A Call to a Life of Appropriate Fear

Q: What does the Bible say about appropriate fear for Christians?

The Bible calls Christians to pass their time in fear, acknowledging God as Father and impartial judge. In 1 Peter 1:17-21, the Apostle Peter instructs believers to conduct their lives in fear, highlighting the importance of recognizing God as both their loving Father and impartial judge. This fear is not one of terror but a holy self-suspicion; a careful awareness that, while we are in a relationship with a gracious God, our actions still carry weight as He evaluates according to each man's work. This fear should permeate all aspects of a believer's life, reminding them of their calling and the gravity of their actions during their earthly pilgrimage.

Q: How do we know that appropriate fear is true for Christians?

Appropriate fear is grounded in our relationship with God as Father and judge as shown in 1 Peter 1:17. Peter’s message in 1 Peter 1:17 establishes that appropriate fear is true for Christians based on two core relationships: God as our accessible Father and as our impartial judge. This fear is not rooted in dread of punishment but rather in a desire not to offend the one who loves us. The recognition that God does not show favoritism in judgment (1 Peter 1:17) instills in us a respectful fear that affects how we live. This understanding encourages a lifestyle that honors God while remaining aware of the seriousness of our conduct.

Q: Why is fear of God important for Christians?

Fear of God is vital for Christians as it leads to holiness and guards against sin. The fear of God is crucial because it serves as both a motivator and a safeguard for Christians. As articulated in 1 Peter 1:17, this fear promotes a life of holiness, steering believers away from sin and towards righteousness. It acknowledges not only God's grace but also His perfect justice, fostering a balanced view of His character. Furthermore, this holy fear undergirds our hope and love for God, creating a dynamic relationship where reverence fosters deeper devotion and obedience, integral to the Christian walk.

Q: What types of fear should Christians avoid?

Christians should avoid fear of judgment and doubt, focusing instead on reverent fear of God. In his sermon, Albert N. Martin clarifies that not all fear is beneficial for Christians. The fear of judgment, akin to the fear of a guilty sinner, is inappropriate for those who call upon God as Father. Similarly, doubts lingering in the hearts of believers can lead to unfounded fears that distract from the joy of salvation. True fear, as commanded in 1 Peter 1:17, should be a reverent acknowledgment of God's holiness that compels us to live gracefully rather than in dread of condemnation.

Q: How can Christians achieve a balance of fear in their spiritual lives?

Christians achieve balance by understanding God's love and justice together, fostering both awe and trust. Achieving a balance of fear in spiritual life means recognizing God’s nature as both a loving Father and a righteous Judge. 1 Peter 1:17 highlights that while we rejoice in our relationship with God, we also must respect His holiness. This understanding leads to a healthy fear that encourages obedience and honors God. Bishop Leighton articulates that this fear, which combines awe of God with loving relationship, must coexist with faith, hope, and love, creating a holistic approach to spiritual maturity.

