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May 16 - June 27, 2025
Charles Spurgeon, “The fear of God is the death of every other fear; like a mighty lion, it chases all other fears before it.”1
Holy fear keeps us connected to the wisdom of our Creator—the only One who knows what enhances us and what undoes us.
confused the “spirit of fear” with the “fear of the Lord.” There is a huge difference,
However, the person who fears God has nothing to hide. He or she is terrified of being away from God.
“The LORD is a friend to those who fear him” (25:14). The firm reality is this: God wants to be close and intimate with you. So rest assured, holy fear does not quench intimacy; it does just the opposite—it enhances our interaction with God.
the fear of God is actually the greatest force of confidence, comfort, and protection available to any being in the universe.
Here’s a firm truth: you will never find God’s wonderful presence in an atmosphere where He’s not revered and held in awe.
Our holy fear grows proportionally to our comprehension of God’s greatness.
If there has ever been a time in history that these questions should be deeply pondered and not just skimmed over, it’s now. In this day and hour, many of us are so preoccupied with the onslaught of information that continually fills our minds that we don’t have the space or time to meditate on these crucial questions. Our development of holy fear has been hindered, and consequently many believers are vulnerable and easily drawn into the world’s system of desire, gain, and the pride of human achievements.
The greater God’s manifest glory, the greater and swifter the judgment of irreverence. Therefore, delayed judgment is not denied judgment. For this reason, Paul writes: Some men’s sins are clearly evident, preceding them to judgment, but those of some men follow later. (1 Timothy 5:24 NKJV)
Our salvation is not worked out with love and kindness, rather with fear and trembling,
our salvation is matured through fear and trembling.
We cannot do anything to make God love us more or less, but we are responsible for how pleased He is with us. This is why Paul says it’s his goal to be “well pleasing.” Why? For we [believers] must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men. (2 Corinthians 5:10–11 NKJV)
Jesus links being “cast into hell” with ignoring holy fear.
the fear of God frees us from the fear of man, and the fear of man enslaves us by removing our ability to fear God.
The fear of man ensnares us in the yeast of hypocrisy. It leads to living for man’s approval.
Here is the raw truth: First, not one motive or intention can be hidden from God, and second, it will eventually be revealed. The important question is: Is it hidden from us? The fear of the Lord keeps us in touch with our heart motives, which is critically important, for the lack thereof leaves us vulnerable to the deception of hypocrisy.
Every human being has three images of themselves: a perceived image, a projected image, and an actual image.
the more we lack the fear of the Lord, the more we will lean on our projected image.
However, what should be more alarming is that the sins of most will be made evident later. Please remember, God’s verdict addressed their secret motive, not their action.
The decisions Jesus makes over each of us at the judgment seat are eternal (Hebrews 6:1–2). Simply put, there will never be any changes, revisions, or alterations made to His pronouncements. So, in essence, what we do with the cross determines where we will spend eternity; however, the way we live as believers determines how we will live in the forever.
True holiness is to be completely God’s. A primary definition of holiness is “separation unto God.”
Carefully heeding the Word of God keeps the fear of the Lord active in our hearts. It keeps us fully aware of the fact that “nothing in all creation is hidden from God.
believers—those who have denied themselves, are crucified to the world, and are fully dedicated to following Jesus. Any manner of conversion outside of this foundation is not authentic (Matthew 16:24; Mark 8:34; Luke 9:23; Galatians 6:14). Once regeneration occurs, a divine nature is formed within us. Yielding to this nature frees us from the dictates of our senses, and we are empowered to do so by His Spirit and God’s revealed Word (2 Peter 1:4). The apostle warns us not to revert back to living according to our own desires that formerly controlled us. One of the strongest cravings we must
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Holiness is not bondage; rather, it is the true liberty that opens the way to enjoy both God and this life. We are called to live a life worthy of the One who rescued us. It is by the fear of the Lord that we walk in it,
The fear of the Lord is a gift from our loving heavenly Father that protects us from departing from Jesus. He is the source of everlasting life, love, joy, peace, goodness, hope, and all its many wonders. To depart from Him is to move toward death, darkness, and eventually the eternal grave. We are told, “By the fear of the LORD one departs from evil” (Proverbs 16:6 NKJV).
