Over and over in the Bible we are exhorted to fear God, to have the

fear of the Lord, to live in godly fear. But why should we fear God?
Isn’t God love? Yet, 1 John 4:18clearly tells us that: “There is no fear in
love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But
he who fears has not been made perfect in love.”

How can we believe that God loves us, and at the same time, that we
should fear Him?

Reverence and awe for God

Godly fear isn’t the same as fear of a tyrant, or a dictator. We don’t
need to fear His anger, unless we fear punishment due to a bad
conscience and impenitent heart because of sin. (Romans 2:5-9)

To fear God is absolute reverence and awe for an Almighty God, the
Creator of all things. In the Bible we get a few glimpses into heaven,
and we see the heavenly creatures worship Him around His throne
continually, crying out “Holy, holy, holy!” and covering their faces. This
Almighty God has called me by name to serve Him, and He is working
in me so that I can be saved to be with Him for eternity. This should
cause an inexpressible love and gratitude and reverence to grow and
increase in my heart!

This causes us to fear to sinTo commit sin is to consciously do

something that you know goes against God’s will. This can be in word,
deed, or even thought. (James 1:14-15)... against Him, because we
want nothing else in this world than to be pleasing to Him, and to
bring honor to His name. We fear to cause Him sorrow or grief,
knowing how incredibly wretched sin is, how much God hates it, and
how much it hurts Him when we sin.
“And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to
fear the Lord your God, to walk in His ways and to love Him, to serve the
Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the
commandments of the Lord and His statutes which I command you
today for your good?” Deuteronomy 10:12-13.

“The fear of the Lord is to hate evil; pride and arrogance and the evil
way and the perverse mouth I hate.” Proverbs 8:13.

To fear God is:

 To have the proper reverence and awe for Him, so we do
whatever is required of us to serve Him. (Psalm 89:7; Hebrews
12:28-29)
 To stand before His face in all we do in order to be pleasing to
Him, without allowing ourselves to be influenced by wanting the
good opinion of people. (1 Peter 1:24-25)
 To know that we don’t give account to anyone but God for our
actions.
 To fear to act against His will.
 To fear to dishonour Him with our actions. This will make sure
that we act righteously and with love and goodness to our fellow
man.
 To fear to misrepresent Him or His Word in the world.
 To fear to take the weight and importance of what God has
called us to, and the ministry He has given us lightly.
 A hatred for sin; a seriousness about how enormously sinful it is.
(Romans 7:13)
 To love Him with all our heart, all our soul, and all our strength,
and to keep His commandments. (Deuteronomy 6:4-
5; Deuteronomy 10:12-13; Matthew 22:36-38)
Without godly fear:
If we don’t fear God, we will not take sin seriously enough. The
consequences of sin are enormous. In God’s righteousness, even when
we have been forgiven for our sins, we still have to reap the results of
having committed sin. (Galatians 6:7-8) It is true that God is
immeasurably full of grace and long-suffering for us, and that Jesus
died for our salvation, so that our sins are forgiven when we repent of
them. And we certainly need this, as sanctification and freedom from
sin are a process that we are in. But to use that as an excuse for sin
would show a lack of godly fear; a lack of love for God. In fact, this is
the very reason we fear and love God:

“If You, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But there
is forgiveness with You, that You may be feared.” Psalm 130:3-4.
When we weigh our words and actions on the scales of godly fear,
then we gain wisdom and understanding and virtue, because then we
learn and do God’s will. A lack of godly fear leads to us doing our own
will. This disregard for God makes us foolish and does not lead to any
kind of spiritual growth.

If we truly fear God, this brings us into a deep personal love

relationship with God. It is written: “You shall worship the Lord your
God, and Him only shall you serve.” Luke 4:8. This relationship we have
with Him will be carried on into eternity.

“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.” Hebrews 12:28.

“Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His
commandments, for this is man’s all.” Ecclesiastes 12:13.
 Why is it important to fear God?
Fearing God means to have respect for Him and to obey Him. It means that you
acknowledge Him to be your Creator and thus to have the right to be your Lord. It
means that you act out of reverence for Him. In the Old Testament, a clear connection
is made between fearing God and keeping His commands and serving Him: “And
now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your
God, to walk in all His ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your
heart and with all your soul (Deuteronomy 10:12).” See also Deuteronomy 4:10 and
6:2.

