| Free At Last; Free At Last, Part 4: Freedom from Fear |
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| Written by David Lawrence |
| Sunday, October 11 2009 00:00 |
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My friend who was recently released from prison did not comment much on fear, except the fear that he might do something wrong and get in trouble with the authorities. I would suspect that he suffered from some fear of fellow-inmates, although he said that at the second facility he was housed with people who were convicted of the same crime. But there was fear of improper medical treatment and bad food. I suspect that anyone in bondage would have to experience some degree of fear. Certainly we think of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s famous speech in which he enunciated the four freedoms, one of which was freedom from fear. He is most remembered for saying that “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” As we apply the analogy to legalism and grace, all who have come out of legalism will admit that they experienced fear. People who trust in themselves for salvation are afraid to die because they are afraid of going to hell. They live in constant fear of the curse of God and the frown of His wrath because they have not done enough, not kept enough commandments, or done something wrong. My sister confessed that she lived in fear of going to hell because she had not learned the entire Bible! The only legalists who are free from fear are those who are so self-deceived that they think they are good enough and God owes them salvation! There are some who have the ridiculous idea that they have achieved a perfection that renders them free of sin, contrary to what John expressly taught (1 John 1:8,10), and contrary to what Paul confessed in Romans 7. Yet the commandment Jesus gave most frequently was “do not be afraid.” The writer of Hebrews states that Jesus delivered us from the fear of death and the slavery that fear brings by destroying the power of the devil (Heb. 2:14-15). John said that fear is destroyed by (God’s) perfect love (1 John 4:18). He tells us that “There is no fear in love” and that “fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not perfect in love.” I understand that John is saying that when we fail to understand the wondrous love of God for us in Christ, we live in constant fear of punishment. No wonder Paul prayed so fervently that we would come to understand the vast dimensions of God’s love for us so that we would be filled to the measure of the fullness of God (Eph. 3:18-19). Paul tells us that we do not receive a spirit that makes us again a slave to fear (Rom. 8:15) and he tells Timothy that God did not give us a spirit of fear or timidity (2 Tim. 1:7). When the Son made us “free indeed,” he gave us freedom from fear! |
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