Can A Miracle Help Win Sceptics?

More often, I find myself thinking that if God likes He can perform so many miracles so that He can win as many people as possible. There are even non-believers who concede that if they can see a profound miracle, they would believe. But is this so? Can proliferation of miracles also mean profusion of people getting saved. Below, I attempt to answer the question:

Can Miracles Help Win Sceptics?

The answer is ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ depending on what type of sceptic one is dealing with. There are basically three types of sceptics:

i) Malicious,

ii) Judicious, and

iii) Capricious.

i) Malicious Sceptics

This group can be described as “pathologically Christophobic”. Even at the face of evidence, a malicious sceptic would rather fudge than budge. They hate to concede to a competing camp. They are prejudiced and will do anything to eliminate or compromise the evidence. They have made up their mind and are willing to pay the price. They are avowed diehards, stuck in denial. They are self-deceived; sympathizers with their cause and loyal to their gratifications.

At the inauguration of the Church, this group was represented by the Pharisees who hated Jesus and His mission that they wouldn’t concede a ground regardless of what happened. They hated Him so much that they flouted the very law they were championing (bearing false witness) just to have Him fixed.

There are many examples where a miracle happened but the malicious sceptics remained adamant. For instance, consider their agitation when Lazarus was raised from the dead:

“Then many of the Jews which came to Mary, and had seen the things which Jesus did, believed on him. But some of them went their ways to the Pharisees, and told them what things Jesus had done. Then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a council, and said, What do we? for this man doeth many miracles. If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him...”—John 11:45-48 (KJV).

“But the chief priests consulted that they might put Lazarus also to death; Because that by reason of him many of the Jews went away, and believed on Jesus”—John 12:10-11 (KJV).

ii) Judicious Sceptics:

They face the evidence and concede if the evidence stands the scrutiny. They don’t look for excuses to shoot down the evidence but objectively consider it. They are willing to follow the evidence even when it is leading them to defect into a camp that was initially opposed to their convictions. Some of them are sceptics because they are not exposed, while others it is a result of being ‘careful’. One cannot believe ‘everything’ being passed around. There has to be some manner of testing. It is biblical to test all spirits (1 John 4:1).

Nathanael is an example of a judicious sceptic. When his brother Philip told him about finding the One of whom the law and the prophets did write, Jesus of Nazareth, Nathanael responded: “Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?” (John 1:46). He was sceptic about Nazareth producing anything good. He, however, accepted his brother’s invitation to ‘come and see’ for himself. When Jesus spoke into his life, he didn’t allow his scepticism to block him from facing and considering the ‘evidence’. He accepted Jesus as the Son of God (John 1:45-49).

Nicodemus is another example of a judicious sceptic. He went against the grain of the pharisaic spirit. He went to Christ and kind of said: I’m willing to give You a chance because I can’t shun the evidence—the miracles You perform attest to the fact that God is with You (see John 3:1-2).

We read in Acts 5:12, “And by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people;...” Typical of the high priests and the Sadducees (the malicious sceptics), they never liked what the apostles were doing. They had them arrested and incarcerated. Even after an angel got the apostles out of a secure jail, the malicious sceptics still couldn’t back down. Amongst them, however, arose Gamaliel, a judicious sceptic who talked some sense into the incensed malicious sceptics.

“But a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, who was honoured by all the people, stood up in the Sanhedrin and ordered that the men be put outside for a little while. Then he addressed them: ‘Men of Israel, consider carefully what you intend to do to these men. Some time ago Theudas appeared, claiming to be somebody, and about four hundred men rallied to him. He was killed, all his followers were dispersed, and it all came to nothing. After him, Judas the Galilean appeared in the days of the census and led a band of people in revolt. He too was killed, and all his followers were scattered. Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.’ His speech persuaded them. They called the apostles in and had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go”—Acts 5:34-40 (NIV).

iii) Capricious Sceptics:

They are impulsive and unpredictable. Like pendulum they dangle from one end to another. They don’t deny the evidence (miracle), however, the evidence doesn’t leave any permanent mark on them, that is, they don’t commit themselves to the cause for which a miracle is a testimony. They may respond to the dictates that result from the heat of the moment but they soon relapse into their everyday life. They also have the tendency of bowing to the secular authorities when the latter coerce or entice them.

