In the previous post I asked us to consider
ten passages that speak of fear, including the fear of the LORD. How do
these passages relate to each other? How does “the fear of the LORD is the
beginning of wisdom” relate to “the one who fears is not perfected in love”? Is
this a contradiction?
What about Paul writing “Therefore, knowing
the fear of the Lord, we persuade men, but we are made manifest to God,” in 2
Corinthians; but then in Romans he writes, “For you have not received a spirit
of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as
sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!”? Do these two passages contradict
each other?
I have been in many small groups that, when
the subject of fearing the LORD comes up, no one wants to really talk about it.
I have often heard, “God is my Father and I am not going to fear Him.” Or “God
is not going to judge me since I am a Christian and I’m not going to fear Him.”
Or “I used to have a bad image of God because I had a bad relationship with my
earthly father, but now I see God as love and I’m not going to fear him.”
When we adopt any of the foregoing attitudes
toward passages such as, “the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom,” are
we submitting to the Bible or are we forcing the Bible to submit to us and our
thinking and our feelings? What do we do when we have passages that seemingly
contradict each other?
As we think about this, let me say that I
have also known Christians who seem to know little of the God of love, of the
fact that God has indeed sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, whereby we
cry out “Abba! Father!” So you see, in the same room we can have folks who
cannot conceive of intimacy with God the Father, who live in insecurity and a
fear which is certainly not of the Bible; and yet we can also have folks who
believe in a nebulous love without form, definition, or purpose and don’t think
that the Father will hold them accountable for their lives.
The answer to the foregoing is not some
kind of compromise, it is not both sides meeting in a theological middle,
that is one of man’s ways of resolving an issue, but we should not be seeking
to resolve an “issue,” we should be seeking to know the Living God and to live
with one another in the Holy Spirit. And this, my dear friends, means that we
seek to know God’s Word, as we submit to the Holy Spirit, live under the
lordship of Jesus Christ, and seek the Face of our Father – acknowledging that
we are pilgrims, that this world is not our home and that its ways are not our
Way.
This means that we live lives being
transformed by the Word of God and the Holy Spirit and that, by God’s grace, we
are always learning, always seeking new vistas of the Kingdom, always growing
in Jesus Christ and with one another. And it means that we learn the
discipline of submitting to the Bible rather than foolishly attempting to have
the Bible submit to us and our ways and our images and our thinking.
There are some things, perhaps many things
(probably all things?), in the Bible and in our relationship with the Trinity
that we will never fully understand while on this earth, but this is not to say
that we cannot have some measure of understanding, and it is not to say that we
cannot have full assurance of them – for the closer we get to the Heaven
of heavens the more our words fail us, but the greater our assurance is, the
clearer our vision becomes, the more grace and glory fill our hearts, and the
more loving service we can give to our neighbor…all in Jesus Christ. A
professing Christian, a pastor, a teacher, a congregation, not living life with
a good measure of mystery is probably not living much of a life – for how can
we possibly be in a relationship with the Trinity and not be humbled by mystery?
And so I think we live in holy tension as we
meditate on the verses I’ve asked us to ponder, for they all ought to
have a place in our hearts, for they all are the Word of God, speaking
to us of our Father and Lord Jesus and as we submit to them the Holy Spirit will
transform us into the image of Jesus Christ. If I can’t relate to a Biblical
teaching, such as fear of the LORD, rather than say, “I don’t fear God and I’m
not gong to fear God because I was in a fearful relationship with my earthly
father,” might it be better to say, “Dear Father in heaven, help me to
understand these passages, at least in some measure, about the fear of the LORD, about fearing You,
and help me to obey them, because right now I don’t understand them”?
If I can’t relate to passages about intimacy
with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; rather than dismiss them because I can’t
relate to them, might not it be better to say, “O Lord Jesus, help me to accept
Your Word, to live in Your Word, I don’t understand these images of intimacy
with You, I certainly don’t experience them, but I want to, help me to trust
You in this, draw me to Yourself, help me to know You deeply”?
Can we be clear that we are most certainly
accountable to God for our lives, for the way we live them?
“For we must all appear before the judgment
seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body,
according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Therefore, knowing the fear
of the Lord, we persuade men, but we are made manifest to God; and I hope that
we are made manifest also in your consciences.” 2 Corinthians 5:10 – 11. (See
also 1 Corinthians 3:10 – 17). Note that Paul writes to Christians in the
Corinthian letters.
Consider also Revelation chapters 2 and 3,
where we see the Risen Christ speaking to the Seven Churches, within the entire
letter of Revelation in which He speaks to all the Church; those churches in
chapters two and three that do not repent will be judged, even in this life.
Also consider that discipline and correction
and reproof are foundational elements of our life in Christ and of our
relationship with our Father. We see this throughout the Bible, including:
“and you have forgotten the exhortation which
is addressed to you as sons, ‘My son, do not regard lightly the
discipline of the LORD, nor faint when you are reproved by Him; for those whom the
LORD loves He disciplines, and He scourges every son whom He receives. It
is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what
son is there whom his father does not discipline? But if you are without
discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate
children and not sons…but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share
His holiness.” (from Hebrews 12:6 – 10).
“Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline;
therefore be zealous and repent.” (Revelation 3:19).
Insecure people cannot receive discipline or corrective
instruction because they perceive it as rejection – we see this in many areas
of life, including the Christian life. Also, Christians who have the idea that God
is not holding them accountable for their lives seldom receive His discipline
and instruction because they are not looking for it, are not sensitive to it,
and in fact reject the notion that God would do such a thing when they insist
they are not going to fear God. What a shame to live as infants – when God has
given us our lives to know Him and grow in Him and be a blessing to those
around us as mature sons and daughters in Jesus Christ.
Let me assure you that there is a thing more
to be feared than the discipline of our Lord, and that is when He is not discipling
us.
And so we are to live as those who will appear
before the Judgment Seat of Christ, and as those who cry out “Abba! Father!” in
an intimate relationship with our heavenly Father, and as those who live in the
fear of the LORD, which is the beginning of wisdom. Just as God is One, so is
God’s Word One. May we allow this tension to lead us deeper and deeper into the
Trinity.
“So then, my beloved, just as you have always
obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in by absence, work out
your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you,
both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:12 – 13).
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