Have you ever loved anyone so much that you couldn’t imagine disappointing them or betraying their trust? Perhaps it’s your spouse, or when you were growing up, it might have been a parent. Maybe it was another beloved relative, or your best friend. Would it be accurate to say you minded your proverbial P’s and Q’s because you feared letting them down?
Growing up, I wanted my parents to be proud of me. I didn’t want to do anything that would hurt them. I also had an uncle that I had great admiration for, and the last thing I wanted to do was disappoint him by making poor decisions. So, I cultivated a healthy fear not only of the direct consequences of wrongdoing, but also the pain it might cause those I loved.
I think this is what the Bible is referring to when it speaks about “the fear of God.”
And weren’t Ananias and Sapphira brought to life-ending judgment after their lies about property they had sold and the partial proceeds they gave to the early Church? After all, it does say, “Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events” (Acts 5:1-11)?
Our omnipotent and sovereign Creator has every right to do anything He wants. The Bible makes no attempt to hide examples of His stern judgment. But “fear of God,” as the Scriptures express, generally refers to the sense of great reverence and awe we should have in our relationship with the Lord. In the New Testament, and through the life of Jesus Christ, we see many manifestations of His unconditional love; His wonderful mercy – not receiving what we deserve; and His grace – receiving what we do not deserve.
Reverential awe is an appropriate response when we read passages like, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8), and “he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5).
Before I became a follower of Jesus and began to grow in my understanding of who God is, who I am in His sight, and what He expects of me, I probably had moments when I fully expected to be struck by a bolt of lightning if I did things I knew He wouldn’t approve of. But then I started to grasp the meaning of the words from the old hymn, “Grace, grace, God’s grace, grace that will pardon and cleanse within; grace, grace, God’s grace, grace that is greater than all our sin.”
This puzzlement about what it truly means to fear God is hardly a new development. Eighteenth-century Scottish pastor and theologian John Brown found this necessary to address for his congregations and readers of his comprehensive commentaries. In one of his writings, Brown stated it this way: “To fear God is to love Him so that His frown is your greatest dread, and His smile is your greatest delight.”
In 1 John 4:19 we’re told, “We love because He first loved us.” In the preceding verse it says, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.” So, if we’re children of God, we need not fear vindictive punishment; on the other hand, our love for the Lord should agree with the idea that His frown would be our greatest dread – but His smile is our greatest delight and desire.
As the apostle Paul expressed in a similar way, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline” (2 Timothy 1:7). If we can even begin to comprehend and appreciate the unmerited, inexhaustible love of God, how can we not feel compelled to respond in kind?
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