What does the Bible mean by the fear of God? If God loves us and has saved us freely by his grace, should we still be scared of him?
First, I want to mention a great resource on this topic. It’s a book by my friend Dr. Michael Horton called Recovering Our Sanity. It’s all about the fear of God. He digs into our cultural moment when so many of us are afraid of each other. We’re afraid of our political and theological opponents and just about everything else. Dr. Horton describes what the fear of God is. He says that a lot of times we water it down. We say it just means respecting God. But it’s not just respect. Fear means fear. Think of trembling. Think of terror. We’re talking about the Lord, the uncreated God, the one who made all things. As sinners, we melt in the fire of his presence.
So, we shouldn’t water down the meaning of the fear of God. When Peter recognized Jesus on the boat, he said, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord” (Luke 5:8). When the prophet Isaiah saw the throne room of God, he was overwhelmed by God’s glory. He said, “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips” (Isa. 6:5).
We fear God when we recognize who he is and what it means to be in his presence as a sinner. Even as Christians who have trusted in the good news of the gospel, we should feel this fear. For us, it’s not the fear of condemnation. Instead, it’s rooted in the love that we have for God and our fear of disappointing him, the Holy One, by sinning against him.
Scripture says a lot about the fear of God. Proverbs says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge” (Prov. 1:7). We’re called to fear God.
Yet so often, we fear everything but God. We fear being persecuted. We fear other people. We fear the loss of comfort. We have to ask ourselves, do we really fear God more than anything else?
This article is part of our Frequently Asked Questions series. Listen to Pastor Adriel answer this question on Core Radio here.
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10 Ways God Reveals Himself as our Father, 9 Things Everyone Should Know About Worship, 5 Themes To Help You Understand the Bible
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How Can God Be Loving and Wrathful?, Can I Lose My Salvation?, Have I Committed the Unpardonable Sin?, How Do Christians Relate to the Law?
