Unfortunately many Christians have a wrong concept of what the Bible means by the fear of the Lord. They disdain it as something outdated that belongs only in the Old testa ment and has no place in New testament Christianity , nothing could be further from the truth. Actually the fear of the Lord carries a higher priority in the character requirements of the New testament than in those of the Old.
We need to ask ourselves therefore What does the Bible mean by the expression of the fear of the Lord . It covers three related English words respect reverence and awe. Fearing God is not a cringing slavish attitude. its the appropriate response of the creature to the Creator - to his omnipotence His majesty His glory and His fullness.
In Psalms 19:9 David says the fear of the Lord is clean enduring forever. The fear of the Lord will never become out of date. it is absolutely pure and absolutely purifying. - something that in all ages , God looks for in His people.
In Isaiah 11:2 the prophet predicted the seven fold anointing of the Holy Spirit that was to mark Jesus as the promised Messiah. , the Anointed One. The seven different aspects of the anointing are : The Spirit of the Lord , The Spirit of the Wisdom , The Spirit of the understanding, the Spirit of counsel , the Spirit of might, The The Spirit of knowledge , and the Spirit of the fear of the Lord.
We might have assumed that there was no place for the fear of the Lord in Jesus. Gods Beloved Son. Yet Isaiah 11:2 reveals the fear of the Lord as the Final Seal marking Jesus as being trly the Messiah and the Son of God. If Jesus was thus marked by the fear of the Lord how can we as His disciples ever feel that such fear has no place in us ?
In Peter 1:17-19 the apostle declares the the price paid for our redemption should inspire in us a holy fear of failing to lead lives that give God the glory due to Him.
This attitude of reverent awe should govern not only our attitude toward God Himself but also toward His Word the Scripture. In Isaiah 66:2 the Lord says , This is the one I esteem , he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.
Why should we tremble at the scriptures ? Because this is the way both God the Father and God the Son come into our lives. In John 14:23 Jesus says if anyone loves Me he will keep my word and And My MFather will love Him and we the Father and the Son will come to him and make our home with him .
In Psalms 2:11 - this attitude of reverent awe for God and His Word contrary to what we might expect is the key to experiencing the kind of joy that only God can give. The psalmist exhorts us "Serve the Lord with FEAR and REJOICE with TREMBLING "
This balance between fear and encouragement was reproduced in the New testament Church. Acts 9 : 31 says of the Church in all Judea Galilee and Samaria that " walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit they were multiplied. How do fear and comfort go together ? Yet this combination was the key to vibrant life and explosive growth of the New Testament Church.
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