Faithing Down Your Fears

7 The Fear of Sin It is safe to say that most people today do not connect the spiritual dots between sin and fear, even in the church. In most people’s minds, these are two unrelated subjects. But the Bible clearly teaches that there is a direct link between our reverential fear of God and our existential fear of sin.

That’s why the Bible summarizes man’s rebellious condition this way: There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one. Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit. The poison of vipers is on their lips. Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know.

There is no fear of God before their eyes (Romans 3:10–18).

The relationship Paul draws here between the root and fruit of fear is inescapable. The root problem in humanity is that there is “no fear of God before their eyes.” The fruit of the problem is a lack of righteousness, no one seeking God, no goodness, dishonest and perverse communication, bitterness, violence, misery, and a general lack of peace. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?

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