The following sermon was delivered
at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montfield, New Jersey, by
Pastor Albert N. Martin. This is another sermon
in the series of expositions in the First Epistle of Peter. We turn again this morning to
the first letter of Peter, 1 Peter chapter 1, and I would ask you
to follow as I read beginning in verse 13 and conclude with
verse 21. 1 Peter chapter 1 and verse 13. Wherefore, girding up the loins
of your mind, Be sober and set your hope perfectly on the grace
that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As children of obedience, not
fashioning yourselves according to your former lusts in the time
of your ignorance, but like as he who called you is holy, be
yourselves also holy in all manner of living, because it is written,
You shall be holy, for I am holy. And if you call on him as father,
who without respective persons judges according to each man's
work, pass the time of your sojourning in fear. knowing that you were
redeemed, not with corruptible things, with silver or gold,
from your vain manner of life handed down from your fathers,
but with precious blood, as of a lamb without blemish and without
spot, even the blood of Christ, who was foreknown indeed before
the foundation of the world, but was manifested at the end
of the times for your sake. who through him are believers
in God that raised him from the dead and gave him glory so that
your faith and hope might be in God. Now let us again seek
God's face in prayer remembering the promise of Isaiah 58 that
as the rain and the snow come down out of heaven and do not
return Until they've accomplished God's purpose on the earth, God
says, so shall my word be that goes forth out of my mouth, it
shall prosper in the thing whereunto I have sent it. Let us plead
that what God has said he will do, we may experience in our
time together. Let us pray. Our Father, we do delight to
be numbered among those described in this very passage who call
upon you as Father. And we thank you that we know
from your word that as our Father, you delight to give good gifts
to your children. And we come this morning asking
for the good gift of that spiritual illumination without which we
cannot understand your word. We cannot rightly perceive its
truth and we have no power to internalize it in faith and obedience. And yet you have said that the
word that goes out of your mouth would not return to you void.
but it would accomplish your purpose and prosper to the ends
whereunto you have sent it and we therefore lay hold of you
in that promise and plead, O God, that in this place today each
of us will know specific, real profit from the preaching of
your holy word. O God, hear our cry as in faith
we commit ourselves in the coming hour to you through our Lord
Jesus Christ. Amen. Now nearly 2,000 years have passed
since the Apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ exerted their unique
and non-repeatable influence upon the Church of the Lord Jesus
Christ. that influence they exerted by
their living ministry and by the written documents that the
Spirit of God guided them to write and that have remained
as part of our Bibles. In fact, so unique and non-repeatable
is the teaching of those apostles that it is called in Ephesians
2.20 part of the very foundation of the church of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And though, as we've already
indicated, nearly 2,000 years have passed since they labored,
and those 2,000 years have brought dramatic changes in a vast array
of areas, in the things that really count The issues which
the people of God faced in the first century are in no way radically
different from the issues that the people of God face in the
20th century. And so as we come again to a
document written approximately around 64 AD, a document addressed to believers
living in the five Roman provinces of Asia Minor, what we now know
as the land of Turkey. Believers who in many ways we
would never recognize if they showed up here today as one of
us, their clothing would be different, their language would be different,
many of their customs would be different. However, with respect
to the real issues, the pressures they faced, the temptations they
encountered. the perplexities with which they
were buffeted and battered, the opposition they knew from within
and without, in those things we are one with them. And therefore we can come, Lord's
day by Lord's day, confident of the perennial and perpetual
relevance of the language of the Spirit of God through the
pen of the Apostle Peter. And we have noted in our study
of this letter that as he writes to these distressed, persecuted,
and in many ways infant believers there in those five provinces
of Asia Minor, He begins his pastoral letter with this marvelous
statement of the greatness of their salvation in Jesus Christ. After a standard introduction
of himself and an identification of the recipients of the letter
and the pronouncement of an apostolic blessing, he breaks out into
this amazing eulogy bounded by verses 3 and 12 in which he does
not tell the believers concerning anything with respect to their
duty, he lays no responsibilities upon them, he seeks to focus
all of the energy of mind and soul upon the greatness and the
glory of the God who according to his abundant mercy has begotten
them again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead. Then, as we've noted in verse
13, he begins what we might call his first cycle of pastoral exhortations. And that first cycle, beginning
in verse 13, continues to the end of verse 21. Peter calls
these believers living as elect sojourners in these five Roman
provinces to live a life before their God that is marked by three
dominant qualities. First of all, it's to be a life
of steadfast hope. Verse 13, set your hope perfectly
on the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of
Jesus Christ. Then secondly, it is to be a
life of universal holiness. Verses 14 through 16, the heart
of which is found in the second imperative, be yourselves holy
in all manner of living. But then Peter moves on with
the third major imperative in verse 17 indicating that this
life is not only to be a life of steadfast hope, a life of
pursuing universal holiness, but it is to be a life of appropriate
fear. Look with me at verse 17, And
if you call on him as father, who without respect of persons
judges according to each man's work, pass the time of your sojourning
in fear, knowing that you were redeemed. The heart of verses
17 to 21 is this third imperative in this section of Peter's letter
and it is found in the words, pass the time of your sojourning
in fear. Everything that precedes in verse
17 leads up to that command. If you call on him his father,
who without respect of persons judges according to each man's
work, pass the time of your sojourning in fear. The thoughts preceding
