{"id":24,"date":"2008-01-25T15:59:31","date_gmt":"2008-01-25T23:59:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/biblefreak.org\/words\/archives\/24"},"modified":"2026-04-15T23:22:38","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T07:22:38","slug":"fear-lord","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/biblefreak.org\/words\/?p=24","title":{"rendered":"THE FEAR OF THE LORD"},"content":{"rendered":"

A study by Kent Wilkens<\/a>
\nKent was an influence in my life for many years, as a God fearing and Bible loving child of the light. The study presented below (and commented on by me at the end,) was written in the Mid 1980’s. (Funny thing how the truth remains relevant, forever.) Kent has been blessed with a wonderful family and an artist’s heart and talents. Please visit his site to review his awesome art<\/a>, and learn a bit more about the man.<\/p>\n

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What is it? Does it apply to Christians? If so why should we fear God? What are the benefits? Are there any other practical applications?Since I have this most peculiar habit of turning to the word of God for such answers (happen to believe that 2 Timothy 3:16-17 has some meaning behind it), I will share with you what I have found. Because of the large number of scriptures on this subject, I will quote only one from the O.T. and one from the N.T. for each aspect that I will look at.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

THE BEGINNING OF KNOWLEDGE <\/strong><\/p>\n

PROVERBS 1:7 NKJV The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.<\/p>\n

PHILIPPIANS 2:12 NKJV 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;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

SHOULD WE FEAR GOD? <\/strong><\/p>\n

JOSHUA 4:24 NKJV “that all the peoples of the earth may know the hand of the Lord, that it is mighty, that you may fear the Lord your God forever.”<\/p>\n

MATTHEW 10:28 NKJV “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

WAS IT A COMMAND? <\/strong><\/p>\n

DEUTERONOMY 10:12 NKJV “And now, Israel, what does the Lord God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul,<\/p>\n

1 PETER 2:17 NKJV Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

WHY SHOULD WE FEAR GOD? <\/strong><\/p>\n

PSALM 76:7-12 NKJV 7 You, Yourself, are to be feared; And who may stand in Your presence When once You are angry? 8 You caused judgement to be heard from heaven; the earth feared and was still, 9 When God arose to judgment, To deliver all the oppressed of the earth. Selah 10 Surely the wrath of man shall praise You; With the remainder of wrath You shall gird Yourself. 11 Make vows to the Lord your God, and pay them; Let all who are around Him bring presents to Him who ought to be feared. 12 He shall cut off the spirit of princes; He is terrible to the kings of the earth.<\/p>\n

2 CORINTHIANS 5:10-11 NKJV 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. 11 Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are well known to God, and I trust are well known in your consciences.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

SHOULD WE FEAR ANYTHING ELSE? <\/strong><\/p>\n

ISAIAH 8:12-13 NKJV 12 “Do not say, ‘A conspiracy,’ Concerning all that this people call a conspiracy, Nor be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled. 13 The Lord of hosts, Him you shall hallow; Let Him be your fear, And let Him be your dread.<\/p>\n

LUKE 12:4-5 NKJV 4 “And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. 5 “But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

WHEN SHOULD WE FEAR GOD? <\/strong><\/p>\n

DEUTERONOMY 4:10 NKJV “especially concerning the day you stood before the Lord your God in Horeb, when the Lord said to me, ‘Gather the people to Me, and I will let them hear My words, that they may learn to fear Me all the days they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children.’<\/p>\n

1 PETER 1:17 NKJV And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your sojourning here in fear;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

WHAT IS THE MAJOR PRACTICAL BENEFIT OF THIS DOCTRINE?<\/strong><\/p>\n

PROVERBS 16:6 NKJV In mercy and truth Atonement is provided for iniquity; And by the fear of the Lord one departs from evil.<\/p>\n

2 CORINTHIANS 7:1 NKJV Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

SOME OTHER PRACTICAL BENEFITS <\/strong><\/p>\n

PSALM 34:9 NKJV Oh, fear the Lord, you His saints! There is no want to those who fear Him.<\/p>\n

LUKE 1:50 NKJV And His mercy is on those who fear Him From generation to generation.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

WERE PEOPLE CHOSEN BECAUSE OF THIS <\/strong><\/p>\n

EXODUS 18:21 NKJV “Moreover you shall select from all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.<\/p>\n

ACTS 10:35 NKJV “But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

HOW DO WE LEARN TO FEAR THE LORD? <\/strong><\/p>\n

PROVERBS 2:1-5 NKJV 1 My son, if you receive my words, And treasure my commands within you, 2 So that you incline your ear to wisdom, And apply your heart to understanding; 3 Yes, if you cry out for discernment, And lift up your voice for understanding, 4 If you seek her as silver, And search for her as for hidden treasures; 5 Then you will understand the fear of the Lord,<\/p>\n

ROMANS 11:19-22 NKJV 19 You will say then, “Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in.” 20 Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear. 21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either. 22 Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

WHY DO SOME OF US NOT FEAR GOD? <\/strong><\/p>\n

ISAIAH 57:11 NKJV “And of whom have you been afraid, or feared that you have lied And not remembered Me, Nor taken it to your heart? Is it not because I have held My peace from of old That you do not fear Me?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

