Should We Be Afraid?

The Bible admonishes us to have a healthy fear of God. He is the absolutely pure and righteous being who abhors evil. He cannot tolerate any unrighteousness. Habakkuk 1:13 tells us, “Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; You cannot tolerate wrong” (NIV). God cannot secretly inspire any evil in us, for in His very nature He cannot accept any evil in any form.

God’s holiness requires consequences for sin. We have broken His standard of holiness, and His holiness demands that He judge sin, not ignore or excuse it.

God’s holy wrath is evidenced throughout the Bible. Apart from Noah and his family, God destroyed all of humanity with a flood because of sin. The Lord rained down fire and burning sulfur upon Sodom and Gomorrah. God handed over His people, Israel, into captivity in Babylon because of their faithlessness. In the New Testament, God struck down Ananias and Sapphira because they lied. Yet God’s wrath is not uncontrolled anger, like we may sometimes think. Instead, it is a planned and just act that has its roots in God’s holiness.

Many people believe that actions do not necessarily have consequences—at least not for them. Because they believe God is either irrelevant or just wants them to be happy, they justify all kinds of self-gratification. If you are not happy in your marriage, get a divorce. If you want to have sex outside of marriage, just use a condom. If you have an unwanted pregnancy, just get an abortion. If you commit a crime, hire a good lawyer. Stealing items from your employer is okay because everyone else is doing it. The lack of teaching in the Church on who God really is has weakened all of society and lowered standards for holy and righteous living both in the Church and in secular society.

“Our sins are not so wrong,” we say. “What others do is much worse.” The person who believes this has not confronted the holiness, justice, and righteousness of God. One small sin, one white lie, one hurtful word is enough to separate us from God’s perfect holiness forever.

In recent years, numerous laws passed by state and federal legislatures have been struck down by the Supreme Court. In some cases, the judges ruled that a law could not be fairly applied. Other laws the Supreme Court decided had a fatal flaw that would prevent justice from being evenly distributed.

As the supreme, absolutely holy lawgiver, God has never announced a law that was not perfect in all respects. He has no need of a Supreme Court to determine whether His laws are fair or can be evenly applied. All His laws are an expression of the purity of His holiness (Romans 7:12).

Jude’s epistle provides numerous examples of people who rejected God’s laws—and suffered the judgment of a holy God. Jude mentions “godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality” (Jude 4, NIV). They thought they could get away with their sin. Not so, Jude writes, for we are dealing with a holy God who, after delivering the people of Israel out of Egypt, “later destroyed those who did not believe” (Jude 5, NIV). Even the angels who rebelled against God “He has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day” (Jude 6, NIV).

Over and over again, we set up our own standards of what ought to please God: “I deal fairly with people.” “I do not abuse my wife or my children.” “I give to the needs of others in the homeless shelter I support.” “I’m a good neighbor.”

We slight the holiness of God when we think we can manage on our own. We fool ourselves when we assume that keeping the Golden Rule will cover our sins. How ridiculous our standards are when compared to His perfect standards of righteousness. When Joshua gave his farewell address to the people of Israel after they had settled into the Promised Land, he knew that the people still worshiped foreign gods. He told them, “You are not able to serve the Lord, for He is a holy and jealous God. He will not forgive your rebellion and sins” (Joshua 24:19).

None of our manmade standards of behavior meet the requirements of a holy God. God’s holiness mandates that we keep all His laws perfectly at all times. If we don’t then the only way we can come into His presence is by having our sins paid for by the blood of the “Lamb of God,” Jesus Christ. Only through Christ’s payment can our holy God extend His mercy to us.

If you have never accepted Jesus’ payment for your sin, why wait another minute?

By Bill Bright

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