I receive at least a few questions daily from readers of my blog and my Facebook posts. The latest one I received came from an atheist who could not understand why Christians talk about fearing God. After all, the concept of fearing God seems dreadful. I took the time to reply with an important distinction:
I will try to give a brief reply, and then as time allows can follow-up in the future.
The Bible talks about this concept of fear over 350 times, which means it is a really crucial part of God’s revelation. Often in the English language, when the word fear is used, it speaks of fright or danger. If I fear something, I am undoubtedly afraid of that thing or that person. But the Bible is a lot more complex than that.
The best direction to make this explanation clear is to think of it in two ways:
The first is servile fear. Imagine being enslaved in a torture chamber, and you are continually living as if your tormentor is coming back to torture you; you are living in daily anxiety for what is going to happen to you next. This is not the fear the Bible speaks of when it says that we are to fear God and keep his commandments.
The second is filial fear. The word fear has to do with reverence or showing respect. The word filial has to do with sonship. It’s where we get the concept of family. Imagine you live in a home with a very loving set of parents. When you know you are loved, your deepest desire is to please those who love you so dearly; your actions will always weigh towards honoring them with all your heart, soul, and strength. The fear of a child towards a loving parent is not the fear of someone living in prison, but the fear of someone who would hate to disappoint those who love them. In short, to fear is to revere and show great respect.
So, for a Christian to fear God is to know you are loved beyond anything you could ever imagine; that you are more worthy than any precious jewel and that no matter what others may think of you, God loves you infinitely more than you could ask or think. We fear God because we would hate to disappoint a God who gave his only Son to save us. We only truly fear
I trust this is helpful.
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