For some of them, miracles are just occasions for ‘entertainment.’ This group is represented by the Israelites behaviour as they left Egypt. God had wrought diverse miracles to have them released from captivity. He also provided for them miraculously, but despite all this, they kept on complaining and sinning against God. They would pledge their allegiance to God immediately after a miracle but soon forget about it and instead find new things to complain about. Compare for example Exodus 19:4-8; 24:3 and 32:1).

Some of the Pharisees also demonstrated this behaviour. They kept on asking Christ to perform miracles, even after they had already seen some. The reason they were asking for miracles was not because they wanted to change, or endorse Christ, they just wanted to be ‘entertained’.

In Matthew 12, we see the exchanges between Jesus and the Pharisees and the Scribes in relation to miracles and the Sabbath. In verses 9-13, Jesus willingly steps into a trap. The Pharisees had asked Him if it was right to heal on the Sabbath. Though He knew that healing on the Sabbath would annoy the Pharisees, He went ahead and did it. He then took the opportunity to teach them with practical illustrations how they would work on the Sabbath to rescue a sheep but are offended when a human being is rescued. How can it be that a life of an animal is more important to them than the life of a human being? At this point, a judicious sceptic would be won by the soundness of Christ’s reasoning. What followed was an elaborate teaching where Christ justified His actions as He warned His detractors against idle talk and convoluted reasoning. They had maintained that Christ was performing miracles using Beelzebub’s powers. In an interesting turn of events, these people interrupt Jesus’ teaching asking for a miracle. It is like they were saying: We don’t want to listen to Your teachings, we want to see Your miracles.

“Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee. But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas”—Matthew 12:38-39 (KJV).

Is it any wonder that Jesus refused to perform any more miracles on this day? These people had already seen miracles, but it didn’t help them. Instead of listening to the teachings, they wanted to see miracles. Although Jesus declined to perform any miracle for them but that they would only see the sigh of Jonah, they were at it again (see Matthew 16:4).

There are people who may ask for miracles when what they need is to listen to the Word. Well, the sign of Jonah did come to pass, but what was the effect?

Another compelling example of the capricious sceptics is recorded in John 6. In verse 10, Jesus multiplies the five small barley loaves and two small fish to feed the multitude. This miracle impressed them. Consider their response:

“After the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus did, they began to say, ‘Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.’ Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself”—John 6:14-15 (NIV).

The following day, the same people follow Christ to Capernaum on the other side of the sea. He discerns that they have forgotten about the miracles they saw hardly one day ago. The idea of making Him king by force has also faded. What was now important for them was food.

“When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, ‘Rabbi, when did you get here?’ Jesus answered, ‘I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill’”—John 6:25-26 (NIV).

When Christ challenged them to believe in Him (v. 29), they turned around and asked for another round of miracles. What about the miracle they had already seen? Will these people be sustained in their belief by ceaseless display of miracles or by constantly lending their ear to the Word and hearkening unto it? What capricious sceptics they were!

Another example is that of the soldiers who allowed themselves to be compromised even after witnessing Jesus’ resurrection.

“Now when they were going, behold, some of the watch came into the city, and shewed unto the chief priests all the things that were done. And when they were assembled with the elders, and had taken counsel, they gave large money unto the soldiers, Saying, Say ye, His disciples came by night, and stole him away while we slept. And if this come to the governor’s ears, we will persuade him, and secure you. So they took the money, and did as they were taught: and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day”—Matthew 28:11-15 (KJV).

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This article is an excerpt from the book: “Fundamentals of Balanced Christianity”.

The Contradiction of Invoking God’s Name

 

In my book, A Life of an Enthusiastic Worship, I discourage people from using the name of God in vain. For example, it is not reverential to use God’s name for exclamatory purposes. Despite the call to revere God’s name, expressions like Oh my God are very common even in very mundane contexts. Interestingly, this phrase is common even among the so-called atheists.

