Forgiveness and the Fear of the Lord
I do not think most people think about God's forgiveness being tied to our fear of God, but it is. The psalmist made the connection in a very clear way. (Psalm 130:3,4) Have you been forgiven all of your sins by trusting Jesus as your Lord and Savior? That is the most important event in the life of any person, and that forgiveness can only come from God. Therefore, if we have been forgiven by His grace, then we should have a very healthy fear of God, and we should help others have that same fear through forgiveness.
The psalmist states a huge point. If God counted all of our iniquities or sins, none could stand before Him. We have all sinned, and we cannot save ourselves. The only way to forgiveness is by going to the Lord and throwing ourselves on His grace to forgive us, once we trust Christ as our Lord and Savior. This should cause all of us to pause and realize without God's help, we are all lost and undone. We can never be in heaven with Him for eternity, if we do not have our sins forgiven. That is where the fear of God comes in. We have an awe and holy respect for Him, since He is the only way to forgiveness and heaven. We do not want to experience His anger, only His grace and mercy.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Psalms 131-133.
The psalmist states a huge point. If God counted all of our iniquities or sins, none could stand before Him. We have all sinned, and we cannot save ourselves. The only way to forgiveness is by going to the Lord and throwing ourselves on His grace to forgive us, once we trust Christ as our Lord and Savior. This should cause all of us to pause and realize without God's help, we are all lost and undone. We can never be in heaven with Him for eternity, if we do not have our sins forgiven. That is where the fear of God comes in. We have an awe and holy respect for Him, since He is the only way to forgiveness and heaven. We do not want to experience His anger, only His grace and mercy.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Psalms 131-133.