Bible Question:
hi everyone, is there any difference between a 'God fearing person and a christian? Joyie |
Bible Answer: Joyle :: Properly used, the term "Christian" describes a child of God, a regenerate believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. The reason I say properly used is that Christian has been misapplied and used in a vague way to describe what is not necessarily altogether Christian, as in the term "a Christian nation," etc. To call someone a "God-fearing person" does necessarily denote that he is a born-again believer in Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. ...... There are two kinds of fear, secular and religious, described in the Bible. Some modern Christian preachers and teachers tend to de-emphasize, or omit entirely, the fear of God. Their stress is placed solely upon the love of God without even mentioning the consequences of disobeying a wrathful and holy God who holds men accountable for their sins. While there is indeed a greater emphasis placed on the love of God in the New Testament, the element of fear was proclaimed by the early church. In Phiippians 2:12 the apostle Paul laid it down to believers that they were to work out their salvation "with fear and trembling." Acts 9:31 records that the churches "were edified and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, were multiplied." ...... The classic definition of "the fear of the Lord" as the term is used in Scripture is reverential trust. He who teaches the love of God to the exclusion of the judgment of the holy and righteous God should read Jonathan Edwards' sermon, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God (available on line). The early New Testament church stood in awe and fear in the presence of a holy God, and so should the church today, for to fear God and keep His commandments is the whole duty of man (see Ecclestiastes 12:13). ...... So, a Christian is by biblcial definition a God-fearing person. But it does not follow that one who fears God (it could be a pagan god he fears) is necessarily Christian. --Hank |