see, fear, in the sense of being afraid, is only something we should have when it’s associated with evil. However, when fear is associated with the Truth, this is when it becomes our greatest weapon. It becomes our greatest weapon against the very evil that can harm us. Only then does fear take us from being afraid to now fearing not! The Truth that I am talking about of course is the God who made us.
God’s Word, The Bible, spells this out for us over and over again.
Let’s start with FEAR. We should absolutely FEAR God. He is all powerful. He is also perfect, righteous, and just. This is our God, and that combination should put us in utter FEAR of Him! We can’t live up to his perfection, we can’t live up to his righteousness, and his justice requires we be held accountable. When you put that together with God being the most powerful being in existence, FEAR becomes an understatement for us, at least it should be. However, when we break down our FEAR of God some very important perspectives need to be realized which ultimately should provide comfort, peace, and strength for us. He gives us this in his Word. Proverbs 9:10 says this, “The FEAR of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” My Hebrew Greek Key Word Study Bible defines the word fear here as meaning moral reverence. I would say this means having a healthy fear of God for who He is and for his power. It goes on to say the word usually refers to the fear of God and is viewed as a positive quality. Fear in this context makes a person receptive to wisdom and knowledge. Let’s look at some other Scripture as well:
Proverbs 3:7 says, “Be not wise in your own eyes; FEAR the Lord, and turn away from evil.”
Proverbs 28:14 says, “Blessed is the one who FEARS the Lord always, but whoever hardens his heart will fall into calamity.” Calamity when used as a noun in this context indicates realities that are inherently evil, wicked, or bad.
Proverbs 14: 26-27 says, “In the FEAR of the Lord one has strong confidence, and his children will have a refuge. The FEAR of the Lord is a fountain of life, that one may turn away from the snares of death.”
The book of Proverbs is such an awesome book in the Bible. It is attributed mostly written or compiled by King Solomon who asked God for wisdom when God asked him what he wanted. God not only granted this to Solomon but so much more. Solomon is the wisest person who has ever lived (I Kings 3:12). If you want to read a book in the Bible that pinpoints the very way we should strive to live our lives, the book of Proverbs is a great place to start.
If we are to wisely FEAR anything, we should have a FEAR of God. We can’t live up to his standards and He has the power to rain his wrath down on us and our sinful ways…that is the sober reality of our existence. However, when we FEAR God for who He is something miraculously happens for us when we submit our lives to Him. You see, God is not an evil God. He is a good, good God. Once I have a personal relationship with the God I FEAR, I now can have comfort in Him so that I can now FEAR NOT. Let’s see how this now plays out:
Isaiah 41:10 says, “FEAR NOT, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”
Psalm 34:4 says this, “I sought the Lord and he answered me and delivered me from all my FEARS.”
Joshua 1:9 says, “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be FRIGHTENED, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
Romans 8:31-32 gives us comfort that when we have a reverenced FEAR of God we can take comfort in Him and his power, as it says, “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?”
There are so many more Scriptures in the Bible that tells us that with God, we are NOT TO FEAR. Again, He is the most powerful being in existence. There is not even a close second. And He is a good God who wants a relationship with you and who loves you! So, if we have a reverenced FEAR of God, we then can FEAR NOT BECAUSE OF HIM! Man, this is such a great place to be!
Now please don’t think this means that we won’t have our struggles in this life. Unfortunately, the sin in our world and in our lives causes life’s heartaches, struggles, consequences, and tragedies. However, the comfort is that God is still the One that can rise us above all of it. If you are a Christian, man, take comfort and peace in this! And if you are not, please consider God. Whatever you are dealing with in your life…having a relationship with God will be the ultimate game changer. And not just in this life, but for your eternity to come. Praise our God!
And now the hard part of why God should be FEARED…because his patience with sin will not last forever. He is not a puppet God to pull the strings when we need Him. Instead, his perfection and righteousness will hold sin, our sin, accountable. Yes, you and I will be held accountable. He built only One bridge that was sufficient to give us a pardon for our sins and to be reconciled with Him and that is in his Son, Jesus Christ. Without Christ, this means God’s wrath will reign down on the wicked. The wicked will be defined quite simply: ANYONE who has not been redeemed by Jesus Christ’s shed blood on the cross. And why is that? Because no one is righteous, no not one of us (Romans 3:10 and 3:23), and therefore we all need a Savior! If you reject Christ, you have no worthy price paid that stamped your sin paid in full. Christ did this when he said, “It is finished” (John 19:30). Without Christ, you and I should be in utter FEAR of the perfect, righteous, and just God who is. And I am not talking about a reverenced FEAR here, but a FEAR that God’s wrath is real and is coming. And we have no excuse as God’s Word explains all of this.
