If I were to simply ask, “What is fear?” most of us would
not have an issue answering that question. Fear is that emotion I feel when I’m
scared of danger, or a problem bearing down on me. It could be a real danger: perhaps
a snake has slithered across my foot; or it could be a perceived danger:
perhaps the snake is a harmless black racer and is very unlikely to even bite
me. So, a swamp filled with mosquitoes biting me is a fear of real danger. A sign telling me there are a lot of mosquitoes who may bite me is a perceived danger (thanks Congaree National Forest for the warning!).
Further, if I were to ask who is the Lord, few Christians
would stumble to find the answer. The Lord is God, the One and Only. The Lord
is the Almighty Creator, the incarnate Savior, the Comforting Spirit: Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit in One Godhead. He is the Lord.
But, if we put both fear and the Lord into a phrase and ask
its definition, many do stumble. What is the fear of the Lord? As I have
briefly researched, the modern consensus seems to be a brief or prolonged
journey that arrives at similar conclusions. Fear of the Lord is not fear, but
something like awe, respect, worship, and love. Now, because of Jesus, praise
the Lord, I do think we worship God with reverence and awe, and I do think we
love God because He first loved us in Jesus Christ. But, if “the fear of the
Lord” should be translated “the awe of the Lord” or “the love of the Lord,”
then Bible translators have done a consistently lousy job translating the words
into fear.
On the basis of linguistics, biblical theology, and logic,
I’m going to argue that the fear of the Lord means fearing the Lord as in a
settled emotional trembling at His Person and Presence. This fear, because of
Jesus, need not remain the only emotion we habitually experience. Instead, when
we come to God by faith in Jesus, and are adopted into God’s family, we combine
fear and love. We fear-love God. It’s what Augustine will call a filial fear.
We do not graduate from or leave fear behind, discarding any fear we experience
in God’s holy presence, but we couple that fear with hope and love in Jesus.
The by-product of this fear-love is habitual right-walking with God,
right-worship of God, and enduring happiness.