The Positive and Negative Application of The Word ‘Fear’ In Scripture

To begin this study, we will lay out the two types of fear: the positive fear which produces “the love of God” (1Jo 5:2-3), and the negative fear which produces a fear of men and of being rejected by society, which makes us slaves to our own flesh and to the traditions of men (Gal 5:9-10, Col 2:8).

When seeking to understand any word of scripture, there is no greater authority than the author of all scripture, Christ Himself, who contrasts for us these two applications of this word ‘fear’:

Luk 12:4 And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do.
Luk 12:5 But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him. 

There we have our Lord’s own instructions concerning His mind about the word ‘fear’. We are clearly told, “Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you whom you SHALL fear: Fear Him, which after He has killed [the body] has power to cast into hell [Greek: Gehenna, the lake of fire]; Yes, I say to you, Fear Him.”

It is very instructive at this point to pose the question: Did Christ fear His Father? The answer to this question is found in:

Heb 5:7 Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;

Is this verse telling us that Christ was afraid of His loving heavenly Father and dreaded to approach Him for fear of His wrath? No! Absolutely not! Christ loved His Father and wanted to please Him in everything He did. 

On the other hand, does “He was heard… in that He feared” mean that Christ feared being disobedient to His Father and succumbing to His own corruptible flesh and to the fear of men, which are one and the same?

The answer is, yes, absolutely! Christ feared to disappoint His Father just as we ought to fear to disappoint our ‘Father’ Christ (Isa 9:6).

Christ’s fear of men dwindled into obscurity when compared to His fear of disappointing His Father. On the night of His apprehension by the Jews He prayed:

Luk 22:39 And he came out, and went, as he was wont, to the mount of Olives; and his disciples also followed him.
Luk 22:40 And when he was at the place, he said unto them, Pray that ye enter not into temptation. 
Luk 22:41 And he was withdrawn from them about a stone’s cast, and kneeled down, and prayed, 
Luk 22:42 Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. 
Luk 22:43 And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him. 
Luk 22:44 And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.
Luk 22:45 And when he rose up from prayer, and was come to his disciples, he found them sleeping for sorrow,

Matthew tells us that Christ told His disciples at this time:

Mat 26:38 Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me.

The words of Luke 12:4-5 telling us not to fear men, but to fear God, are being spoken to the Lord’s “friends” whom He no longer calls servants but ‘friends’ because He is showing them everything His Father has shown Him.

Joh 15:14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
Joh 15:15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.

‘Friends’ do not fear to be in each other’s company. They come together so much the more as they see the day approaching… speaking often one to another, because they are friends (Mal 3:15-17 and Heb 10:25).

So, our Lord Himself “was heard [of His Father] in that He feared”, and He is telling His “friends” to follow His example and “Be not afraid of [men]… but… fear God” who can cast into Gehenna after the death of this physical body.

The fact is the ‘fear of God’ is an essential part of our faith, our perfection and our submission to “the Lord and His Christ”. It is the wicked who have no fear of God:

Rom 3:18 There is no fear of God before their eyes [those “under sin”, the wicked (vs 9)].

2Co 7:1 Having therefore these promises [of God dwelling within us, 1Co 6:19], dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God

Eph 5:21 Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.

If we are “perfected in holiness in the fear of God”, and if we are “cleansed from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit [by] perfecting holiness in the fear of God”, then this “fear of God”, the ‘fear’ Christ commands us to have, is a fear which is the very mind of Christ, which is also the mind of His Father. This is a ‘fear’ which makes the fear of men non-existent by comparison to what we fear if we blatantly disobey our heavenly Father and fear men more than our Lord and His Father. 

Look at how the holy spirit lauds “the fear of the Lord”:

Psa 19:9 The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD [Luk 12:4-5] are true and righteous altogether.

Psa 34:11 Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the LORD.

Psa 111:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever.

Pro 1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Who does not want to be clean before the Lord and be growing in the wisdom and knowledge of the Lord?

This is just how valuable “the fear of God” is:

Job 28:28 And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.

Here is the New Testament version of Job 28:28; the fear of the Lord is wisdom which, through knowing of His chastening grace, makes us forsake ungodliness and worldly lusts and makes us live soberly, righteously and godly and makes us “depart from evil” in this present age:

Tit 2:11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 
Tit 2:12 Teaching [Greek: chastening] us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world [Greek: ‘aion’, age];

The “fear of God” produces obedience to God, and obedience to God is defined as “the love of God”:

1Jn 5:2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.
1Jn 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.

The fear of the Lord is to hate evil:

Pro 8:13 The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and this is the fruit of that wisdom:

Pro 10:27 The fear of the LORD prolongeth days: but the years of the wicked shall be shortened.

Pro 14:26 In the fear of the LORD is strong confidence: and his children shall have a place of refuge.
Pro 14:27 The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death.

Pro 15:16 Better is little with the fear of the LORD than great treasure and trouble therewith.

Pro 15:33 The fear of the LORD is the instruction of wisdom; and before honour is humility.

Pro 16:6 By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil.

Pro 19:23 The fear of the LORD tendeth life and he that hath it shall abide satisfied; he shall not be visited with evil.

Pro 22:4 By humility and the fear of the LORD are riches, and honour, and life.

Pro 23:17 Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the LORD all the day long.

The fear of the Lord is both an Old and a New Testament doctrine. In the Old Testament we learn that the spirit of the Lord which rests upon Him is “the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord” making the Lord and His Christ “of quick understanding” and able to make the right decision in a timely manner, as the Lord wills:

Isa 11:2 And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD;

Isa 11:3 And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears:

“The fear of the Lord is [the] treasure [of] the Lord and His Christ”.