Fearing God in the New Testament

In the New Testament, ‘fearing God’ comes up a couple of times too. In 2 Corinthians
7:1 it says: “Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from
every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of
God.” Here fearing God is connected to holiness. Fearing God means that you keep in
line with His will and are kept from grave sins. It gives direction to your life. It can
lead to salvation, as was the case with Noah, who in reverent fear of God built the ark
(Hebrews 11:7). This passage brings us to the following theme connected to fearing
God: judgment.

In Luke 23:40 the one thief rebuked the other, saying: “Do you not fear God, since
you are under the same sentence of condemnation?” These two men were dying, they
would soon stand before God in judgment and they were both under the sentence of
condemnation. God has the right to judge. But as we know, Jesus offered the thief
grace and he was saved from condemnation.

In Revelation 14:7 fearing God is connected to judgment again: “And he said with a
loud voice, ‘Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of His judgment has
come, and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of
water.'”

So what will happen to us if we don’t fear God? He has the right to judge us. Do not
defy Him, but acknowledge Him as your Creator, Saviour and Lord. Give over your
life to Him, live it out of reverence to Him and be saved from condemnation.
often hear people explain the fear of the Lord as a mere respect or reverence. But the Bible
uses the word fear at least 300 times in reference to God, so we make a mistake when we
downplay it. The subject becomes even more mysterious when we read something like 1 John
4:18 that says that "perfect love expels all fear." So how do we marry this dichotomy? How can
we fear God while he expels all fear?

Scripture is full of examples of how fearing God is a positive rather than a negative thing. For
example in Genesis 42:18, Joseph wins his brothers' trust when he declares he is a God-fearing
man. It was because the midwives feared God that they obeyed him instead of the authorities
by sparing the Hebrew babies (Exodus 1:17). Pharaoh brought disaster on his nation because
he did not fear God (Exodus 9:29-31). Moses chose leaders to help him on the basis that they
feared God and wouldn't take bribes (Exodus 18:21) and told the Hebrews that God met with
them in a terrifying display of his power so that they wouldn't sin (Exodus 20:20). The Mosaic
Law cites fear of God as a reason to treat the disabled and elderly well (Leviticus 19:14, 32).
And lest you think this is only an Old Testament idea, note that Jesus states this stronger than
anyone when he says, "Don't be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot touch
your soul. Fear only God, who can destroy both soul and body in hell" (Matthew 10:28). And
Paul says to work toward complete holiness because we fear God (2 Corinthians 7:1).
So it's clear from these passages, that fearing God is good because it saves us from caving into
our own sinful nature. That's why hearing someone is God-fearing actually makes us trust that
person more. If they fear God, they are more likely to keep their word and treat others with
kindness. In fact, Romans 3, a classic chapter on sin, says that our chief sin is that we "have no
fear of God at all" (Romans 3:18).
So how does fear of God, who is perfect love, take away fear? William D. Eisenhower puts it
this way in his article 'Fearing God" in Christianity Today:
Unfortunately, many of us presume that the world is the ultimate threat and that God's function
is to offset it. How different this is from the biblical position that God is far scarier than the world
…. When we assume that the world is the ultimate threat, we give it unwarranted power, for in
truth, the world's threats are temporary. When we expect God to balance the stress of the world,
we reduce him to the world's equal …. As I walk with the Lord, I discover that God poses an
ominous threat to my ego, but not to me. He rescues me from my delusions, so he may reveal
the truth that sets me free. He casts me down, only to lift me up again. He sits in judgment of my
sin, but forgives me nevertheless. Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, but love from the
Lord is its completion.
And, of course, the ultimate example of fear and perfect love working together is Jesus Christ.
He warned us at every turn to fear God, not men—and he confirmed that in everything about his
life and death. He spoke lovingly but frankly to all and didn't mince words when people needed
to face their sin and repent. But he also demonstrated love beyond human understanding when
he lived out his words, "There is no greater love than to lay down one's life for one's friends
(John 15:13)." With love like that, what is left to fear but God?
JoHannah Reardon is a former managing editor of ChristianBibleStudies.com. Find her
numerous books at JoHannahReardon.com, including her book No More Fear, which
ponders the attributes of God.