Recently, I found a comment in the social media where an atheist (so-called) was trying to justify or perhaps just making fun of their use of the expression Oh my God. This is what the person wrote:

“People ask why, as an atheist, I still say: OH MY GOD. ... It makes perfect sense. We say “Oh my God” when something is UNBELIEVABLE.”

When the person thought that he could get away with it, let’s analyze the above and show that the same statement can be used to convict them. When they say ‘Oh my God’ to express that something is unbelievable, aren’t they expressing ‘shock’ at the REALITY of the “unbelievable”? In other words, the expression is uttered when one comes face-to-face with something that was supposed to be unbelievable but has turned out to be ‘real’.

In the Bible, Thomas who thought that the story of Jesus’ resurrection was “unbelievable” cried out almost the same words (OMG) when the REALITY of Jesus’ resurrection hit him. He said: “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:24-29).

When I posted a comment on the social media showing that the so-called atheist concedes to the reality of God when he invokes God’s name because of an “unbelievable” thing, a ‘friend’ replied:

“sigh. once again the unbelievable is not and can never be reality. e.g. oh my god! is=to a pink dragon! are pink dragons reality? no. duh”. I was not quite sure I understood what she was talking about. I responded: “I don’t know what you are talking about. Don’t convolute the argument. Philosophical honesty dictates that one cannot affirm a negative in the absolute, as you are trying to do.”

And that did it. She was offended. Here was her response: “one cannot affirm a negative in the absolute nor a positive dude. However, let’s not be pals. Seriously this is just tedious.” With that she unfriended and blocked me. Was that really enough to send her packing? Interesting!

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See more in MISTAKE GOD NEVER MADE

THE FEAR OF GOD: IS IT REVERENCE OR DREAD?

Note to the reader: 

i) All scripture quotations unless otherwise specified are from King James Version of the Holy Bible (KJV).

ii) Italicized portions of the Scripture quotations are author's emphasis.

ii) This article is an excerpt from the book: “Fundamentals of Balanced Christianity”.

—Chapter 11—

  

Fear is not just provoked by an imminence of punishment or danger. It is, however, the instability and anxiety that result when one betrays the conscience and strays from the benevolence.

Sanctify the LORD of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.

(Isaiah 8:13).

When the Bible Doesn’t Say it the Way We Want it Said

T

he Bible talks a lot about fearing God. In fact, the Bible says that it is the beginning of wisdom, knowledge and understanding (Ps. 111:10, Prov. 1:7; 9:10). There are so many other promises made to those who fear God, I may not exhaust them here.

This fear must be a combination of both reverence and dread. I came to this position after looking at the circumstances around and context in which it is used. If there is no element of dread in the fear of God, then it is in the domain of those who understand the original languages of the Bible to understand it.

I will not go into the luxury of analysing the meaning of this word from the original languages. The reason is that they are not languages I understand and I wouldn’t know whether they are correctly translated or not. This, however, doesn’t disqualify us who don’t understand Hebrew and Greek from figuring out what the Bible is talking about when it refers to the fear of God. Another reason is that I have realised that sometimes Bible teachers and commentators blame translational difficulties and dishonesties when the Bible is not saying what they wanted it to say. This doesn’t mean that there aren’t some genuine cases where translation missed a point or two, here and there. My general position, however, is that the Holy Spirit who inspired the original writers didn’t take a holiday during translation—He must have inspired the translators as well. If a genuine translator inadequately or wrongly translates a word or a concept, it may still not dismantle the fundamentals of the belief. The Bible says that the solid foundation of God’s Word stands (2 Tim. 2:19). Our loving heavenly Father will not disqualify us based on some insignificant technicalities. That said, it will be dishonest to claim that there are no cases where translators have tried to push their own agendas. There are many Bible versions and translations out there that intentionally mistranslate God’s Word. In such cases, the fraud is conspicuously glaring that it doesn’t even need a revisit to the original languages of the Bible to see it.