the imperative flow into it and then verse 18 begins with the
words knowing that you were redeemed. Everything from verse 18 onward
flows out of and is supportive of this command to live a life
of appropriate fear. Now I want you to notice as we
work our way through the text under this first heading, the
command to a life of appropriate fear, two things with respect
to this fear. You may have questions, what
is that fear? What is that fear not? Hold off
those questions because I want you first of all from the text
itself to note with me two things with respect to this command
to a life of appropriate fear. First of all, this fear is to
accompany every facet of life. This fear is to accompany every
facet of life. The main verb in verse 17 is
from the same root word as we encountered in verse 15. Like
as he who called you is holy, be yourselves holy in all manner
of living. There we encountered the noun
anastrophe. And we said a good current idiomatic
equivalent would be your entire lifestyle. Particularly your
lifestyle as it becomes manifest in all the relationships of life. And there the command was to
universal holiness. To be holy with respect to one's
entire lifestyle. Here you have the verb form of
the same word. here it is anastrophe, the verbal
form of anastrophe and so Peter is saying this fear is to accompany
not your religious life or this dimension of your life or that
But the imperative is, pass the time of your sojourning in fear,
that is, conduct the entirety of your life in all of its particulars,
even into all of the full spectrum of life's activities and relationships
in the climate of fear. As surely as the summons to holiness
is a summons to be holy in the entirety of our lifestyle, so
the command to this appropriate fear, whatever it is, it is a
command to experience a fear that touches every facet of life. Not fear in some facets and flippancy
in others, but fear in the entirety of life. And the second thing
I want you to notice from the text is that this fear is to
accompany us throughout the entire duration of life. So it is not
only to be understood intensively, it is to touch every facet of
life, but it is to accompany us throughout the entire duration
of life. Notice the language of the text.
If you call on him his father, who without respect of persons
judges according to each man's work, pass the time of your sojourning
in fear. The time of your sojourning in
all of that time is the sphere in which this intensive, all-pervasive
fear is to be one of our companions. A more accurate rending would
be this time of being transients. And here Peter uses a word which
means to be alongside of a house. And it refers to what we would
call in current day terminology a resident alien. Someone who
lives in a given area alongside the citizens of that area but
himself a stranger. He is only alongside the house
dwellers. He himself is a tent dweller. He himself is a resident alien. It is a synonym, not the same
word, but a synonym of the word that was used in verse 1 of chapter
1. To the elect who are sojourners of the dispersion. It's in the
same family of words. And here Peter says that the
people of God who must view themselves as resident aliens from the time
God in grace extricated them out of being at home in this
world system. marked with this world for judgment
and destruction when God in grace begets them again unto a living
hope delivers them in the language of Galatians 1 out of this present
evil age and makes them sojourners whose true fatherland is now
heaven. And they're going to live by
the laws of heaven. They're going to aspire to the
consummate joys and glories of heaven. They are now those who
merely are dwelling alongside. the citizens of this world system
Peter says from the time God made you a sojourner until you
are brought to your fatherland until you are brought to that
inheritance incorruptible in that fades not away reserved
in heaven for you this fear is to accompany you in the entirety
of your pilgrimage the text could not be more clear pass the time
of your sojourning in fear. Therefore, whatever the precise
nature of this fear may be, the command to fear is a command
to experience this fear intensively in the whole of our lifestyle
and extensively for the entire duration of our pilgrimage. So we may say in summary, as
surely as every child of God is to have his pilgrimage to
his heavenly inheritance marked by steadfast hope, he is girding
up the loins of his mind in a condition of spiritual sobriety, having
his hopes set perfectly on the grace to be brought to him at
the revelation of Christ. With His glorious inheritance
burning in His eye, committed to a life of universal holiness,
He is to spend His days in fear. Now again, what is that fear?
We're not addressing it. But I want you to be persuaded
from the Word of God, if God has made you a pilgrim, and you're
not living in fear, whatever it is, you're living contrary
to the revealed will of God. now that's what I want to do
from the text to persuade you whatever this fear is if you're
a resident alien if you are on pilgrimage to a better place
it is the revealed will of God for you and for me that we spend
the time of our sojourning in fear well having considered the
command to a life of appropriate fear now secondly note with me
the conditioning realities to a life of appropriate fear. And
here I struggled with words. We could call them the context
to a life of appropriate fear but that didn't satisfy me and
at the end of the day or at the end of Saturday night the moment
of truth comes and you got to put something down on your final
notes. So I'm calling it the conditioning realities to a life
of appropriate fear. You see, fear is an emotion that
we're all aware of. We all know what fear is. Fear
is the sense of dread in the face of some possible or real
evil or harm with respect to ourselves. And the nature, the
depth, the extent of fear is conditioned by the factors that
we're afraid of. Let me illustrate. We hear a
young man say to one of his buddies, you know, I was really afraid
that I was going to flunk my math course. Now that's a real
fear. It's a dread that he might get
an F in math. And when you probe and ask, why
were you afraid? He tells you that my dad said,
if I don't pass my math course, I can't go with the family on
vacation. I'm going to have to go to my uncle's farm and work
from sunup to sundown for peanuts. Furthermore, there's this, this,
this. In other words, that fear, very real, is conditioned by
the consequences of that particular action. And so the kid legitimately
says, I was afraid I wouldn't pass my math course. We hear
that same kid say, in describing to someone else his experience
of the Jersey Shore two years ago, when he wandered out a little
bit further than he should and was caught in the undertow, and
