Fear God (1-19-12)

1 Peter 2:17 - "Honor all men, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king."

The third command in this verse is "fear God". Many people substitute the word "fear" with the word "reverence" when talking about the fear of the Lord and that's somewhat the idea behind this word, but that doesn't do it justice. I've heard people say that the fear of the Lord doesn't mean being afraid of God but rather revering or respecting Him, but it's more than that. Certainly, the fear of the Lord is a reverence for Him but it's also fear. Now, a common objection to this is based on First John 4:18 which says that perfect love casts out fear. So, the argument goes, if we're living in the fear of the Lord doesn't that mean that we're not loving Him? It depends on the basis of our fear and how it motivates us to respond to Him. If we look back in the Old Testament to when the children of Israel were in the wilderness of Sinai we'll see examples both of a proper and improper fear of the Lord.
In Deuteronomy chapter 5 the children of Israel saw God descend in fire onto Mount Sinai and they were afraid. Because of their fear they told Moses to go up on the mountain and speak with God but they were afraid and unwilling to draw near to Him themselves. This is an improper fear of God. Because of how great and awesome He is they ran away from Him rather than drawing near to Him. Moses, however, had a proper fear of God. In Exodus chapter 24 when the fire of the Lord descended on the mountain Moses went up on the mountain and into the fire and he remained there for forty days. Moses' fear of the Lord caused him to draw near to God. An improper fear of God causes us to run away from Him and try to hide from Him, like Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden. A proper fear of God, however, causes us to draw near to Him.

The fear of the Lord is a reverential fear of displeasing Him. It's not a fear of punishment, but rather, it's a wholesome dread of displeasing God. The fear of the Lord is talked about all throughout Scripture and it is essential in living a life on fire for God. The Bible says in Psalm 111:10 - "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; A good understanding have all those who do His commandments." Fear and obedience are directly related. And we read in Proverbs 23:17 - "Do not let your heart envy sinners, But live in the fear of the LORD always." The fear of the Lord keeps us from sin and from envying sinners.
All four of the commands given in 1 Peter 2:17 are themes mentioned throughout the book of First Peter. This command to fear God was touched on in chapter one and verse seventeen where Peter says - "If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each mans work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth." God is our Father and He will judge both the living and the dead, both the saved and the unsaved. The judgment that we as believers are going to receive from Him is not to determine whether we make it into heaven or not, Christ settled that on the cross. Our judgment is going to be based on what we did with the time, talent and treasures that the Lord entrusted to us. Paul talks about this judgment in 1 Corinthians 3 and also in 2 Corinthians 5. 1 Corinthians 3 tells us that when we appear before the judgment seat of Christ our lives are going to be tested by fire and whatever was done for eternity will withstand the fire and be fashioned into crowns which we'll cast at the feet of Jesus, but whatever was not done for eternity will be burned up. Living in the fear of the Lord will cause the worthless things in our lives to be burned up right now so that when we get to the judgment seat of Christ we won't suffer loss.
Hebrews 12:28-29 says - "Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire." God is a consuming fire. If we are living in the fear of the Lord it means we're drawing near to Him. We're living in the midst of the fire, and His fire is consuming all the worthlessness in our lives so that we'll be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, and able to withstand the fire at the future judgment.

2 Corinthians 7:1 - "Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God."