This is the third post of a series of posts under “Living in Extremes.”
Once in a Bible study I used to attend, a sweet woman innocently asked, “You know, the Bible says to fear the Lord, but I never hear much about that. I hear I am supposed to love the Lord, but what does it mean to fear the Lord? Do we still have to do that?” At first, other women wanted to come to the defense of the pastor, trying to rationalize why he only tells people to love God. There was no need for defensiveness. She simply stated a fact (with gentleness) and curiously asked a question. Do you resonate with this woman? If so, I hope this helps!
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge” ~Proverbs 1:7a
“I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him!” ~ Luke 12:4-5
“And he said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” ~ Matthew 22:37 (Jesus quoting Deuteronomy 6:4; Deut. says “with all your might”)
“. . . as you have always obeyed . . . work out your salvation with fear and trembling” ~ Philippians 2:12
“There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.” ~ I John 4:18a
Here is what I hope these verses show: both concepts, fear of God/ love of God, are found in the Old Testament and New Testament, including from the mouth of Jesus Himself. Therefore, the fear of God is not an Old Testament concept and the love of God a New Testament concept. Loving God was part of the Old Testament too (Jesus quoted it from there!) and fear of God remains in the New Testament. They are both threads through Scripture.
I John 4:18 (above) is most often quoted in defense that the fear of God is obsolete. But of course, that is taking one Scripture to form a theology without regard to other Scriptures, even Jesus’ words. That’s operating in an extreme since it emphasizes one side while neglecting the other.
It is rather simple to show that both concepts run through Scripture, but then it begs the questions: What does fear of the Lord mean? What does it mean to love God? As always, please continue to dig in the Scriptures. I’ll offer some starting points.
Fear God. Perhaps the most common definition women hear is “respect” God. And yes, that’s true, but the Bible actually gives a definition. If you look at Proverbs 8:13 and 15:33, you will see two definitions: “hatred of evil” and “instruction in wisdom.” Therefore, fearing God at least means we are actively reorienting our hearts, minds, and actions to hate what He finds evil and pursue what He finds wise. Hate is a strong word, but that’s what it says! What are the next questions we should ask? What does God define as evil? What does God define as wise? The whole book of Proverbs is an excellent start to some very practical answers to both of these! Personally, Proverbs gets me to ask things like, I may hate human-trafficking, but do I also hate my sassy words that cut a person’s dignity? Fearing God can be an uncomfortable topic, but there’s a richness to be found in its midst and we suffer a loss by ignoring it.
Love God. I hear much broader answers to this command and usually it sounds very relativistic. What I mean is that women usually say it’s whatever you believe God wants you to do to love Him. In other words, it’s the “you-do-you” of the Christian culture. Again, God has some things to say. In John 14:21, Jesus claims that the one who keeps His commandments is the one who loves Him. I John 5:3 puts it bluntly, “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.” When Jesus says the greatest commandment is to love God, He pairs it with a second, to love our neighbors as ourselves (Matthew 22:37-40). Therefore, we can conclude that God’s love language is obedience. Two broad examples are: have no other gods but Him alone (no idolatry) AND actively love to other people, irrespective of feelings.
This should only sprout more questions! What does idolatry look like? How does God define love? How do I love other people according to God’s Word? What examples of love does He give us? What are His commands? How did Jesus love people? Let us not assume we know the answers to these questions. God’s Word transforms our minds. Without it, we can easily be swayed by our culture, emotions, bias, popular teachings, etc.
As always, if you are operating in an extreme, keep hold of the side you’ve got, while grasping the other side. A wise woman lives in the tension of these extremes.
By the River Together 