Romans 3:18
“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
Tag: Fear of God is Essential for Belief
The above verse is taken out of the middle of a long list of verses Paul is writing to tell us that we are sinful. Probably, most people don’t need the number of words Paul writes to convince them they are sinful. The entire first chapters of Romans are committed to convincing Gentiles and Jews that they are sinful and need to be justified by faith, not by their works. Most don’t need this many verses to convince them they are sinners, but, apparently, man needs a lot more verses to convince them they need faith to justify them. In order for man to admit they are a sinner AND that they need Christ, man must come to the place he “fears” God. The fear of God, fear of the Lord, is the first step to admitting you are sinful. The fear of the Lord is the first step toward wisdom. The fear of the Lord is the only way to avoid evil.
Proverbs 9:10
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.
Notice the relationship of the Fear of the Lord and our staying away from sin:
Proverbs 3:7
Be not wise in your own eyes;
fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.
Proverbs 1:29
Because they hated knowledge
and did not choose the fear of the Lord,
Proverbs 14:27
The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life,
that one may turn away from the snares of death.
Proverbs 23:17
Let not your heart envy sinners,
but continue in the fear of the Lord all the day.
When we sin we no longer respect God and His always. When we sin we longer recognized God’s character; we trod His Holiness under the feet of sin. Paul is making it clear to the Jews and Gentiles in Rome that the reason they are sinners is because they do not fear the Lord. When we don’t fear the Lord we stand in need of His justification, as we can’t justify ourselves.
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