By Paul Sheldon @ http://www.sfpulpit.comThe Shepherds’ Conference Coordinator at Grace Community Church.
God is a loving God, right? Ask anyone on the street about God and you are more than likely to get a description of God that includes love. Typically this “love” ends up meaning that God doesn’t judge sin or send anyone to hell — it’s an inadequate understanding of love. But the point remains, people understand God to be loving.
So many of God’s attributes like grace, mercy, tenderness, patience, and forgiveness, are indicative of His love. Romans 5:8 says, “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Paul affirms God’s love again in Ephesians 2:4-5 when he writes, “but God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved).” What about 1 John 4:7? “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God.” Even the glorious John 3:16 begins, “For God so loved the world . . . .”
But, have you ever noticed that despite all the descriptions of God’s love, you and I are exhorted throughout the Bible to fear God? Why? If God is love why would I fear Him? Doesn’t 1 John 4:18 say, “perfect love casts out fear?” How can I fear a God who is perfect and whose love is perfect? Perfect love does cast out fear; nevertheless, we must fear God.
You see, there is more than one kind of fear in the Bible. In Scripture we find the kind of fear that is characterized by being afraid. There are people who should fear God in this way. They should be afraid of God. Unrepentant sinners have much to fear, since their sins have not been covered by Christ’s blood. Such individuals do not realize the full implications of Hebrews 10:31. Ironically, the people who need to be afraid of God — because He is a powerful and just God who will condemn unrepentant sinners to an eternity in hell — are the very people who do not fear Him.
The other kind of fear is distinguished by two primary qualities – holy reverence and obedience. Just like someone who walks away unharmed from a car crash which should have taken his or her life, we too need to reflect on God’s love demonstrated to us through the death of His Son with a sober and reverential heart. But reverence without action makes a mockery of God’s love. If we truly fear God with a holy reverence then we will demonstrate that fear by worshiping Him.
Allen Ross puts it this way, “The fear of the Lord expresses reverential submission to the Lord’s will – it characterizes a true worshiper.” If we have a holy reverence toward God then we will worship Him, and that worship is most vividly expressed by obedience.
I am amazed just how many times in Scripture the fear of the Lord and obedience are treated as equal. In Deuteronomy 6:2 the Israelites were to fear God, “by keeping all His statutes and His commandments.” In Joshua 24:14, at Shechem Joshua challenged the people to “fear the Lord and serve Him in all sincerity and truth.” Solomon’s life-long pursuits revealed that we are to “fear God and keep His commandments.”
So fearing the God who is love does not present the believer with a conflict of interest. In fact, we fear God because He is a loving God. But our fear is not a terrified dread; rather it is an attitude of holy reverence which is demonstrated by worship and obedience.
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