Getting Job-ed
But I will show you the one to fear: Fear him who has authority to throw people into hell after death. Yes, I say to you, this is the one to fear!… There is no fear in love; instead, perfect love drives out fear because fear involves punishment. So the one who fears is not complete in love. Luke 12:5 CSB and 1 John 4:18 CSB
Often, the verse in 1 John is used by the sleeping-in-a-tent-is-the-only-way-to-be-a-true-Christian-Christian (We all know someone, I was one at one point haha), in that, we should not fear God but then Jesus says we should fear God. Which is true? Oh no! A contradiction in the Bible! Two verses saying seemingly opposite things! The news stations were right! PANIC! CHAOS! False. They DO NOT say the same things. On the surface that’s what it seems, the Greek has a little more info for us.
“‘Phobeos’ meaning fear but with reverential awe…”
The Greek word for ‘fear’ in 1 John 4:18 is “Phobos” meaning terrified, typically used in the negative sense. The Greek word used in Luke 12:5 is “Phobeos” meaning fear but with reverential awe. That’s a huge difference.
In Luke 12:5, Jesus is telling us to have ‘reverential awe’ of an all-powerful, all-wise, Sovereign God. This God created the UNIVERSE and is in charge of our very existence- should we have a healthy fear, respect, and reverential awe of this God? A Being (the only Being mind you) that transcends time and space? Absolutely! But then look at 1 John 4:18- we should not be ‘terrified’ of this God, in fact, we cry out to Him as Father (Romans 8:15). What a beautiful difference these two uses of ‘fear’ can mean.
“…our world only thinks in terms of polarization…”
So, we need to learn to fear God (healthy fear and respect/reverential awe), but to not be terrified of Him. Right now, our world only thinks in terms of polarization, meaning, something can only be this or that. Democrat or Republican, anti-vax or vaccine, UK basketball fan or not, etc. We can’t begin to see that there can be this realm of reasonable middle ground. In the case of these verses: we should fear/respect and have reverential awe of Yahweh, but also not be terrified of Him- which could then turn us away from Him.
– Austin
