Teens for Christ: What Does it Mean to Fear God?

What does it mean to fear God?

Fear is a colossal stumbling block for Christians and non-Christians alike. It halts the achievement of dreams and diminishes faith, and because of this, fear has its own category in my blog. In No Fear: The Danger of Sin in Your Heart, I talked about the only thing you need to be afraid of (and it’s not spiders). In No Fear of the New Year, I encouraged you to lay down your fear of the future. And for those moments of panic, you can check out Why You Can Trust God Instead of Freaking Out. 

Do you see a pattern here? Over and over, we are encouraged to eschew fear. Then we turn to the Bible and read verses like this:

“Serve the Lord with FEAR and celebrate his rule with trembling.” Psalm 2:11

“The FEAR of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.” Proverbs 1:7

“Let all the earth FEAR the Lord . . .” Psalm 33:8a

Is the Bible really telling us to be afraid of God?! If you’ve been a Christian for a while, you know this isn’t true. But can you answer this question: What does it mean to fear God?

THE ANSWER: LOOK AT THE DEFINITION 

Merriam-Webster defines “fear” two ways.:

1. to be afraid of; expect with alarm
2. to have a reverential awe of

The first definition of fear is what you might feel when stepping up to give a speech or entering an active war zone. Sweaty palms, trembling knees, racing heart—such physical symptoms might accompany this first type of fear.

This type of fear might describe your relationship with electricity. You recognize its value in your life and its power to kill you.

The second definition of fear could also be defined as “to admire,” “to respect,” “to treasure,” or “to worship.” This type of fear might describe your relationship with electricity. You recognize its value in your life and its power to kill you. You take great care when using it. But you don’t huddle in your home, terrified of getting too close to an outlet, right?

It’s this type of fear the Bible speaks of regarding how we are to approach God. In fact, Psalm 33:8 quoted above has a second part:

“Let all the earth fear the Lord . . . let all the people of the world revere him.” 

When we fear God, we stand before him in respect, awe, and reverence.

THE EVIDENCE: HOW CAN I BE SURE?

If you’re a language scholar, you could look at the original Greek Bible and find that these two types of fear actually have two separate words. For the rest of us, we can look at the context:

“He will be the sure foundation for your times, a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the Lord is the key to this treasure.” (Isaiah 33:6)

 Look at the great gifts he gives. Those are nothing to be afraid of.

“The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them.” (Psalm 34:7)

A clear reference to God’s protection for believers. This should invoke the opposite of terror.

“But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love.” (Psalm 33:18)

Anyone with unfailing love is no one to be terrified of.

So now that it’s clear we should not be afraid of God, let’s look at why we should FEAR him.

THE TRUTH: WHY SHOULD WE FEAR GOD?

I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after your body has been killed, has authority to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him.

Luke 12:4-5

Okay, that sounds like a death threat, and death threats are terrifying. And who is it that has the authority to throw you into hell? Only God himself.

Make no mistake, the Almighty God is the most terrifying being for a sinner to face.

Um, Lauren, you were saying about not being afraid . . .

Make no mistake, the Almighty God is the most terrifying being for a sinner to face. You’ve messed up and you will be held accountable for it. But for the believer, the one who has placed her trust in the salvation of Jesus, this type of fear no longer applies. Jesus faced God’s wrath for you. You absolutely should respect his authority, stand in awe of his majesty, and put your trust in him, but you no longer have to be afraid of him.

Take a look at the Luke 12 excerpt in context, particularly vs. 6-7, to see the basis for this trust. And read my post Jesus Saved You From Sin, Death, Hell—And God.

Our God is an awesome God, full of power, and majesty. His very essence commands awe and reverence—fear. So now that you know the answers to “What does it mean to fear God” and “Why should we fear God?” the next logical issue is how to fear God.

For that, I’ll see you in my next post: 8 Ways to Grow in the Fear of God.