Isa 33:6 And wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times, and strength of salvation: the fear of the LORD is his treasure.

In the New Testament we are told the fear of the Lord produces the comfort of the holy spirit:

Act 9:31 Then had the churches rest throughout all Judæa and Galilee and Samaria, and were edified; and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied.

Repeating what we have already seen, in the Old Testament we are told:

Pro 16:6 By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil.

This is in complete accord with John’s definition of Godly love in:

1Jn 5:2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.
1Jn 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.

The phrase “fear God” is in the scriptures ten times. The phrase “the fear of the Lord” is found in 30 verses, and the phrase ‘fear of God’ is found in 8 verses for a total of 48 verses, all used in a positive context.

The phrase and command to “fear not” appears in 62 verses and is always an exhortation to “fear not” what the future holds or what men can do to you, while always, at the same time exhorting us that we need to “fear not” if, and as long as we “fear God”, as this verse exemplifies:

Exo 20:20 And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not.

Clearly, we can now see that if we love God and keep His commandments then we will “fear not [anything in this world], that His fear may be before [our] faces, that [we] sin not.”

So, in 1^st John 4, just one chapter before we are given the Biblical definition of what “the love of God” is, we are told, by the same holy spirit:

1Jn 4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. 

In the light of all the verses we have quoted to this point, what is the holy spirit telling us here in this verse of 1^st John?

Applying the principle of “the sum of thy Word is Truth” (Psa 119:160 ASV), and considering the fact that Christ Himself tells us to “Fear [God] who after He has killed [the body] can also cast into Gehenna fire… fear Him”, it is obvious that it is neither adding to nor taking from this verse of 1^st John 4 to make it read thusly:

1Jn 4:18 There is no fear [of men] in love; but perfect love casteth out [the] fear [of men]: because [the] fear [of men] hath torment. He that feareth [men] is not made perfect in love. 

This same apostle, under the inspiration of the holy spirit, in the very next chapter tells us:

1Jn 5:2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.
1Jn 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.

“That we keep His commandments” would certainly include the commandment we just read:

Exo 20:20 And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not.

‘The love of God is that we keep His commandments would also certainly include this ‘commandment’ which is placed at the very end of the book of Ecclesiastes:

Ecc 12:13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.

And of course Christ’s own commandment:

Luk 12:4 And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do.
Luk 12:5 But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.

There we have it. If we are obedient to our Lord and His Father, we will be keeping His commandments, by both loving Him and fearing Him, just as our Lord set us an example.

Heb 5:7 Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;

Christ “was heard in that He feared” is not saying He feared men. That is the fear that causes torment. Here are a few of the things “the fear of God” accomplishes in us and produces for us:

Rev 11:18  And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.

Rev 14:7 Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.

Rev 15:4 Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest. 

These words are all coming from the same apostle John who tells us that the perfect love of God, ‘the fear of God’, casts out fear which ‘fear’ has torment, which is “the fear of man” more than “the fear of God”.

We cannot praise God if we do not fear Him:

Rev 19:1  AND after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God:
Rev 19:2  For true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand.
Rev 19:3 And again they said, Alleluia. And her smoke rose up for ever and ever.
Rev 19:4 And the four and twenty elders and the four beasts fell down and worshipped God that sat on the throne, saying, Amen; Alleluia.
Rev 19:5 And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great. 

When we have the mind of Christ, we have the mind of God, and we do not go around shaking in our boots thinking we might lose our salvation. But we do go around, as the three Hebrew children who are far more concerned about falling out of favor with our heavenly Father than we are with falling out of favor with any of the rulers of this world.

Just remember the confidence Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were given by having “the fear of God” which is exactly how we, too, can walk if we fear God more than man:

Pro 14:26 In the fear of the LORD is strong confidence: and his children shall have a place of refuge.
Pro 14:27 The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death.

In Christ we can enter boldly into the throne of grace because we have these promises:

Isa 41:10 Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

Isa 41:13 For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.
Isa 41:14 Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the LORD , and thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.

I will close this study with the context of Christ’s commandment to fear God, and in doing so we will demonstrate the comfort and confidence which the fear of God gives us as we read in Acts:

Act 9:31 Then had the churches rest throughout all Judæa and Galilee and Samaria, and were edified; and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied.

Here now is the context of the Lord’s commandment “whom ye shall fear… fear Him…”:

Luk 12:1 IN the mean time, when there were gathered together an innumerable multitude of people, insomuch that they trode one upon another, he began to say unto his disciples first of all, Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.
Luk 12:2 For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known.
Luk 12:3 Therefore whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light; and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops.
Luk 12:4 And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do.
Luk 12:5 But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.
Luk 12:6 Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God?
Luk 12:7 But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows.

The Lord cares even for the sparrows, but He cares much more for us, and His concern for us is so intense that He knows at any moment the exact number of hairs on our heads. He will help us, and we have nothing to fear of men if we fear Him more than men.

We have fought this heavenly battle before and several of our brothers and sisters left our fellowship over this very discussion. Let no one tell you that ‘Perfect love cast out the fear of the Lord’ when the truth is that “in the fear of the Lord is great confidence”which saves us “from the snares of death”:

Pro 14:26 In the fear of the LORD is strong confidence: and his children shall have a place of refuge.
Pro 14:27 The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death.