This subject, the fear of the Lord, is becoming outdated and unpopular in sermons and as an evangelistic tool. Many Christians have come to focus on love and grace and mercy and peace to the neglect and even the aversion of this teaching. But without a healthy, Biblically-sound and sanctioned fear of the Lord, people esteem lightly the consequences of sin and disobedience.
The Scripture teaches: “By the fear of the Lord men depart from evil…” (Proverbs 16:6). It may surprise some to consider the fact that Jesus the Messiah was not only anointed with a fivefold anointing of “wisdom, might, counsel, understanding, knowledge,” but also with “the fear of the Lord” (Isaiah 11:2). If the holy, sinless Son of God was imbued with the fear of the Lord, I dare say we cannot afford to be without our own healthy dose.
We are saddled with the sinful nature of our father Adam, and as long as we are in this world, we will face temptations and opportunities to sin. Yet we know that in the beginning Adam was created perfect and righteous (Ecc. 7:29), with a body that did not have the motions of sin in it, and furthermore, he was in a perfect setting of Edenic peace, goodness, and harmony, and that he enjoyed daily face-to-Face fellowship with God, and still he chose to sin against Him. Yet, we in a fallen world, fighting daily against the lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life (2 John 2:17), and the motions and impulses of a sinful nature, can overcome and resist temptation and Satan’s subleties, when he did not in a perfect world. WHY?
Ultimately because we have been born again of the incorruptible seed of God’s Word (John 3:6, 1Peter 1:18), are partaking of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust (2 Peter 1:4), and are being conformed into the image of Christ (Romans 8:29, 2 Cor. 3:18) through the authority of His name and His blood (John 1:12, Hebrews 9:14).
But we also have something that did not exist in Eden: the fear of the Lord.
Adam had no knowledge of or sense of fear of any kind, good or bad. The Scripture states: “A wise man feareth, and departeth from evil…” (Proverbs 14:16). Made in God’s image, Adam had superior knowledge. He named all the animals, sharing in the creative process with God. But he did not possess the all-wise fear of God that could have prevented him from falling for the snare of evil and its awful consequences. This is why it is imperative that we do not water down, sugar coat, or otherwise downplay the role of the fear of the Lord to persuade men from evil. In fact, Paul said this very thing in 2 Cor. 5:11: “Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men…” And who can ignore Jude’s impassioned exhortation to “…earnestly contend for the faith that was once delivered unto the saints…. and of some have compassion, making a difference. And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment spotted by the flesh” (Jude 3, 22-23).
The Wiseman declared God’s reaction to those who do not choose the fear of the Lord which is “the beginning of knowledge” (Pro. 1:7): “I will mock when your fear comes; When your fear comes as desolation, and your destruction comes as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish comes upon you…. For they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord” (Pro. 1:26-27 &29).
The divine principle is: If you don’t choose the fear of the Lord, you will receive the fear of evil, destruction, distress and anguish.“But whoever hearkens unto Me shall dwell safely and be quiet from fear of evil” (vs.33). The fear of the Lord is a great deterrent to backsliding and disobedience.
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