SALVATION'S REMEDY FOR FEAR AND BONDAGE

"Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise took part of the same; that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage" (Heb 2:14-15). "For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father" (Rom 8:15).

Devotion 10 of 18

A LAW SYSTEM AND FEAR

The fear from which Christ delivers us is one that drives us from God. It is the type of fear that compels us to hide from God, like Adam, making us afraid to stand before Him. This kind of fear was exhibited at Sinai, when the people, although they heard from God Himself, had no heart to hear any more from Him. The Word of God jarred against their souls because it was contrary to their basic nature, and did not express the deep intentions of the heart.

It is true that the awesome phenomenon of God's revelation at Sinai caused the people to tremble. In that blazing fire, billows of smoke, earthquake, and tempest, even Moses said, "I exceedingly fear and quake" (Heb 12:21). But He did not run from God, or request that He speak no more. In fact, he went up into that stormy mount when summoned by God (Ex 19:16-23). But that was NOT the reaction of the people. They requested "let not God speak with us, lest we die" (Ex 20:19).

Later, God revealed the reason for their request was that they had no heart for Him. The people said to Moses, "Go thou near, and hear all that the LORD our God shall say: and speak thou unto us all that the LORD our God shall speak unto thee; and we will hear it, and do it" (Deut 5:27). Noble words, indeed, and I am sure they were quite serious when they said them. The Lord heard them, we are told, and responded in this manner. "I have heard the voice of the words of this people, which they have spoken unto thee: they have well said all that they have spoken. O THAT THERE WERE SUCH AN HEART IN THEM, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever!" (Deut 5:28-29). He then told Moses to tell the people to return to their tents, while Moses remained with the Lord (5:30). The people and God could not dwell together.

Notice the Lord lamented the lack of a heart that would "fear" Him AND "keep all His commandments always." That kind of fear is a "godly fear," but is not what was found in Israel. Their hearts were not capable of such a noble reaction. They did not have "such an heart in them."

This is precisely why the Old Covenant was one of Law. It was addressed to a people who actually had no heart for the Lord. If they never heard from God, it would not have been grievous to them at all. And when they DID hear from Him, it caused them to shudder and quake. Their nature, like that of all unregenerate men, was corrupt and defiled.

The Scripture apprises us, "the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine" (1 Tim 1:9). That is the very principle upon which Law is given. Law is not bound upon men to bring a blessing, but to ensure that "every mouth is stopped and all the world become guilty before God" (Rom 3:19). When the law convinces the individual of his dreadful condition, the need for a Savior is established. In this way "the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith" (Gal 3:24).

When those who have been reconciled to God are addressed as though they really had no heart for God, debilitating fear is stirred up in the "old man." The result is that the individual is driven further from God, thereby placing him closer to the wicked one. This is precisely why doctrines that major on law instead of Gospel produce a hardhearted, inconsiderate, and faithless people. It is why those embracing such an approach consistently lack assurance and boldness to enter into the presence of the Lord (Heb 10:19). The purveyors of "ordinances, (Touch not; taste not; handle not which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men)" (Col 2:20-22), only inhibit the "word of reconciliation." They awaken fear, not faith.

For this reason, holy men of God consistently appealed to believers upon the basis of grace, not Law. While they were by no means lenient with sin, their exhortations to holiness were always upon the foundation of reconciliation, not Law. A few examples will suffice. "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God . . . Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake, and for the love of the Spirit . . . Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims" (Rom 12:1; 15:30; 1 Pet 2:11). When reasoning with the Corinthians about the sin of fornication, the Spirit pled, "What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's" (1 Cor 6:19-20).

There is a remarkable consistency in the manner in which believers are addressed. They are reminded of their reconciliation to God (2 Cor 5:18-21; Col 1:21), their deliverance from sin (Rom 6:7,18; 8:12), and the promise of good things to come (Heb 10:37; 1 Thess 4:17). Their accessibility to God through Christ is held out to them (Rom 5:2; Eph 2:18; 3:12; Heb 10:22), as well as the strengthening power of the Holy Spirit (Eph 3:16-17; Rom 8:27). The desire for the bestowing of grace and peace upon them from the Father and the Son are freely expressed (Rom 1:7; 1 Cor 1:3; Gal 1:3; Eph 1:2; Phil 1:2, etc.).

The reason for addressing believers in this way is that it awakens faith in those of tender heart. It draws the soul to the Lord, rather than repelling it. Law, on the other hand, or approaching the people of God as though they were just like the recalcitrant Israelites, stimulates the fear that pushes people further from God and closer to sin. Such approaches awaken the old nature, which is rather to be mortified. I have often heard it said among professed believers, "We are just like those Israelites." For those in Christ, this is emphatically NOT the case! The Israelites did not have a new heart and spirit, those in Christ Jesus do. They were not reconciled to God, those in Christ Jesus are. They did not have access to God, those in Christ Jesus do. Their sins had not been removed, but the sins of those in Christ Jesus have been blotted out. They did not have eternal life, those in Christ Jesus do. They were not being conformed to the image of God's Son, those in Christ Jesus are. They did not have the hope of glory, those in Christ Jesus do.

However, when you do not hold these very real differences out to the people of God–when you address them as though coming into Christ wrought no real change in them–you become a minister of fear. In such a case, no good is brought to the people, but they will be driven further from God. Law cannot do what Jesus is doing–bringing us to God.

PRAYER POINT: Father, I thank You for reconciling me through the death of Your Son, thereby delivering me from the fear that has torment.

– Tomorrow: DISTANCE PRODUCES FEAR --