In this chapter, I intend to help the reader figure out what the fear of God means as we look at the Scripture in context and what instinct tells us about relating with a higher authority. In the process, I will also look at the causes and justification of the fear of God in the new dispensation. I am going to do this because the meaning of this fear seems to be either nonchalantly lost or roundly renounced in the light of other scriptures that make God so “friendly” and “harmless”; one we can almost relate with as a buddy or pal; one whose name we throw into conversations for exclamatory purposes devoid of reverence and worship.

Mutually Inclusive

I noted above that the fear of God must be a blend of both reverence and dread. If it is a dread, it comes naturally following our realisation that we are either not right with God or at the verge of falling out with Him. If it is a reverence, it comes as a result of steadfast devotion. In the latter case, the revelation of God’s holiness and magnificence leaves a man transfixed with both reverence and fright. Look at Isaiah’s experience:

In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the LORD sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.

—Isaiah 6:1-5.

There is a spontaneous experience that would catch up with any mortal in lieu of the manifestation of divine presence, namely, the incompatibility between sin and the manifesting presence of God. This is the reason He told Moses that His presence would not accompany the children of Israel as they moved from Egypt to the Promised Land (Ex. 33:1-3).

Any time one experiences Divine presence, one would be terrified and, as a result, impulsively cry out for cleansing. What this means is that one would become so conscious of his being unworthy to be in the Divine presence. After being purged, one would worship or accept to be commissioned in a divine assignment. This is what prophet Isaiah experienced.

In what he called Fear And Love, Albert Lee writing for Our Daily Bread (January 20, 2011), shared the following:

“Someone shared with me her observation about two bosses. One is loved but not feared by his subordinates. Because they love their boss but don’t respect his authority, they don’t follow his guidelines. The other boss is both feared and loved by those who serve under him, and their good behaviour shows it”.

Lee further comments that the Lord desires that His people both fear and love Him at the same time, as expressed in Deuteronomy 10:12:

And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul.

The idea is that we don’t stop loving God because we fear Him, neither do we stop fearing Him because we love Him. God’s fear and God’s love complement each other.

God-fearing people don’t run away from Him as a result of their fear of Him.

That was under the Old Covenant, let us look at one experience in the New Covenant. The centurion had invited Jesus to come and heal his servant but when Jesus accepted to go and heal the servant, the centurion reneged and instead asked Him to just say the word. The reason is that he felt unworthy to have the Lord under his roof (Matt. 8:8).

The centurion features again during the crucifixion (I suppose he was the same man).

When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!”

—Matthew 27:54 (NIV).

The transfixion that happened to these people following crucifixion is one that combined both dread and reverence. For those who recognised who Jesus was, the fear that gripped them may not have been as a result of the earthquake as it was the realization that the Son of God had been killed. Hidden behind the exclamation: Surely he was the Son of God! was a question: What exactly was God going to do with the people who killed His Son? They heard Jesus asking the Father to forgive His executors but this didn’t take away the fear.

We also read about the fishermen’s fear when Jesus, through a miracle, manifested His divinity and identity to them:

Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net. And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake. And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord. For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken: And so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men.

—Luke 5:4-10.

The kind of fear that these fishermen experienced was not that which could be described as “reverence”. If it was, Jesus wouldn’t have told Peter to ‘fear not’. If this were to be the case, it would have meant that Jesus was asking him to let go reverence.

When an angel of the Lord appeared to announce the birth of Christ, the Bible tells us that the shepherds were terrified, yet it was the glory of the Lord that shone around them. The angel had to encourage them not to be afraid (Lk. 2:8-11 NIV).

Dread Leads to Repentance, Reverence Leads to Worship

The most potent way to show how dread and reverence are mutually inclusive is the way dread leads to repentance and reverence leads to worship. Having said that, may I clarify that I am not implying that all cases of repentance are a result of one becoming terrified.

On the day of Pentecost (Acts 2) Peter ministered to people explaining what was behind their pentecostal conduct that morning. In the process, he charged them with the responsibility of Jesus’ death.

Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it. ....

Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

—Acts 2:22-24, 36-38.

It is not difficult imagining what was in the mind of these people. They were responsible for Jesus’ death as Peter charged. Cut in their heart they must have been afraid hence the desperation perceivable from the tone of their plea: Men and brethren, what shall we do? It was not something to just walk away from—at least not for those who still had a conscience. It was not a simple thing to be charged with the murder of God’s Son.

When Peter pointed that there was a way out, they jumped at the offer, and the Bible says that three thousand people repented and joined the church (Acts 2:41).

Dread gets people to renounce sin. But after the sin has been forgiven, one will not continue to be dreadful as he relates with God. Instead he will revere Him. But dread will not be dead and done with; it will always be aroused at the prospect and imminence of sin, unless one forces himself to disregard the predictable consequences.

When Saul (later to become Paul) met Christ, he must have been terrified.

And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem. And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.

—Acts 9:1-6.

Why is it perceivable that Paul was terrified? Think of him being struck down by the powerful divine light. He was no match against what struck him. While still lying helplessly down, he hears the voice: why are you persecuting Me? On inquiring, the Lord confirms that He is the Lord whom he (Paul) is persecuting. Coming to a realization that one has been fighting God Himself cannot leave one at ease. The Bible also records that Paul was trembling (Acts 9:6), a sign that he was terrified. Mercy, grace and love surrounded his conversion, yet he was terrified.

When Paul asked to be commissioned: “Lord, what do You want me to do?” he was crossing over from dread to devotion.

The fear of God is balanced and healthy if it is both dread and reverence. Contrary to what many people believe, the two are not mutually exclusive. Moses explained to the children of Israel that the demonstration of power and glory that they witnessed was to instil the fear of God in them so that they may not sin.

When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance and said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die.” 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 20:18-20 (NIV).

We also read in Proverbs 16:6, the following:

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

When we are conscious of God’s omnipresence, and that He is always watching, we will naturally find it threatening carrying on with a mischief in His face. If part of 1 Timothy 4:7 is translated from the Norwegian Bible (1978 Translation), it would read: “Train yourself in the fear of God”. This training must have something to do with exercising our conscience to be always conscious of God’s omniscience and omnipresence. There is something one cannot dare do when another person is watching. Now, if one cannot do it in the face of another human being, how can one have the guts to do it while God is watching? This is why there are people that can rightly be described as “God-fearing” even though they are not necessarily saved. This fear is enough to make them shun evil.

People, supposedly believers included, do things that are abominable and the reason is that they have not trained themselves in the fear of God. The attitude and the thought that Thou seest me is enough to make us avoid getting into premeditated sins.

An Awesome God

The best word to describe the mixture of the kind of fear we have towards God is “awe”. Awe combines both reverence and dread. Dictionary.com defines the word in the following manner: “An overwhelming feeling of reverence, admiration, fear, etc., produced by that which is grand, sublime, extremely powerful, or the like.”

When we understand the fear of God to be a mixture of reverence and dread it helps us not take His friendship, grace, mercy and love for granted. This understanding also puts us in a better position to comprehend the experience and response of people unto whom God manifested His presence or workings. Let us look at some examples where both dread and reverence are explicit or implicit:

Isaiah 8:13 (NIV):

“The LORD Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, he is the one you are to fear, he is the one you are to dread”.

Regard as holy can as well read “regard with reverence”. At the same time when one reveres God, one is also to fear and dread Him.

Mark 5:33:

“But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth.”

The woman who had had an issue of blood for 12 years had touched Jesus’ garment. She knew that she could draw healing virtue from the Lord secretly. When the Lord turned around and insisted that she faces Him, she was terrified. The act of falling down before Him was a sign of worship and an act of reverence. She did all this worship in fear and trembling. Her case is an example where dread and reverence coexisted.

Luke 1:12

“When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear.”

