The Fear of the Lord

"For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad." (2 Corinthians 5:10)

When many people today hear the phrase, "The fear of the Lord" they think of the Old Testament Law, or legalism, or as something that doesn't apply to Christians now, since we are under grace.

But Paul, the apostle of grace, inspired by the Holy Spirit, wrote these New Testament words to the Corinthian Christians.

Jesus Himself said, 

“And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matthew 10:28)

The writer of Proverbs wrote:

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” (Proverbs 9:10)

For the Christian—child of God—"the fear of the Lord" does not mean a cowering fear, afraid that God will strike you down at any minute, like you would a pesky insect. But rather, it means a reverential awe and respect for the Almighty God; the Creator and Sustainer of all things. He is God; the Righteous Judge, who will judge the living and the dead (see 2 Timothy 4:1).

And it should strike a reverential fear, awe and respect in the heart of every Christian when we acknowledge the fact that we all will one day stand at the feet of Jesus, at the Judgment Seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Doesn't that make you tremble inside just a little bit? If it doesn't, you don't have a healthy fear of the Almighty.

It was prophesied that in the Last Days (i.e. now), that there will be a great Apostasy; a falling away and defection from the Truth of God's Word. And we are smack dab in the middle of that great falling away as we speak. If you can't see that, you're blind as a bat. 

It seems to be the norm today for many people who profess to be "christian" to be living in all kinds of various sin and disobedience. And people go to great lengths to write off or twist God's Word, in order to justify their sin as normal and acceptable in today's culture, and they dismiss God's Word to be archaic and outdated. This demonstrates a total lack of a reverential fear of the Lord. 

Do we not think there will be consequences for our disobedience and rebellion?

Read the next sentence of that passage from 2 Corinthians chapter 5:

"Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men..."

Doesn't the phrase, "The terror of the Lord" strongly express that God is very serious about this?

A lot of folks today seem to have the attitude that God is like some laid back surfer dude, who lets everything slide, and is just here to be your benevolent genie in a bottle, to give you your every wish, but doesn't require anything from you.

Read Revelation chapters two and three. Here Jesus is recognizing what good things the churches did well. But He also admonishes them in the areas they need to repent, as He does here to the church that was in Ephesus:

“Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lamp stand from its place—unless you repent.” (Revelation 2:4-5)

Consider the admonition and the command, "I have this against you", and "Unless you repent."

The are some very strong warnings and impending judgments upon the churches (Christians) who refuse to heed God's warnings here. 

There will indeed be consequences. The most daunting being this sobering warning from Jesus:

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!” (Matthew 7:21-23)

For those who call themselves "Christian" but who choose to transgress God's commands and live according to the corrupt culture and your own twisted sense of right and wrong; unless you repent and turn your heart and lives back to God, obeying Him according to His Word, the ultimate consequence of a lifestyle of lawlessness will be eternal banishment from God's presence, to a place of eternal torment. Jesus will say to you, "I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!"

I don't know of anything that will instill a healthy fear of God in a person's heart, more than this dire warning from Jesus.

Ultimately, it's about love.

Jesus said, 

“He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me.” (John 14:21)

The question is, do you love Jesus as much as you say you do?

...Then prove it.

—God is Love and Love Never Fails.