Skip to main content

"But with You there is forgiveness so that You can be feared" (Psalm 130:4).

There is a sense in which forgiveness means the end of fear -  "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1). When we are rejoicing in God's salvation, we rejoice in this - "perfect love casts out fear" (1 John 4:18).
There is another sense in which "the fear of the Lord" (Proverbs 1:7) continues after we've been forgiven. Filled with with thanksgiving to God for His free gift of salvation, we seek to glorify the Lord in our lives. Loving the Lord, who first loved us (1 John 4:19), we pray that He will keep us close to Himself. There will be times when we're looking to the Lord to lead us in His way - "This is the way, walk in it" (Isaiah 30:21). There will be times when we need to hear the word of warning - This is not the way. Do not walk in it. "The fear of the Lord" keeps us from thinking that we're closer to the Lord than we really are. It reminds us that we must keep on coming to the foot of the Cross of Christ. At the Cross, we rejoice in the love of our Saviour. We receive reassurance that "there is no condemnation for those who are  in Christ Jesus." At the Cross, we are challenged by the holiness of our Saviour. He calls us back from "walking in the flesh." He calls us to keep on "walking in the Spirit" (Galatians 5:16).  
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sometimes, Lord, our lights are switched off.

Exodus 27:20-29:9   Sometimes, Lord, our lights are switched off. Sometimes, they're switched on. The light of Your love is never switched off. It's always switched on. Your love is 'all the time' love. There is no love like Your love for us. It's the only 'always and forever' love. Thank You, Lord, for the light that never stops shining - the light of Your undying love. This is the only light that is always shining.
Post a Comment
Read more

Are we listening to the Lord - or are we listening to the world?

"Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to give me my share of the inheritance that our father left us.” 14  Jesus said to him, “Who appointed me to be your judge or to divide your inheritance ?” 15  He told the people, “Be careful to guard yourselves from every kind of greed. Life is not about having a lot of material possessions.” 16  Then he used this illustration. He said, “A rich man had land that produced good crops. 17  He thought, ‘What should I do? I don’t have enough room to store my crops.’ 18  He said, ‘I know what I’ll do. I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones so that I can store all my grain and goods in them. 19  Then I’ll say to myself, “You’ve stored up a lot of good things for years to come. Take life easy, eat, drink, and enjoy yourself.”’ 20  “But God said to him, ‘You fool! I will demand your life from you tonight! Now who will get what you’ve accumulated?’ 21  That’s how it ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Teach Us, Lord, To Live For You.

"I am filled with the power of the Lord's Spirit" (Micah 3:8). This is what makes true ministry of God's Word so different from 'prophecy' that doesn't come from the Lord. Without the power of the Lord, there can be no Word from the Lord. We need the Word, and we need the power. "Let's go to the mountain of the Lord ...He will teach us His ways so that we may live by them" (Micah 4:2). We are taught by the Lord so that we might live for Him. Teaching and living - they belong together. We do not learn from God's Word so that we can amass more head-knowledge. We pray for a saving knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ - a life-changing knowledge that gives us the strength that we need to live for the glory of God.
Post a Comment
Read more