the lifeguards had to come in and by the time they got him,
he was unconscious and thankfully they revived him, got his lungs
empty and he's describing this harrowing experience to someone
and said, and when all of the waves began to suck me under
and pull me down, I was afraid I was going to die. Now he's
using the same word afraid, but the nature, the extent, the depth
of that fear is conditioned by the realities that produced it. The same kid might say to one
of his buddies sometime later, well you know I was afraid that
I wasn't going to be asked to my buddy John's party. Now, he
was fearful. For him, it was something to
dread. Why? Because that was the symbol you
were part of the in-group. And so he had a fear born of
the desire of peer acceptance. Now, do I need to beat the thing
any thinner? I want to persuade you that the emotion of fear
that we all know, and I hope your consciousness affirms, that
emotion draws its contours, its shape, its depth of intensity
from the surrounding factors producing that fear. Well, Peter
understood that. And so when he writes to these
first century believers in Asia Minor, he focuses upon the conditioning
realities for this life of appropriate fear. And what are they? Well,
from the text we'll note that there are two. First of all,
the reality of their relationship to God as an accessible Father
and an impartial judge, 17a, and secondly their relationship
to God as a gracious redeemer through Jesus Christ, that's
verses 18 to 21. Notice how he underscores this. And if you call on him as father,
That's not the if of uncertainty, that's the if of assumed reality. Could be translated since, like
Colossians 3.1. Since you have been raised together
with Christ. So Peter says, since you call
on him as father, pass the time of your sojourning in fear. The
conditioning reality that determines the precise nature of this fear
is their relationship to God as an accessible father. He says
you call upon Him as Father. You cry out to Him in your need,
in your felt dependence. And you cry out to Him conscious
that this God is your loving Father. He is the Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ of verse 3 of this chapter. The very Father
who in His great mercy begot you again unto a living hope
by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. And so
Peter says this fear is conditioned by this relationship in which
God is first of all your accessible father but he is also your impartial
judge. Again, look at the text. If you
call on him as father, who without respect of persons judges according
to each man's work, pass the time of your sojourning in fear. God is not only regarded as accessible
father, but as impartial judge. And notice how he underscores
this truth. He said, the one you call upon
as father is the one who without respect of persons. And Peter uses one big long 15
letter word. It is a combination of a number
of words that means God does not regard the faces of people
when he deals with them. All men and women, boys and girls
in that sense are faceless with God. He regards only one thing
in his judging. And that is, notice what the
text says, according to each man's work. Not works plural,
but work singular. He judges in terms of the overall
pattern. The cumulative effect of thoughts
and words and deeds and relationships is considered as each man's work. And the God who is their father
is the God who not shall judge, but is judging. It's in the very
nature of God. that whenever he makes judgments,
he makes them without any regard to people's faces, their form,
their background, their standing, anything by which men often skew
perfect righteousness and justice in their judgment. None of this
is true of God. He is always judging with respect
to each man's work. In other words, there is no calming
of God, no bribing of God, no influence peddling, no manipulating
the system of justice through technicalities with clever lawyers. And so Peter says, as I am about
to direct these believers into a life marked by appropriate
fear, it is to be a fear conditioned first of all By this relationship
they sustain to God, who is their accessible Father, and is their
impartial judge. But then he says the second thing
is to condition this fear, and that begins in verse 18, carrying
right on from the imperative, past the time of your sojourning
in fear, knowing that you were redeemed. and from verses 18
to 21. There follows a concentrated,
rich, and glorious statement of redemption or ransom by the
blood of Christ. And it will take two other messages
just to unpack those verses. Tremendously rich. Many fundamental
biblical concepts set before us, one after another, are introduced
by Peter. But this much is clear from a
cursory reading of the passages. Whatever this fear is, that is
commanded and is to touch every facet of life for the entire
duration of life, it is not only a fear conditioned by this relationship
to God as accessible Father and righteous Judge, but it is conditioned
by an intelligent, believing grasp upon God as our Redeemer
through Jesus Christ. So whatever that fear is, it
is conditioned by these realities. Relationship to God as accessible
Father and impartial Judge and relationship to God as gracious
Redeemer through Jesus Christ. Now having looked at the command
to a life of appropriate fear, secondly the conditioning realities
to a life of appropriate fear, are you still with me? Now we
come in the third place to the precise identity of this appropriate
fear. And your initial questions I
hope now to answer. What in the world is this fear? Well let's start with what this
fear cannot be, a process of elimination. When Peter says,
pass the time of your sojourning in fear, what can we say with
dogmatism that fear is not? Well, we can say three things
that it is not. Number one, it cannot be the
fear of the guilty unforgiven sinner terrified at the thought
of wrath and judgment. It can't be that fear. It cannot
be the fear of the guilty unforgiving sinner terrified at the thought
of deserved wrath and judgment. That's the fear Adam had in the
Garden of Eden and well he should have had it. When he had disobeyed
God, you remember God comes walking in the garden in the pool of
the day and says, Adam! Adam! Where are you? And Adam responds and says, I
heard your voice and I was afraid and I hid myself. That was a fear of terror. The
God who had said, in the day that you eat, dying you will
die. And Adam already felt in his
soul that spiritual death that alienated him from God. Instead
of all of his emotions leaping up with a positive affinity to
the voice of his God coming in some special manifestation of
His presence in the garden in the cool of the day, he runs
from God in terror instead of approaching God with filial love
and with filial fear. He is gripped with that fear
that John says in 1st John 4, fear hath torment. Now that fear
