How can we believe that God loves us, and at the same time we should fear him?
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In the Bible we are repeatedly exhorted that we should fear God, that we should fear Him and thus live in a holy fear. But why should we be afraid of God? Is not God love? In 1 John 4:18 it is clearly written that: "In love there is no fear, but perfect love casts out fear; because fear carries punishment in itself. Whence he who fears, has not been perfected in love.
The fear of God is not the same as the fear of a tyrant or a dictator. We should not fear his anger, unless we fear punishment because of a bad conscience and a hard heart because of sin. (Romans 2: 5-9)
To fear God is an absolute reverence and admiration for an Almighty God, the creator of all things. Through the Bible we receive some visions of heaven, and we see that celestial creatures worship Him around His throne continually, shouting "Holy, holy, holy!" Covering their faces. This Almighty God has called me by my name to serve him, and He is working in me so that I can be saved and be with Him for eternity. This must cause in me that love, gratitude and inexpressible reverence grow and increase in my heart!
This makes us afraid to sin against Him, because we want nothing more in this world than to please Him and honor His name. We are afraid of causing you sadness or pain, because we know how incredibly miserable sin is, how much God hates it, and how much it hurts when we sin.
If we do not fear God, we will not take sin seriously enough. The consequences of sin are enormous. When we have been forgiven for our sins according to the righteousness of God we still have to reap the results of having committed sin. (Galatians 6: 7-8) It is true that God is immeasurably full of grace and mercy for us, and that Jesus died for our salvation, so that our sins are forgiven when we repent of them. And we certainly need this, since the sanctification and freedom from sin is a process we are in. But using that as an excuse for sin would show a lack of godly fear; a lack of love for God in fact, this is the reason why we fear and love God
If we really fear God, this will lead us to a deep personal relationship of love with God. It is written: "You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve." Luke 4: 8. This relationship we have with Him will take us to eternity.
"Therefore, receiving us a kingdom that can not be shaken, let us have gratitude, and through it we serve God by pleasing him with fear and reverence." Hebrews 12:28.