I Will Teach You The Fear Of The Lord

It says many times throughout Scripture that fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. This is in such great contrast to the society we live in today where even in many areas of the Church there is a laissez-faire attitude toward what God's perfect will is for us. I think for most people we mistake God's grace for God's permission.

Paul makes the argument in Romans that as believers we are no longer under The Law. The Law did not come to justify anyone but it came instead to demonstrate that all men fall short of what God's will for us is. The law actually made man's transgressions against God increase,

When Jesus came His death made right for us all of the requirements of The Law. Although man's sins are many and great the grace that God provides through the death and resurrection of Jesus are even greater. Paul then says in Roman's 6:1-2.

What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be!

By our confession that we have sinned against God, and our desire that what Jesus did on the cross for the forgiveness of sins He did for us personally, we join ourselves into the death of Jesus.

Paul then says;

If we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin, for he who has died is free from sin. v 5-7

Well, praise the Lord! Every believer needs to know that they do not need to fear death (wondering if they have done enough to please God) because when we have joined into Christ's death we also have joined into His resurrection. Death no longer has a hold on us. We can rejoice that even when we fall short of God's perfect will for us He is always there like a loving Father, willing to forgive and anxious that we do better.

Yet even so, God is awesome beyond our comprehension and righteous and holy in all things. The Father's desire is that even as we have become like Christ in His death we also become like Him in His life.

Therefore do not let sin reign in your body so you obey its lusts and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness . . . for sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace. v 11-14

I do not have a fear of losing my salvation and I daily rejoice in all that God is doing and has done in my life. Worshiping Him is wonderful and prayer and reading the Bible help show me His will and connect me with Him on a personal level, always challenging me to do better.

There are things though that make me tremble. I do not want to dishonor God in any way. I do not want to take His grace for granted. I try to avoid going outside the safe boundaries He has set for me, such as what I read, watch or listen to, where I go, what I drink, where my mind wanders and what I do.

I recognize that we are in a battle with an enemy who constantly seeks to steal, dishonor, corrupt, kill and destroy all that has been given by God to declare His glory, and it would crush me to think that I have partaken in the enemy's plans.

A major deception of the enemy is to prevent us from knowing what God's will is and what His boundaries are. The Bible is attacked, ignored or distorted and the tugs in man's conscious are overcome by false doctrines teaching that there are no moral constants and that God's main desire is that we find and do the things that make us happy.

I believe there is coming a time when a great fear of the Lord will sweep through the Church and then spread through society. Even believers will put aside all that has been petty and look into their own hearts and cry out for mercy. God's presence will be more manifest and we will approach it in fear and trembling.

Until then let us continue to open up the Word and to take seriously all that the Holy Spirit is showing us.

Psalm 34: 4-11.
.
I sought the Lord and He answered me
and delivered me from all my fears.

They looked to Him and were radiant
and their faces shall never be ashamed.

This poor man cried and the Lord delivered him
and saved him out of all his troubles.

The angel of the Lord (Jesus) encamps around
those who fear Him, and rescues them.

O taste and see that the Lord is good,
how blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!

O fear the Lord you His saints
for to those who fear Him there is no want.

The young lions do lack and suffer hunger
but they who seek the Lord shall not be in want
of any good thing.

Come you children, listen to me.
I will teach you the fear of the Lord.