was legitimate for Adam. He was a guilty criminal. He
had committed the highest affront to his God and to his Creator. And yet, you see, when Peter
says to these believers, pass the time of your sojourning in
fear, it cannot be that fear, because he's just said, you call
on God as Father. You're not running and hiding
from Him. The whole disposition of your life is running to Him,
calling upon Him. You've received the spirit of
adoption, enabling you to cry, Abba, that is, Father, So it
cannot be this fear. He has said, if you are calling
upon Him as Father. He has described them from verse
3 on as a people who with Him are ready to bless and magnify
and extol God for His great and rich abundant mercy in the person
and work of the Lord Jesus. They are described in verse 8
as rejoicing greatly with joy on speakable and full of glory,
receiving the end of their faith, even the salvation of souls.
In that context, it cannot be the fear of the guilty, unforgiving
sinner, aware of deserved wrath and judgment. That's the fear
some of you ought to have. If for five minutes you allowed
your mind to get in touch with the reality of the spiritual
context in which you sit this morning, your knees would knock,
and you'd be fearful that hell itself would open up and swallow
you. And that would be a legitimate
fear, and it might be the first indication that you were in the
way to life and salvation. As long as you remain a careless,
unfearful sinner, you are in your most dangerous place. But
that's not the fear he's commanding to these sojourners. Secondly,
it cannot be the fear of the doubting, unbelieving believer. I haven't lost my marbles by
that terminology. It cannot be the fear of the
doubting, unbelieving believer. Believers can sometimes be unbelieving. Remember the Lord said again
to his disciples, O fools and slow of heart to believe, wherefore
did you doubt? Believers at given points can
be unbelieving. And when they become unbelieving,
then often they are filled with unfounded fears. But you see,
these believers are those addressed in verses 8 and 9, as those who
having not seen Christ love Him, on whom though they see Him not
yet believing, their faith is so steadfast that Christ is all
that He says He will be to believing sinners, that they are not just
rejoicing occasionally when they get some wisp of hope and assurance. No, the baseline of their lives
is that they are rejoicing with joy unspeakable and full of glory. So the fear here cannot be that
fear of the doubting, unbelieving believer. That's a fear that
is never to be looked upon as a mark of spirituality. In some
circles it is. The mark of spirituality is to
say, well, I believe, I trust in Christ, but I am fearful of
this and fearful of that, and always doubting. No, no, that
is not what is commanded as our companion throughout our pilgrimage. And thirdly, it cannot be the
fear of the uninstructed believer with indistinct views of the
grace of God. Sometimes God's people have fears
because they are simply ignorant of truth. You remember what Paul
said to the Thessalonians. They had unfounded, warranted
sorrows because they were ignorant of certain facts concerning the
second coming of Christ in relationship to their dead loved ones. So
what did Paul say? Now concerning those that have
fallen asleep, brethren, I would not have you ignorant that you
sorrow not as those who have no hope. Then he gives them instruction
and at the end of the instruction he says, wherefore comfort one
another with these words. There is a fear that is born
not so much of unbelief but of ignorance. Someone has indistinct
views of how the grace of God works in the salvation of sinners.
And they may know that they have been begotten again unto a living
hope. but they're not certain as Peter
goes on to say that not only is the inheritance preserved
But the inheritors are preserved, who by the power of God are guarded
unto salvation. And so there are people who have
fears that are rooted in their ignorance. Now that can't be
the fear Peter's enjoining because he has been sweeping away any
residual ignorance about the certainty, the indefectibility
of their salvation by everything that's preceded. In fact, he's
been so bold as to say in his first exhortation, set your hope
finally and fixedly upon the grace that is to come to you
at the revelation of Jesus Christ. So whatever this fear is, it
cannot be the fear of the guilty, unforgiven sinner. It cannot
be the fear of the doubting, unbelieving believer. And it
cannot be the fear of the uninstructed believer. Well then, what in
the world is it? Well, we've seen what it is not.
Secondly, let me take a moment to say what the fear may be.
And I do this only because a number of you are readers. Some of you
read commentaries. And you read good books that
will quote various texts of scripture. And I do not want you to think
if someone says that this is the fear that they're somehow
to be stricken off as an unsafe guide. No, taking the general
teaching of scripture, many suggest that what this fear may be is
the general fear of God. What Peter commands in chapter
2 and verse 17 in two very simple words. Look at the text, honor
all men, love the brotherhood, fear God. And there are many
commentators who when they come to this passage they say what
Peter is saying is you are to pass the time of your sojourning
in that generic grace of the fear of God and the fear of God
in his most general sense is that fear that is the reaction
of the redeemed soul to the majesty, to the glory, to the love of
God that fills him with awe and with wonder so that pleasing
that God is the greatest passion in life Now that fear is a fear
that will be with us even in the eternal state. You see, the
more someone accurately knows God, the more they'll fear Him.
That's why in Revelation 15 glorified spirits are saying, Who shall
not fear thee, O God? You're going to fear God in heaven
in a way you never feared in here. Because then we shall see
Him as He is. And the more we see Him and know
Him, the more we will fear Him. And so some take the position
that this is what Peter is doing, giving this general exhortation
to pass the time of their sojourning in the fear of God as a generic
thing. But now I have a problem with
that. And my problem is that he focuses in the treatment of
this fear upon God who judges according to each man's work. And he says this fear is to mark
us in the period of our sojourning. So my understanding, and this
is what I believe the fear to be, and this was the greatest
task in the preparation, was seeking to answer that question. What is this fear in its precise
identity? It is a fear that draws its contours
not only from a relationship to God as accessible Father,
He will be that for all eternity. But it draws some of its contours
from the reality of God as impartial judge. And in eternity that will
