Removing the Scare from Fear (60 seconds)

We have talked a number of times about "the fear of God" and how for the believer it no longer contains the fear of being punished for our sins...because of the cross - judgement, condemnation and punishment are gone for us.

Over vacation I was reading Living the Resurrection by Eugene Peterson and he has some interesting thoughts on the fear of God for the believer. Let me quote some for you.

"...in the Hebrew culture and the Hebrew Scriptures in which the word fear is frequently used in a way that means far more than simply being scared...It includes all the emotions that accompany being scared- disorientation, not knowing what is going to happen, the realization that there is far more here than we had any idea of. But that 'more and other' is God."

"Fear of the Lord is the stock biblical term for this either sudden or cultivated awareness...We are not the center of our existence. We are not the sum total of what matters. We don't know what is going to happen next."

"Fear-of-the-Lord keeps us on our toes with our eyes open...prevents us from acting presumptuously..."

"Fear-of-the-Lord is fear with the scary element deleted."

I like that - it reminds me of Brennan Manning's NT definition of the fear of God as "silent wonder, radical amazement, affectionate awe - at the infinite goodness of God."

If Fear is Replaced, What About Philippians 2:12-13? (50 seconds)

One of our blog followers asked a great question...and a common question. If our fear of God that is rooted in His punishment of us is eliminated (because He will no longer punish us) and replaced with boldness and confidence - what does Paul mean in Philippians 2:12 when he says "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling?"

First, the "work out" is an admonition to live out what God has already done in us. He has given us a new heart, a new nature, so live that out. Among commentators there seems to be no disagreement here.

I believe that the "fear and trembling" is not a fear of God, but a fear of ourselves...we still have our flesh and as Paul says in Romans 8:7 and 8, it is hostile to God, it cannot submit to God and it cannot please God. Kenneth Wuest in his Word Studies from the Greek New Testament expresses it this way, "This fear is a self distrust...it is vigilance against temptation...it is taking heed lest we fall...it is the caution which timidly shrinks from whatever would offend and dishonor God and the Saviour." As Wuest does, I connect this verse to Paul's advice in I Cor 10:12 "...let anyone who thinks that he stand take heed lest he fall."

So What Replaces Fear? (45 seconds)

We have talked about how as believers God will never again punish us for our sins. NEVER! If God does, then Jesus did not absorb all our punishment. We then looked at how if punishment is eliminated in our relationship with God, then fear is gone in our relationship with God. I John 4:18 is foundational here - "...perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment..." We are loved with a perfect love and so fear is gone in our relationship with God.

So now we need to ask - does fear just disappear or does something replace it? Thankfully something replaces it...something that is the polar opposite of fear. Ephesians 2:18 tells us that through the work of Christ we now have access to the Father. But then Ephesians 3:11 amplifies on this and says "we have boldness and access with confidence..." No more hesitation, hedging, intimidation, cautiousness or fear in approaching God. That is all gone...forever! Now we come boldly into God's presence with confidence! I am wonderfully at home with my Father!