Truth Magazine

By James E. Cooper

The words of Proverbs 23:26 may be properly interpreted as those of a concerned father to his son, but there is a real sense in which God speaks to every person in every age and says, “My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.” We are all His offspring (cf. Acts 17:28-29), and He desires and calls for the hearts of each and everyone of us.

Satan also appeals to every person saying, “Give me throe heart.” He doesn’t come up in a red suit, with horns on his head and a pitchfork in his hand, and announce, “I am Satan, and I want to subvert your soul. If you will give me your heart, we will both spend eternity in Hell.” He really appears as an “angel of light” (2 Cor. 11:14), and tells us that we can live as we please and still be acceptable in the sight of God. The Devil doesn’t mind if you take tune to spend an hour or two in the assembly of the saints each week, if he can actually win your heart.

We must determine which of these two masters will have our hearts. We cannot divide our loyalties; we cannot serve two masters (Matt. 6:24). There are too many who want to “honor God with their lips” while their “hearts are far from him” (Matt. 15:8). But, God will have all of us, or nothing at all. Jesus said, “Thou shaft love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind” (Matt. 22:37). He does not want part of your heart; He asks for all of your heart.

What Is The Heart?

When God says, “Give me thine heart,” He is not asking for the physical heart, that lobe within our breast which pumps blood to the various parts of our bodies. It is a vital organ for physical life, but has no real relationship to the spiritual, or inner, man. The heart for which God asks is composed of one’s intellect, will, emotions and conscience. We deduce this from statements in the Scriptures in which the word “heart” appears.

1. The Intellect.

With the heart we reason. On one occasion a man who was sick of the palsy was brought to Jesus and, because of a throng about the door, the four men carrying him broke open the roof of the house and let him down through the roof. Jesus, seeing their faith, told the palsied man, “Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.” Certain scribes were sitting and “reasoning in their hearts” that Jesus had blasphemed; “Who can forgive sins but God only?” In His spirit Jesus perceived their thoughts and asked, “Why reason ye these things in your hearts?” (Mark 2:1-8). The scribes’ reasoning was faulty, and Jesus exposed it as such by healing the palsied man. If He had the power to heal, He had the power to forgive sin (Mark 2:9-12).

With the heart we understand. Isaiah (6:9-10) and Jesus (Matt. 13:15) spoke of those with hearts “waxed gross,” lest they should “understand with their hearts.” Only those with “honest and good hearts” understand the word, hold it fast and produce fruit (cf. Lk. 8:15; Matt. 13:23). Some do not understand the word and “the evil one comes and snatches away that which has been sown in his heart” (Matt. 13:19).

With the heart we believe. Paul said, “. . . with the heart man believeth unto righteousness. . .” (Rom. 10:9-10). One may believe “in his heart” something that is utterly false (cf. 2 Thess. 2:11-12), but that will not save him. In order for the believing heart to be acceptable with God, it must believe the truth (John 8:32).

Both God and Satan desire your intellect. God in His word has presented evidence to be reasoned upon, understood and believed (cf. John 20:30-31). Satan would corrupt your thinking and cause you to disbelieve and reject the truth. Before the Great Flood, he had been so successful that “the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Gen. 6:5).

2. The Will.

Our intentions are exercises of the will, and the word of God is able to “discern the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Heb. 4:12). God is able to distinguish between a passing idea, a fleeting temptation, and the settled intention of the heart. David Lipscomb once illustrated the difference like this: “One cannot keep a bird from landing on his head, but he can prevent him from building a nest in his hair.” We may not always prevent an unwholesome thought from entering our minds, but we can exercise our wills to keep it from taking up a permanent abode in our hearts.

We purpose in our hearts. After news came to Jerusalem about the conversion of the Gentiles in Antioch, Barnabas was sent forth, “and when he was come, and had seen the grace of God, was glad; and he exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they would cleave to the Lord” (Acts 11:23). In teaching us to give, Paul said, “Let each man do according as he hath purposed in his heart. . .” (2 Cor. 9:7). Again, Paul said the man who had “determined in his heart” to- keep his own virgin daughter unmarried under the temporary circumstances at Corinth “shall do well” (1 Cor. 7:37).