be behind us. And furthermore, He says, pass
the time of your sojourning in this fear. So what do I believe
this fear is? Well I believe old Bishop Leighton
describes it accurately when he said very simply, it is a
holy self-suspicion and fear of offending God. It is a holy
self-suspicion and a fear of offending God. John Brown, the
great Scottish commentator, stated it a little differently, but
it's in the same ballpark. It is fear lest we offend him
and incur his just displeasure. It is a fear lest we offend him
and incur his just displeasure. It is the fear arising on the
one hand from the fact that God is my loving Father and my Redeemer,
and the thought of displeasing so gracious and loving a Father
is painful to me. It fills me with fear and dread. If you call on Him as Father,
Past the time of your sojourning in fear, yes, I do call upon
Him as Father. And why do I call upon Him as
Father? Because when I was a rebel under
His wrath, deserving of hell and judgment, He sent forth His
only begotten Son to live and die for the likes of me. In my
own life history, He sent His Spirit with the Word and whatever
human instruments He chose to use. And He brought me out of
darkness into His marvelous light. He begot me again unto a living
hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. And in
the light of all that He is to me is my Father. The thought
that I would displease so gracious and glorious and loving a father
fills me with painful apprehensions. It fills me with fear. It fills
me with fear. It is the fear of offending so
gracious a God, but then note, it takes its contours from the
reality that God is impartial judge. If you call on Him as
Father, who without respect of persons is judging according
to each man's work past the time of your sojourning in fear. He
is a God before whom all sin is detestable and ugly. He is
the God who cannot be conned by flimsy excuses and blame shifting. My sin in His face as my accessible
Father is sin in the face of Him who is impartial judge. And though judgment that would
land me in hell has passed for me in the work of Christ, for
there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. The
reality that I must stand before Him in the last day and be vindicated
as a righteous man, not only righteous with the righteousness
of Christ imputed, But righteous with the transforming grace of
Christ imparted, that reality grips me. And I know that sin
is no less offensive to God because I am in a state of grace. And
though it will never be brought up to damn me, it does not cease
to be sin that is ugly and offensive to the thrice holy God. Therefore
this fear, this fear derives from that two-fold reality of
my relationship to God. He is my accessible father and
the thought of grieving and offending him is fearful to me. He is the
impartial judge and the thought of provoking him is fearful to
me. And then he will go on to say,
past the time of your sojourning in fear, knowing that you were
ransomed, not with corruptible things. Ransomed out of what? Out of a vain manner of life. Ransomed not that I might be
forgiven and live as I live. but ransomed that I might be
released from the kind of life that was filled with emptiness
and despair and dishonor to God. And knowing what a tremendous
price was paid to ransom me, I fear lest I should in my actions
ever give the impression that I treat that price with disdain. These are the things that produce
the fear and therefore I believe it is accurate to state in answer
to the question, what is this fear? It is a holy self-suspicion
and fear of offending God. It is a fear lest we offend Him
and incur His just displeasure. And this fear of offending and
displeasing God must mark our experience. Follow carefully
now until the possibility of offending Him is passed. And when will that be passed?
Not until we complete our pilgrimage. And as long as you're a sojourner
and you're not yet home, you and I can offend Him. You and
I can offend Him, this gracious Father, this impartial Judge,
this gracious Redeemer. Pass the time of your sojourning
in fear until the thing you fear is no longer to be feared. And that will be when our journey
is over. Let me give you the distillation
of that perspective from one of the commentators of another
generation. Dr. Lilly, very perceptive, knowledgeable
man, but spiritually minded. He writes, you will observe,
however, that our apostle has special reference to the present
conflict in trial, as he calls it, the time of sojourning. Pass the time, or more exactly,
walk during the time of your sojourning in fear, as if there
were something in the character of the time itself that might
well add force to the command. During the time of their sojourning,
the children of God are from home. They're in a strange land,
a hostile land, beset by many evil influences and temptations
to forget their father's house, to disown or compromise their
heavenly citizenship and cast in their lot with those around
them. The powerful and crafty spirits of darkness are in league
against them and eagerly watch for their halting. But allied
with these, inviting and aiding every external solicitation and
assault is still the remaining corruption of their own nature.
There is therefore reason enough within and without why the most
mature Christian in this world, even while rejoicing in the full
assurance of hope with a joy unspeakable and full of glory,
should yet serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. Walking in the midst of dangers
and snares, it behooves him to walk in fear. The fear, if not
of being finally lost, yet of meanwhile stumbling, offending
God, bringing dishonor to the truth, prejudicing the souls
of others, troubling his own present peace, and impairing
his own future reward. It is indeed only during the
time of sojourning that these risks exist. and this salutary
apprehension, this fear is called for, they will have no place
in that better land where the spirits of the just made perfect
do always behold the face of God. And so this fear, this appropriate
fear that is commanded is to be our companion until the occasion
of that fear is ended and that will not be till we reach a better
place. Well I've attempted to open up
the text under those three heads, the command to a life of appropriate
fear, the conditioning realities to this life of appropriate fear,
the precise identity of this appropriate fear. Now as we come
to application I want you to first of all note with me how
vital to the Christian life are proper balanced views of the
nature, character, and works of God. Notice how vital to the
Christian life are proper balanced views of the nature, the character
and the works of God. Now when you study the nature,
the character and the works of God, what do you call that? The
study of theology. Oh, theology, theology. Theology