(On a side note, the Bible is the best-selling book of all-time and no matter where you are in your life you have probably had countless times a Bible was within distance of picking it up and reading it. There will be no excuse…and this is a very sobering reality for me as well.)
In Matthew 10: 28-33, Jesus, in talking with his disciples, lays out the contrast of FEAR and NOT FEARING quite clearly. He says, “And do not FEAR those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul. Rather FEAR Him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” The “Him” Jesus is talking about is God of course. If you don’t have God in your life, please be forewarned of this. Jesus goes on, “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. FEAR NOT, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. So everyone who acknowledges me (Jesus) before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me (Jesus) before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.”
John 3:36 warns us, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”
Romans 1:18 says, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.” I encourage you to grab a Bible and read the rest of this, Romans 1:19-32…as it tells us we are without excuse as the evidence of God is everywhere and yet those who worship the created (themselves and their desires) over the Creator (God and his rules) will suffer the eternal death of those consequences.
Let me put it like this: For you and I, this life is like an ocean. We are treading water with the breath in our lungs and the blood our hearts pump out to keep us alive, but there are no boats to save us and the ocean has no land in sight. Our days of staying above water from drowning or getting eaten by a shark (the devil) are numbered. The only way to be saved is to grab the only ONE life raft we are given as it comes by in your life. That life raft is Jesus Christ. If you reject Christ there will then come a time when that life raft is gone. That time is the day you breathe your last breath and your heart stops, yes, your death date. Then you are left with the consequences of all that Scripture has warned us about. If you grabbed a hold of the life raft, you will have eternal life because of Christ. If you let Him go by and stayed in the ocean, eternal death awaits you. I shutter in absolute FEAR without Christ because of where my sin leaves me, but with Him, I FEAR NOT because he conquered my sin for me! His sacrifice for me is sufficient for my salvation. Praise God!
To wrap this up let me just say this. A healthy FEAR of God equips us with being able to FEAR NOT when it comes to anything we encounter in this life because God will carry us through. But if we don’t FEAR God and reject Him in our lives then there is much to FEAR, most importantly God who is perfect, righteous, and just! God’s patience will not last forever and when He unleashes his power and wrath on the wicked due to his righteousness and justice, then the FEAR we should have had all along will become the reality of the consequences of our sin.
In our world we have gotten away from the Hell, Fire, and Brimstone teaching that used to be prevalent in the church. My intuition tells me we have gotten away from the FEAR we all really should have and the strength to FEAR NOT that HE provides us.
If you feel like I rambled on repeating myself about God being perfect, righteous, and just, and being all powerful to crush us in our sin and that without Christ we are doomed, you would be right. It goes beyond saying it once and moving on. Instead, it should be the only thing you get from this blog and quite frankly the only message that matters! If you felt like this was a Hell, Fire, and Brimstone blog, you would be right and I got this blog right! The stakes for you and I cannot be higher…and yes our time is running out.
So before the life raft passes you by in this life, my prayer, is that you will read this over and over again, and let this sink in! And for those of us who think we get to decide what happens next after this life, don’t let our pride fool us into that deception. We don’t even have the power to know if we will wake up tomorrow or even be alive by the time this day is done. There is so much out of our control which is plainly obvious and we know it. So, to think we can make the rules for what happens next…well, saying “good luck with that” is not just an understatement, but downright foolish. (Psalm 14:1)
The greatest part of this life is that I FEAR the God I serve. And because of HIM, I can face this life and FEAR NOT, all while looking forward to my eternity to come…with HIM!
For my life it doesn’t get much better than this: Psalm 27:1 gives me this confidence: “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stonghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?”
If you seek Him, He can be this for your life too!
Have Character!
J. Noah Russell
2 responses to “Fear Or Fear Not?…The Former Brings About The Latter!”
A very eye opening read.
Thank you Margie for taking the time to comment. I truly appreciate it! God bless you and Have Character!
A very eye opening read.
Thank you Margie for taking the time to comment. I truly appreciate it! God bless you and Have Character!