We exercise our wills when we “become obedient from the heart to that form of teaching whereunto ye were delivered” (Rom. 6:17). Obedience is an exercise of the will. When we obey the commands of the gospel “from the heart,” we are made free from sin and become the servants of righteousness (Rom. 6:17-18).

Both God and Satan desire your will. God wants you to purpose to obey him sincerely from the heart. Satan wants to undermine that purpose and secure your will for his own devilish ends. He doesn’t even mind if one “goes through the motions” of obeying God, just so it is not done “from the heart.”

3. The Emotions.

We desire in our hearts. Paul said, “My heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is. . .” (Rom. 10:1).

We despise in our hearts. When Michal, Saul’s daughter and David’s wife, saw David leaping and dancing before the Lord while they brought the ark of the covenant into Jerusalem, “she despised him in her heart” (2 Sam. 6:16).

We trust in our hearts. Solomon said, “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding” (Prov. 3:5).

We love with our hearts. Jesus said, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart. . .” (Matt. 22:37). Peter said, “Seeing ye have purified your souls in your obedience to the truth unto unfeigned love of the brethren, love one another from the heart fervently” (1 Pet. 1:22).

Both God and Satan want your emotions. Satan wants you to love the world (cf. 1 Jn. 2:15-17), to desire the pleasures of sin (cf. Heb. 11:23-26), to trust in your feelings (cf. Prov. 14:25; Jer. 10:23), and in effect, to despise God. But God wants your heart’s emotions. He wants you to love Him and trust Him with all your heart.

4. The Conscience.

John speaks of it like this: “And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him. For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then we have confidence toward God” (1 John 3:19-21). That which approves us when we do right and condemns us when we do wrong is the conscience. What the conscience approves or condemns depends on what one has been taught. A properly functioning conscience is one that has learned the word of God and approves and disapproves in harmony with its teachings. In the above context, the heart approves us when we do what we understand God wants of us. If we feel guilty because we don’t serve Him perfectly, “God is greater than our hearts, and knoweth all things.” Among the things God knows is whether or not we have really tried to serve Him aright. God knows whether we are “putting our hearts into it,” or whether we are “double-minded and unstable in all our ways” (cf. Jas. 1:8).

Christ tells sinners how to obtain a good (or approving) conscience. There are three passages in the book of Hebrews that should be considered here. In Hebrews 9:9, we learn that the gifts and sacrifices made under the first covenant “cannot, as touching the conscience, make the worshiper perfect.” The reason is very simple: “It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins” (Heb. 10:4). But animal sacrifices did suffice to “sanctify unto the cleanness of the flesh” (Heb. 9:13).

The second passage we wish to emphasize says, “How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish unto God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” (Heb. 9:14). How is that accomplished? How is the conscience cleansed from dead works? It is cleansed from guilt when one realizes that, having met the terms of pardon announced by Jesus (cf. Mk. 16:15-16) from the heart (Rom. 6:17-18), he has received the remission of his sins (Acts 2:38; 22:16). God has forgiven him, and will never remember those sins against him again (cf. Heb. 8:12; 10:18). Realizing that God has forgiven him, the now forgiven sinner realizes he doesn’t need to feel guilty about his sins any longer. He has been “made free from sin” and has become a servant of righteousness (Rom. 6:17-18).

Hebrews 10:22-23 exhorts Christians: “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water, let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering.” Our hearts are sprinkled (an allusion to the sprinkling of the blood of the sacrifice) and our bodies are washed (the allusion to baptism is “unquestionable,” B.F. Westcott, Hebrews, pg. 323). When one is baptized in water, “obeying from the heart,” the blood of Christ is applied to remove the guilt of sin from the heart. In this way one is baptized as “an appeal to God for a good conscience” (1 Pet. 3:21, NASV).

Who Has Your Heart?

The children of the devil and the children of God are distinguished by their deeds. The children of the devil act like the devil (cf. John 8:44), while the children of God “doeth righteousness” (1 John 3:29).

The character of one’s heart is manifested by his conduct. Jesus said, “The tree is known by its fruit” (Matt. 12:33). “The good man out of his good treasure bringeth forth good things: and, the evil man out of his evil treasure bringeth forth evil things” (Matt. 12:35). Further, the character of one’s heart is manifested by his speech: “. . . for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh” (Matt. 12:34; Lk. 6:45).