is just the word about theos. It is the logos, the word about
God. And Peter is making theologians
of common slaves that he addresses in chapter 2, of wives with unconverted
husbands in chapter 3, believers buffeted by their former sinful
companions in chapter 4. He wants them all to be theologians. Why? Because only as they are
theologians can they be stable, mature Christians. How do we
see that in the text? Well, I hope it's obvious. He
says, if you call on him as father, he assumes that they have a concept
of what it is to call upon God as father. And furthermore, he
assumes that they have a knowledge of God as judge and the nature
of his judgment. If you call on Him as Father,
who, without respect of persons, is judging every man according
to his work, past the time of your sojourning in fear, knowing
that you were redeemed, not with corruptible things such as silver
and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb,
without blemish, without spot, etc. What is Peter doing? He
is bringing forward in giving this practical instruction on
the Christian life for distressed saints in the first century this
rich panorama of views on the nature, the character and the
works of God and saying this is the stuff of stable Christians. Stable Christians are not made
by unprincipled mushy stroking. with relational sermons. They
are made when the stuff of the Bible is expounded and by the
grace of God internalized with an intelligent faith. They that
know their God shall be strong and do exploits. You want to
be strong? You want to do exploits? Then
come to know your God. in his revealed nature, in his
character, and in his works. You see, for some, conceiving
of God as a loving, accessible father is all you need to know
to live the Christian life. Oh, is that so? Then why didn't
Peter stop by saying, and if you call on him as father, that's
all you need? Bask in his fatherly smile. He didn't say that. No, Peter
brings in this balanced view of the nature, the character,
and the works of God. And just to show how helpful
it is in this one little instance, the way he juxtaposes these two
things, if you call on him as father, that's a present tense,
if you are calling, since you are calling upon him as father,
the very one who judges according to each man's As one commentator
said, and so helpfully, I will not sin for my father is the
judge. Yes, he is an accessible father.
He is a loving father. He is a kind and tender father.
But he is the awesome judge. Since my father is the judge,
I will not sin. But what happens when I have
sinned? since my judge is my father I will not despair but
I will go to him as my Lord Jesus taught me to go to him and say
my father who is in heaven forgive my trespasses as I forgive those
who trespass against me you see how that simple little couplet
keeps you on the one hand from careless flippant presumption
and on the other hand from crushing crippling despair I call on him
as father who is my judge. Therefore, I will not be careless. But when I have been careless
and I have fallen, the judge is my father. And you see the
Christian life becomes the outworking of the nature, the character,
the works, the relationships we sustain to God. That's what
the Christian life is all about. And Peter is understoring that
in this third mark of the life of a pilgrim. Steadfast hope,
universal holiness, and appropriate fear. Note then how vital to
the Christian life are proper, balanced views of the nature,
character, and works of God. But secondly, Note that real fear of offending
God as father and provoking him as a judge is a legitimate and
necessary component of the Christian life. Real fear of offending
God as father and provoking him as judge is a legitimate and
necessary component of the Christian life. Now why do I underscore
that? Because in our day as in all
bygone days and here I quote from John Brown writing in another
generation there is a system which passes with many for a
peculiarly pure brand of Christianity the object of which seems to
be to set believers free from every species of fear as inconsistent
with faith which according to them consists in believing that
no matter what happens I will in the end be saved Do you hear
anything like that in our day? One saved, always saved, no matter
what you do. We've heard it closer to home
in recent months. where in handling passages where
we are told to serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear
some would try to stand that on its head and say well that's
not really fear it's something else for fear has no place as
a fundamental motivation and if we have risen to the heights
of real abounding vigorous faith that faith will eventually dispel
every species of fear No, it will dispel the fear that has
torment, 1 John 4. The torment in the presence of
unjudged sin and the fear of the coming judgment. But God's
love never dispels this fear, it only engenders it. If you
call on Him as Father, pass the time of your sojourning in fear. and those who become wiser than
God and persuade themselves that they can rise to a level of Christian
experience in which fear is no longer not merely a dominant
but not even a present motivation, eventually their presumption
will slay them. For let him who thinks he stands
take heed lest he fall. If God in his infinite wisdom
knows that the full revelation of His loving disposition to
me as an accessible Father is not enough to keep me in the
way in the time of my sojourning, but that I need to contemplate
Him as righteous judge and pass the time of my sojourning in
fear, who am I to be wiser than my God? He has designed the salvation. He has defined the contours of
the Christian life and the very God who is spoken in these earlier
verses, such rich and glorious realities of what we have in
Christ. That God is said, all of you
pilgrims on your way to your inheritance, you need as your
companion, not only steadfast hope, the pursuit of universal
holiness, but the presence of appropriate fear. And so the
second observation on the text is that real fear of offending
God his father and provoking him as judge is a legitimate
and necessary component of the Christian life. And then we come
to the third and final observation on the text. This fear of offending
and provoking God is not at all inconsistent with an enlightened
understanding, strong faith, fervent love, and steadfast hope. Now that's a mouthful, but it's
the only way I can gather in the strands of truth from the
entire context. This fear of offending and provoking
God is not at all inconsistent with enlightened understanding,
strong faith, fervent love, and steadfast hope. You see, in the
context, Peter has given the opening eulogy. Blessed be the
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his
great mercy begot us again unto a living hope, unto an inheritance
incorruptible. Their understandings have been
