Showing posts with label Fear Of God. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fear Of God. Show all posts

Monday, February 22, 2010

Throughout the Bible we are told to fear God. What does that mean?

http://www.ligonier.org/learn/qas/throughout-bible-we-are-told-fear-god-what-does-me/

We need to make some important distinctions about the biblical meaning of “fearing” God. These distinctions can be helpful, but they can also be a little dangerous. When Luther struggled with that, he made this distinction, which has since become somewhat famous: He distinguished between what he called a servile fear and a filial fear. The servile fear is a kind of fear that a prisoner in a torture chamber has for his tormentor, the jailer, or the executioner. It’s that kind of dreadful anxiety in which someone is frightened by the clear and present danger that is represented by another person. Or it’s the kind of fear that a slave would have at the hands of a malicious master who would come with the whip and torment the slave. Servile refers to a posture of servitude toward a malevolent owner. Luther distinguished between that and what he called filial fear, drawing from the Latin concept from which we get the idea of family. It refers to the fear that a child has for his father. In this regard, Luther is thinking of a child who has tremendous respect and love for his father or mother and who dearly wants to please them. He has a fear or an anxiety of offending the one he loves, not because he’s afraid of torture or even of punishment, but rather because he’s afraid of displeasing the one who is, in that child’s world, the source of security and love. I think this distinction is helpful because the basic meaning of fearing the Lord that we read about in Deuteronomy is also in the Wisdom Literature, where we’re told that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” The focus here is on a sense of awe and respect for the majesty of God. That’s often lacking in contemporary evangelical Christianity. We get very flippant and cavalier with God, as if we had a casual relationship with the Father. We are invited to call him Abba, Father, and to have the personal intimacy promised to us, but still we’re not to be flippant with God. We’re always to maintain a healthy respect and adoration for him. One last point: If we really have a healthy adoration for God, we still should have an element of the knowledge that God can be frightening. “It is a frightening thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Heb. 10:31). As sinful people, we have every reason to fear God’s judgment; it is part of our motivation to be reconciled with God.

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Should the Redeemed Christians practice the Fear of God?

Genesis 2:15-17

15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."

Some have proposed that holy living is not required of saved christians. Fear of God is no longer required as just goes to show how one is not saved as his/hers' guilt is not cleansed. What rubbish! Read carefully in Genesis 2:15-17 in an era before the fall. In a 'perfect' relationship with God, the fear of God is put in place in the relationship. It is to safeguard the very relationship that God intended for Adam and Eve. Notice the negative connotation in v 17 "but you must not eat", it goes to show that God does intend for the fear of God (a wrathful one, not just the respectable one) to exist in a healthy and safe state situation. The redeemed are saved just so as to sin as one wishes (that would be an outright abuse of God's grace- something a church like New Creation likes to preach about), but we are saved so as to be free from sin and to be empowered not to sin. A healthy dose of the fear of God would certainly help. It humbles us as we lean on God for our sanctification. We do not end up in 'high places'(or in places where we presume to be in place of God) as we seek to 'work out our salvation with fear and trembling"

Isaiah 26:8

Isaiah 26:8

8 In the path of your judgments,
O LORD, we wait for you;
your name and remembrance
are the desire of our soul.(ESV)

8 Lord, we show our trust in you by obeying your laws;
our heart’s desire is to glorify your name. (NLT)

8 Yes, LORD, walking in the way of your laws (Or judgments),
we wait for you;
your name and renown
are the desire of our hearts. (NIV)

Ryan: We show our faith(see wait) by deliberately choosing to walk in the right path that God tell us to walk. Obedience is an expression of true faith. There will be troubles in this world; question: will i choose to trust and obey God, or to choose my own fleshly desire that will lead to destruction? Trusting God despite a disadvantaged outcome? Trusting God despite not able to see the whole picture?

Sunday, January 31, 2010

Devotion to God

The Practice of Godliness by Jerry Bridges pg29
Not only will a right concept of the fear of God cause us to worship God aright, it will also regulate our conduct. John Murray says: WHat or whom we worship determines our behavior" Albert Martin has said that the essential ingredients of the fear of God are
(1) correct concepts of the character of God
(2) a pervasive sense of the presence of God
(3) a constant awareness of our obligation to God

If we have some comprehension of Gods infinite holiness and his hatred of sin, coupled with this pervasive sense of God's presence in all of our actions,yes, even our thoughts, then such a fear of God must influence and regulate our conduct. Just as obedience to the Lord is an indication of our love for him, so is it also a proof of our fear of God. "You shall fear the Lord your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands..." (Deu 6:2)

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1 John 2:3-6: And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. 4 Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, 5 but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: 6 whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.

Ex 15: 11 “Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods?
Who is like you, majestic in holiness,
awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?

ESV SB: Attribute of God: Holiness: God is absolutely and uniquely excellent above all creation (majesty) and without sin (purity). “And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, ‘Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!’” (Rev. 4:8; for “majestic holiness,” cf. Ex. 15:11; 1 Chron. 16:27–29; Isa. 57:15; for “moral holiness,” cf. Isa. 5:16; 6:1–8; Acts 3:14; Heb. 7:26). Implication: God should be feared and obeyed, and his people should earnestly pursue moral purity.