DOES GOD WANT CHRISTIANS TO FEAR HIM?

[JLB]

Why would God want Christians to fear and tremble at the thought of Him? God is a God of love, he proved that in giving His Son as a sacrifice for sin.

The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life,
To turn one away from the snares of death.
Proverbs 14:27

• The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life

Did you know the fear or the Lord is a Spirit?

Part of the fullness of Christ and the seven fold Spirit of the Lord.

Did you know His delight is the fear of the Lord.

2 The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him,
The Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
The Spirit of counsel and might,
The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.
3 His delight is in the fear of the Lord,
And He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes,
Nor decide by the hearing of His ears;
4 But with righteousness He shall judge the poor,
And decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth,
And with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked. Isaiah 11:2-4


Did you know, Jesus said to fear the One who can destroy the body and soul in hell?


Paul said it this way-


9 Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. 11 Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are well known to God, and I also trust are well known in your consciences.
2 Corinthians 5:9-11

• Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men;

JLB

 

[dirtfarmer]

The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life,
To turn one away from the snares of death.
Proverbs 14:27

• The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life

Did you know the fear or the Lord is a Spirit?

Part of the fullness of Christ and the seven fold Spirit of the Lord.

Did you know His delight is the fear of the Lord.

2 The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him,
The Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
The Spirit of counsel and might,
The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.
3 His delight is in the fear of the Lord,
And He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes,
Nor decide by the hearing of His ears;
4 But with righteousness He shall judge the poor,
And decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth,
And with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked. Isaiah 11:2-4


Did you know, Jesus said to fear the One who can destroy the body and soul in hell?


Paul said it this way-


9 Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. 11 Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are well known to God, and I also trust are well known in your consciences.
2 Corinthians 5:9-11

• Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men;

JLB

hello JLB, dirtfarmer here

"Knowing the terror of the Lord, we persuade men;" why not quote the rest of the verse: " but we are made manifest unto God." What does this clause mean? The rest of that verse states," and are also made manifest in your conscience."
Do we persuade men of the terror because they are not saved? The answer to that question would have to be a resounding YES.

 

[WIP]

hello WIP, dirtfarmer here

You are correct in your statement," we are so far from righteous" but we are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.

As I understand justification it is the act of God declaring the believer as if they had never sinned. Therefore we are not looked upon by God as filthy rags but covered by Christ's blood. We are told that the life is in the blood, if this is true and I believe that it is, then when God looks at the believer he doesn't see sin at all but the blood covering sacrifice of Christ, in other words, he sees the life of our sinless, fulfilling all the law savior that has died in our stead.

It is my belief that as heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ that we are considered saints of God and no longer sinners. In this I am not saying that we aren't overtaken by faults while alive in this earthly body, but those faults are covered by the blood sacrifice of Christ.

But it is still what will be the cause for me to fear Him for if I were to see His glory today, knowing my own sinful flesh, I would be compelled onto my knees. It is my own personal belief that we like to lower God to our level and that helps us feel better.

 

[JLB]

hello JLB, dirtfarmer here

"Knowing the terror of the Lord, we persuade men;" why not quote the rest of the verse: " but we are made manifest unto God." What does this clause mean? The rest of that verse states," and are also made manifest in your conscience."
Do we persuade men of the terror because they are not saved? The answer to that question would have to be a resounding YES.

Paul, being saved, says he knows the terror of the Lord.

He was accainted and experienced with the terror of the Lord.

That’s pretty simple.

We both love and have a healthy respect for the Lord.


JLB

 

[JLB]

But it is still what will be the cause for me to fear Him for if I were to see His glory today, knowing my own sinful flesh, I would be compelled onto my knees. It is my own personal belief that we like to lower God to our level and that helps us feel better.

John said it this way -

And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. Revelation 1:17



JLB

 

[chessman]

It is my own personal belief that we like to lower God to our level and that helps us feel better.

It is my belief that God likes to raise us to Christ’s level and that makes Him triumphantly and completely glorified.

