When we see the phrase “fear of God,” Christians sometimes focus on fearing the punishment that God could give us for our deeds. Certainly, we’ll all stand before God’s judgment seat when we die. But if you know that Christ has paid for your sins, you shouldn’t have this kind of fear anymore. This is what John preaches against when he says, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love” (1 John 4:18 NASB). Yet the Bible speaks about the “fear of the Lord” very positively. Proverbs tells us, In the
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