Why Should We Fear God?
by Pastor Ricky Kurth
“Why should we fear God (2 Cor. 7:1
Our
apostle Paul says we should be “perfecting holiness in the fear of
God.” Christians needn’t fear that God will take away our salvation if
we don’t perfect holiness in our lives, for we are saved and eternally
secure (Rom. 8:35-39). But Paul says to “work out your own salvation
with fear and trembling” (Phil. 2:12) because we must never forget the
majesty of the God who gave us our salvation.
Consider
that when God appeared on Mt. Sinai, “all the people that was in the
camp trembled” (Ex. 19:16). God was not angry with His people here, so
it was not His wrath that induced their terror. It was the thunder and
lightning and the “exceeding loud” voice of God, the manifestations of
His majesty, that struck such fear in their hearts. God is not angry
with us either, but we should be just as mindful of His awesomeness,
from what we know of Him in His Word, even though we cannot see or hear
the physical manifestations of His majesty.
We
might compare how every time an angel appears to men in the Bible, the
first words out of his mouth are usually “fear not” (Matt. 28:4,5; Luke
1:12,13; 2:9,10, etc.) That’s because angels are so awesome in
appearance that men naturally cower before them. Well, if they cower
before angels, and angels are mere creations of Almighty God, how much
more would we fear the Creator Himself were we to be able to see Him.
BBS
founder Pastor C. R. Stam used to compare our fear of God to an
invitation you might receive to dine with the president. While you would
delight to go, you would no doubt go with fear and trembling. Not fear
of what he might do to you, but out of respect for his office, and fear
that you might disappoint him with your conduct and perhaps, in the
extreme, even disgrace your family name. Likewise, we are not afraid of
what God might do to us if we work out our own salvation poorly, but we
fear disappointing Him, or disgracing His name by our conduct (cf. Neh.
5:9).
Finally,
you might also compare how a husband who has a godly wife fears to hurt
her—not because he is afraid she’ll leave him, for she has vowed she
never will. But rather because he is afraid to presume on her grace by
grieving her. Similarly, God would never leave us, but we don’t want to
presume on His grace by grieving the very Spirit that seals us (Eph.
4:30).
Les
Felfick - Paul, Our Apostle (Click Here)
Les Feldick Ministries
30706 W. Lona Valley Rd.
Kinta, OK 74552
Posted By Cecil and Connie Spivey
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