When the disciples of Jesus were criticized for eating with unwashed hands, Jesus taught it was not that which entered the mouth that defiled a man, but that which came from within. “For from within, out of the heart of men, evil thoughts proceed, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, covetings, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, railing, pride, foolishness: all these evil things proceed from within and defile a man” (Mark 7:21-22; cf. Matt. 15:19).

The Heart Is Changed At Conversion

In remorse over his sin with Bathsheba, David prayed, “. . . Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me” (Psa. 51:10). God commanded sinful Israel to “cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel” (Ezek. 18:31). The “new heart” for which David prayed came as a result of his “turning” from sin unto the Lord. Through Ezekiel, God said, “For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord God: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye” (Ezek. 18:32).

The gospel, “the power of God unto salvation” (Rom. 1:16), is the power of God to change every part of the heart. The intellect is changed from unbelief by testimony, or evidence (cf. John 20:30-31; Acts 15:7-9). The emotions are changed in response to the motivations of the gospel. God first loved us, and gave His only begotten Son; we love Him in return (cf. John 3:16; 1 John 4:19; 2 Cor. 5:14). By learning and appreciating the commandments of God, we hate every false way (cf. Psa. 119:1-4, 128). The will is changed by a proper appreciation of the holy attributes of God. “Godly fear leads to repentance” (2 Cor. 7:10), and repentance leads to a change of conduct (cf. Matt. 3:8; Matt. 21:28-30). The conscience is changed from an “evil” conscience to a “good” conscience when one realizes he has met God’s conditions of pardon, and the saving blood of Christ has cleansed him of every sin. God has forgiven him. Therefore he doesn’t need to feel guilty about the sins he has committed in the past.

Conversion involves the heart all the way. It involves understanding with the heart (cf. Acts 16:14; Matt. 13:19), believing with all the heart (cf. Acts 8:37), and obeying from the heart (cf. Rom. 6:17-18). Before a person is baptized, he is “out of Christ,” but at baptism his relationship is changed. He becomes a “child of God by faith” when he is “baptized into Christ” (cf. Gal. 3:26-27). In Christ, he is a “new creature” (2 Cor. 5:17). As a Christian he loves God “with all his heart” (Matt. 22:37), and “loves the brethren from the heart fervently” (1 Pet. 1:21).

Conclusion

Both God and Satan are standing before you right now. Both have outstretched arms. Both are saying “Give me your heart. ” You must decide right now to whom you will give your heart. Any hesitation in giving your heart to God means you have yielded to Satan. All Satan has to do is to persuade you not to give your heart to God “just now.” But “today is the day of salvation” (2 Cor. 6:2); you may never have another opportunity. Procrastination is the thief of souls. Don’t take a chance with your soul.

Even if you obey the gospel today, you must “keep your heart with all diligence” (Prov. 23:7). Satan won’t give up easily. But an “honest and good heart” will resist the devil and cause him to flee (cf. Jas. 4:7).

Give God your heart – immediately, completely and eternally.

Guardian of Truth XXVII: 5, 129, 150-151
March 3, 1983

By Irven Lee

Children do not have the ability at birth to understand the language of their parents. We all realize this, but we should also understand that these little people do not know the commonly accepted rules of etiquette, nor do they recognize property rights. Each child seems to assume that anything he finds and likes belongs to him. Only gradually does he learn that some things are his and that other things are the property of others. The innocent child does not, of course, have any sense of discernment between what is morally right and what is wrong. Because of parental failure to guide or train the children many young people never come to have a definite code of morals or sensitive consciences to guide them in the way of righteousness.

While many are not trained to discern between good and evil, they could have been trained. They are as capable of developing faith, godliness, and spiritual wisdom as they are of developing physical skills and language skills from people about them. Some parents take an interest in helping their children to develop the ability to earn a living but not much concern to teach them how to live. There are many who are skilled in athletics, music, and in various aspects of business that are as ignorant of spiritual values as the brute beast from the jungle (2 Pet. 2:12, KJV). That which is most important is lacking.

