DOES PERFECT LOVE CAST OUT THE OLD TESTAMENT “Fear of the Lord?”

Posted on by BETH

“The fear of Lord” in the old Testament is in distinct contrast to the trembling fear of the New Testamant, which can be cast out (1 John 4:18).  Many have given their own definitions of “the fear of the Lord” in the Old Testament as reverence, etc.  Not just anyone can understand the “Fear of the Lord.”  Solomon describes how men can understand the Fear of the Lord.  After giving several requirements and conditions, he says “Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God” (Pro. 2:5).  God gives his own definition of what he means by the “Fear of the Lord”

Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the LORD.  What man is he that desireth life, and loveth many days, that he may see good?  Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile.  Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it. (Psa. 34:11-14).

This is the Lord’s own definition of “the fear of the Lord.”  He states that this fear includes 1)  seeing good, 2)  not speaking evil or guile, 3)  departing from evil, 4)  doing good and 5)  seeking and pursuing peace. Many in the New Testament time had the Old Testament fear of the Lord. For example, the churches in Judaea and Galilee and Samaria “. . . were “walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost” (Acts 9:31). Cornelius was described as a “just man, and one that feareth God” (Acts 10:22). Paul addressed his audience saying: “Men of Israel, and ye that fear God, give audience” (Acts 13:16).  This fear, “The fear of the Lord,” should never be cast out by perfect love or anything else.

In contrast to the fear in Psalms 34 is the fear that “hath torment” (1 John 4:18).  “There is no fear (which has torment) in love, for perfect love casts out fear” (1 John 4:18).  This fear  needs to be cast out.  However it can not rightly be cast our prematurely.  We are commanded to have fear throughout the time of our exile (1 Pet. 1:17).  We must obey the command to fear God until we grow to the perfect love which will cast that fear out (1 John 4:18).

Some see where this pathway is leading and counter by saying, “Though we try to obey all the commands of God, and thus do not need to fear His wrath, the scriptures teach that as long as we are on earth, we will always sin.”

Is this true?  Let us pursue this thought.

Great Commission: First Command Reviewed

Posted on by BETH

The first step in the great commission is to make disciples of all nations (Matt. 28:19) – disciples who are determined to grow to become like their master (Luke 6:40) in mind (Phil. 2:5) and heart (Matt. 11:28-30).  Our Father is satisfied if we become like Christ in mind and heart (Matt. 10:24,25), because having the mind and heart of Christ is to have the complete love with all of its parts (1 Cor. 13:4-8), which surely will cause the mouth (Matt. 12:34) and the body (James 3:2-5) to speak and do all of the will of God (Acts 13:22).  The first step in the great commission will turn us toward the purpose of God.  After we are turned to do the purpose of God we must have help and direction to fulfill that purpose. This is the reason for the second command of the Great Commission.

Is Forgiveness of Sins Enough?

Posted on by BETH

Some believe that forgiveness of sins is all that is needed,  and thus conclude that growing in the heart of Christ is superfluous and unnecessary.  They imagine that 1) if sin separates us from God, then 2) removing the sin will unite us with God.  This is a major misunderstanding. It is a fact that “. . . out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh” (Matt. 12:34). Judas had an evil heart.  Whether Judas’ sins were forgiven or not, he still had an evil heart and out of the abundance of that heart, his mouth was going to speak.  If God forgave his sins a million times, he would still have the same heart.  He would still speak the same evil words.  Sin is a matter of God’s record. Sin is transgression of God’s law.  Once a man transgresses God’s law, it becomes a matter of history.  God puts that sin on his record.  God can forgive that sin, and blot those sins out of his book.  All that takes place in God’s book.  It is a matter of record, not of heart. The real key to controlling the body is the heart of man.  We are not belittling the Lord’s part in forming the heart, but emphasizing the need to deal with our hearts, not just our bodies.