And in Him you are complete, Who is the head of all rule and authority, in Whom you also were circumcised with a circumcision not-done-by- human -hands, in the taking-off of the body of the flesh in the circumcision of Christ— having been buried-with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised-with Him through faith in the working of God, the One having raised Him from the dead. Indeed, you being dead in the trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh— He made you alive-together with Him, having forgiven us all the trespasses, having wiped-out the written-document against us with its decrees, which was opposed to us. Indeed, He has taken it out of the middle, having nailed it to the cross! Having stripped the rulers and the authorities, He exposed them in public, having celebrated-a-triumph-over them in Him!​

Colossians 2:10-15 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=Colossians 2:10-15&version=DLNT

 

[Honey]

I have never known a person or Protestant Church that reacts the way you have described as being terrorized by by God. This is your sad quote in answer to my friend TLSITD's wonderfully truthful Biblical thread on the fear of God.



There was nothing in TLSITD's thread that even hinted at what you have almost accused him of. I stand in defense of my friend TLSITD's statements. If you want to yell at someone, yell at me, I can take it and come back with Truth and not error.

You've got a lot of fire for someone who misunderstands my post that wasn't even directed at you.
Take your anger elsewhere.

 

[Honey]

John said it this way -

And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. Revelation 1:17



JLB

The doctrine you teach here is that we should be terrified of your god that does not save eternally unless you struggle and strive to please him moment to moment and only when you're dead shall you find out if you won the eternal salvation lottery at his discretion. And you thumbs up the idea that terror = love.


OK. Have fun with that.

Meanwhile, being the New Testament Christians follow interlinks with the Old Testament, the Torah (sourced here in this discussion) knows what it is talking about when it speaks of reverence for our beloved Adonai.

 

[Papa Zoom]

Paul, being saved, says he knows the terror of the Lord.

He was accainted and experienced with the terror of the Lord.

That’s pretty simple.

We both love and have a healthy respect for the Lord.


JLB

This seems to me to be exactly what posted earlier.

As a believer, my fear of the Lord is a reverent awe. A deep appreciation of who He is. His power, His glory, His Holiness. His Majesty. It's a recognition of the greatness of God and the smallness of me. It's a deep respect not a feeling of being afraid for we can boldly approach the throne of Grace.

Do I fear God? Yes. But not in the sense that I'm afraid of him. But I do hold a deep reverence of His mighty power and Majesty! We're I to be in His presence I would tremble before him. Not out of fear of punishment, but out of a reverent fear of the totality of who He is!

We're I not a child of God, a believer in Jesus, I'd have cause to be afraid.
Still, I recognize than one ought to have a healthy view of the Power and Majesty of God. He is Holy Other!

Still, I recognize the terror of the Lord. Deuteronomy 28 showed me that. It amazed me that even with that warning, Israel went astray!

I do not take lightly who God is. I revere Him and come to Him humbly. I bow my head and often am on my knees before Him. I love that I am lowly but HE lifts me up! I am His child. He's Abba Father. That's an endearing term.

 

[Papa Zoom]

But it is still what will be the cause for me to fear Him for if I were to see His glory today, knowing my own sinful flesh, I would be compelled onto my knees. It is my own personal belief that we like to lower God to our level and that helps us feel better.

Hmmm, I don't know that we like to lower God. But I do recognize that God condescended to our level in the Person of Jesus. And He showed us the Father. Also, in the Prodigal son story, which I like to refer to as the Prodigal God story, the Father longed for the wayward son to return. He waited for him and looked for his return. When the son returned, the Father rejoiced. This is the God we serve. We as believers. Non believers have plenty to fear and the terror of the Lord for them will be more than they know. But for believers no. We will have the fatted calf killed and a robe and ring put on. That's the picture for those that believe and come to the Father (through Christ) with repentance seeking salvation. We have no cause to fear as do those who have rejected Christ.

 

[JLB]

This seems to me to be exactly what posted earlier.






Still, I recognize the terror of the Lord. Deuteronomy 28 showed me that. It amazed me that even with that warning, Israel went astray!

I do not take lightly who God is. I revere Him and come to Him humbly. I bow my head and often am on my knees before Him. I love that I am lowly but HE lifts me up! I am His child. He's Abba Father. That's an endearing term.