Parents must have the respect of their children or they cannot convey the value of their own knowledge and experience to them. Love, instruction, personal attention, and the proper example from parents can go a long way toward obtaining this respect. To make their word authoritative, the chastening rod is recommended by the word of God. This is not physical or mental abuse, but it is not always pleasant to the one who is disciplined or to the one who is administering it. Even the Lord chastens those He loves.

“My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: for whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable f’ lit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby” (Heb. 12:5-11).

We may not be able to identify the occasions when the loving heavenly Father is chastening us. Our complaining bitter attitude toward things that are beyond our control will not help. Fortunate children whose fathers love them enough to use the rod at the proper time and in the proper way grow up with special respect for their parents. Those undisciplined children cannot be pleased. No undisciplined child is ever a happy child. He is not self disciplined nor is he pleasant and cooperative in disposition. Is this not true of the unrestrained children you know? Love suggests the use of the rod, but not to the unreasonable point of abuse (Prov. 13:24; Col. 3:20, 21). There is the very useful form of discipline that yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness (Eph. 6:4; Prov. 13:24).

The punishment the child receives from his parents should be adequate to bring his will into subjection. Impulsively hitting the child may only aggravate the rebellious attitude. Conquer the rebel and be consistent, and there will not need to be a constant running battle. A good man should have his children in subjection with all gravity (1 Tim. 3:4, 5). There is some “know how” involved in proper discipline. Children are small for a few years so all parents should develop a skill in the use of effective discipline. Obedience is one of the greatest lessons to be taught, and here is where discipline in the home comes into its place of very great importance. An adult can buffet his own body and bring it into subjection, but a child lacks the depth of understanding to discipline himself, so his parents provide wise and effective discipline until he is trained and mature enough to see the need to control his own fleshly nature.

Guardian of Truth XXVII: 4, p. 122
February 17, 1983

By Fred Holthouser

The wrath of God will be poured out on all false religious organizations, which includes the Jehovah’s Witnesses and all others that do not obey His word in all its revealed truth. Man often seeks a way to escape God’s judgment and this is why Witness doctrine denies the eternal torment of hell. If any one knows how we can miss the judgment of God, I wish they would tell me what the Scripture is that says we can. I will show it to others so they may also miss this judgment as no one likes to think that he or she is going to be judged for what we have done in this body. But I am afraid that the Scripture is missing that teaches this. In John 12:48 Jesus said, “He who rejects me, and does not receive my words, has one which judges him, the words that I have spoken will judge him in the last day.”

Witnesses vs Scripture On The Soul

In Revelation 6:9 John saw the souls of the saints. This would be enough to prove that the Witnesses are false teachers as they teach that man does not have a soul and that there is nothing inside man that goes on living after death. Now how could John tell us that he saw souls if they were not therefor him to see? Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 15:50 that flesh and blood cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven. So there must be an inner man that goes on living after the body dies. This inner man is what John saw by revelation. Paul. also says in 2 Corinthians 4:16 that though his outer man is perishing his inward man was renewed day by day. How can something be renewed unless it is in existence?

In Matthew 10:28 Jesus says, “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul, but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” Notice that the word “and” in this passage is a coordinating conjunction that connects two things of equal rank. So as long as we are in this life, one cannot exist without the other – that is, both inner man and outer man. As we find by looking as James 2:26, the point is that the body and soul are separate parts of man and as long as we are in this life they must go together. Or else, why did Jesus separate them? Why did James do the same thing? Why did Paul in writing the Thessalonians pray for their body, soul, and spirit (1 Thess. 5:23)? If the inner man cannot be separated from the body, why did Paul separate them as he did?

Jesus said in Matthew 25:41 to those on the left hand, “Depart from me into the lake of fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” Now does that sound like what is taught by the Witnesses – that hell is just annihilation? This lake of fire is for all false teachers and false prophets, the Jehovah’s Witnesses notwithstanding. Death is a separation, whether we speak of physical or spiritual death. One who lives a life of deceit and false teaching will deserve a fate as described in Revelation 20:10, that is to be separated from God throughout all of eternity. This spiritual death is a complete removal from light back into darkness with no rest or comfort. What a fate awaits the false teachers and false prophets who will not repent and come back to God on his terms before it is too late. Now is the time to obey God. Do not wait, for we know not when we will die (Heb. 9:27).

