The Contradiction?
At first glance the Bible seems contradictory when it commands us regarding fear. It says:
Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom. (Luke 12:32)
but it also says:
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction. (Proverbs 1:7)
Which is it? Are we to be afraid or not? Are we to fear God or fear nothing?
Like other places in the Bible where there seems to be a contradiction, when the Bible is taken as a whole, there is no contradiction. The issue is more what we fear rather than whether we are afraid or not.
We’ll go through a bunch of verses and see what the Bible says so we can work out what the Bible really says about fear.
Fear God
Let’s start with the verse we already read:
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction. (Proverbs 1:7)
If we want to grow in wisdom and knowledge, the Bible tells us we must fear God. What does this mean.
I’ll start with a line out of the The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis. Lewis uses his character, a lion named Aslan, as a Christ-type. The Pevensy children are just learning about Aslan and this conversation occurs:
“Aslan is a lion- the Lion, the great Lion." "Ooh" said Susan. "I'd thought he was a man. Is he-quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion"..."Safe?" said Mr Beaver ..."Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you.”
This was C.S. Lewis’s way of telling kids about Jesus and a proper fear of Him. The God of the Bible isn’t safe, but He is good. We should fear Him because of His holiness, His omniscience, and omnipotence, but we also can trust Him because of His goodness and mercy. We can trust Him because He knows all things and controls all things and nothing is out of His control.
Too often today, people treat God as either their buddy or their magic, wish-granting genie. Both are totally wrong.
Yes, God is loving, but bringing Him down to our level is not treating Him with the awe He deserves. We serves such an awesome God that we can’t fathom how good and powerful He is. He always should be honored, respected, and feared even knowing how much He loves us.
As young kids, we knew our parents loved us, but we also feared them when we did wrong. We feared punishment. We feared their disappointment. We feared what they were able to do to us. We loved our parents, but they were not our buddies. God is so much more than our earthly parents. He is so much more holy. He is so much more knowledgeable. He is so much more powerful. He needs to be treated with orders of magnitude more respect and fear than our parents were.
God also isn’t a magic, wish-granting genie that has to give us whatever we wish for. Yes, God gives believers many good things they ask for, but He only gives us those things that fulfill His will. He only gives us those things that are for our good and that enable us for the ministry He has for us.
You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures. (James 4:3)
We need to fear the God of the Bible because “… He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power.” (Hebrews 1:3a) We owe Him our very existence and shouldn’t try to use Him for our convenience. We should fear what He could do to us if we don’t show Him the respect and honor He deserves.
There are many verses that tell us we must “fear God” or speak well of “fear of the Lord.” When Peter is commanding believers what they should do, “fear God” is among the commands.
Honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king. (1 Peter 2:17)
Solomon, immediately after becoming king, was asked by God what he would like to receive from God. Solomon asked for wisdom. He started his kingship with great wisdom that was sought after not only by the people of Israel, but by world leaders. Unfortunately, his wealth and power led him astray and he went seeking fulfillment in things other than God. At the end of his life, he wrote Ecclesiastes, where he lamented the vanity of everything he had tried and ended with this wisdom:
The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil. (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14)
The wisest man of all time (not counting Jesus) came to the conclusion that the key to wisdom and happiness was to “fear God and keep His commandments.” Solomon also says:
Although a sinner does evil a hundred times and may lengthen his life, still I know that it will be well for those who fear God, who fear Him openly. But it will not be well for the evil man and he will not lengthen his days like a shadow, because he does not fear God. (Ecclesiastes 8:12-13)
I love how he says this, “it will be well for those who fear God, who fear Him openly." Do you fear God? Do you openly fear God? Solomon also effectively says that a man is evil because he does not fear God. It is our fear of God that keeps us on the straight path.
