Question for today: Do you believe we should "fear" the Lord?
The Danger of False Teachers
1 But there were also false prophets in Israel, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will cleverly teach destructive heresies and even deny the Master who bought them. In this way, they will bring sudden destruction on themselves. 2 Many will follow their evil teaching and shameful immorality. And because of these teachers, the way of truth will be slandered. 3 In their greed they will make up clever lies to get hold of your money. But God condemned them long ago, and their destruction will not be delayed.
4 For God did not spare even the angels who sinned. He threw them into hell,[a] in gloomy pits of darkness,[b] where they are being held until the day of judgment. 5 And God did not spare the ancient world—except for Noah and the seven others in his family. Noah warned the world of God’s righteous judgment. So God protected Noah when he destroyed the world of ungodly people with a vast flood. 6 Later, God condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and turned them into heaps of ashes. He made them an example of what will happen to ungodly people. 7 But God also rescued Lot out of Sodom because he was a righteous man who was sick of the shameful immorality of the wicked people around him. 8 Yes, Lot was a righteous man who was tormented in his soul by the wickedness he saw and heard day after day. 9 So you see, the Lord knows how to rescue godly people from their trials, even while keeping the wicked under punishment until the day of final judgment. 10 He is especially hard on those who follow their own twisted sexual desire, and who despise authority.
These people are proud and arrogant, daring even to scoff at supernatural beings[c] without so much as trembling. 11 But the angels, who are far greater in power and strength, do not dare to bring from the Lord[d] a charge of blasphemy against those supernatural beings.
Footnotes:
a. 2 Peter 2:4 Greek Tartarus.
b. 2 Peter 2:4 Some manuscripts read in chains of gloom.
c. 2 Peter 2:10 Greek at glorious ones, which are probably evil angels.
d. 2 Peter 2:11 Other manuscripts read to the Lord; still others omit this phrase.
5 comments:
"Do you believe we should "fear" the Lord?"
I'm not sure how to respond to this question. There are alot of references in the Bible that we should "fear the Lord if we hate evil."Proverbs 8:13 and the "fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge." Proverbs 1:7
I certainly fear NOT knowing the Lord. I fear that if I am a wicked person that I should fear the Lord because I will pay for my sins on judgement day.
So, I guess I should fear the Lord.
CAS, this is a great question that you raised. I'd certainly would like to discuss this more indepth if anyone is interested?
Well, it may sound like a cop out, but I am in the healthy fear category. Like when your dad got angry with you. I think that it is pretty clear in the bible that we should recognize Who we are serving and that fear has its place. How about the rest of you guys???
I tend to walk that fine line between fear and paranoia. I think that I fear the Lord and do my best not to sin. I think that I don't fear the Lord sometimes when I'm not living completely for Christ. I think that I (often) rationalize away Christ's amazing gift, and that I sadly find comfort in that rationalization, rather than finding comfort constantly in Christ and his unimaginable sacrifice.
Father, You are the Creator, all things come from You. Let me live my life with proper respect and obedience for You.
In Jesus' name
Amen
crb
To me, "fearing the Lord" is a rightful recognition of the Supreme Authority. That implies placing Him first above all other things. It implies worship, devotion, and dependence. CAS is absolutely spot on to draw a parallel to our earthly fathers as a picture of the relationship between us and our heavenly Father - the respect and sense of authority should be the same. I "feared" my dad's authority, but didn't "live in fear" of him. In the same way I fear the Lord, but don't live in fear as one would fear danger, as if walking at night in a strange city. How can that "fear" be compared to the Flood or the annihilation of Sodom? To me, it simply means that there is no greater authority; no greater power; no greater thing to depend on that God. That doesn't mean it's simple to live out, only easy to accept.
tba
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