“Do not fear those who kill the body, but are unable to kill the soul, but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”
There’s a big difference between fearing God and being afraid. After receiving the Ten Commandments from God, Moses came down from the mountain and appeared before the Israelites. Witnessing thunder, lightning and the manifest presence of God caused them to tremble with fear that God would destroy them. “Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning’” (Exodus 20:20 NIV). Don’t be afraid but fear God? Sounds like a contradiction but it’s not. God doesn’t want us to be afraid of him; he invites us to approach him yet at the same time he wants us to be obedient to him, respect him and avoid the consequences of sin.
“There is a fear that is slavish,” writes John Piper, “that drives us away from God, and there is a fear that is sweet and draws us to God … God means for His power and holiness to kindle fear in us, not to drive us from Him, but to drive us to Him. His anger is against those who forsake Him and love other things more.”
Actually, proper fear of God leads us to courage. As men who fear God, we are not to fear other men—what they may say or think about us. When our focus is on God and on doing His will, our fear of God (that drives us to Him) overshadows our fear of man. Then we are free to serve God all out, regardless of the outcome. “Do not fear those who kill the body, but are unable to kill the soul,” Jesus taught, “but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28). Our fear of God should produce boldness in the face of men that would oppose us.
In our hearts, we know we ought to fear God, but our fleshy nature battles against us in an attempt to keep us from doing so. In the same way as men, we know instinctively that we ought to be courageous, but again, we are caught in the conflict between flesh and spirit–between what we know we ought to do and what we often choose to do. Instead of acting with courage, men today too often choose not to act at all.
In the face of danger, in the face of adversity, a man is to respond in courage. To stand up and do the right thing at the right time. If a husband is going to fulfill his calling to love and lead his wife, he is going to need to draw on his courage and convictions. He will have to stay alert to spiritual and physical danger. He will have to stand firm in the faith and to lovingly lead his wife to stand firm with him. He will have to be courageous and act like a man.
It takes courage to stand in the face of an ungodly culture where, “evil men and seducers [are waxing] worse and worse” (2 Tim. 3:13) and say “No” to “the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life” (1 John 2:16).
Let me fear only those things that drive me to boldness in God.
This devotional is an excerpt from Ignite Your Faith by Dr. Tim Clinton & Max Davis.
