Holiness, Godliness, Usefulness
04/25/2015, by John Kincaid
Lesson 582: Fear of God, Pt.3
Fear of God has 2 meanings in the Bible: it can be dread of God’s judgment, or the reverent awe of a believer who recognizes even a glimpse of who God is.
Adam hid from God in Eden because Adam feared God’s judgment on sin. All unbelievers are living under the wrath of God, and they could all die at any moment.
They should live with the same anxious fear of God’s judgment as Adam did, but they rarely do. Maybe for a few hours on the day when the planes crashed into the Twin Towers, but crying out to God soon stopped.
Rom.3:11, 18 no one seeks for God… There is no fear of God before their eyes.
Believers are delivered from the wrath of God. Rom.8:1 (no condemnation for those in Christ).
Rom.5:9 we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.
But God still disciplines His children for sinful conduct, so we still fear God in that sense.
Heb.12:6, 10 the Lord disciplines the one he loves… he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness.
About This Series
The goal of this series is to become more useful in serving the Lord Jesus Christ, as an instrument in the Redeemer's hand. The theme verses for the series are Ephesians 4:22-24, Philemon 11, 2 Timothy 2:21
- to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds,
- and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
- Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me.
- Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.