Just like the pope in Rome, the Witnesses claim that as soon as any and all of their literature leaves the sixth floor of the Bethel headquarters (where the printing plant is located), then that is what the Witnesses are to believe and teach regardless of what the Bible says. In other words, as one of the presidents of the Society said, it is to be believed as soon as it leaves the printing plant whether it be right or wrong as to the teachings of God’s word. This can be done because they hold such control over their people. Whatever the president and the editorial staff says is the truth, all loyal Witnesses are to believe that it is the truth without question. Most Witnesses go along with this because of the club that is held over their heads; if you create any trouble for them by asking too many questions, you will be disfellowshipped and put out of the organization. John 17:17 tells us that God’s word is truth and that is what we are to be judged by, not a group of men in the Witness organization. In this passage, Jesus prayed to the Father for His disciples, “Sanctify them through thy truth.” “Sanctify” means “to set apart or to call out of.” We are called out of a life of sin and that includes slavery to all the false, Satanic religious organizations of the world such as the Watchtower Society. We are to serve the Lord, not men.

This alone should be enough to prove to all honest hearts that the so-called New World Society is a false religious organization and that its slaves should come out of it just as I did and just the way God says from his word in Revelation 18:4.

Dismal Record of Broken Prophecies

In the next few paragraphs I would like to give you a list of the false predictions and the year in which they were predicted to let you see that there has not been even the first one to come true. That proves beyond any doubt that this organization is one that is false and should be avoided like one would avoid the plague.

• 1877 “The end of the world is nearer than most men suppose.” See Three Worlds and The Harvest of This World, by Russell and Barbour, p. 17.
• 1886 “Marshaling of the host for the battle of the great day of God the Almighty, is in progress while the skirmishing is commencing.” See Zion’s Watchtower Reprints, Volume One, p. 817.
• 1889 “The battle of the great day of God Almighty, which will end in A.D. 1914, is already commenced.” See Time Is At Hand (Watchtower Bible and Tract Society), p. 101.
• 1894 “The skirmishing is already beginning all along the line. The end of 1914 is not the date for the beginning, but for the end of the time of trouble.” See Zion’s Watchtower Reprints, Volume Two (Jan. 1, 1894), p. 1605.
• 1904 “The stress of the great time of trouble will be on us soon, somewhere between 1910 and 1912 culminating in October of 1914.” See Studies of the Scriptures, by C.T. Russell (Watchtower Bible and Tract Society), Volume 6, p. 579.
• 1914 “The great crisis, the great clash is very near. Armageddon may begin next spring.” See Watchtower Reprints, Volume Two, p. 1677.
• 1915 “The battle of Armageddon, to which this war is leading.” See Watchtower Reprints, Volume 6 (Sept 1, 1914), p. 5450.
• 1915 “The present great war in Europe is the beginning of the Armageddon of the Scriptures.” See Watchtower Reprints, Volume 6 (April 1, 1915), p. 5659.
• 1917 “We anticipate that the earthquake will occur early in 1918, and that the fire will come int eh fall of 1920.” See The Finished Mystery (Watchtower Bible and Tract Society), p. 178.
• 1917 “Emphasis is on 1925, the old world is ending, we are standing at the very portals of that blessed time (golden age of the kingdom) deliverance.” See Millions Now Living Will Never Die, by J.F. Rutherford (Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1920), p. 105.
• 1929 “God’s purpose must shortly dash to pieces the devil’s organization, Satan knows that shortly he must fight the Lord.” See Prophecy, by J.F. Rutherford (Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1929), p. 266.
• 1930 “The Climax is at hand.” See Light, by J.F. Rutherford (Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1930), Volume Two, p. 327.
• 1931 “His day of vengeance is here, and Armageddon is at hand. God’s judgment must shortly be executed.” See Vindication, by J.F. Rutherford (Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1931), Volume One, p. 147.
• 1932 “The end is only a short time away.” See The Jehovah’s Witnesses, (Columbia University Press, 1945), p. 55.
• 1939 “The time for the battle of the great day of God Almighty is very near, the disaster of Armageddon is just ahead.” See Salvation, by J.F. Rutherford (Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1939), pp. 310, 361.
• 1940 “The day for the final settlement is near at hand, the Witness work for the Theocracy appears to be about done.” See Watchtower Magazine of Sept. 1, 1940, p. 265.
• 1941 “Armageddon is surely near, soon within a few years.” See Children, by J.F. Rutherford (Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1941), p. 366.
• 1942 “The new world is at the door, the time is short.” See The New World, (Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1942), p. 10.
• 1943 “The beginning of the final war is dangerously near.” See The Truth Shall Make You Free, (Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1943), p. 341.
• 1944 “The end o’ the world arrangement is now near.” See The Kingdom Is At Hand, (Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1944), p. 342.
• 1946 “Armageddon should come sometime before 1971.” See They Have Found a Faith (Bobbs-Merrill Co., 1946), p. 34.
• 1946 “The final and draws near.” See They Have Found a Faith. (Bobbs-Merrill Co., 1946), p. 44.
• 1950 “Jehovah’s time has come to settle definitely the issue.” See This Means Everlasting Life, (Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1950), p. 307.
• 1953 “1954 could well be the year.” See Jehovah’s Witnesses and What They Believe (Zondervan Publishing Co., 1967), p. 307.
• 1955 “The war of Armageddon is nearing its breaking-out point.” See You May Survive Armageddon into God’s New World, (Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1955), p. 331.
• 1966 “A climax of man’s history is at the door.” See Awake Magazine, of October 8, 1966, p. 20.
• 1969 “There is only a short time left.” See Watchtower Magazine, of Jan. 15, 1969, p. 39.
• 1966 In their book Life Everlasting in the Freedom of the Sons of God, (pp. 29-33), they claim that the year of 1975 was to be the end of the world and to see the New World Society being established some time in the fall of the year.

