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“Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding!” Job 28:28
“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding!” Proverbs 9:10
For “The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, turning a man from the snares of death!” Proverbs 14:27
“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow His precepts have good understanding!” Psalm 111:10
“I will put fear of Me in their hearts so they will never again turn away from Me!” Jeremiah 32:40
The fear of God is the essence of saving religion. It manifests itself by:
a deep humiliation for sin before God,
a simple trust in the Lord Jesus Christ,
and an unreserved obedience to His will.
Genuine fear of God does not consist in a mere assent to the truths of the gospel, or a mere profession of it as the only way to eternal glory. True fear of God is a real surrender of ourselves to Him as His redeemed people.
The fear of God, when genuinely existing in the soul, is true wisdom. Without this fear of God, a man views nothing aright, and does nothing aright; in his eyes earthly vanities have an importance which does not properly belong to them; and heavenly realities are in no respect appreciated according to their real worth.
But when God has put His fear into our hearts, then our misconceptions are rectified. Sin is no longer that light and trivial evil which we before supposed it to be. Nor is salvation judged to be a trivial thing as once thought. The salvation of the soul becomes from that moment, the one thing needful; and all the concerns of time are swallowed up in those of eternity!
Fearing God is accounted to be folly by the ignorant and ungodly world; but Scripture declares it to be genuine wisdom; and such it will prove itself to be in the outcome.
“An oracle is within my heart concerning the sinfulness of the wicked: There is no fear of God before his eyes!” Psalm 36:1