Fear Based Faith - The Beginning of Wisdom
Question: Do you have Faith in God without fear, or is your Faith based on the fear of God?
“God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world…We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us…There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear ” (1 John 4:9-10,14,16,18)
I have been alive for 65 years on this planet, 50 of which has been partially spent struggling with the above question.
As I watch my grandchildren grow up I realize that for the first 10 or so years there is no fear of God. Mom told me that God was good and loved me, and He loved the whole world. That was true and good enough for me.
Then something horrible happened. I begin to listen (occasionally) to the teaching and preaching in church about the eternal destiny of unrepentant people.
“God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world…We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us…There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear ” (1 John 4:9-10,14,16,18)
I have been alive for 65 years on this planet, 50 of which has been partially spent struggling with the above question.
As I watch my grandchildren grow up I realize that for the first 10 or so years there is no fear of God. Mom told me that God was good and loved me, and He loved the whole world. That was true and good enough for me.
Then something horrible happened. I begin to listen (occasionally) to the teaching and preaching in church about the eternal destiny of unrepentant people.
Yep, the doctrine of eternal conscious torment in hell was introduced to my young mind by those in the church that my Mom and Dad seemed to trust to know the truth. After all, they took me to church every time the doors were opened just as I would later take my children...out of fear.
My childlike faith in God without fear became a game of either ignoring the very thought of God (high school, college and military), or, when I finally got a permanent job and begin raising a family, trying to appease God for fear of what he might do to me and my family…and I called that faith, but it was just the "beginning of wisdom".
My childlike faith in God without fear became a game of either ignoring the very thought of God (high school, college and military), or, when I finally got a permanent job and begin raising a family, trying to appease God for fear of what he might do to me and my family…and I called that faith, but it was just the "beginning of wisdom".
"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom...but perfect love drives out fear" (Proverbs 9:10; 1 John 4:18)
One good that came out of that fear was that I begin to read the bible faithfully, all of it, from Genesis to Revelation…over and over and over (I stopped counting at 20 times). And after 25 years of struggling to please God through service in the local church I realized that much of what I had been taught about God in church was not the "wisdom" I was reading in the Bible.
My study of the Bible did not reveal eternal conscious torment for anyone, or a trinity of angry gods, or a substitutionary atonement for the repentant, or a free will to choose my eternal destiny, nor an immortality of the soul apart from the resurrection.
One good that came out of that fear was that I begin to read the bible faithfully, all of it, from Genesis to Revelation…over and over and over (I stopped counting at 20 times). And after 25 years of struggling to please God through service in the local church I realized that much of what I had been taught about God in church was not the "wisdom" I was reading in the Bible.
My study of the Bible did not reveal eternal conscious torment for anyone, or a trinity of angry gods, or a substitutionary atonement for the repentant, or a free will to choose my eternal destiny, nor an immortality of the soul apart from the resurrection.
These were all religious doctrines made up by religious men that had become the basis of my faith…resulting in more fear of God than love for Him.
When I was able to distinguish between man-made doctrine and biblical doctrine at about 50 years old I was able to return to my childlike faith. Faith that God was good, all the time, and loves me as a Father. I was liberated from the fear of God and ushered into a true love for the God of the Bible.
My faith in God is without fear. God is my Father, He is Sovereign and Almighty, He can do whatever He wants…and He wants to save me, my family and everyone else from death by raising us, changing us into a new creation just like our Father - immortal, loving and good.
“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away...and I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” And He said, “Write, for these words are faithful and true.” (Revelation 21:1-5)
No more fear of God…for the "wisdom" of the perfect love of God will have “cast out fear”.
When I was able to distinguish between man-made doctrine and biblical doctrine at about 50 years old I was able to return to my childlike faith. Faith that God was good, all the time, and loves me as a Father. I was liberated from the fear of God and ushered into a true love for the God of the Bible.
My faith in God is without fear. God is my Father, He is Sovereign and Almighty, He can do whatever He wants…and He wants to save me, my family and everyone else from death by raising us, changing us into a new creation just like our Father - immortal, loving and good.
“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away...and I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” And He said, “Write, for these words are faithful and true.” (Revelation 21:1-5)
No more fear of God…for the "wisdom" of the perfect love of God will have “cast out fear”.