You have probably heard it quoted before, that you must fear the LORD thy God and serve Him only. This is a popular quote from scripture that seems to get a lot of circulation. Though in all of its popularity and use, it never really is explained what exactly this fear is. Are we to tremble and quake before a holy God as some preachers would have us do? Or does it mean something else entirely?

You might be surprised to learn that Biblical fear is something different than the kind of fear that we often associate with it today. It is by understanding the word fear as the Bible defines it, that we can begin to see what the scripture is actually telling us, versus what man merely assumes of it. This is what we will be studying today.

Most people think that Godly fear is actually reverence. That is what most people are taught that Godly fear is. However take a quick look at Hebrews 12:28:

“Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:”

If Godly fear was simply reverence, then there would be no need for the distinction here. However as an aside, look at how we serve God acceptably… we serve Him acceptably with our reverence and this Godly fear, and notice how these things come – by grace. Not by law or works. It is grace that gives us this reverence and godly fear so that we may serve God acceptably by them.

So it is important to define what this godly fear is, it is not terror, or dread, or cowering in-front of Him. I have been in discussions with people who have sincerely asked me: “Don’t you think people should be afraid of God?” To which I responded with “No.” – which shocked those who were asking me the question.

In order to understand why people should not be afraid of God, we must first ask the question is that actually what God wants? Does He truthfully want us to be afraid of Him? Your initial reaction to this question will most likely be colored by your perception of God… If you see Him as a hard taskmaster and an angry judge looking for perfect submission and obedience from us and flogging us when we fail, then your answer will probably be “Yes, God wants us to be afraid of Him.” – but is that actually the true image which God portrays of Himself and our relationship with Him?

So let’s take a look at some scripture, and see what God has to say on the subject. 1^st Timothy 1:7 says the following:

“For God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”

We see from this that there is indeed a spirit of fear. Fear is most definitely a spirit, but it is not given by God! The Holy Spirit is not a spirit that ministers fear, terror or dread, but rather the Holy Spirit gives us power, love and a sound mind. A sound mind is a mind of complete peace and moderation… a mind that will not be swept away with the ebb and flow of emotions. Which is actually the opposite of fear, terror and dread.

Next we have Romans 8:15:

“For you have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but you have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.”

Again, we see here that we have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear… the word fear used here, in the Greek text is the word phobos, where we get our English word “phobia “ and it stands for fear, terror, worry, dread as you might expect. Notice that we have not received that spirit again! We did have that spirit at one time, back when we were indeed in bondage to the law of sin and death, but praise God that is not true for us any longer! We further see in this verse that what we have actually received is what here the English translation calls the “Spirit of adoption” – it is actually something much more powerful: sonship and we have an entire study on the benefits of that sonship.

We can also see that it is by this very Spirit of sonship, that causes us to cry something very interesting. Not Lord, not Master, not even Friend – although God certainly is all of those roles, never-the-less that is not what the Spirit causes us to cry. The Holy Spirit of God causes us to cry about Abba! Which translated means Father, or more personal: Daddy!

It is when you see God as your Daddy, someone you can run to, not run from, someone that you can feel safe and loved with, not someone who you are afraid of that will give you spankings or beatings, that is when the real intimacy of your spiritual relationship will manifest. That is when you will begin to see that God is not someone to be afraid of, but His perfect love casts out all fear (1^st John 4:18).

So let’s now take a look at a couple of commonly quoted fear verses in the light of the finished work of Christ, and see what they are actually telling us. And as mentioned at the start of this study, the first is Deuteronomy 6:13:

“You shall fear the LORD your God, and serve him, and shall swear by his name.”

If we were to just read this verse without the benefit of Jesus Christ, then it would on the surface seem to very plainly say that we are to be afraid of God. However we have a wonderful resource, someone who knows exactly what God says and is perfectly able to shed a very clear light on this… you may have heard of Him, His Name is Jesus and He is Christ! Jesus actually translates this verse of scripture for us in two separate Gospel accounts when He was being tempted by Satan in Matthew 4:10 and Luke 4:8:

“Then said Jesus to him, Get you hence, Satan: for it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.” (Matthew’s record)

“And Jesus answered and said to him, Get you behind me, Satan: for it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.” (Luke’s record)

In both of these accounts we see that Jesus quoted the verse of Deuteronomy 6:13, and translated the word fear to worship! So from the mouth of Jesus Himself, we have the true meaning of the word fear – it is not a crippling dread of God, but a spirit of worship! This can even be plainly seen in the next verse of Deuteronomy 6:14, as God goes on to say that they are not to follow other gods… It’s all about worship.

Another verse which is commonly quoted and likewise commonly misunderstood, is Philippians 2:12:

“Why, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.”

Again, on its face, this verse seems to run counter to what we know about God. Not only does it seem to tell us to work out our own salvation, but then it even tells us to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling! However to put it bluntly, anyone who tries to tell you that this verse is saying that you must work for your salvation, or that you must be afraid and trembling before God, is misrepresenting what the scripture is saying.

First of all, the phrase “work out” here does not mean that you must do something in order to receive something. No, this is something that is already on the inside of you. The phrase “work out” in Greek means “to render one fit for a thing”… and there are many believers today who do not render themselves fit to receive the blessings which Jesus paid for them to have. Every time they question whether God wants to heal them, or they think that they have not performed well enough to deserve it.

But no… this verse says that the salvation is already inside of you, just render yourself fit to receive! And as that blessing comes out, it will bring with it fear and trembling, you will be awestruck by it! Just as the woman with the blood disease was awestruck by her healing in Mark 5:33, and just as God promised to pour out so many blessings on His people that they would be awestruck by the sheer vastness and the Grace and Mercy of God in Jeremiah 33:9.

So who is the one doing the work? Look at the very next verse: it is God. It is God that works in you, both to will and to do of His good pleasure.

It is His good pleasure to save you completely. He wants you to have every single blessing which Jesus paid for you to have. Now go ahead and believe and receive it. Render yourself fit to receive, because it is Christ in you the hope of glory that has qualified you for it all and not yourself. (Colossians 1:27)

So in closing, why is this important? Because if you see God as demanding, requiring works or behaviors on our part to qualify you for His blessings and favor, then you will always be trying to measure up, and it will foster fear, confusion and doubt. It will harm your relationship with God and lead to condemnation and death.

If however, as we have seen today, you see God as your Daddy, as the one who loved you so much that He gave Jesus Christ in order to save you completely, then you realize that in Christ, you have nothing to fear from God and you can come boldly before the throne of Grace (Hebrews 4:16). And free from fear, you can let His love wash over you. You can receive His love and respond in love.

You can never truly love someone whom you are afraid of. And in Christ, you have no reason to fear God anymore. Through Christ Jesus you have absolute peace with God. (Romans 5:1) Give Jesus the praise!