The Fear of Perfect Justice
Understanding that God is able to be gracious toward us because his perfect justice was satisfied on the cross should prompt us to be profoundly grateful and extraordinarily gracious toward others.
FEAR and fears
The Fear of Bad News
We must recognize human culpability before God when people ignore and reject his saving message because they stubbornly refuse to hear the truth since it is not what they want to hear.
The Fear of Broken Relationships
While one day all pain and problems will be behind us, for now we must draw strength from God’s family as we endure the sting of strained and fractured relationships that are inevitable because of our alliance with Christ.
The Fear of Responsibility
We will all be fairly and judiciously held accountable for our response to God’s call to employ our time, talent, and resources to serve Christ and advance his kingdom.
The Fear of Being Unprepared
We must make certain that we are personally and spiritually prepared for the powerful, glorious, and imminent return of Christ; and rightly be fearful if we are not.
The Fear of Having Nothing
We must spend no time or energy worrying about what we need, instead we should work diligently to advance his cause in this world trusting that he will adequately provide all that we might need.
The Fear of Not Having Enough
Money cannot provide the fulfillment and protection it appears to offer; those things come from God alone and must always be enjoyed by Christians as byproducts of pursuing him.
The Fear of Rejection
Because our alliance with Christ will be tested with some sort of persecution or difficult, we must resolve ahead of time to be loyal to him knowing God will provide real-time strength and support.
The Fear of Violence
Though in our fallen world we are not exempt from violent crimes and deadly persecution that will perennially threaten our well-being, the reliability of God’s good promises can enable us to renounce our fears.
The Fear of God
We must understand the clear and repeated call to fear God, first in view of our need for salvation and then in view of his absolute and ultimate authority over every aspect of our lives.
The Fear of Being Fake
Real Christians must fall into the same pattern as phony Christians, as though we will not face a day when our Father will thoroughly evaluate and call us to account for our actions and words.