The Love of God and the Fear of Him
The Love of God and the Fear of Him
Does our relationship with God in love prevent fear?
And what can be said about a person who walked in the path of love until boldness was formed between him and God, and there was no longer in his heart a feeling of awe, and then instead of his state advancing, it declined spiritually…
This makes us speak today about the love of God and the fear of Him.
We may love God, but this love does not prevent fear; rather, it necessitates it.
Truly, the Scripture said that “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear” (1 John 4:18). But I want to ask you a frank question:
Who among us has reached this perfect love?!
No one. And even if someone has reached this perfect love toward God, fear in the sense of terror is removed from him, but reverence is not removed from him. Therefore, the Fathers used two words: fear and reverence.
Fear in the sense of terror is cast out by love; but fear in the sense of reverence remains.
Reverence, awe, respect, and veneration are necessary matters in our relationship with God. And when the Lord Christ criticized the unjust judge, He said that he was a man “who did not fear God nor regard man.”
And the Scripture says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”
Who among people is purer than the angels, or more loving toward God than they, especially the Cherubim and the Seraphim? Yet we hear that before God they “with two wings covered their faces, and with two they covered their feet.” This was from the abundance of their reverence for God and their veneration of His most holy majesty.
We saw this reverence when the Lord appeared in the temple, and around Him the Seraphim crying out, saying: Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory. “And the foundations of the thresholds were shaken at the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke.” Then Isaiah the prophet said, “Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips… for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts” (Isaiah 6:1–8).
Yes, when a person draws near to God, he feels that he is unclean, and he fears, and says, “Woe is me, for I am undone.”
This reverence God required from us, and He reproached us for lacking it, saying: “If I am a Master, where is My reverence? And if I am a Father, where is My honor?”
And when the Lord appeared to Moses the prophet in the wilderness, in the burning bush, the Lord said to Moses, “Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground” (Exodus 3:5).
Therefore this reverence is not only for God, but also for His places.
Jacob the father of the fathers, when he saw in a dream a ladder set up between heaven and earth, and the angels of God ascending and descending on it, and there he heard from the Lord blessing and promises… when Jacob awoke, he said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” And what also?
He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven” (Genesis 28:17).
“How awesome is this place!” Truly, the house of the Lord is awesome; we enter it with fear, feeling our unworthiness to enter it, for “Holiness befits Your house, O Lord,” and we are sinners. Therefore, when we enter the house of the Lord, fear and awe take hold of us, and we say with David:
“But as for me, in the multitude of Your mercy I will come into Your house; I will worship toward Your holy temple in Your fear.”
As for the tax collector, he did not dare to advance inward, but stood afar off. He did not dare even to lift his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast in humility and asked forgiveness as a sinner.
And the phrase “I will worship toward Your holy temple in Your fear” is said by the priest every time he comes out with incense from the sanctuary.
And the word fear we say in the Prayer of Thanksgiving with which every prayer begins, when we say, “Grant us to complete this holy day, and all the days of our life, in all peace with Your fear.” If love removes this fear, why then do we ask for it in every prayer?!
How often we repeat the word fear in our liturgical prayers.
At the reading of the Gospel, the deacon cries out, “Stand in the fear of God and listen to the Holy Gospel.” And the high priest lifts his crown from his head and stands before God in fear reading the Gospel, and the people stand in awe listening: “Make us worthy to hear and to do according to Your Holy Gospels.”
And at the descent of the Holy Spirit, the deacon cries out, “Worship God in fear and trembling.”
Truly, standing before God, as well as prostration, is a form of reverence, veneration, and fear, when our heads cling to the earth, to the dust; as the prophet David says, “My soul clings to the dust.”
This reverence and fear and this prostration appear clearly in the Book of Revelation, for example in the twenty-four elders (Revelation 4:10).
These twenty-four priests represent all the greatness of the priesthood, and they sit around the throne in white garments, and on their heads crowns of gold. Yet when the four living creatures give glory and honor to Him who sits on the throne, “the twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and worship… and cast their crowns before the throne, saying: ‘You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power…’”
Abraham the father of the fathers and the prophets, who had great boldness with God, so that the Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham My servant what I am doing?”
This Abraham, when he stood to speak with God, was filled with reverence and fear, and said, “Indeed now, I who am but dust and ashes have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord… Oh, let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak” (Genesis 18:27,32).
John the beloved, who leaned on the bosom of Christ and was the most loving of the apostles toward God, when he saw the Lord in the Book of Revelation, says, “I fell at His feet as dead” (Revelation 1:17).
Do you see reverence and fear in love more than this?!
God dwelling in the midst of the people was evidence of love, for the tabernacle of the Lord was in the midst of their tents. Yet there was a suitable distance, then the tents of the priests and the Levites, and after that the tents of the rest of the people.
Even until now people used to fear dwelling next to the church, out of reverence and fear, lest they sin beside a holy place.
And we prevented the dwelling of the sacristan, the steward, and even the priest inside the church, in order to preserve the reverence of the house of the Lord, so that it would not become a place for ordinary family life and lose its holiness and reverence.
For this reason, unfortunately, we find that many young deacons and altar servants, due to their frequent entering and exiting the sanctuary, sometimes lose their fear of it, and speak even in the most sacred times. And due to the frequent entering of people into the sanctuary, including photographers and recorders, how easy it is for the holiness and reverence of the place to be lost, and for it to be treated by people as an ordinary place.
Therefore love should not cause us to lose fear and reverence. The Lord Christ who called us to love also called us to fear:
He says (Luke 12:4–5), “Do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do…
“But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him!” (Luke 12:5).
He who walks in the fear of God can reach contrition of heart and humility. And thus love is poured into his heart by the Holy Spirit. And through fear he lives a life of carefulness and vigilance.
But he who walks in boldness without fear may lose his carefulness and vigilance and perhaps reach recklessness and indifference.
In our prayers we say to the Lord, “Your great and fearful Name.” And we say about His Second Coming, “the fearful and full of glory.”
The fear of God preserves us from falling, and fills our hearts with a sense of veneration and reverence for the Divine Essence, granting us springs of carefulness and vigilance.
Many of those who abandoned fear “reached pride of heart and hardness of heart.” They did not rise to a higher level beyond fear, but descended to the level of recklessness and did not feel the gravity of sin.
Therefore live in love and also in the reverence of the Lord. Love the Lord with all your hearts, and also honor Him and revere Him with all your hearts, and be contrite before Him. And whatever you do, when you have done all that was commanded you, say, “We are unprofitable servants.”
And listen to the saying of the Apostle Paul:
“Do not be haughty, but fear.”
Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off (Romans 11:20–22).
An article by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III – Al-Keraza Magazine – Seventh Year (Issue Forty-Eight) – 23-11-1976
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