Is the fear of him meant to factor into the Christian life? How? Many New Testament scriptures support this. Matthew 10:28 reminds us not to fear those which kill the body but to fear Him which can kill the body and soul in hell. I Peter 2:17 tells us to honor all men, love the brotherhood, honor the king and fear God. If we give honor to rulers and our brothers, how much more should we do so to God? Peter tells us to pass the time of our sojourning here in fear. In other words we should allow this fear to steer our lives in the right direction. Hebrews 12:28 reminds us to serve God acceptably with reverence and fear. Ephesians 5:21 says to submit ourselves to one another in the fear of God. In doing so we will treat others right.
II Corinthians 7:1 says to perfect holiness in the fear of God; clean up sin in our lives. II Corinthians 5:11 tells us that by knowing the terror of the Lord we persuade men. In other words, the fear of the Lord gives us a burden for the lost.
How would teaching our children the fear of God help them? How do you teach it? It will save their souls. In our society people are not afraid of anything. They will do anything. In a nutshell Ecclesiastes 11:9 says go ahead and do what we want BUT God will bring it to judgment.
Can fearing the Lord make you more at peace or take your peace away? Fear puts us in our place. We then see how small we are in comparison. We then see that He still loves us; He takes care of us.
Considering all the above, do you believe God really wants us to fear him? Deuteronomy 5:29 tells us that when we fear God we are happy, that it might be well with them. When we fear God, we trust him.
Ecclesiastes 12:13 sums it all up by telling us the bottom line of the whole thing: the conclusion of the whole matter is to fear God and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. Yes. We should learn to fear the Lord in order to know how to please him and love him.
God help us all as we learn more fully the fear of the Lord.
Adwolfe Freewill Baptist Church 