It is by the fear of the Lord that we depart from evil, not by the love of God. The love of God draws us to Him; the fear of God keeps us from the evil that seeks to destroy us.
holiness is brought to maturity through the fear of the Lord, not the love of God.
the very moment we received justification, the work of sanctification (holiness) began.
Positional holiness is solely due to what Jesus did for us and speaks of our position in Christ; it’s one of the blessings of Christ’s work of justification: “Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes” (Ephesians 1:4). We never could have earned this position. Again, Paul writes, “Christ made us right with God; he made us pure and holy, and he freed us from sin” (1 Corinthians 1:30).
[Live] as children of obedience [to God]; do not conform yourselves to the evil desires [that governed you] in your former ignorance [when you did not know the requirements of the Gospel]. But as the One Who called you is holy, you yourselves also be holy in all your conduct and manner of living. For it is written, You shall be holy, for I am holy. (1 Peter 1:14–16 AMPC) Notice Peter is not addressing our positional holiness; rather he speaks of our behavioral holiness, which is exactly what Paul addresses when he tells us to cleanse ourselves from all filthiness. This is the process of
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Holiness is not an end unto itself; rather, it’s a passageway into what’s most important.
If we lack godly fear, we lack the drive to pursue the holy behavior granting us the privilege of His manifest presence.
the holiness we pursue must originate in our hearts—our thoughts, motives, and intentions. This will ultimately drive our outward behavior. This is why Jesus says, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8 NKJV). Without seeing Him, we lack inner transformation—authentic holiness—and consequently we don’t see Him. It’s cyclical.
we will not receive anything from God unless we believe, and we cannot believe what we do not know. So if we’re unaware of grace’s empowerment, we will continue to attempt to please God in our own ability. And that would lead to a fruitless, miserable existence.
where there’s a lack of desire (due to a lack of holy fear), empowerment will not be a priority and thus will not be utilized; it will be received in vain! This is why holy fear is so critical to our effectiveness and longevity.
purity is a huge aspect of holiness but not its full definition. Again, the primary definition of holiness is to be consecrated to Him, to be completely His.
Profession: I am motivated by holy fear to pursue holiness and will accomplish it by the power of God’s grace.
The one who trembles at God’s Word always exalts what He says above anything else. Nothing is more important. It’s the true evidence of holy fear.
“Son, complaining is a serious sin in My eyes.” He showed me that complaining protests, “God, I don’t like what You are doing in my life, and if I were You I would do it differently.” He then said, “It is an affront to My character, it’s rebellion to My will, and overall, it’s a gross lack of holy fear.”
when what is not sin takes precedence over the Word of the Lord, it becomes sin. The servant came back with the report of those who were invited, and we read, “His master was furious” (v. 21). Not unhappy but furious. Why? Because his invitation was taken lightly; it wasn’t priority. What does the master do? He invites others who were not originally invited. Jesus concludes with: “For none of those I first invited will get even the smallest taste of my banquet” (v. 24). Their window of opportunity was missed. Their excuses seemed harmless, but it’s important to remember that even harmless
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when we tremble at His Word, we obey God immediately.
The person who fears God obeys, even when it doesn’t make sense.
a sad reality, especially in the Western church. All too often, to get believers interested in obedience, benefits must be emphasized.
the fear of the Lord is so crucial; it motivates obedience, whether a reward is obvious or not.
The question is, will you consistently obey God in response to the holy fear that burns in your heart, or will you wait until you see a personal benefit?
False religion will seek out suffering for the sake of pleasing the god it serves. True Christianity seeks to obey God and, in the process, faces a fallen world’s resistance, which often results in suffering. Obedience is what pleases God, not seeking out hardship.
The apostle John says that sin is lawlessness (1 John 3:4). His definition of sin can be stated as such: sin is insubordination to the authority of God.
almost complete obedience isn’t obedience at all.
As holy fear grows within us according to our increased comprehension of God’s glory, it purifies our motives, frees us from the fear of man, and produces true holiness in our lives. The manifestation of holy fear is immediate and complete obedience to God regardless of whether we see a reason or benefit or how painful it is.
