Fearing God

[Raptor]

This is a post from a Kathy Buskett, on Quora responding to this question:

Why do scriptures say to "fear" the Lord? Why would we fear a loving and merciful God and Father?

Paul explains that we fear our earthly fathers by giving them the respect they are due and that BECAUSE they are loving, they correct us. Similarly our Heavenly Father is to be respected. He is always working everything out for the highest good and unlike us He always knows what that is. And, Paul continues in his analogy, if God doesn’t correct us, it’s because we’re illegitimate sons and not actually sons of faith.

now I know he’s talking about correction in this passage however it’s also true about respecting and fearing God.

proverbs says that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. The opposite is also true - if you have no fear of God you have no wisdom - and no real relationship with God. And if God isn’t correcting you and instead you’re excusing yourself and your sin, then you’d better fear and examine yourself to see if you’re really in the faith.

hell is serious business. Salvation is serious business. It’s not something to be trifled with. Yet in America I see professing Christians often trivializing the consequences of sin, dabbling in sin they should never be dabbling in, yet still professing to be Christian. this is dragging the name of God through the mud snd explains a lot of the politics that have gone on in America the last four or five years.

why do professing Christians not only sin, but endorse a poster child for vice? Why? I’ve asked myself. Thank you for this question because it helped me come to the answer. It’s ultimately Because they have no real fear of God.

But Why? I’ve also studied to figure this out - how have we gotten here? I believe it’s Because for the last fifty or more years they’ve taken out hell from the gospel. They say a loving God wouldn’t send people to hell. They’re afraid it will offend and turn people off. So they just take it out! Which the Bible itself forbids.

Unfortunately now as a result we have a plethora of people who claim to be Christians worshipping a false God they have made up in their heads. A God who winks at sin, who is all love all the time and who Never ever corrects. This false god allows them to continue in their sin. And it all stems from a lack of the fear of God.

If they genuinely feared God this wouldn’t be happening. God made the universe. He holds it in his hand. Jesus says God continues to work and in him we live and move and have our being. Everything that has breath he controls and not a sparrow drops to the ground without his knowing it. He is all mighty all knowing and all holy. He is mighty and wise beyond our comprehension. We SHOULD fear and resoect someone so powerful, righteous and holy.

And yet so loving that he cares for each member of his creation individually.

we take his sacrifice of his own sons lifeboood in vain when we refuse him or when we continue to walk in sin but pretend to know him.

and that is the ultimate lack of the fear of God.
that I believe is the main sin in our age. If we had a true fear of God (and we don’t) none of the other sins so prevalent today would exist. People do the horrible things they do because they don’t really believe in God (even most Christians I talk to don’t actually believe) and therefore they have no fear of god or of hell. Outsiders think it’s a fairy tale. Insiders have never seen the true power of God (though it’s available if they would walk in the spirit and the holiness that Jesus requires) and therefore they have no real respect for God. If you ever really experience Him, you’ll be changed forever like I was and never take him for granted again.

Jesus himself commanded that we fear the One who has the power to cast both body and soul into hell.

JESUS says that. Is that shocking to you? Is any of this disgusting to you? Then you don’t know and don’t really believe the Bible. Most of what I’ve said here was pulled from various Bible verses. It’s all biblical. But people don’t know Jesus, don’t know the one true God, and love their sin instead of loving God. They’d rather continue in it than repent.

repentance is the essence of the gospel. But those who have no fear of God have even tried to redefine what that means. It means to TURN from your sin in faith to God. And In fear of him, which will produce humility.

which is very very lacking today. mid even venture to say you can know who fears God and who doesn’t by the fruit of humility. And by the lack thereof.