This makes twenty-eight different predictions on the same Bible prophecy. Not one of them has come true. Just like the boy that cried wold once too often, they have missed the prophecies that they have made so often that I do not see how they can expect anyone to believe them about anything they do or teach.

Let me beg anyone that is connected with any false religious organization to take their Bibles and study the word of God by itself and then obey what it says for us to do. If you take the Baptist creed book plus the Bible, you will make one a Baptist. Take the Catholic Catechism plus the Bible, and you will make one a Catholic. The same could be said about any other false religious organization. But if you take the Bible by itself without these creed books, it will make one a Christian, a child of God. That is what we all should want to be, nothing else.

Guardian of Truth XXVII: 4, pp. 120-121
February 17, 1983

By Randy Blackaby

Fear is one of those dichotomies of scriptural teaching. We are told, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man” (Eccl. 12:13). But we also are told, “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matt. 10:28).

There are at least two kinds of fear. One is that feeling that extends from stark terror to reverence and can be either good or bad, depending upon the circumstances; and the other is better defined as cowardice, always condemned in the Scriptures.

The primary interest of the Christian, however, is in the command to “fear God.” There is a tendency among Christians to either misunderstand or minimize this command.

Why Should We Fear God?

Any student of the Bible recognizes the awesome power of God. He is the very creator of life, having formed man from the dust of the ground. Such power, when fully realized;.is cause for fear. “For in him we live, and move, and have our being” (Acts 17:28). God’s omniscience is compelling reason for fear as well. Imagine the power possessed by one who can read every inner thought of a man.

God’s righteousness, the fact He never errs in judgment, compared to our frequent errors, is yet another cause for fear. We often use the word “reverence” to describe this feeling, but its basis is in fear of anyone so superior.

Perhaps the most often cited cause for fearing God is the Bible teaching concerning His judgment. The writer of Hebrews, in describing the plight of those willfully sinning after receipt of the truth, says of the future: “But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and bath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, said the Lord …. It is a fearful thing to fall unto the hands of the living God” (Heb. 10:27-31).

That each of us will be held individually accountable (2 Cor. 5:10-11) and that God is “no respecter of persons” (1 Peter 1:17) builds that fear in light of the impossibility of anyone escaping that answering to God. The punishment promised to the wicked is no slap on the wrist for Romans 6:25 says “the wages of sin is death.” God has created a place of punishment called hell, where “the worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched” (Mk. 9:44). The very description of that burning place of torment sends an involuntary shudder through the believer. Beyond that, the bottom line of God’s punishment for sin is eternal separation from Him, a situation not even faced by the vilest sinner as he lives in this world today.

