The Fear of God, or Men?

I had a man tell me the other night that his young daughter, about five years old, wanted to know if she would be lost because some of her hair came out when she ran a comb through it. He thought that was so sweet, seeing that his religious affiliation teaches that it is a commandment of God that a woman can never cut her hair. Sadly that child is has not been taught the fear of the Lord, but rather the fear of the commandments of men. The Lord said it this way through Isaiah: “Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men" (Isa. 29:13). That child’s fear is a perfect example of what that scripture is talking about. There simply is no commandment that says a woman can never cut her hair. It is a commandment of men, plain and simple. Oh, I’m well aware of that ‘belief’ being adhered to in many Pentecostal sects, but it still isn’t in the Bible; so it is just of men, and not of God. There are many such traditions and doctrines similar to that in Pentecostal Christianity, and they are all in error; and they all impose a fear that "is taught by the precept of men.” The same man quoted Hebrews 12:14 to me right up front, saying “without holiness no man shall see the Lord.” That’s a scripture that I like to start things off with often times myself, but there was a dramatic difference in how he defined holiness and the way I define holiness.

He immediately went on a spiel of all of the things that women can’t do, all of which things are carnally oriented. I then gave him the only true defining of holiness by saying, “And every man that hath this hope [immortality] in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure" (I Jn. 3:3). I could readily see his confidence about his defining of holiness turn to halting when I gave him that scripture, and that’s understandable; seeing that he also was trying to find some kind of an excuse for not being free from. It’s strange how people will believe what someone has taught erroneously about the scriptures, but disbelieve what the scripture plainly says in truth and reality. My friend, the only real fear of God teaches us that ”with sin no man shall see the Lord.“ Or as Jesus said, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Mat. 5:8). Holiness is not an external thing like it was under the old covenant. It is in the heart, where sin needs to be purged out, and where the love and peace of God should reside (Heb. 9:13,14; Rom. 5:5). Jesus said it this way: “Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also" (Mat. 23:26). With these things said, just let me say that if a woman wants to not cut her hair for the sake of devotion of her heart toward God, then God bless her. But if she sees others as less righteous for not following the same practice, then it is NOT devotion to the Lord that is inspiring her. Friends, be sure of what you are fearing God about, because it may not be God that you are fearing at all. Amen.