What are the things people fear most in
life?Certainly, the fear of death ranks
highly among man's greatest fears.The
fear of injury, illness, disability, or other physical harm is also common.Many people are fearful of losing their
property or their sources of income, and they worry about having the basic
necessities of life.Some are afraid of
losing their liberty or being separated from their loved ones.Some are even afraid of the unknown.
Christians are blessed through faith in
Christ to overcome the fears that are common to man.Indeed, we can be effectively fearless because
of our faith in Christ.It is Christ who
gives us this fearlessness and confidence, for He strengthens us and raises us
above fear.We know that Christ has
already given the ultimate sacrifice for us in dying on the cross so that we
are assured of His great love and benevolence toward us (John 15:13).Therefore, we know that we can trust His
promise that He will come again, take us out of this world, and bring us into
His Father's house (John 14:1-4).This
trust in Him allows us to overcome the fear of anything this world may threaten
against us.
Consider a Christian's faithful
fearlessness against the threats of the world.Concerning death, a Christian knows that Jesus died and arose from the
grave "that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of
death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were
subject to slavery all their lives" (Heb. 2:14-15).Now, through the hope of the resurrection,
Christians have victory over death and no longer are captive to its fear (1Cor.
15:51-58).Concerning physical harm,
Christians know that nothing can separate them from the love of God in Christ
(Rom. 8:35-39) and that "though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is
being renewed day by day" (2Cor. 4:16).Christians expect to put off the flesh with its infirmities and live
forever in a spiritual body (1Cor. 15:42-50)As far as the necessities of life, Christians trust that if they seek
first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, then all such things will be
provided to them (Matt. 6:33).They also
learn to be content with nothing more than the necessities (Phil. 4:12-13;
1Tim. 6:6-8).As for liberty, true
liberty is found only in Christ (John 8:31-32), and not even a prison cell can
steal that liberty from a Christian (Acts 16:25; Heb. 10:34; 1Pet. 3:14-17;
Rev. 2:10).Concerning loved ones,
Christians know that the Lord will come again to take all believers to be with
Him always (1Thess. 4:13-18), so they work to convince their loved ones to
believe in Him.
Don't misunderstand the meaning of a
Christian's fearlessness through faith in Christ.It is not that faithful Christians should not
fear anything or anyone, but rather it is that they should not fear anything or
anyone in this world.Jesus said, "Do
not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather
fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell" (Matt. 10:28).Indeed, the fear of God must be present
within every Christian, for it is He who can justly condemn us for sin.Many times in the New Testament, we see the
goodness and necessity of such godly fear in Christians (Acts 5:5, 11; 9:31;
19:17; Rom. 11:20-22; 2Cor. 5:11; 7:1; Eph. 5:21; Phil. 2:12; 1Pet. 1:17; 2:17).Even so, the fear of God in Christians is not
the fear of imminent wrath or destruction, for "there is no fear in love; but
perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who
fears is not perfected in love" (1John 4:18).Instead, a faithful Christian fears God with a deep reverence for His
power and authority.
To further qualify the meaning of a
Christina's fearlessness, it must be understood that this fearlessness is not
because Christians are invincible or immune to the things of this world.Christians will still suffer death and all of
the other hardships that are common to man.However, Christians are equipped with the faith in Christ that is
necessary to handle all of these situations without fear.Faith in Christ gives us the confidence of
overcoming all of these in such a way that they all seem minor in comparison to
the overwhelming victory we have in Him."For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the
victory that has overcome the world -- our faith" (1John 5:4).
Of course, our level fearlessness is
only according to our level of faith in Christ.Our fears of worldly things will only be relieved if we believe in the
Lord and His promises.He says, "Peace I
leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to
you. Do not let your heart be troubled,
nor let it be fearful" (John 14:27).The
world does not know the peace that is in Christ, and it cannot offer anything
but fear and uncertainty.Therefore, let
us believe in the Lord, and may our faith in Him result in fearlessness in us.