 

[JLB]

The doctrine you teach here is that we should be terrified of your god that does not save eternally unless you struggle and strive to please him moment to moment and only when you're dead shall you find out if you won the eternal salvation lottery at his discretion. And you thumbs up the idea that terror = love.


OK. Have fun with that.

Meanwhile, being the New Testament Christians follow interlinks with the Old Testament, the Torah (sourced here in this discussion) knows what it is talking about when it speaks of reverence for our beloved Adonai.

I’m sorry for whatever I did to make you so angry with me.



JLB

 

[WIP]

Hmmm, I don't know that we like to lower God. But I do recognize that God condescended to our level in the Person of Jesus. And He showed us the Father. Also, in the Prodigal son story, which I like to refer to as the Prodigal God story, the Father longed for the wayward son to return. He waited for him and looked for his return. When the son returned, the Father rejoiced. This is the God we serve. We as believers. Non believers have plenty to fear and the terror of the Lord for them will be more than they know. But for believers no. We will have the fatted calf killed and a robe and ring put on. That's the picture for those that believe and come to the Father (through Christ) with repentance seeking salvation. We have no cause to fear as do those who have rejected Christ.

The way we water down the gospel and describe who "our god" is I'm not so sure.

 

[Papa Zoom]

The way we water down the gospel and describe who "our god" is I'm not so sure.

Many churches do. I'm speaking mostly of true believers and the true nature of God as savior.

 

[Chopper]

You've got a lot of fire for someone who misunderstands my post that wasn't even directed at you.
Take your anger elsewhere.

I didn't misunderstand your quote. Anything on this Forum that is not true, I will respond to. By the way, I don't respond in anger. I defend any Brother or Sister under attack, like you did to my friend.

 

[Honey]

I didn't misunderstand your quote. Anything on this Forum that is not true, I will respond to. By the way, I don't respond in anger. I defend any Brother or Sister under attack, like you did to my friend.

You don't understand and yet you imply I made an attack. It's a sorrowful front line that proceeds admittedly not knowing why or in what direction it pursues its quest.
Bullies aren't righteous. They're just bullies.

 

[Chopper]

You don't understand and yet you imply I made an attack. It's a sorrowful front line that proceeds admittedly not knowing why or in what direction it pursues its quest.
Bullies aren't righteous. They're just bullies.

You don't understand and yet you imply I made an attack. It's a sorrowful front line that proceeds admittedly not knowing why or in what direction it pursues its quest.
Bullies aren't righteous. They're just bullies.

I'm all thru responding to your posts. I don't like your attitude. By, By!!

 

[Papa Zoom]

~sigh~ I hope that's the last of that. ;) Love ya! ~Papa

 

[Rajesh Sahu]

I’m sorry for whatever I did to make you so angry with me.



JLB

I strongly believe that what JLB shares is sound and accurate doctrine. Infact many churches should conscientiously examine what they are teaching. Obedience has been incorrectly taken out of salvation doctrine . Although from Adam to Christ , the question was always about obedience. Anyway that's just my opinion that Christ's righteousness is imputed to obedient believers only , who believe in Him as the Savior and the Lord

 

[dirtfarmer]

I strongly believe that what JLB shares is sound and accurate doctrine. Infact many churches should conscientiously examine what they are teaching. Obedience has been incorrectly taken out of salvation doctrine . Although from Adam to Christ , the question was always about obedience. Anyway that's just my opinion that Christ's righteousness is imputed to obedient believers only , who believe in Him as the Savior and the Lord

hello Rajesh Sahu, dirtfarmer here

Is salvation given because we obey or because we believed. We are told in scripture that from Adam to Moses there was no law but that death reigned even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression. What was Adam's sin? was it not, not obeying God's command? So, if disobedience was not imputed to those, then what caused death to reign over them? We can't say that salvation comes by obedience but we can say that because of salvation, obedience comes.

Romans 14:23 makes this statement : "for whatsoever is not of faith is sin." I will agree that obedience follows faith, but scripture never stated that salvation follows obedience. I know that some are going to quote James: "faith without words is dead", but it is important to understand what is mean "you see" before that statement.
God looks on the heart not on works to see salvation. It is man that must look on works in order to see the heart, even then man is sometimes deceived.