Zechariah was a priest executing priestly duties before God in the order of his course. An angel of the Lord appeared unto him and when Zachariah saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him. In verse 13, the angel said to him: “Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard.” If what Zachariah experienced can only be described as reverence, the angel wouldn’t have asked him not to revere. The appearance of an angel brings with it manifestation of God’s presence.

Acts 5:5, 11

“And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things... And great fear came upon all the church, and upon as many as heard these things.”

When we are conscious of God’s omnipresence, and that He is always watching, we will naturally find it threatening carrying on with a mischief in His face.

When we talk about fear in the context of death, the fear has to do with dread. Notice here that the people who feared included believers (the church). Interestingly, even when the fear is that of dread, it doesn’t necessarily drive people away from God. After Ananias and Sapphira died and fear gripped the people notice that there were people who instead of having nothing to do with this “dangerous” group, they came and joined them. God-fearing people don’t run away from Him as a result of their fear of Him. And God-fearing people don’t play religious games with Him.

Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number.

—Acts 5:14.

Acts 7:32 (NIV)

“‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.’ Moses trembled with fear and did not dare to look.”

In his speech to the Sanhedrin before being stoned to death, Stephen describes the experience Moses had when he encountered God. This is another example of fusion of both reverence and fright.

2 Corinthians 5:11

“Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men.”

The apostle Paul is talking here about persuading men to be reconciled with God because it is a terrifying thing to face God with sin. He didn’t say, knowing the love of God, we persuade men. Paul is concerned about the terror of the Lord. When the love of God doesn’t mean much to people so as to draw them to Him, it is biblical to remind them that they still need to be reconciled to Him because they can’t face His terror.

God Loves Us and We Love Him, Do We Still Need to Fear Him?

God’s love for us is initiative; our love for Him is responsive: “We love him, because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19). His love is therefore perfect, ours is pursuant (that is, chasing or following in order to catch up). Because God’s love is infinite, we have something to pursue throughout our life.

The Bible says that “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love” (1 John 4:18 NIV). People experience and express their love for God in different ways and at different levels. Growth applies in this area just as it does in other godly virtues. There are two types of fear:

i)    Fear that grips us because of sin in our life. This must be the kind of fear John was talking about. It is a fear that anticipates punishment. I would also call it “punitive fear”.

ii)   Fear that pre-empts the urge to sin. This is the kind of fear that overwhelms a person before he commits sin. A person would mentally consider the possible consequences of sin. He would refrain because the possible consequences are overwhelmingly intimidating. I would also call it “preventive fear.” This is a healthy fear.

Because God initiated the love; and the fact that He loved us and died for us even when we were still sinners (Rom. 5:6,8), man is determined, and rightly so, to define his relationship with God from God’s initiative—that is, they expect God to shoulder the burden of love. This is why we hear people ask: If God loves mankind, how can He send people to hell to be tortured forever? And not: If we love God, how can we sin against Him until we forsake our heritage with Him? Because of this tendency to assess God’s love for us more than we asses our love for Him, we often want to bargain with Him to let us get away with bad habits (call them sin) to prove that He loves us unconditionally. Regardless of how much we bargain, the principle of reaping what one sows stands. This is where if our love is not strong enough to keep us in harmony with the Father, the fear of the consequences and facing Him will fill in to keep us from sin.

John loved Christ so much that he might have reached a point where his love for the Lord was enough to help him be loyal even under any kind of pressure. It is important to note that when one falls into sin, it is not necessarily because one doesn’t love the person one stands to hurt.

The truth of the matter is that however much we claim to love, our fallen nature may not allow us to do or not do things purely on the basis of love. A man confided in me that he loves his wife by every sinew of his life, yet he has come to some tempting circumstances where if it was not for the fear of the consequences, his love for his wife wouldn’t constrain him from giving in to temptation. You may say: Then he doesn’t love his wife!” May be not, but what I know is that the power of sensual temptation will always claim that we have it both ways. People cheat on their spouses not necessarily because they don’t love them. Most of them go ahead and cheat because they hope to get away with it. But when it comes to God the fear of God would effectively control our giving in to our weaknesses. In my judgement, I would say that the man would have sinned not to hurt his wife but because of being overwhelmed by the flesh. In this case, the fear of the consequences will supplement love to bring out the right conduct.

