A group of pastors and Bible scholars put out a documentary film opposing Once Saved, Always Saved (OSAS). They suggest that the fear of the Lord includes being scared that He will send you to hell if you fall away (see here).
Is that true? Should we be afraid that God will send us to hell if we backslide? Let’s consider the Biblical understanding of the fear of the Lord.
Here is how Gotquestions.org defines the fear of God (see here):
“Believers are not to be scared of God. We have no reason to be scared of Him. We have His promise that nothing can separate us from His love (Romans 8:38-39). We have His promise that He will never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). Fearing God means having a reverence for Him that greatly impacts the way we live. The fear of God is respecting Him, obeying Him, submitting to His discipline, and worshiping Him in awe.”
That is a fairly common understanding, and it matches the Scriptures.
The expressions the fear of God and the fear of the Lord are synonymous.
The former expression is found five times in the OT and three times in the NT. The latter expression occurs twenty-six times in the OT and once in the NT. (Both expressions occur more than that if we include texts that convey that idea without using the exact expression.)
All but one of the twenty-six OT references to the fear of the Lord refer to Jewish people who were part of the covenant nation. They are all sanctification verses. Not one states the condition for everlasting life.
The one reference that concerns Gentile unbelievers shows that they were in awe of the God of Judah and afraid of opposing Him. Second Chronicles 17:10 says, “The fear of the Lord fell on all the kingdoms of the lands that were around Judah, so they did not make war against Jehoshaphat.” As can be seen in this example, fear of the Lord does include fear of what He might do if we fight against Him.
Fear of the Lord is reverence and awe of Him. How great is our God!
Do you fear God? Do you kneel in awe before Him? Do you revere Him? Do you hallow His name? Do you sing, “Our God is an awesome God,” and mean it? Are you afraid of the consequences if you were to rebel against Him?
The fear of the Lord is a key to growing and moving forward in the Christian life. But it is not a condition of everlasting life.
Because He has promised that believers will never perish, fearing God does not mean fearing eternal condemnation (John 3:16; 5:24; 6:35, 37, 47; 11:26). But fearing God does include fearing the consequences we will reap if we fight against Him. We do not wish to be the Prodigal Son. We know that his experience in the spiritual far country was painful. Fellowship with God is far better than the passing pleasures of sin.
Keep grace in focus.
