Question: "What does it mean to have the fear of God?"
Answer: For the unbeliever, the fear of God is the fear of the judgment of God and eternal death, which is eternal separation from God (Luke 12:5; Hebrews 10:31). For the believer, the fear of God is something much different. The believer's fear is reverence of God. Hebrews 12:28-29 is a good description of this: “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our ’God is a consuming fire.’” This reverence and awe is exactly what the fear of God means for Christians. This is the motivating factor for us to surrender to the Creator of the Universe.
Proverbs 1:7 declares, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge.” Until we understand who God is and develop a reverential fear of Him, we cannot have true wisdom. True wisdom comes only from understanding who God is and that He is holy, just, and righteous. Deuteronomy 10:12, 20-21 records, “And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Fear the LORD your God and serve him. Hold fast to him and take your oaths in his name. He is your praise; he is your God, who performed for you those great and awesome wonders you saw with your own eyes.” The fear of God is the basis for our walking in His ways, serving Him, and, yes, loving Him.
Some redefine the fear of God for believers to “respecting” Him. While respect is definitely included in the concept of fearing God, there is more to it than that. A biblical fear of God, for the believer, includes understanding how much God hates sin and fearing His judgment on sin—even in the life of a believer. Hebrews 12:5-11 describes God’s discipline of the believer. While it is done in love (Hebrews 12:6), it is still a fearful thing. As children, the fear of discipline from our parents no doubt prevented some evil actions. The same should be true in our relationship with God. We should fear His discipline, and therefore seek to live our lives in such a way that pleases Him.
Believers are not to be scared of God. We have no reason to be scared of Him. We have His promise that nothing can separate us from His love (Romans 8:38-39). We have His promise that He will never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). Fearing God means having such a reverence for Him that it has a great impact on the way we live our lives. The fear of God is respecting Him, obeying Him, submitting to His discipline, and worshipping Him in awe.
- http://www.gotquestions.org/fear-God.html
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Luke 12:3 - What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs.
I dont think this was on the song writer's mind when he/she wrote the song, but it certainly puts a new twist to its meaning. Its futile to declare Jesus as Lord only in outward appearance, but the inner being is full of darkness and deceit.
Hebrews: 12:28-29 - Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.
Heres another song so often sung but yet perhaps the understanding of it may not quite be there. What does it mean when we say our God is a Consuming Fire? It doesnt have anything to do with passion, which may be the interpretation given that thats what the song is about. Consuming Fire speaks of the God's wrath, judgement, holiness and power. It commands the Fear of God, it commands Awe. It is from there that a desire to live in Christlikeness stems, that passion for His name the song speaks of. Know what you mean when you ask for the Spirit of God to come, when you ask for the Glory of the Lord to fall.
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Matthew 7:21-27
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”
Most of these I gleaned today as I read chapter 7 of Driven By Eternity. It speaks of the Fear of God as the solid foundation in which we build our lives upon (Matthew 7:24-27). The Fear of God keeps us continually aware of His judgement, something we must never overlook or we may end up partaking in lawlessness, thinking that all we need is His grace, when on the actual day of judgement we find Him saying 'I never knew you; depart from me". Do note that this verse isnt speaking of unbelievers receiving judgement, it is speaking of believers - people who call Jesus as Lord.
It is not enough to call Jesus a Savior and love Him, one must fear Him as the supreme Lord. As Bevere puts it, 'The fear of God keeps us from coming up short by falling away. The love of God, on the other hand, keeps us from legalism, which also destroys intimacy with God'.
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Bevere also uses this passage to highlight something interesting about evangelical circles today:
Mark 10:17-22
And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’” And he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.” And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
This is not a story of a haughty rich man asking Jesus what he thought would be needed to attain eternal life. This is the story of a broken man, who recognised he lacked eternal life, who ran up and knelt before Jesus. This is also a man whom Jesus loved, and thus he spoke honestly of the one thing that was holding back the man from eternal life - his worldly treasures.
Jesus did not present a half gospel, he told the man plainly what was needed, and the man after counting the cost, went away sorrowful. Evangelism nowadays tends to only tell half of the story, speaking of the blessings and salvation but not about denying ourselves and picking up the cross.
Bevere says this: 'The manner in which Jesus addressed this seeker is quite contrary to what normal evangelical christianity has become in the twenty-first century. Are we better than Him? Have we come up with greater tactics of winning people than the Master Himself? Has our revelation progressed beyond His? I speak foolishly to make an important point. Could it be we've omitted a major aspect of the gospel and therefore have slipped into an unbalanced gospel? We've taken the Cross out of salvation and only offered its benefits'.
We cannot just teach people about the love of God without speaking of the wrath of God, we cannot just speak of loving Him without fearing Him. In doing so, we are only deceiving others, for the gospel never ever stated 'he who says the sinner's prayer will be saved', but only 'the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven'.
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