Whether we shun sin through sheer love or through sublime fear of God, the most important thing is that in temptations we resist and resolve not to give in while in trials, we persist and determine not to give up.

The fallen nature also has another indulgent characteristic. We tend to think that we would love more if we are allowed the freedom to have it our way. A man had realised that his son was getting addicted to video games. The boy would sit and play video games round the clock. His father decided to have a check on this behaviour. Once in a while the boy would plead to be allowed to play. Whenever the father accepted that he could play, the boy would be so happy, telling the father how he loved him. The pledge of love was absent whenever he was restrained from playing.

Why am I still talking about “fallen nature” when we have been regenerated? Yes, we have been regenerated and sin no longer has dominion over us. Nevertheless, we cannot pretend that we are not in constant fight with the flesh and powers of darkness. The apostle Paul and the writer of Hebrews expressed this fact as below:

Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn?

—2 Corinthians 11:29 (NIV).

In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.

—Hebrews 12:4 (NIV).

How do we reconcile the fear of dread and the fact that we are not given the spirit of fear? We read the following from the Scripture:

For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.”

—2 Romans 8:15 (NIV).

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

—2 Timothy 1:7.

There is a difference between an enslaving fear (prevailing fear) and a delivering fear (preemptive fear). Enslaving fear can be as irrational as irrepressible fear of frogs (for example) and as rational as the transfixing fear of death. Whether irrational or rational, these are the kinds of fear that we are delivered from (Heb. 2:15). Commitment to Christ has a price tag of up to life itself. Believers must therefore not allow even the fear of death hold them captive because this may mean that when their life is threatened they may deny Christ.

Delivering fear, on the other hand, is the fear of God. It delivers us from the captivity of sin. This is what the psalmist expressed when he said: “My flesh trembleth for fear of thee; and I am afraid of thy judgments (Ps. 119:120). The fear of God is able to neutralise or pre-empt the captivating power of sin.

Coming back to 1 John 4:18: “There is no fear in love...” this scripture can easily be misunderstood because the picture usually painted about fearing God is where God is depicted as a mean and cruel Father who lurks around with a big stick looking for whom He may punish. The Bible tells us that God is patient. This, however, doesn’t mean we take His patience for granted and misuse His mercy, grace and love. It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Heb. 10:31). A dire warning is given to those who continue to sin wilfully. They are counted as those who trample the Son of God under foot; treating as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and by so doing, they insult the Spirit of grace (Heb. 10:26-29).

At one time, we lived by a very busy road. We had instructed our children not to play on the road or cross it unless they walked to the zebra crossing some metres away. One day, our elder son, Victor (about 8 years at the time) took his brother and off they went, running across the road. I came out of the house just when he was getting over to the other side. His younger brother was definitely not as quick as he was. The young lad was still in the middle of the road. When Victor turned to see how his brother was doing, I was there standing staring at him disapprovingly. He was transfixed, visibly terrified. I never said a word but the two minutes I subjected him to this stare, was enough punishment. His being terrified was not because I am a violent father who was going to mess him up. It was rather a result of coming to the reality of the danger into which he put both himself and his brother; it was also because of the instability and anxiety that result when one is caught red-handed and has to face authority. I never punished him anymore than the disapproving look, nor did I rebuke him but he never crossed that road again at that dangerous spot. Six years later and he still remembers that incident.

We don’t fear God in the context of Him looking for opportunities or excuses to punish us, but we fear Him in the context that He is sovereign and holy, incompatible with sin. We fear Him in the context that we cannot cuddle with and coddle in sin and still hope that all is well in our relationship with Him.

Take an example of a typical and ideal family. My definition of a typical ideal family is where there is love and discipline. The children in the home are not allowed to abuse the love by just doing whatever they like; at the same time, they are not deprived of anything that are essential to their wellbeing.