HAND IN HAND WITH FEAR:
\nFEAR GOD AND KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS <\/strong><\/p>\n

DEUTERONOMY 5:29 NKJV ‘Oh, that they had such a heart in them that they would fear Me and always keep all My commandments, that it might be well with them and with their children forever!<\/p>\n

ACTS 10:35 NKJV “But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

WHO WILL FEAR HIM<\/strong><\/p>\n

PSALM 33:8 NKJV Let all the earth fear the Lord; Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.<\/p>\n

REVELATION 15:4 NKJV Who shall not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy. For all nations shall come and worship before You, For Your judgements have been manifested.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

DOES THIS FEAR HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH THE GOSPEL? <\/strong><\/p>\n

REVELATION 14:6-7 NKJV 6 Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth– to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people–7 saying with a loud voice, “Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgement has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

DOES IT HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH SALVATION? <\/strong><\/p>\n

PSALM 85:9 NKJV Surely His salvation is near to those who fear Him, That glory may dwell in our land.<\/p>\n

PHILIPPIANS 2:12 NKJV 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;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

TO WHOM DOES GOD SHOW MERCY<\/strong><\/p>\n

PSALM 33:18 NKJV Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, On those who hope in His mercy,<\/p>\n

PSALM 103:11 NKJV For as the heavens are high above the earth, So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him;<\/p>\n

PSALM 103:17 NKJV But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting On those who fear Him, And His righteousness to children’s children,<\/p>\n

PSALM 118:4 NKJV Let those who fear the Lord now say, “His mercy endures forever.”<\/p>\n

PSALM 147:11 NKJV The Lord takes pleasure in those who fear Him, In those who hope in His mercy.<\/p>\n

LUKE 1:50 NKJV And His mercy is on those who fear Him From generation to generation.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

DID THE ENTIRE NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH FEAR GOD? <\/strong><\/p>\n

ACTS 2:43 NKJV Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles.
\nACTS 5:5,11 NKJV 5 Then Ananias, hearing these words, fell down and breathed his last. So great fear came upon all those who heard these things. 11 So great fear came upon all the church and upon all who heard these things.
\nACTS 9:31 NKJV Then the churches throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and were edified. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, they were multiplied.
\nACTS 19:17 NKJV This became known both to all Jews and Greeks welling in Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Kent’s Comments <\/strong><\/p>\n

When was the last time you heard this message in a sermon. For me it has been so very seldom that I cant remember one instance, but I am sure there were, just as I have read these scriptures many times and never really understood them. When I consider the spiritual state of the church and the average Christian today I can say in most cases “There is no fear of God before their eyes”(ROM 3:18 NKJV).<\/p>\n

I consider my own spiritual state, on this subject and I cannot say that I have been “perfecting holiness in the fear of God”(2 COR 7:1 NKJV).<\/p>\n

I cannot agree with Paul when he says “Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord”(2 COR 5:11 NKJV).<\/p>\n

I cannot say along with Peter that I have been “conducting myself throughout the time of my sojourning here in fear;”(1 PET 1:17) (PARAPHARSED)<\/p>\n

If the “fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge”(the Hebrew word for beginning is the same one used for the beginning of the word of God and creation itself “In the beginning”) and you make claims to being a Christian and do not fear God, then I would say that you are not wise. How many of us Christians do all kinds of good deeds, in the name of the Lord, and then turn around and do something abominable. How many of us practice what we preach one day and don’t the next. I have found that doing good as a Christian is usually rather easy, but I have also found that “keeping oneself unspotted from the world”(JAMES 1:27) is a rather difficult proposition to maintain. Is it possible? The answer now seems to be clear.<\/p>\n

Is it the end of religious knowledge? No, just a beginning, but without it have we truly begun?<\/p>\n

I could go on but I think I would prefer to hear some replies (affirmations, constructive criticism, rebuttals) before I put into writing any further insights on the meaning and application of such a sober doctrine.<\/p>\n

May the mercy, grace and peace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you and in you!<\/p>\n

Selah<\/p>\n

P.S. PRAY FOR, OR DESIRE A PERSONAL EXPERIENCE OF THE FEAR OF THE LORD IN YOUR LIFE, ABOUT AS OFTEN AS YOU WOULD FLY A KITE IN A LIGHTNING STORM. IT IS SIMILAR TO PRAYING FOR PATIENCE. LET HIS FEAR COME FROM A TRUE UNDERSTANDING OF HIS WORD, BY STUDY. LET THE CHANGE BE IN THE HEART, BROUGHT ABOUT BY THE WORD OF GOD AND THE MINISTRY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.<\/p>\n

BibleFreak’s Comments <\/strong><\/p>\n

I thank God for Kent’s commitment to keeping the Word as his primary source of encouragement. There are no few Christians today substituting their “view” or “understanding” for the plain Word of Truth.<\/p>\n

Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.(AV)
\nJohn 17:17<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The sanctification of man comes not through the well-meaning efforts of Christians. The acts of the truly converted are evident in the actions of Love that account to the work of faith, not dependent upon the will of caregivers, mothers, father, or ministers; instead the actions of Love which are the result of-<\/p>\n

God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.(AV)
\nPhilippians 2:13<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Contact Info<\/p>\n

KentWilkens@aol.com<\/p>\n

BibleFreak@biblefreak.org<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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