Fear God?

[Van]

If we have peace with God, why fear Him?

Because we love God with all our hearts, we do not want to offend Him in any way. That is our fear.

We do not want to walk in a way that is unworthy of Him.

Value all people, love our siblings in Christ, fear God, honor obedient Leaders such as your father and mother.

 

[Ben1445]

Micah 6:8
He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good;
and what doth the LORD require of thee,
but to do justly, and to love mercy,
and to walk humbly with thy God?


It is difficult to walk humbly without a proper fear of God.

As I consider how little respect so many children of any age have for their parents these days, it is not difficult to see why people don’t understand the fear of the Lord.

Job 28:28
And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom;
and to depart from evil is understanding.

Psalms 34:11
Come, ye children, hearken unto me:
I will teach you the fear of the LORD.

Psalms 111:10
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom:
a good understanding have all they that do his commandments:
his praise endureth for ever.

Proverbs 1:7
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge:
but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Proverbs 1:29
For that they hated knowledge,
and did not choose the fear of the LORD:

Proverbs 2:5
Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD,
and find the knowledge of God.

Proverbs 8:13
The fear of the LORD is to hate evil:
pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way,
and the froward mouth, do I hate.

Proverbs 9:10
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom:
and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.

This is only a sampling of how important the fear of the Lord is in Scripture.

 

[Van]

Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him. 2 Corinthians 5:9

We have as our ambition, whether physically alive in this life, or at home with God in heaven, to be pleasing to Him. This ambition is driven by our love of God and desire not to offend Him.

 

[Ben1445]

Psalms 36:1

The transgression of the wicked saith within my heart, that there is no fear of God before his eyes.

No fear of God is an attitude associated with the wicked.

 

[Ascetic X]

Fear of God is, in my understanding, an intense reverence, not a state of being frightened, which would negate the truth that God is love.

To say we should fear losing the friendship or love of God also seems an attitude based on an improper understanding of God’s relationship to us. We should be concerned that we maintain fellowship with God, by confessing and combatting sins in our souls, but our disposition toward God must be based on joy and gratitude.

To fear something is to attract it unto you. You focus and dwell on it mentally, as a reverse prayer.

Job 3:25

For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me.

Turning away from, or against, God must be despised and avoided, but not because God is eager to punish such actions. Rather we cling to and serve God due to how wonderful He is, but knowing how wretched and miserable it is to walk in darkness.

1 John 4:18

There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.

 

[Van]

Fear is a state of being frightened or fearful of some adverse action. If we "fear God" does that suggest we are afraid of God? Nope. We fear we may not adequately reflect His love for us. Our desire is to walk in a worthy faction and fear we may not. Thus our fear drives us closer to our God, not away from God.

2 Corinthians 7:1 NASB
Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let's cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

 

[Ascetic X]

Fear is a state of being frightened or fearful of some adverse action. If we "fear God" does that suggest we are afraid of God? Nope. We fear we may not adequately reflect His love for us. Our desire is to walk in a worthy faction and fear we may not. Thus our fear drives us closer to our God, not away from God.

2 Corinthians 7:1 NASB
Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let's cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

Yes, it is a matter of semantics. We are on the same wavelength.

Since “fear hath torment”, I prefer to say we are extremely concerned about, and devoted to, pleasing and not offending God. We must keep perfecting holiness in the intense reverence and supremely respectful awe of God.

 

[Deacon]

The fear of God is part of knowing who God is;
One of the first things we learn about God in Scripture is his power over all things.
He is sovereign, possessing supreme, ultimate power;
That type of power demands a reverent attention, fear.

When you're around something powerful, something dangerous, you act differently.
In my profession I worked around powerful nuclear isotopes.
There were rules we followed to insure our safety.
Should we stray from those guidelines we risked exposing ourselves to the dangers of their power.
So it is with God.
The fear of God is tempered by walking in his guidelines; his ways of wisdom and law.

Rob

 

[Martin Marprelate]

The fear of the Lord is not only an O.T. thing. It is described in positive terms in the N.T. also:
Acts 9:31. 'Then the churches throughout all Judea, Galilee and Samaria had peace and were edified. And waliking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, they were multiplied.'

 

[Van]

The fear of the Lord is not only an O.T. thing. It is described in positive terms in the N.T. also:
Acts 9:31. 'Then the churches throughout all Judea, Galilee and Samaria had peace and were edified. And waliking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, they were multiplied.'

Yes walking in the fear of the Lord does capture the idea of doing our best not to offend Him because of our love for Him.

 

[Van]

The fear of God is part of knowing who God is;
One of the first things we learn about God in Scripture is his power over all things.
He is sovereign, possessing supreme, ultimate power;
That type of power demands a reverent attention, fear.

When you're around something powerful, something dangerous, you act differently.
In my profession I worked around powerful nuclear isotopes.
There were rules we followed to insure our safety.
Should we stray from those guidelines we risked exposing ourselves to the dangers of their power.
So it is with God.
The fear of God is tempered by walking in his guidelines; his ways of wisdom and law.

Rob

Your take on walking in the fear of God seems to parallel walking in the fear of harsh outcome. My view seems on the opposite end of the spectrum, walking in fear we might cause less than the best outcome for God and His loved ones.