Whether the sins have been forgiven or not, the heart remains the same, and produces the same sins (Matt. 15:19), unless or until it is purified.  We are commanded to purify our hearts (James 4:8).  “And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure” (1 John 3:2,3).  God also promises to help.  He promises that “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to 1) forgive us our sins, and 2) to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).  These are two separate actions.  He will blot our sins from his record and cleanse our hearts.  Consider what God’s cleansing will do.  Cleansing of the heart will stop the sin in the future.  We need not think that the promise to forgive and cleanse us is based on mere faith only or confession only.  We know that we are required to have faith and patience and many other things which are also a part of this cleansing or purging (Heb. 12:5-11).  God does his part when we do our part. Our sins can be forgiven, but unless our hearts are changed, they will continue to be the source of the same words and actions.  Forgiveness of sins is essential, but it is not the only essential part.  Until that evil heart is cleansed, it will continue to produce evil words and deeds.  The key is not only forgiveness of sins, but the power of a pure heart (Matt. 5:8).

The Immediate Source of Jesus’ Power

Posted on by BETH

Our master describes the power of the heart.  We understand that the Lord is the one who is ultimately in charge of everything, however, in this discussion we want to see the power that the Lord had placed in the heart of man.  The abundance of the heart controls the tongue.  Jesus said: “. . .out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh” (Matt. 12:34-35).  The words that we speak come forth from the heart.  Only what comes out of the mouth defiles the man.  What goes into his mouth never defiles him (Matt. 15:10, 11, 15-20).  What comes out of the mouth comes out of the abundance of the heart (Matt. 12:34).  We must conclude there is great power in the heart.  By controlling the tongue, we control more than the tongue.

The tongue controls the body.  Just as the rudder of a ship, or the bridle of a horse controls the ship and the horse, so the tongue controls the body (James 3:3-5).  It is not possible to tame the tongue (James 3:8), but it is possible to bridle it.  In fact if we do not bridle our tongue our religion is in vain (James 1:26).  Self-will can never bridle the tongue, but if we work together with God to form the heart in the image of Christ, the heart will bridle the tongue. The kind of heart we have determines the words we speak.  For example, if we have the heart of Satan, out of the abundance of the heart the mouth will speak Satanic words (Matt. 12:34).  If we grow fully into the complete heart of Christ, out of the abundance of the good heart good words will come.  If we are half like Satan and half like Christ we will have mixed words – good and evil – coming out of our mouths.  The solution to controlling our bodies is to grow fully into the image of Christ.  With the heart of Christ, we will speak and do only good no matter what bodies we will have.  The heart will control this physical body and also the new spiritual body we are given in the resurrection.

Jesus Led the Way to the Goal

Posted on by BETH

Jesus was not born full grown either spiritually or physically.  If he had not been like us in all ways he could not be our example.  He had to be made like his brethren in everything.  His brethren were not born full-grown and Jesus had to grow like they grew.  He was not born with all wisdom but grew in it (Luke 2:52). God sent Jesus to be like we are so he could be an example or us to follow.  Jesus grew by following in his Father’s spiritual steps when his Father showed him those steps (John 5:19, 20).  He grew until he had the complete love of God (Heb. 2:10, James 1:2-4; 1 John 2:5).  We are also commanded to follow the Father like Jesus did (Mt 5:48).  We follow our Father by walking in Christ’s love as he loved the apostles while he was on earth (John 13:34-35).  We are to follow Christ to grow in his image (Col. 3:10) for he is in the image of the Father (Col. 1:15).  Not all of God’s children grow.  Laodicea, Galatia and many other Christians are examples of brethren who forgot their calling (Rev. 3:14-17, Gal. 5:7-9, Heb.12:5,6).  God’s faithful children are in the process of being “. . . changed into the same image, from glory to glory” (2 Cor. 3:18).  The word ‘changed’ in this scripture is the word metamorphoo (present indicative tense), which tells us that this is a continuing process for those who are exercised by our Father’s chastening (Heb 12:11).  As children grow physically, so God’s children are to grow in heart in a continuing process.  Jesus grew in favor with God as he grew in all of the parts of love (Luke 2:52; James 2:2-4).  He did not run the race so that we don’t have to run it (Heb. 12:1-3) but we are to follow in his steps (1 Pet. 2:21).