flooded with light about salvation. And it's clear from what Peter
says, that light has been joined with faith. Whom having not seen,
you love. Though you see him not yet believing,
you rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory. No, Peter
assumes that these are enlightened believers, that these are believers
who love Christ and are conscious of their love to Christ, who
have a strong and a steadfast faith, a faith that enables them
to rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory. He's commanded
them to have a steadfast hope. Why would he command that if
there were no grounds for it? If the ordinary humble believer
does not have grounds to set his hope perfectly on the grace
that is coming to him and will be consummately revealed at the
revelation of Christ, Peter would be commanding them to sin. No,
the humblest believer has a well-grounded basis to have such a hope. Now,
unless we accuse Peter of being just, you know, having a Lapse
of memory and somehow suspended in his reception of those unique
influences of the Spirit of God to guide him as he wrote. God
sees no contradiction in these things. No contradiction whatsoever. The God who commands his people
to have an unshakable hope fixed on final salvation now commands
them to fear all the days of their sojourn. And rather than
being inconsistent with each other or antagonistic to one
another, they feed and they support one another. Now can you take
that in? They feed and they support one
another. And rather than take more time
than it would take and appropriately take to state it in my own words. I want to give it to you from
the old Bishop of London, Bishop Leighton. Anyone who does any
study in First Peter will find there's not a commentator that
I've come across, maybe one or two of the 17 or 18 that I use,
that doesn't refer some of them continually to old Bishop Leighton
who's written a classic commentary on this epistle and notice his
beautiful insights on how these things feed one another. The
fear here recommended is unquestionably a holy self-suspicion and a fear
of offending God which may not only consist with the assured
hope of salvation and with faith and love and spiritual joy but
is there inseparable companion As all the graces in the Christian
grow together and dwell together and increase or decrease together,
the more a Christian believes and loves and rejoices in the
love of God, the more unwilling surely he is to displease this
God. and if in danger of displeasing
him the more afraid of it and on the other side this fear being
the true principle of a fear to fall into sin and a commitment
to flee from sin and the occasions of sin and temptations to sin
and resisting them when they make an assault as it is a watch
or guard that keeps out the enemies and disturbers of the soul So
the soul preserves its inward peace, increases in the assurance
of faith and hope and that joy which they cause. Therefore,
the soul that is living in fear increases in love and hope and
assurance. And the soul increasing in love
and hope and assurance increases in the fear of anything that
would mar or destroy or erode those graces. So each feed the
other. but none can exist alone. God has wisely called us to these
complimentary dispositions of the soul. Confident hope, yes. Abounding joy, yes. But constant
fear, yes. And dear people, I want to underscore
this is not the emphasis of Trinity or Pastor Martin. This is the
teaching of Almighty God. And if you want a Christianity
stripped of fear, you'll have to make your own brand, get your
own savior, and construct your own heaven. One of the tragedies of the ethos,
the climate of many professing Christians in our day is, their
watch cry is, lighten up. We don't want a heavy and oppressive
Christianity. We want fuzzies, and we want
strokies, and we want happy, happy, happy all the time. My friend, you want solid joy
in the Holy Ghost, it will come in the way of a life of holy
fear. and that holy fear under God's blessing will feed your
joy and feed your peace which in turn will feed your fear and
one and the other reciprocally feed one another so that by the
grace of God we grow as a people not only with our hope set perfectly
on the grace to be brought unto us at the coming of the Lord
Jesus committing ourselves to the pursuit of a life of universal
holiness but passing the time of our sojourning in fear knowing
that we were redeemed not with corruptible things such as silver
and gold but with the precious blood even the blood of Christ
let us pray Our Father, how we thank you
for your holy word. We thank you for the richness
of its truth. We confess that we know so little
of you and of your ways, but we thank you for the little bit
we have been privileged to see this morning. And we do pray
that the Spirit himself would write these truths upon our hearts. that we may be marked as a people
who pass the time of our sojourning in this appropriate fear and
we pray for those our father who know nothing of this fear
for they do not and cannot call upon you as father you are nothing
to them as they sit here this morning but an all discerning
judge who has a controversy with them in the court of heaven And
we pray that they will fear with that terror that will drive them
out of themselves and away from themselves and into Christ and
all that he is and offers himself to be to needy sinners. And then
our God, we pray for your people in this place, that we would
be determined that by your grace we would have just and right
and balanced comprehensive views of who you are, of your works,
of your ways, of your relationship to us and ours to you. O God,
deliver us, we pray, from all shallow, indistinct, distorted,
and perverted views of who you are, and help us to know you
as you are revealed in the Scriptures and in Jesus Christ. Seal then
this word to each of our hearts, to our prophet and to your praise,
we plead through Christ our Lord.

A Call to a Life of Appropriate Fear

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about appropriate fear for Christians?

How do we know that appropriate fear is true for Christians?

Why is fear of God important for Christians?

What types of fear should Christians avoid?

How can Christians achieve a balance of fear in their spiritual lives?

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About Albert N. Martin

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A Call to a Life of Appropriate Fear

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about appropriate fear for Christians?

How do we know that appropriate fear is true for Christians?

Why is fear of God important for Christians?

What types of fear should Christians avoid?

How can Christians achieve a balance of fear in their spiritual lives?

Sermon Transcript

About Albert N. Martin

Comments

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