Hey guys, this is Johnny Artivantis and this is dial-in. In this episode, I sit down with Paul

Washer, the director of the Heart Crime Missionary Society and ask him the question, what does it

mean to fear God? Let's dial in.

Paul, thanks again for being with us.

I'm reading in Proverbs 1.7, it says,

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.

Fools despise wisdom and instruction.

In Ecclesiastes, Solomon says,

fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of men.

We see this idea of fearing God riddled throughout the scripture.

It's a strong theme.

And yet today, many people don't even understand what that means and how they can grow in their fear of the Lord.

Can you talk to us, Paul, about what it means to fear God, how we can grow in our

fear of the Lord, and why it's so important?

Well, first of all, we need to look that there are different aspects of the fear of the Lord.

The unbeliever should fear the Lord in what way? As judge, as righteous judge, who is angry every day.

So there's a sense in which, you know, the unbeliever who is living in rebellion against God,

who is not reconciled through Christ, for him to fear the Lord is to fear that aspect of his holiness and his righteousness that manifests itself in wrath now for the believer

It's different. It's it's it's that first fear that I talked about who drives you that drives you to Christ and coming to Christ we are now

Reconciled through Him, and we bear the righteousness of God in Christ. Our legal standing before God, our immutable

legal standing before God is the righteousness of God. So we're clothed in the righteousness

of Christ. So obviously the word reverence there, our fear, is going to change.

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