The Fear of God

 

The Fear of God

 

Romans 3:18

 

There is no fear of God before their eyes.

 

Man was a most noble creature in his original created condition. Man was created in the image of God, he was upright; and regarded as and very good in the eyes of God (Genesis 1: 26-31; Ecclesiastes 7: 29). In Romans 3:18 the Holy Ghost declares the condition of men as they are born in this world after the fall of Adam. This is a lamentation of the woeful condition of the creature in his natural state being totally depraved through the introduction of sin into the human family. The introduction of sin, was the work of Satan, who deceived mother Eve; and brought the covenant head of the race of natural men under spiritual death. Adam in turn propagated the race of natural men, who were born in the image which Adam had contracted through the fall. Because of the fall, the race of natural men is a fallen and spiritually ruined race; and there is no fear of God before their eyes.

 

The fear of God is not innate in the natural man, it is something that was lost in the fall. The fear that God requires is the reverential awe and love of God in the soul of man. It includes the respect, affection, and heart obedience, of the creature for his creator. These are not possessed by man after the fall. Since the fall, the carnal mind (the mind of man at his natural birth) is ever and always hostile toward God. As it is written: “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be” (Romans 8:7).

 

The fear of God, as God requires it, is a covenant gift of God through grace, by the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. The fear of God is not something that man is capable of generating, or acquiring separate from the gracious gift of God. At the time appointed of God in the everlasting covenant of grace, God the Holy Ghost puts His fear in the heart of the children of the covenant, as it is written: “And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them: And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me” (Jeremiah 32: 39-40).

 

A counterfeit fear of God is “taught by the precept of man” and is not acceptable to God. As it is written: “ Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honor me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men: Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people, even a marvelous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid. Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the LORD, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us? Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter's clay: for shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no understanding?” (Isaiah 29: 13-16).

 

The fear of God that is acceptable to God is given by God the Holy Ghost. It is not by the will of men, of his decision, or of anything that can be attributed to men. It is divine, not stemming from the nature of the natural man. It is completely out of his universe. It is intended for the children of the covenant of grace, and it is given because of the “purpose of God according to election” as it is written: “(For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;)” (Romans 9: 11). This purpose, grace and love of God was manifested in election, as it is written: “God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God; Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel:” (II Timothy 1: 7-10).

 

Moses manifested the fear of God as it is written: “And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground” (Exodus 3: 5). Joshua also manifested this fear: “And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries? And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the LORD am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my lord unto his servant? And the captain of the LORD'S host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so.” (Joshua 5: 13-15). The Psalmists also call for this fear of God: “Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah.” (Psalm 4: 4). And again: “Let all the earth fear the LORD: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him” (Psalm 33: 8). In Psalm 89: “God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all them that are about him” (Psalm 89: 7). The prophet saith: “But the LORD is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him” (Habakkuk 2: 20). Again the Psalmist: “He sent redemption unto his people: he hath commanded his covenant for ever: holy and reverend is his name. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever” (Psalm 111: 9-10). And it is written: “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding” (Proverbs 9: 10).  

AJ Ison

 

See the writers blog at www.hebrews915.blogspot.com hear the true gospel preached at www.13thstbaptist.org webcasting live at listed service times.