What Do You Fear?

Do you fear the law or do you fear God? You may be thinking these are basically the same thing. God made the law after all, right? So what's the difference?

There's quite a big difference between the two. In fact, it's the difference between life and death.

We tend to become enslaved to what we fear.

If you fear failure, you will probably become a work-a-holic who doesn't know how to rest.

If you fear rejection, you will probably be a chronic people-pleaser and slave to whatever makes the most people happy.

If you fear the Law of God, trying to perfectly achieve it on your own, you'll find yourself in a cycle of legalism, failure, self-pity, and hopelessness.
 
If you fear the Lord, and receive His loving correction, you'll be a slave to Him and He will fill you with grace, joy, and love until it overflows to build up and encourage others around you!

It's only by becoming a slave to the Lord that we can live in accordance to the law, anyway. Moses even told the Israelites this moments after delivering the Ten Commandments...

"'Don't be afraid', Moses answered them, 'for God has come in this way to test you, and so that your fear of Him will keep you from sinning!'" - Exodus 20:20

Even then, Moses knew that they couldn't uphold the law on their own. Even then, he knew that the purpose of the law wasn't to fear the law, but to fear the Lord.

Fear of the law is about rules, regimen, and religion, but fear of the Lord is about God’s revelation, righteousness, and man’s relationship to God. We are not to live in fear of condemnation of the law, but rather in faith in the correction of the Lord. The law is not given to paralyze mankind, but to prosper us.

"Previously, you let yourselves be slaves to impurity and lawlessness, which led ever deeper into sin. Now you must give yourselves to be slaves to righteous living so that you will become holy." - Romans 6:19

"So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won't be doing what your sinful nature craves." Galatians 5:16

"But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses." Galatians 5:18

By walking in the Spirit, we can no longer depend on our own self-effort. We remain in communion with the Lord, always relying on Him to lead us into holiness. One commentary put it this way:

"The Spirit of God does not lead people to look to the law as a means of justification. Rather, He points them to the risen Christ as the only ground of acceptance before God."

So, on this week of Christmas, let's turn our eyes to the risen Christ and live in His freedom and love this week as we celebrate His coming into the world to be our savior!