Key verse
2 Timothy 1:7 - For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.
Proverbs
Proverbs 10:27 says "The fear of the Lord adds length to life, but the years of the wicked are cut short."
I wonder if the author was thinking that fearing God would prolong life because then God wouldn't punish you as he would the wicked. My first thought was the fear of the Lord would also include having common sense, a logical mind (to some extent, at least), and belief in absolutes, like absolute morality, and right and wrong. All of those things are extremely helpful in living a successful life.
Showing posts with label fear of the Lord. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fear of the Lord. Show all posts
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Friday, January 14, 2011
The fear of the Lord
Some ramblings on the love and fear of God:
We all know that God is love. Did the Israelites know that? God is unchanging, the same yesterday, today, and forever. But his dealings with the Israelites were through a bunch of laws. He said he would show love to a thousand generations of those who loved him, and punish only to the third and fourth generations of those who did wrong, which he did. But could they really see that God was love, even in the midst of the law, and that God was interested in changing their hearts, and not just in governing their way of life?
I've heard that Jews don't see the law as a burden, so maybe as an outsider looking in I'm misunderstanding this, but Jesus seems to have made God's heart for relationship a lot clearer through the New Testament than God did in the Old Testament.
My main point is this: I'd like to come to be a better understanding of a full dimensional God who is understood in the New Testament reality, but through the lens of the Old Testament.
We all know that God is love. Did the Israelites know that? God is unchanging, the same yesterday, today, and forever. But his dealings with the Israelites were through a bunch of laws. He said he would show love to a thousand generations of those who loved him, and punish only to the third and fourth generations of those who did wrong, which he did. But could they really see that God was love, even in the midst of the law, and that God was interested in changing their hearts, and not just in governing their way of life?
I've heard that Jews don't see the law as a burden, so maybe as an outsider looking in I'm misunderstanding this, but Jesus seems to have made God's heart for relationship a lot clearer through the New Testament than God did in the Old Testament.
My main point is this: I'd like to come to be a better understanding of a full dimensional God who is understood in the New Testament reality, but through the lens of the Old Testament.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)