Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Progressive Christian
Fear? Not!

Fear? Not!

Last updated on: January 23, 2019 at 7:59 pm by Keith Giles

Fear? Not! 2019-01-23T19:59:55+00:00 Keith Giles

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

“And he said to the human race, “The fear of the Lord—that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding.” (Job 28:28)

“Now let the fear of the Lord be on you.” (2 Chronicles 19:7)

All throughout the Old Testament scriptures, we see this idea of the Fear of the Lord invoked as a metaphor for observing the Lord’s commands, or observing the Law.

It’s important for us to understand that the idea was not so much about literally having a sense of terror concerning the idea of God, but more about the notion of having reverence for God’s wisdom and taking the commandments of God very seriously.

Unfortunately, most of us have grown up being told that we must literally fear God and that if we do not, then we are not only foolish, we are probably not really one of God’s children.

This is nonsense.

First of all, this idea of fearing God is largely an Old Testament concept. The phrase appears 21 times in the Bible, and only one of those references is in the New Testament. All the others are found in the Old Testament, and as already mentioned, have more to do with reverence for God’s law than actual feelings of fear towards God.

Another way to understand how often we have misunderstood this phrase is to observe how God reacts to those who literally fear Him.

Over and over again in both the Old and the New Testament we have examples of God appearing to people – either in the form of angels, or in visions or dreams – and in pretty much every single case the very first words spoken are: “Fear not!” or “Do not be afraid.”

For example:

“After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.” (Gen. 15:1)

God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid. (Gen. 21:17)

“That night the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you…” (Gen. 26:24)

“But the Lord said to him, “Peace! Do not be afraid. You are not going to die.” (Judges 6:23)

“This is what the Lord says— he who made you, who formed you in the womb, and who will help you: Do not be afraid…” (Isaiah 44:2)

“Do not be afraid, Daniel.” (Daniel 10:12; 19)

“The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid…” (Matt. 28:5)

“But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard.” (Luke 1:13)

“But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God.” (Luke 1:30)

“But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.” (Luke 2:10)

“When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last.” (Rev. 1:17)

Now, why do you think this is?

Isn’t it because God realizes that we are prone to fear Him and that this isn’t the way God wants us to relate to Him?

Why else would the very first words spoken by God or His messengers be: “Fear not!”

Maybe it’s related to what the author of 1 John tells us about fear:

“There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” (1 John 4:18)

So, on one level, fear may have its purpose. Fear of punishment for disobedience may keep you performing a certain way, but it’s a poor excuse for a relationship.

Now that Christ has come and revealed who the Father really is, we can relax and realize that there is no need to fear our Abba. He is patient, and kind, and merciful, and full of infinite love for all of His children.

Once we recognize that we are already loved and accepted by God, there is no longer any reason to fear. Now, we can start to relate to God the way God has always wanted: Love!

If you’re still standing in fear of God, you should know that this is not the way God wants it to be. God would say to you exactly what He said to every other person He has ever revealed Himself to: “Fear not!”

You are loved. There is no fear in love.

The fear of the Lord may be the beginning of wisdom, but the love of God is the beginning of life in Christ.

Keith Giles was formerly a licensed and ordained minister who walked away from organized church 11 years ago, to start a home fellowship that gave away 100% of the offering to the poor in the community. Today, He and his wife live in Meridian, Idaho, awaiting their next adventure.

His new book “Jesus Unbound: Liberating the Word of God from the Bible”, is available now on Amazon and features a Foreword by author Brian Zahnd.

He is also the author of the Amazon best-seller, “Jesus Untangled: Crucifying Our Politics To Pledge Allegiance To The Lamb” with a Foreword by Greg Boyd.

Keith also co-hosts the Heretic Happy Hour Podcast on iTunes and Podbean.

BONUS: Want to unlock exclusive content including blog articles, short stories, music, podcasts, videos and more? Visit my Patreon page.

Cosmic Christ

Following Jesus

God's Love

Gospel of the Kingdom

Hell

Previous Post

January 19, 2019

Debt Forgiveness vs Ransom Payment

Next Post

January 24, 2019 Why Do I Partner With People I Disagree With?

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Art Biblicism Christian Politics Cosmic Christ Deconstruction Discipleship Dispensationalism Divine Unity Ekklesia End Time Stuff Eschatology Evergreen Following Jesus Gender General Christian Topics Gnostics God's Love Gospel of Judas Gospel of Mary Gospel of Philip Gospel of the Kingdom Gospel of Thomas Gospel of Truth Hell Historical Jesus Inner Circle Investigative Reporting Islam LGBTQ Issues Marriage Mental/Emotional Health Mystery Non-Duality Philosophy Podcast Poetry Politics Poverty Preemptive Love Prophecy Psychology Quantum Theology Racism Reconstruction Satire Sex Technology Theology Uncategorized Universalism

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What did God confuse to stop the Tower of Babel from being finished?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Their tools The bricks The weather The people’s language

Books by This Author Books by Keith Giles

See All Titles »