the fear of God vs. the fear of Man

the fear of God vs. the fear of man

~ notes and meditations from a sermon by Douglas Wilson ~

Jesus tells us not to be fearful of men but to be shrewd when around them. We shouldn't fear those who slander us or accuse us, because God is going to tell the whole story one day, and we who belong to Him will be vindicated. Our enemies may try to "kill the body," but if all they can do is give us a one-way ticket to paradise, why should we fear them? 

There are two kinds of fear: the fear of God and the fear of man. The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom; the fear of man is the beginning of folly. Fear isn't bad by itself; fear is a good thing, but it becomes bad when it's misdirected. We are wired to fear God, and as human beings we flourish best when we live in the fear of God. That kind of fear is good. But the fear of man is good fear gone awry. Fearing anything in life is a sign that we need to fear God more. Indeed, Ecclesiastes tells us that fearing God and obeying His commandments is the whole duty of man.

The fear of God spurs us to renounce sin and to live humbly before Him. The fear of God is to hate evil, and it's the fear of God that leads us to preach the gospel. Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians that holiness is perfected in the fear of God; the fear of God compels us to holiness. Rebellious, stubborn, and sinful living is symptomatic of a heart that doesn't appropriately fear God. 

Fearing God isn't the same as being afraid of Him. We're not to have a craven, crawling sort of fear, even in God's presence; we stand before God as sons and daughters. A cowing, shaking fear before God is antithetical to the gospel. 1 John 4.18 tells us that God's perfect love casts out fear. We needn't fear punishment from God because the punishment we deserve is not ours; that's why Paul can say in Romans 8.1 that there's NO condemnation for those who belong to God in Christ. All our punishment has been paid. Thus we are instructed in the Book of Hebrews to come boldly before God, looking for mercy. We need mercy, because we are screw-ups; God tells us to come boldly before His throne (not crawling in fear, guilt, or shame), and He tells us to come boldly because of His grace. We can come boldly before Him because we are adopted and grace & mercy is ours because of Christ. We own it because Christ purchased it--we don't need to grovel for it. Grace and mercy is our covenant right in Christ. We need to have the mindset of the forgiven, the mindset that provoked Luther to say, "Sin, and sin boldly; and repent even more boldly, too." When we come before God, we are 100% justified, declared "in the right," perceived by our Father as righteous because of Christ's righteousness in us.

The confession of sin involves gratitude for the forgiveness we already have. We don't need to have extra forgiveness; we're already wholly forgiven. We are liberated, forgiven, justified--and that's why we can come boldly before God, confessing our sins and embracing His mercy. We aren't to fear God as Executioner or Punisher. Our fear of God is a familial, rather than a slaveish, fear. Hebrews tells us that it's a terrifying things to fall into the hands of the living God, but this is not our lot or portion: Christ has already absorbed our execution and punishment.