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The fear of GOD

Classik

Member
What do people mean when they say, the fear of GOD? Is that fear/fright/terror they have in mind...like a frightened child before the master...or like a frightened student about to write calculus test? What exactly then?
 
Question: "What does it mean to have the fear of God?"

Answer:
For the unbeliever, the fear of God is the fear of the judgment of God and eternal death, which is eternal separation from God (Luke 12:5; Hebrews 10:31). For the believer, the fear of God is something much different. The believer's fear is reverence of God. Hebrews 12:28-29 is a good description of this: “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our ’God is a consuming fire.’” This reverence and awe is exactly what the fear of God means for Christians. This is the motivating factor for us to surrender to the Creator of the Universe.

Proverbs 1:7 declares, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge.” Until we understand who God is and develop a reverential fear of Him, we cannot have true wisdom. True wisdom comes only from understanding who God is and that He is holy, just, and righteous. Deuteronomy 10:12, 20-21 records, “And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Fear the LORD your God and serve him. Hold fast to him and take your oaths in his name. He is your praise; he is your God, who performed for you those great and awesome wonders you saw with your own eyes.” The fear of God is the basis for our walking in His ways, serving Him, and, yes, loving Him.

Some redefine the fear of God for believers to “respecting” Him. While respect is definitely included in the concept of fearing God, there is more to it than that. A biblical fear of God, for the believer, includes understanding how much God hates sin and fearing His judgment on sin—even in the life of a believer. Hebrews 12:5-11 describes God’s discipline of the believer. While it is done in love (Hebrews 12:6), it is still a fearful thing. As children, the fear of discipline from our parents no doubt prevented some evil actions. The same should be true in our relationship with God. We should fear His discipline, and therefore seek to live our lives in such a way that pleases Him.

Believers are not to be scared of God. We have no reason to be scared of Him. We have His promise that nothing can separate us from His love (Romans 8:38-39). We have His promise that He will never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). Fearing God means having such a reverence for Him that it has a great impact on the way we live our lives. The fear of God is respecting Him, obeying Him, submitting to His discipline, and worshipping Him in awe.


Read more: http://www.gotquestions.org/fear-God.html#ixzz2qEkJQsib
 
What do people mean when they say, the fear of GOD? Is that fear/fright/terror they have in mind...like a frightened child before the master...or like a frightened student about to write calculus test? What exactly then?

The fear of the child, in front of the parent.

I think.

With love.
 
Proverbs 1
7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,
But fools despise wisdom and instruction.

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

Proverbs 4
7 Wisdom is the principal thing;
Therefore get wisdom.
And in all your getting, get understanding.


I believe the fear of the Lord is understanding the attributes of God and what He expects of us and our desire to walk in those expectations.
 
Hello Classic, really glad you started this thread on the fear of God I was going to do it a while ago but simply forgot. I did some study on the fear of God several months ago, so I'll put it here and perhaps it will help.

If you were to ask me what is the most serious lack in the lives of professing Christians today, I would say, without a doubt fear of God! Ecclesiastes 12:13 says "fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man".

I find that the fear of the Lord is, perhaps the most serious aspect of our relationship that is misunderstood. The Old Testament use of the word fear is Hebrew word yare which means reverence. The New Testament fear is Greek word phobeo, which means terrify. There appears to be a signification change in the two words. Old Testament reverence, New Testament terror. My feelings on this is, since the cross of Jesus the Christ, God holds Christians much more accountable for disgracing the sacrifice of his son through sin. The main problem is: we think, if we sin, asking forgiveness for that sin, that's it! Well that's not it! There are consequences to that sin that will come. Sometimes soon but most times later. Sometimes we don't understand why our prayers are hindered or trials come into our lives. We'll guess what! We don't get away with sinning by disobeying the Commandments of our Savior Jesus Christ. He is serious about his commands, we are not! Psalm 119:120 says "my flesh trembles for fear of you, and I'm afraid of your judgments". Fear of offending God and grieving the Holy Spirit should be up most on our minds. (All of my Scripture references are from the English Standard Version.)

A W. Tozer said this. "The fear of God is astonished reverence. I believe that the reverential fear of God mixed with love and fascination and astonishment and admiration and devotion is the most enjoyable state and the most satisfying emotion the human soul can know".
 
Nice answers indeed. Not trying to break the trend or be a stick in the mud, but sometimes the phrase is used and has purpose in an entirely different manner. 1st Samuel 11 v6-7 comes to mind.

And in slides chopper as i post that reply :p

Im going to get that verse typed in properly no matter how many edits it takes!
 
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Nice answers indeed. Not trying to break the trend or be a stick in the mud, but sometimes the phrase is used and has purpose in an entirely different manner. 1st Samuel 6-7 comes to mind.

And in slides chopper as i post that reply :tongue

Hey there old buddy, good to hear from you. :waveI figured the rapture happened and I was lift behind. :lol Oh boy you are right, certain religions have used fear to hold folk in their cults. Bad, BAD!
 
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