Saturday, September 27, 2008

Fear and Trembling - Not "afraid"

After Adam and Eve were created, they walked in freedom with God. They had no reason to be afraid of God. I imagine that at first they walked in reverential awe and wonder of this God who had created them in His image and was near to them and had given them Life and freedom in paradise. However, immediately after the Fall, they suddenly became afraid of God. God called out to Adam, and Adam replied, "I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself" (Gen 3:10). Again, before that, Adam had never known "fear" (being afraid of God). I doubt that he had ever previously had the slightest inkling of hiding from God.

In Christ, it's made clear that we've been brought near to God by the blood of Jesus (Eph 2:13). He Himself is our peace (Eph 2:14). "Having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (see Rom 5:1-5). There is no reason to be afraid of the One with whom you have peace!

And yet I've seen verses such as Philippians 2:12-13 being greatly distorted by those who have preached it. "Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure."

For one thing, from what I understand, "your own salvation" is in the plural sense, as in, "you Philippians as a whole, as a body, as a church, this is something you do together." And with the phrase "work out" added in, the phrase becomes even more widely misconstrued in the church today. In the chapter, Paul is talking about the church being of one accord, having the same mind that Christ had - humbling Himself, making Himself of no reputation, etc. As saved people (not by works, but by grace through faith), they were to, as a body, work out (not work "for") what was already in them in the form of loving and serving one another in humility.  In other words, let there be an outward working (an outward showing) of the inward mind of Christ, through humility and love towards one another.

And they were to do it with fear and trembling. Does that mean "being afraid?" They had peace with God, not enmity. No reason to be afraid. They were to be of one accord with one another, not afraid of each other! With awe and reverence, love and humility - towards God and towards each other - they were to live out this salvation that had been freely given to them. And the last part of the verse is so huge as to how this all works out: "for it is God who works in you to will and to do for His good pleasure." The "working out" of our salvation is really God's work in us!

"There is no fear in love [agape]; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment." (1 John 4:18). The "afraid" kind of fear that Adam had is in diametric opposition to the "awe and reverence" kind of fear that we have in our lives in Christ. God loves us; we love Him. Jesus humbled Himself in order to give us His life. He didn't come to punish us, condemn us or torment us, but to give us perfect agape love. Our salvation is lived out, not from a position of being afraid of God, but from a position of humility, honor, awe and respect for the God who loves us and has given us His life in place of our own.

6 comments:

  1. Isn't it funny how there are preachers who command you to be afraid of God then turn around and tell you to have peace in your heart. Nothing fills my heart with peace so much as the living God who may decide He doesn't like me at any moment! Let me come boldly to the throne of anger to find help in my time of need! I'll learn to love through being afraid of Him. I'll cast out all my fears with fear.

    Pay no attention to the contradiction in my message. It's not a contradiction. It's a "paradox".

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  2. Joel--I decided to look up the Greek word for trembling. In Strong's, this is how it's defined: "used to describe the anxiety of one who distrusts his ability completely to meet all requirements, but religiously does his utmost to fulfil his duty."

    I love that! We distrust our ability to meet the requirements of God, but do our utmost to fulfill our duties. Our duty? To realize that God is the one at work in us, creating what He wants in our lives. It's a great way to look at this verse.

    And the thought that God is working in us right now , molding and shaping us into the people He wants us to be, should fill us with amazement and reverence. We are the holy ground where He is walking and working today...

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  3. Joel,
    Wonderful blog!
    As you probably know, I've been so fascinated, recently by Adam and Eve in the Garden. One reason, is that I think we can gain so much Truth in looking at the lives and relationship this couple had with Father. Knowing Truths about our Origins, is important.

    "Having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (see Rom 5:1-5). There is no reason to be afraid of the One with whom you have peace!"

    Indeed, Amen, Adam and Eve had not experienced or known fear, shame, guilt before they sinned. When they did sin, fear enentered, but when Jesus Christ came and died on the cross and rose, fear, shame and guilt died with Him, once and for all. For we believers, it is a matter of us recognizing and acknowledging this truth.

    I agree with you that 'work out your salvation" and also the term "fear" itself have been incredibly misunderstood, misused and misINTERPRETATED. In several areas throughout scripture, the word "fear" is not meant as the scary horror-type fear. No. Instead, this word means "awe," "great respect," "amazed wonder" or "great honor." One doesn't have to be a rocket-scientist to see that "scary-horror-fear" is a whole lot different than the latter adjectives I just mentioned. Yet, sadly, God's character gets misconstrued as the former.

    ""There is no fear in love [agape]; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment." (1 John 4:18). The "afraid" kind of fear that Adam had is in diametric opposition to the "awe and reverence" kind of fear that we have in our lives in Christ. God loves us; we love Him. Jesus humbled Himself in order to give us His life. He didn't come to punish us, condemn us or torment us, but to give us perfect agape love."

    Amen! Very well stated, Joel!

    Blessings,
    ~Amy :)
    http://amyiswalkinginthespirit.blogspot.com

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  4. Matthew,

    That's so true, isn't it? I'm tired of those so-called paradoxes. It's like they take a verse out of context and then apply it to a bunch of other verses in the wrong way and it's supposed to make sense or something.

    Richard,

    I thought about looking it up in the Greek, but thought I'd stick with the "awe and reverence" definition. However, I'm glad you took the time to look it up and shine better light on it! We most certainly must distrust our own ability to meet ALL requirements, and our "duty" is to trust the God who is at work in us to will and to do according to His good pleasure. We are indeed His workmanship and "in deed" His workmanship.

    Amy,

    Right on... Adam and Eve had no reason to be afraid of God, and never experienced it until the Fall. Guilt and shame entered. But then with Christ all of that fell away and we are left with a wonderful God who loves us and has removed everything that was against us and has given us peace with Him eternally. No need to ever be afraid of the One who purposefully made us to be at peace with Him! Good stuff.

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  5. Joel,
    If I can't have an intimate relationship with some one I am afraid of, how is that possible with a God? Still people, including myself, chooses fear to manipulate others to buy my product.

    BTW, I liked RefTagger and just added to my blog. I think it's a great tool.

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  6. Bino,

    Unfortunately that's very true. Fear and manipulation are alive and well in God's "free" church today. It is for freedom that He set us free, and we're not to be burdened again by a yoke of bondage (Gal 5:1), but yet the church still puts people under the law and under the bondage of fear and control as well.

    Our hope remains, in my opinion, to keep on growing in grace and freedom, and sharing the same with others.

    I like RefTagger too. I hesitated to use it at first, simply because I can only use one version of the Bible, and sometimes I like to highlight the way things are worded in other versions, but really I can do that still with my own hyperlinks and/or putting the actual text on my blog. Overall, as you say, it's a great tool.

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