Secure in a Healthy Fear of God

By Pastor Benjamin Davis

The fear of God is not a very popular subject in American Christian circles anymore, but it should be.  Properly taught and applied, a healthy, reverential fear of God will not produce anxiety, but security in the life of the believer.

In Philippians 2:12-13, the apostle Paul wrote:

...work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.

Paul is encouraging the Philippians to work out their own salvation with a healthy, reverential fear of God because their faith is greater than a work of man.  It is a work of God in them.  It is not according to man's good pleasure, but God's good pleasure.

This truth is also found in Ephesians 1:5:

...having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will.

A healthy, reverential fear of God is based in what I call the "omnis" of God.  God is Omniscient (all-knowing), Omnipotent (all-powerful), and Omnipresent (all-present and everywhere all the time).  This same "omni" God has initiated a work of grace and faith in the believer's life according to the good pleasure of His will.  Knowing that the grace and faith we are experiencing in Christ are a work of God for His good pleasure brings security in Him when we are yielding to His work. It only produces anxiety when we are resisting His good work in us.

We Americans have at times chosen to replace the security that comes from the work of His good pleasure in us with other systems of security.  We can find security in things such as  Social Security (security in retirement), family (security in relationships), healthcare (security in insurance), or even denominational structures of our churches.  None of these things are bad in and of themselves, but they can never replace the security that comes from experiencing the work of His good pleasure in us.

God's children who come to understand His "omnis" and the work of HIS good pleasure will have a healthy fear of God and become very secure in Him.

Pastor Benjamin Davis is the Senior Pastor for Abundant Life Covenant Church