Reverential Fear of God

Matthew 10:28 “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”

The God-breathed Holy Scriptures of the Bible admonish (instruct or direct) us to, as in Ecclesiastes 12:13 Solomon says, “The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person.” In the Matthew verse above, Jesus tells us to fear God who has the power to cast people into hell. In John 3:15-18, Jesus explains that our Father Creator, out of His pure love, mercy and grace provided a way in the atoning death of the Christ/Messiah from the penalty/payment of sin’s eternal damnation sentence for all who believe and subsequently follow the Lord. But, most will refuse and choose not to believe, nor follow the Lord because they love their sin and darkness to death. We truly fear Him who is able to (and is going to) destroy both their soul and body in hell. John 3:36 concludes with John the Baptist proclaiming: “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” And the Apostle John confirms this in 1 John 5:11-13: “And this is the testimony: God gave eternal life to us, and this life is in his Son. The one who has the Son has life. The one who doesn’t have God’s Son does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of God’s Son so that you can know that you have eternal life.”

Proverbs 1:7 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.”

It used to perplex me as a new Christian that I was to be afraid of the God that loved and saved me; unlit it was explained to me that for the Believer of the gospel “Good News” of Jesus Christ, “the fear of the Lord” does not mean a slavish dread of God of the unbeliever. I’ve read that in our salvation transformation/ John 1:12-13 conversion/ graphing adoption, rather, it is a reverential awe of God that should be a natural part of every true believer’s faith in the living God. We believe in the Great, in the Almighty, in the August (acclaimed, admirable, awesome, celebrated, dignified, distinguished, eminent, esteemed, exalted, grandeur, hallowed, honored, illustrious, imposing, impressive, inspiring, vitally important, lofty, majestic, noble, prestigious, renowned, respected, stately, venerable reverence) in the all-seeing, all-knowing, and all-powerful God of the universe, the cosmos and the kingdom of Heaven. Does that give you goose-bumps to ponder the infinite Creator and Lord of all?!

Proverbs 9:10 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.”

I’d heard that, in a real sense, God inspires all true believers with a certain reverential awe – as awe not unlike the awe a child fells for their father on this earth. Because of our reverence for “our Father who art in heaven”, His righteousness and His Holiness, we fear to do evil, disappoint or grieve Him in thought, word or deed. That is why the fear of God is good, and to be a God-fearing person is a healthy virtue.

Psalm 111:10 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;
A good understanding have all those who do His commandments.
His praise endures forever.”

In Christ, Brian