Fear or Faith?

Fear is a destroying force when yielded to consistently, even as faith is an empowering force when yielded to consistently. Fear can take you a lot of places if you are willing to go along for the ride. But you may want to consider that none of the places that fear will take you are good: The fear of the wicked, it shall come upon him" (Prov. 10:24). Beside that, it’s a real jittery and unstable ride. Faith will take you to many places as well, if you dare to go along for that ride: “Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth" (Mk. 9:23). That is a ride that can be smooth and stable even over rough terrain. One thing is for sure my friend; these two elements cannot dwell together. You must make up your mind which suits you the most, and follow it: "And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him" (I Kin. 18:21). And again, "I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou were cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth" (Rev. 3:15,16). To add to these things, the beloved apostle left us with a sobering admonition: "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love" (I Jn. 4:18). The key to being made perfect in love was also given to us by the beloved John: "And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure” (I Jn. 3:3). Peter put these two scriptural realities together in one line: “Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently" (I Pet. 1:22). As Peter stated, the holy Ghost is the only tool available that purifies the heart from everything that is unlike the love of God, and in fact it is the Spirit itself which is the love of God (Tit. 3:5,6; Rom. 5:5). This purifying process of the Spirit of truth is done through prayer and through denying ungodliness in the heart and soul, unto the death of the ungodly nature of the ‘old man’ (Jude 1:20,21; Rom. 8:13; Tit. 2:11,12; Col. 3:9). But unless one is totally honest with himself about what is in his heart, none of these things can be attained to. You simply cannot purify what you don’t acknowledge is there, or what you know you need to keep out.

It comes down to wholeness of heart. David prayed and asked God, "Teach me thy way, O LORD; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name" (Psm. 86:11). The fear of God is actually the absence of the fear of anything else. And in all reality there is absolutely nothing to fear but God, seeing it is he alone who has power, and he alone who decides what happens in all of creation, all of the time (Psm. 62:11; Rom. 13:1; Gen. 18:25; Eph. 1:11). On top of that: "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose… What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?” (Rom. 8:28,31) Again we see wholeness of heart required in the first and greatest commandment: “And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength” (Mk. 12:30). As John showed us that it takes perfect [complete] love to cast out worldly fear, we see that our hearts must be literally free from everything that is contrary to God’s love within us. And why wouldn’t we “keep [our] hearts with all diligence” from these things if we love God completely, seeing that God is altogether holy? (Prov. 4:23; I Pet. 1:15-17) Also seeing that the fear of anything beside God is certainly something that is contrary to his love inside us, we simply must purify our hearts from that fear in order to be perfected in his love. And I love this blessed assurance that Jesus gave us: “Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows" (Lk. 12:6,7). And as we began this article, stating that either fear or faith can take us to many places, "let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:” “But the fearful, … shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death" (Rev. 21:8). And the flip side: "To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time" (I Pet. 1:4,5). Looks like a really easy choice to me. God bless.