Proverbs 16:6 in Sin’s Face

[newton3005]

The fear of the Lord is predominant in the OT, compared to the love of the Lord in the NT. But in any part of the NT, the OT cannot be ignored. It is the foundation of the teachings of Jesus and his disciples, who have built on the OT.

Can we love someone and fear them at the same time? If fear is predominant, then where does love fit in, and vice versa? Love and fear do not mix. If you fear someone, you’re not loving them. If you love someone, then in that state of love, fear does not exist.

Aside from fearing God, the OT also mentions loving Him. The strongest Verse happens to be a law of God Himself; Deuteronomy 6:5 says, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” For those without any love in their heart, they may see this Verse as an implied threat, as in ‘If you don’t love Him, then...”, and perhaps that’s where the fear of the Lord may come in for some. For those who are capable of loving, though, Deuteronomy 6:5 is an implied understanding. It is saying that you use your love to love God, in the context of an opportunity to be a part of His World.

Jesus has a similar commandment in the first commandment he gives to a lawyer in Matthew 22:35-38. There is no threat in what Jesus says, he merely states a fact which is that this is one commandment that covers all of the Law and the prophets in the OT.

If you truly love God, then at the end of the day there is no room for sin. There may be times during that day where your love of God and the sins you might commit may trade places, but under God the day gets measured in terms of the love you show despite the sins you may commit. And if the love you show overshadows any sins you may have committed on that day, then as the moon rises it can be said that you loved in that day.

What is sin but having committed evil? But sin comes in varying degrees and is the result of varying motives. And anyway, if during that day you ask God for forgiveness of any sins you committed, do you not show your love for God?

What about the “fear of the Lord” that is mentioned in Proverbs 16:6? For those who love God, there is a fear of the Lord that may not be covered in the OT as much as the fear of what the Lord can do. It is a fear of losing God’s Love for you if you sin, or the fear of not having His Love for you at all if you are committed to evil. It is at least partially out of this fear, that we ask God for forgiveness so that we don’t lose His Love for us. In this respect, this is how our love for God, and eachother as well, can “cover,” or compensate for, a multitude of sins.

 

[Mark Quayle]

There is a proper fear of the Lord found in both the OT and NT. It is a fear founded in the burning purity and power of God, and the horror of rebellion against that God.

When one knows better than to do what one did, the sin for which (s)he deserved immediate consequences (to include public shame and God's power brought to bear in punishment) and even thought it imminent, but was granted reprieve by God, yet knows that at any time, God has every right and ability to allow those consequences to come about after all, the gratitude for God's grace and the fear of God are intertwined.

We deserve nothing. The claim that God is unfair to anybody because he is particularly gracious to some is worse than unfounded.

God be praised for the purity of his patient grace, and for his awful justice!

"The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom." The mercy of God is the only safe place to be.