No Fear

II Timothy 1:7

by David A. DePra

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and

of love, and of a sound mind. 

     Did you know that fear is never of God? Never? Ever?

That's right. Fear is NEVER of God. That's because there is

nothing in God which can possibly provoke fear in us. John

wrote this Truth. He said things like, "God is love," and then,

"Perfect loves casts out fear." (see I John 4:16-19) This Truth

is all through the Bible. There is simply nothing about God, if we

really know Him, which could cause us to be afraid of Him.

Rather, if I know God, I will love Him.

     There is, of course, a proper "fear" of God. But this is more

of a reverence of God; a great value we place upon Him. One

good way to contrast the right fear or reverence of God to the

wrong kind of fear of Him is to use the following illustration.

The WRONG kind of fear of God will cause us to want

to run away and hide from Him.

The RIGHT kind of fear of God will cause us to want

to run towards Him with our sin, needs, and worship.

     We see both of these extremes portrayed in the Bible. After

Adam sinned, his first reaction was to run and hide himself from

God, lest God see his moral nakedness. This is the wrong kind

of fear. But then we see other instances where people received

a revelation of God and it resulted in repentance and restoration.

That is the right kind of fear. It motivates us to give ourselves

to God, sin and all.

     All of us are born with the wrong kind of fear governing our

lives. That's part of the sin nature. The only way out is to grow

in the true knowledge of God through His Son. Through Christ,

we should receive a revelation, howbeit elementary at first, of

God's true intentions towards us. And it should be a knowledge

of God which is merely the beginning of a lifelong process.

Sometimes, however, things don't seem to work this way for

us. Despite being saved, some of us continue to walk under fear

and condemnation in our daily Christian lives. We do this

despite knowing the FACT that there is no condemnation for

those in Christ, and that fear is never of God. Somehow,

knowing the facts doesn't seem to help us live them out.

     What is the solution to this dilemma? Well, the need here is

really a simple one: Faith. We need to start believing what God

has said, not just as a "fact on paper," but in practical living. We

need to understand that fear and condemnation are TESTS to

the faith we say we have. They are contradictions to the Truth

which God permits to come upon us. Only if we stand against

them in Christ will we share in His victory over them.

     How should I then handle fear and condemnation? Well, I

should first make sure that I believe what God has said about

them: That they are NEVER of Him. That they are LIES. They

are contradictions to the finished work of Jesus Christ. And once

I know this is so, then I should treat them as I would treat any

other lie. How is that? By arguing with them? No. By attacking

them? No. I handle lies by STANDING AGAINST THEM in the

Truth. I destroy them by neglect. I ignore their suggestions.

     The Christian life is a continual STAND against lies and

contradictions to the Truth about God. The lies may not stop

coming at us in this life.  But the Truth in Christ is eternal.