When we expect God to balance the stress of the world, we reduce him to the world's equal …. When we assume that the world is the ultimate threat, we give it unwarranted power, for in truth, the world's threats are temporary. How different this is from the biblical position that God is far scarier than the world …. Eisenhower puts it this way in his article 'Fearing God" in Christianity Today: Unfortunately, many of us presume that the world is the ultimate threat and that God's function is to offset it. So how does fear of God, who is perfect love, take away fear? William D. In fact, Romans 3, a classic chapter on sin, says that our chief sin is that we "have no fear of God at all" ( Romans 3:18). If they fear God, they are more likely to keep their word and treat others with kindness. That's why hearing someone is God-fearing actually makes us trust that person more. So it's clear from these passages, that fearing God is good because it saves us from caving into our own sinful nature. And Paul says to work toward complete holiness because we fear God ( 2 Corinthians 7:1). Fear only God, who can destroy both soul and body in hell" ( Matthew 10:28). And lest you think this is only an Old Testament idea, note that Jesus states this stronger than anyone when he says, "Don't be afraid of those who want to kill your body they cannot touch your soul. The Mosaic Law cites fear of God as a reason to treat the disabled and elderly well ( Leviticus 19:14, 32). Moses chose leaders to help him on the basis that they feared God and wouldn't take bribes ( Exodus 18:21) and told the Hebrews that God met with them in a terrifying display of his power so that they wouldn't sin ( Exodus 20:20). Pharaoh brought disaster on his nation because he did not fear God ( Exodus 9:29-31). It was because the midwives feared God that they obeyed him instead of the authorities by sparing the Hebrew babies ( Exodus 1:17). For example in Genesis 42:18, Joseph wins his brothers' trust when he declares he is a God-fearing man. Scripture is full of examples of how fearing God is a positive rather than a negative thing. The subject becomes even more mysterious when we read something like 1 John 4:18 that says that "perfect love expels all fear." So how do we marry this dichotomy? How can we fear God while he expels all fear? But the Bible uses the word fear at least 300 times in reference to God, so we make a mistake when we downplay it. I often hear people explain the fear of the Lord as a mere respect or reverence.
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