Dr Paul Allen

The theological meaning of “fear of the Lord” encompasses both reverence and obedience rooted in a proper understanding of God’s character and authority. Rather than representing distrustful terror, this fear constitutes reverent awe and a worshipful response of faith to God as Creator, Saviour, and Judge.1 Luther’s distinction between servile fear and filial fear illuminates this concept: servile fear resembles a prisoner’s dread of a torturer, while filial fear mirrors a child’s respect and love for a parent—anxiety about displeasing someone beloved rather than anxiety about punishment.2  The biblical emphasis on fearing the Lord centres on a sense of awe and respect for God’s majesty.2 Though believers are invited to an intimate relationship with God as Father, this intimacy doesn’t eliminate the need to maintain healthy respect and adoration.2 Practically, fearing the Lord means ordering one’s life according to divine wisdom. To acknowledge God involves obeying the wisdom and k...

Stained glass at St John the Baptist's Anglican Church http://www.stjohnsashfield.org.au, Ashfield, New South Wales. Illustrates Jesus' description of himself "I am the Good Shepherd" (from the Gospel of John, chapter 10, verse 11). This version of the image shows the detail of his face. The memorial window is also captioned: "To the Glory of God and in Loving Memory of William Wright. Died 6th November, 1932. Aged 70 Yrs." (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom" ( Prov. 9:10). If that is so, and it is, then the fear of the Lord is never to be feared . This fear is not a barrier to growth but a breakthrough to growth and eternal fulfillment. But the word fear needs clarification, doesn't it? After all, doesn't the Bible say, "Perfect love casts out fear" (1 John4:18)? Yes. So, there must be two kinds of fear. One kind of fear is the fear that shrinks from the Lord in dread, that cowers ...

Martin Luther, author of the text of Christ lag in Todes Banden, and who, with Johann Walter, also wrote the melody (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) We need to make some important distinctions about the biblical meaning of “fearing” God . These distinctions can be helpful, but they can also be a little dangerous. When Luther struggled with that, he made this distinction, which has since become somewhat famous: He distinguished between what he called a servile fear and a filial fear. The servile fear is a kind of fear that a prisoner in a torture chamber has for his tormentor, the jailer, or the executioner. It’s that kind of dreadful anxiety in which someone is frightened by the clear and present danger that is represented by another person.  Or it’s the kind of fear that a slave would have at the hands of a malicious master who would come with the whip and torment the slave. Servile refers to a posture of servitude toward a malevolent owner. Luther distinguished between that ...

Image via Wikipedia Image via Wikipedia " Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God ; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences." ( 2 Corinthians 5:11 )   The use of the English word "terror" in this verse as a translation of the Greek  phobos (from which we get our word "phobia") indicates that the frequent Old Testament phrase " fear of the Lord " means much more than implied in the modern euphemism "reverential trust." The only other New Testament use of this phrase is in  Acts 9:31 : "Then had the churches rest . . . and were edified; and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost , were multiplied."   These two passages seem to be informing us that when a church is "walking in the terror of the Lord," its members will be seeking every means whereby to "persuade men" to come to Christ , and therefore its numbe...