Fear and fear

Perfect love casts out fear, John says. But the Bible repeatedly exhorts us to fear God. There’s fear, then there’s fear. How do we tell the difference?

The difference is in the direction our fear moves us.

Adam feared God, and hid in the garden. Wrong fear drives us away from God’s presence. Right fear draws us closer; it is awed fascination with the God who is a consuming fire. It’s the fear we have when we see something so utterly fearsome that we just have to get a closer look.