"For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control."
Notice the first several words in this text, "for God gave us a spirit". This is not any man's doing. It is a miracle
of God, for only He can take out the heart of stone and give a heart of flesh. Also, this spirit is a gift that is not
only free, but is given freely to all who repent and believe. God is merciful, "not wishing that any should perish,
but that all should reach repentance (2Pt 3:9)", and indeed He says, "whoever comes to Me I will never cast
out (Jn 6:37)".
But what is this spirit which the father so freely gives? What does it look like? First of all, it is not a spirit of
fear. (Ps 27:1; Rom 8:31; Is 41:10,13-14) We must recognize, though, that there is a different sort of fear, one
that "is the beginning of wisdom (Ps 111:10). A healthy fear of God does not mean that we dread Him, or run
away from Him because He is some horrible tyrant. Rather, it is like something C.S. Lewis wrote about Aslan,
the great lion. " 'Course He's not safe. But He's good". In much the same way, although "our God is a consuming
fire (Heb 12:29)", He is not like some terrible beast that knows only vengeance and wrath, but is, again, merciful
and willing to receive any that call out to Him. Therefore, we fear, or revere, Him because He is so holy, and we
are so unholy. Because He is so infinite, and we are so finite. Because He is God and we are not.
(Prov 19:23, 28:14; Josh 24:14; Eccl 12:13-14; Heb 12:28-29)
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