Judgment and punishment are sufficient causes for fear but the love of God likewise compels us to fear. Paul describes God’s love by saying, “He that spared not his own son, but delivered him for us all. . .” (Rom. 8:32). God’s own son was the sacrifice for our sins. Imagining a man, much less our creator, offering his only son for savage abuse and tortured death certainly commands reverential fear in the face of such love. On the other hand, to ignore that sacrifice and its purpose is justification for stark terror of His judgment as righteousness is vindicated.

What Fear Accomplishes In The Life Of A Christian

Fear of the Lord brings obedience. We have in Noah an example of this incentive nature of fear. “By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house. . .” (Heb. 11:7). God has always warned His people. He has threatened punishment and given the opportunity for fear to accomplish obedience in the hearts of those who believe Him.

Fear also serves to keep the obedient holy. In 2 Corinthians 7:1, the Apostle Paul put it this way: “Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” Explained yet another way, “Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it” (Heb. 4:1).

Knowledge is a by-product of godly fear. The writer of the Psalms said, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge” and Proverbs 8:13 explains, “The fear of the Lord is to hate evil.” Summed in these passages are the elements of true knowledge, philosophy and life goals.

Fear Exemplified In Father/Son Relationship

Often Christians find difficulty understanding how they should fear a loving God. Attempts are made to explain this relationship by substituting for the word “fear” the words “respect” and “reverence.” This, however, really is unnecessary for in our own relationships as parents to children we can see how fear operates in the heart of “a child of God.”

My sons fear my power. While short of stature, I still loom twice the size of any of them, am capable of delivering a spanking, lifting them off the ground and any number of other acts based on size and age that show the differential in physical strength. The difference in knowledge plays a role in this fear in the mind of a child as well.

Having felt the sting of a spanking, they fear what violation of certain rules can bring, especially when punishment is promised. This is a proper situation, as evidenced by Hebrews 12:5-9, which says, “And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?” The Scriptures very clearly make analogy between the fear and discipline an earthly father commands and exerts and that of our “heavenly Father.”

Even deeper often times than the fear of daddy’s spanking power is the simple fear of offending. Dad’s displeasure is often worse than the spanking. What parent hasn’t wrinkled his forehead in a frown of displeasure with a child’s act only to receive a tearburst before any discussion of punishment is voiced. We call that respect.

Love is involved in this latter aspect of a child’s fear of his parent. It is a desire to please and a fear to displease. Again, this sums up the duty of a child and the role of fear in shaping acceptable behavior. The person who doesn’t fear doesn’t love. This is evident in the current lack of respect (fear) of authority in our society. It reflects the absence of any fear of offending others, a basic component of love.

Godly fear is modified as we mature. The fear I once had of my father’s hand on my posterior is replaced today with a fear of displeasing him. My fear, or respect, or love, has matured. So it is with the maturing Christian. Initial obedience to the will of God often is response to the dread of eternal hell, the fear of punishment. As the Christian matures, however, obedience is based on a deeper concern than fear of punishment. It is based on a commitment to do nothing that would offend our Father in heaven, who created us, redeemed us and has prepared a place for us. Fear has become love.

That fear alone is not enough to save is evidenced in the fact that the “devils believe and tremble.” Yet fear when blended with love brings obedience and obedience salvation.

Conclusion

Fear is a motivator. Because of fear we don’t step in front of speeding cars, or jump from a top high building or place our hands in a fire. Our fear of pain and death constrains us. The Bible utilizes fear in the same mode, commanding us to “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” and threatening everlasting punishment to all those unwilling to obey the will of God.

We can fear the wrong things. Fear of men, their ridicule, of being an outsider or different, or even of being harmed or killed, is discouraged by the teaching of Scripture. Yet we are commanded to fear God. The latter fear, as it develops, chokes out the first fear. First century Christians were beaten, castigated, even fed to hungry lions but refused to renounce their loyalty to the God of heaven.

Fear and love often are spoken of as if they exist at opposite ends of a spectrum. In fact, neither exists without the other.

Guardian of Truth XXVII: 4, pp. 118-119
February 17, 1983