18 Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off 19 and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” 20 Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.” 21 The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.
(Exodus 20:18-21 ESV)
Often in Scripture we see many paradoxes: for example, Jesus taught the first shall be last, and the last shall be first; Paul taught that God’s strength is made complete in weakness (epitomized in the death of Jesus)—these are just a few noticeable examples in Scripture. However, there is an example of a paradox that is not so noticeable. In Exodus 20:20 the paradox reads: Do not fear [God]…that the fear of him may be before you.” The paradox is that the children of Israel are to fear God so that they may not fear God! This seems to be a contradiction; in fact that’s the definition of a paradox: that is, a paradox is something that seems contradictory on the surface but in fact is not. On the surface this looks like a contradiction. How can fearing God cause us not to fear God? The reason for this is that there are two different notions of fearing God in Scripture. On the one hand, fearing God is a sin. On the other hand, fearing God is not a sin. In short, there is a fear of God that is a sinful fear, and there is a fear of God that is a holy fear. The former is a vice; the latter is a virtue.
As I shared last time, over the next few months we will take a look at the biblical teaching on the “fear of the Lord.” A correct notion of the holy fear of the Lord is not only missing in our culture, but unfortunately also missing in the modern church. What is not missing in the culture at large, and much of the church in particular, is a sinful fear of God. Michael Reeves has written extensively on the notion of the holy fear of God. I will share that with you the next time. But for now, let me share with you the sinful notion of the fear of God, a notion which is prominent in our increasingly godless culture that no longer fears God in a holy way. What is the sinful notion of fearing God? Well, some things we should fear. We live in a hostile and fearful world. Since the fall, the world has become a fearful place. The fear of death; the fear of disease; the fear of pain; the fear of enemies; the fear of war, etc.—these fears are the result of God’s curse on sinful man, the result of Adam’s rebellion against God. In fact, Mark 4:33 tells us that Jesus was “greatly distressed and troubled” over his impending death on the cross. Even Jesus struggled with such fear (temptation) but did not succumb to fear (sin) because Jesus was sinless and could not possibly sin. This sort of natural fear per se is morally neutral.
However, in contrast to natural fear, there is a fear that is sinful. This is a fear that flows from sin, a fear whose fountain and foundation is sin. James tells us that demons have this kind of fear of God; demons shudder to think of God (James 2:19). In Genesis 3:10 Adam was the first human to experience this sinful fear of God. This fear drove Adam to run from God not toward God. That’s the moral trajectory and orientation of sinful fear; it drives us away from God. The reason why all unbelievers hate God is because all unbelievers sinfully fear God. And, conversely, the reason why all believers love God is because all believers have a holy fear of God. This is what John means in 1 John 4:18: “there is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love” Usually there are two ways people run from God. They either run from God by inventing alternative (made up) realities, realities that replace God, or they run from God via legalism by seeking to appease God out of slavish and servile fear, fearing God as though He was a tyrannical dictator or cruel slave master! The former, i.e., sinful fear, invents the fiction of no God (i.e., atheism) or some other god(s) (i.e., idolatry and false religions). Why is this? In the case of atheism, God being out of sight, and out of mind is a psychological respite, a delusional break from reality, the reality of an all Holy and all Watchful and all Vigilant God. In the case of legalism, one seeks to appease God and earn salvation, while all along secretly despising God just as a slave despises his master while giving lip service.
This is the sort of sinful fear that drives our society and culture. And sadly this sort of sinful fear can drive the church. In Exodus 20, the people of Israel (the church of God in the old covenant) were driven by this sinful fear. If this was true of the old covenant church, then this can be true of us, the new covenant church. We are not immune from the sin of fearing God! Satan is always tempting and attempting to have us look to God (not as a loving Father), but as an exacting tyrant much as he did with Eve! This is why legalism has been a constant enemy of the church. What’s the remedy? It’s the balm of grace, the salve of salvation in the form of a holy fear of God.
Next time I’ll discuss this holy notion of the fear of God in conversation with Michael Reeves. But I’d like to conclude by saying that Satan is a liar. God is not a cruel slave master, a tyrant to appease. God the Father sent His Son to appease His holy and just wrath; Jesus Christ took your place on the cross. Christ willingly and lovingly did this. The Father lovingly sent His Son. Beloved, let us serve our God not out of a sinful fear, but out of a holy fear!
In Christ
Pastor Carl
Reverend G Carl Moore 