The second in a series of articles on fearing God.
Believers should fear God our Creator in joyful awe, as I explored in my first article. But does fearing God as Judge feature in Christian experience? The answer is no and yes. We no longer fear the condemnation of God. But we feel a joyful godly fear because of our knowledge of God’s authoritative judgment; our confidence in his declaration of our acceptance in Christ; and our eagerness to receive his commendation for our lives of faith, obedience and mission.
Perfect Love Drives out Fear of Judgment
Fearing God as our Judge, seems at odds with the gospel. Surely it is the person who has no hope in Christ who should fear the judgment of God. This brings to mind the fear that drove Martin Luther away from God:
Though I lived as a monk without reproach, I felt that I was a sinner before God with an extremely disturbed conscience. I could not believe that he was placated by my satisfaction. I did not love, yes, I hated the righteous God who punishes sinners.
By contrast, believers need no longer fear condemnation. When Luther grasped from Romans 1:17 the gospel truth of the gracious gift of God’s righteousness, he writes:
I felt that I was altogether born again and had entered paradise itself through open gates. … And I extolled my sweetest word with a love as great as the hatred with which I had before hated the word “righteousness of God.” Thus that place in Paul was for me truly the gate to paradise.
John writes in his first letter:
There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. (1 John 4:18)
Perfect love refers to the love of God in sending Jesus to turn aside God’s condemning wrath. It is this love that drives out any fear of punishment. It is this love that assures us of our salvation. God’s grace in Christ is the refuge from God’s wrath outside Christ.
There is a trembling of punishment outside of Christ. But there is a different kind of trembling for those in Christ. As I argued in my first article, both fears involve ‘trembling’. But gospel fear will drive you toward Christ; unbelieving fear will drive you away from Christ. And this gospel fear includes an ongoing awareness of God as not only Creator or Saviour but also as Judge.
Assurance in the Light of the Final Judgment
Speaking to the Christians in Corinth, Paul writes of our confident assurance as Christians:
Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. Therefore we are always confident … So we make it our goal to please him. ( 2 Corinthians 5:5–6, 9)
But see what he says next about our motivation to please Christ:
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. (2 Corinthians 5:10)
Our motivation to please Jesus, with all the assurance of the gospel, is that we will come before him as Judge. What does that mean? The next verses help us:
Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade others. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience. We are not trying to commend ourselves to you again. (2 Corinthians 5:11–12)
Our knowledge of the judgment of God puts our trust in our Judge’s assessment of us: “what we are is plain to God”. What is plain? Not just the integrity of the apostolic ministry, but confidence in the status Christians have before God as outlined in verses 1 to 10. Paul and his companions share the same confidence with all Christians. It is God the Judge who has given us the Spirit guaranteeing our inheritance, so we have great assurance.
This knowledge fuels such security that we do not need to commend ourselves to others. Put another way, it is a godly fear of Jesus that dissolves any fear of others. Whose judgment do you fear more? The judgment of people, or the judgment of Jesus? We call the fear of others people-pleasing or peer pressure. Classic signs of it are the overcommitment that comes from an inability to say no, or insecurity, or an excessive sensitivity to the views of others. When we remember our status in Christ before God the Judge we are set free from this fear.
Falling Short of Commendation
As the fear of the Lord grows, it eclipses, consumes, and destroys all rival fears. Knowing the fear of the Lord as Judge will change our behaviour. But what particular behaviour does Paul have in mind?
Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade others … For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. (2 Corinthians 5:11, 14–15)
Paul wants to evangelise. Why? Because he knows the fear of the Lord. In the context, I suspect this fear is a fear not of condemnation, but of falling short of commendation. It is a fear of disappointing Jesus, a fear of not delighting him as our Lord, a fear of not bringing him glory with our life and ministry. It is a joyful fear that drives us to please him, and not the paralysing fear of punishment. It is a fear that fuels our courage to persuade others at the risk offending them when we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord.
When we rightly fear God as our loving Judge, we will have no fear of condemnation. Rather we will long for his commendation: “well done good and faithful servant” (Matt 25:21, 23).
