How often do you think about fear? Maybe when you talk with young children about a bad dream that they had. Or maybe when you talk with a parent of a teen that’s about to move to a new city and start college. Or maybe when you talk with someone who is in an unstable work environment and their future seems unsure. In all those cases, the root idea of fear is that something, whether known or unknown, is coming and it will cause some level of harm to us.
In these contexts, fear is not a positive thing because it almost always cripples the person experiencing fear into inaction. The child fearful of a monster under their bed is often too afraid to check.
So why does Paul write in 2 Corinthians 5:11, “Therefore, since we know the fear of the Lord, we try to persuade people.”[1]?
If you have been in the church for a time, you are probably familiar with Proverb 9:10, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy Oneis understanding.”[2] For the follower of Jesus, fear plays a very important role in our faith.
I have often heard that it is said that this fear simply means to deeply respect or awe for the Lord. And while that might be partially true, the real meaning goes deeper. Linda Belleville writes this about this passage, “Yet when we are faced with the divine, fright and awe more often than not coalesce.[3]” For all of us, there is a very real fear that the Lord is just and holy and we deserve to be punished. Yet at the same time, there is a deep sense of awe in the fact that He, through Jesus, allows us to come close.
In 2 Corinthians we see Paul telling us that fear of the Lord ought to motivate the follower of Jesus to share with others the good news of Jesus. Not just that, in the previous verse, Paul lets the readers know that every person will have to stand in front of the Lord on judgment day and for the Christian, we know that it is through Jesus that we will make it through.
It is because of God’s holiness and wrath and coming judgment that we share the Gospel. Followers of Jesus know that the only way through that judgment is through Jesus.
As we prepare for Sunday’s message on sharing our faith, spend time this week reading 2 Corinthians 5 and meditate on the Lord’s fear and our job as new creations. Pray that you would have a healthy and biblical view of fear, one that recognizes the coming judgement and one that stands in awe of Christ. Know this biblical fear that does not lead inaction, but fear that leads to sharing the good news of Jesus so that others might take on Christ’s righteousness and worship the Father.
[1] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), 2 Co 5:11.
[2] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Pr 9:10.
[3] Linda L. Belleville, 2 Corinthians, vol. 8, The IVP New Testament Commentary Series (Westmont, IL: IVP Academic, 1996), 2 Co 5:11–13.