What does the Bible say about fear?
Scripture speaks of fear in two profoundly different senses — and confusing them has caused much spiritual trouble. There is the slavish dread of one who knows he must face God but has no ground to stand on, and there is the reverent trustfulness of one who knows God and hates what is contrary to Him. The whole drama of the Bible might be read as the story of the first kind of fear being displaced by the second.
Fear as the Mark of a Guilty Conscience
The very first thing that happened after the fall was that Adam was afraid. C. H. Mackintosh traces the root of this fear to man's nakedness before God:
C. H. Mackintosh"The moment Adam heard the voice of the Lord in Eden, 'he was afraid,' because, as he himself confessed, 'I was naked.' Yes, naked, although he had his apron on him. But it is plain that that covering did not even satisfy his own conscience. Had his conscience been divinely satisfied, he would not have been afraid."
Mackintosh draws a penetrating contrast — conscience drives man away from God, but revelation brings him back:
conscience drives man away from God, but revelation brings him back"Had Adam known God's perfect love, he would not have been afraid. 'There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear has torment. He that fears is not made perfect in love' (1 John 4:17-18). But Adam knew not this, because he had believed the serpent's lie. He thought that God was anything but love; and, therefore, the very last thought of his heart would have been to venture into His presence."
Perfect Love Casts Out Fear
This is the answer to all slavish dread. Norman Anderson, writing on 1 John 4, puts it simply:
Norman Anderson"Not only so, but that love, according to verse 17 of our chapter, has so acted as to put us even now beyond the reach of judgment. 'Herein is love with us made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as He is, so are we in this world.' Then verse 18 declares, 'There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear: because fear has torment.' Thank God that if there is no fear, there is blessed and present response, 'We love Him, because He first loved us.'"
"God Has Not Given Us the Spirit of Fear"
Yet even believers can slip back into a spirit of timidity and dread. J. N. Darby, expounding 2 Timothy 1, shows how Paul addressed this in Timothy:
J. N. Darby"He saw the flood of evil coming in, and the danger of Timothy's being left alone, looking at the evil, and feeling his own weakness; and so (lest Timothy should get into a spirit of fear), he says, 'Stir up the gift that is in thee … for God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love, and of a sound mind.'"
Darby insists this does not mean we stop feeling the pressure of circumstances:
"'Be thou a partaker of the afflictions of the gospel, according to the power of God.' What! a partaker of afflictions? Yes. Of deliverance from the sense of them? No — a partaker of afflictions that may be felt as a man, but 'according to the power of God!' … Paul had a 'thorn in the flesh'; and did he not feel it, think you? Ay, he felt it daily … 'Most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.'"
And the remedy for anxiety:
16004E"'Be careful for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God.' So, 'the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds, through Jesus Christ': not your hearts keep the peace of God; but the peace that God Himself is in, His peace, the unmoved stability of all God's thoughts, keep your hearts."
"Fear Not Ye" — The Comfort of the Risen Christ
J. T. Mawson draws a beautiful contrast at the empty tomb. The Roman soldiers fell as dead men when the angel appeared — and rightly so, for they represented a world that had crucified Christ. But to the two women who loved Him, the angel said, "Fear not ye":
J. T. Mawson"There was nothing in the power of God to make them afraid; there was every reason why they should rejoice. They represented, not the world that hated Jesus, but those whom He had chosen out of it, and who loved Him because He first loved them."
"His resurrection proved that He had not deceived them; that every hope that He had raised within their breasts would be fulfilled … We, too, may give to the winds our fears, and renew our confidence in Him, as we read His words, which tell us that not one jot or tittle of His word shall fail. He is risen, that is the pledge."
H. J. Vine makes the same point from the story of Joseph's brothers, who lost their peace after their father Jacob died, fearing Joseph would now take vengeance:
H. J. Vine"This loss of their peace showed they had not increased in the knowledge of Joseph himself since he had made himself known unto them, for had they done so they would never have harboured such wrong thoughts concerning him. And it is just this which explains the unhappy condition of soul which sometimes overtakes older believers. They may have gathered up a great deal of knowledge concerning various things, but the knowledge of God's Son — of their Lord and Saviour — has been neglected."
The Fear of the Lord — The Other Kind of Fear
But there is a fear that Scripture commends from beginning to end — the fear of the Lord. This is not dread but reverence, inseparable from hatred of evil. H. J. Vine defines it sharply:
"This fear of the Lord is not the slavish dread that marks the superstitious. No. It is a reverent trustfulness accompanied by hatred of evil. 'The fear of the Lord is to hate evil' (Prov. 8:13). 'The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever.' Where this is maintained the presence of the Lord is a reality and joy."
And gathers the Old Testament strands:
"Not only is the fear of the Lord the beginning of wisdom, but it 'is wisdom' (Job 28:28); likewise 'in the fear of the Lord is strong confidence' (Prov. 14:26); also it is 'a fountain of life to depart from the snares of death' (v. 27). How good and wholesome then is the word of Proverbs 23:17, 'Be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long.'"
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F. B. Hole develops this at length, showing that "the fear of the Lord" is the Bible's way of describing inward condition over mere outward position:
F. B. Hole"God pays comparatively little attention to outward position where there is not a corresponding inward condition, but lays great stress on inward condition."
He draws out four facets from the Psalms and Malachi:
1. The Secret — "The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him" (Ps. 25:14). Hole contrasts Abraham, "the friend of God" who was let into the secret of God's counsels, with Lot, who was equally righteous in standing but knew nothing of what God was about to do.
2. The Banner — "Thou hast given a banner to them that fear Thee, that it may be displayed because of the truth" (Ps. 60:4). The standard of truth is entrusted to those marked by condition, not position.
3. The Book — "Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another: and the Lord hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon His Name" (Mal. 3:16).
4. The Sun — "Unto you that fear My name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in His wings" (Mal. 4:2). When Christ appears, it will be with healing for those who fear His name — but with scorching judgment for the proud.
Hole notes how these two classes stand in stark contrast at the close of the Old Testament:
The Sun"It is highly significant that here in the closing words of the Old Testament we get the two classes not only so clearly distinguished, but so definitely labelled — 'you that fear My name,' on the one hand, and 'the proud,' on the other … To lay primary stress on outward position, while relegating questions of spiritual condition to a secondary place, necessarily tends in this direction, since one is then occupied with certain external privileges and points of advantage — whether real or imaginary — in which one can boast."
The Bible's teaching on fear moves along two tracks. Slavish fear — the dread of judgment — belongs to the guilty conscience and is answered completely by the cross: "perfect love casts out fear." But godly fear — reverent trust accompanied by hatred of evil — is the mark of those who truly know God. It is the beginning of wisdom, the gateway to intimacy with the Lord, and the condition that will be vindicated when Christ appears. The remedy for the first is knowing God's love; the fruit of the second is walking in it.