We are called to fear God here, today, but everyone will fear God eventually. Revelation says:
and he (an angel) said with a loud voice, “Fear God, and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come; worship Him who made the heaven and the earth and sea and springs of waters.” (Revelation 14:7) {Clarification mine}
When we fear Him today, we are blessed. If we wait till His judgement, we will know the ultimate fear as we face the wrath of the holy, creator God that we rejected. I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy.
O taste and see that the Lord is good;<br> How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!<br> O fear the Lord, you His saints;<br> For to those who fear Him there is no want. (Psalms 34:8=9)
Fear God now, so you don’t have to fear God at the judgement.
Fear Not
Although the Bible repeatedly tells us to “fear God” or that “fear of the Lord” is a beneficial thing, it also tells us as often to “fear not” or “do not be afraid.” Now we will look at some of what the Bible says about not being afraid.
“Fear not, for you will not be put to shame;And do not feel humiliated, for you will not be disgraced;But you will forget the shame of your youth,And the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more. (Isaiah 54:4)
Much of our fear relates to shame and humiliation. We all want to be thought well of by our friends, family, God, and even total strangers. Strangely fear of humiliation may even be greater than our fear of worse things like sickness and death. Fear of shame and humiliation is also more harmful. It frequently leads us astray.
Fear of embarrassment almost always leads us into sin, so God tells us to “Fear not, for you will not be put to shame.” This promise doesn’t mean we will never be embarrassed or nobody will ever think poorly about us. It does mean that faith in Jesus and faithfulness in following Him will lead us to the right words and actions. It means we will act correctly and we will not need to be ashamed of ourselves. It means we will be right with God, and being right with God is better than all the praise in the world.
For I am the Lord your God, who upholds your right hand,Who says to you, ‘Do not fear, I will help you.’ (Isaiah 41:13)
Another reason to not fear is that, if we have trusted Jesus as Savior, we have God’s help and protection in all that we do. “*What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?*” (Romans 8:31) If we are on God’s side, then we are on the winning side and there is no reason to fear anything, including persecution and death. God will always be with us. “The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.” (Philippians 4:9)
Many times we fear that our physical needs will not be met, but Matthew says:
“For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? … But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. (Matthew 6:25,30-33)
God provides for all of our needs. He knows our needs more than we know them ourselves. He knows the best way to provide for our needs, whether physical, spiritual, emotional, or social. He will provide all that we need, but rarely simply what we want. He looks at eternity and knows what is good for our long-term good and provides for eternity. Our eternal good only rarely aligns with our momentary comfort. Still, if we trust God and seek His guidance, we will find joy in His providence, His chastisement, and His will.
If you have trusted Jesus as Savior, you also have the Comforter (Holy Spirit) who will provide for you, empower you, and guide you. He is with you and always listening to the cry of your heart.
You have heard my voice,“Do not hide Your ear from my prayer for relief,From my cry for help.”You drew near when I called on You;You said, “Do not fear!” (Lamentations 3:56-57)
If you have Jesus as your Lord and Savior, there is nothing you need to fear.
There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. (1 John 4:18)
If you haven’t trusted Jesus as your creator God and Savior, you have everything to fear.
“I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that have no more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear the One who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into hell; yes, I tell you, fear Him! (Luke 12:4-5)
Being a born-again, child of God is all that matters. With God we don’t need to fear anything else.
The Right Fear
In conclusion, if you don’t fear God, you must fear everything else. You will fear financial failure, being unpopular, relationship failure, illness, accidents, attacks, etc. Everything is a danger to you and there is nothing you can count on. On the other hand, if you fear God, then you don’t need to fear anything else. God takes care of His own. He has a plan that will be fulfilled even if the whole world fights against it.
We aren’t promised an easy time, but we are promised His eternal good for us. He does promise us that good wins in the end. He does promise us an eternity with Him in heaven with no more sin, suffering, or sadness.
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? (Romans 8:31-32)
Trust Jesus.
your sister in Christ,
Christy
Bible verses are NASB (New American Standard Bible) 1995 edition unless otherwise stated
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