Because there is discipline in this home, any misbehaviour is not winked at. Anyone who misbehaves must be called upon to account for his misbehaviour. He has to admit his fault and possibly get disciplined for it. Sometimes forgiveness is granted without a punishment but sometimes punishment is meted. There is going to be an element of fear. Facing the father with waywardness will naturally arouse fear. But the good thing about this fear is that it doesn’t drive the children away but makes them responsible and accountable. The fear of losing the heritage, love, security and identity will instil discipline in the children in the family. This fear therefore draws the children in rather than push them out. In this setting, the prospect of sin invokes the fear of the consequences.

God’s love for us is initiative; our love for Him is responsive; His love is therefore perfect, ours is pursuant.

When God commanded Adam and Eve not to eat the fruit in the middle of the garden, He never appealed to their love as a way to help them remain obedient and loyal to Him. Instead He told them of the consequences of disobedience. But they were so naive. They never knew what this consequence meant practically. I wonder what kind of love Adam and Eve had for God; everything was perfect—I submit that their love for God must have been perfect. I don’t think they could have eaten the fruit if they knew, in a practical way, the consequence of their act.

Reasons We Still Fear God Despite Regeneration and Mutual Love

·        We didn’t earn the salvation; it is a gift of God. Partaking of something so wonderful; something we don’t deserve only humbles us. We are still bound to fear Him that has lifted us by His grace.

·        We still rub shoulders with sin in one way or the other; sometimes we get stained. This is not necessarily by our initiative. Sometimes we hear or see things that pollute our spirit.

·        We still contend with trials and temptations. Chances of becoming casualties are with us. The fear of God gives us an extra valour to resist temptation and persist through trials. In other words, the fear of God fortifies our resolve to remain faithful.

·        The fear of God is something positive. It doesn’t lessen our love for Him.

·        The New Covenant and Salvation has not faded God’s majesty and splendour. At these, we are destined to fear.

·        It is out of this fear that we revere and respect Him.

·        It is out of this fear blended with love that we offer Him a comprehensive worship.

·        Fear of God means that our conscience is alive and that we are conscious of the consequences of waywardness.

The Fundamental Balance: The Umpire’s Call

We can still fear God even if we know for sure that He doesn’t pose any danger to us. Fearing God doesn’t mean we don’t love Him, neither does it mean He doesn’t love us. Instead, the fear of God puts our loving devotion in the right perspective. The Bible says that “The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever” (Psalm 19:9, NIV).

God’s personality, manifested in His awesomeness, naturally necessitates fear and reverence. For someone who is not right with God, this awe harasses; but for the righteous, this awe harnesses worship.

When our love fails to make us shun iniquity, fear of facing the consequences will put a check on our actions. Whether we shun sin through sheer love or through sublime fear of God, the most important thing is that in temptations we resist and resolve not to give in while in trials, we persist and determine not to give up.

If we focus on God and truly uphold His omnipresence in our consciousness, we will be alert to the fact that we cannot cheat on Him. We will therefore not be careless with things or in situations that are likely to get us compromised

Remember: “It’s best to stay in touch with both sides of an issue. A person who fears God deals responsibly with all of reality, not just a piece of it” (Ecclesiastes 7:18, The Message).

Reflections and Questions to Ponder

1. In your understanding and experience, as you relate with God, what does the fear of God mean to you?

2. Must the fear of God be understood repulsively? Do you agree that fear is not always negative? In what ways is fear positive and in what ways is it negative?

3. If you agree with the author’s perspectives on the fear of God, what would be some of the dangers of purporting to love God without fearing Him?

4. If you disagree with the author’s understanding of the fear of God, what are the demerits of purporting to fear God at the same time love Him? Are the two mutually exclusive? Why?

5.      1 John 4:18 tells us that there is no fear in love, but that perfect love drives out fear. What does this mean to you? Can you claim that your love for God is “perfect” enough to invalidate your need to fear Him?

6.      In your experience, have you come to a point where the thought of the possible consequence was intimidating enough to make you chose to do the right thing?