Fear Or Fearlessness?
"We will all appear before the judgment seat of Christ" (2 Cor 5:10a). I grew up with this as a promise of terror! In fact, the old KJV went on to say, "Knowing the terror of the Lord, we persuade men."
What did Paul have in mind when he said this? Here are a few things to think about:
- It is in a context of wishing to be at home with the Lord and enjoy the heavenly inheritance (have a look at the previous verses). Obviously there was no "terror" in Paul’s mind.
- The verse is a clear reference back to Ecclesiastes 12:13-14. Paul knew these verses. What did Qoheleth mean by what he said back then, "God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether good or bad"?
The critical thing is the word "judgment." It is the Hebrew word mishpat. It means "justice." It means "setting the world to rights" (N. T. Wright). God is saying that there is a day coming when the world will set to rights—all wrongs righted—justice will rule.
So, I see this as a quote from Ecclesiastes announcing that there is a justice moment coming, and that he "prefers" to be at home with the Lord and is "confident" as he looks forward to that moment. I see nothing to be terrified about! - Paul then does say, "Since we know what it is to 'fear' the Lord, we persuade others." The word "fear" is another word for "worship." Hence, out of a spirit of worship and wonder for the grace of God in bringing salvation and justice to ourselves and to the world, we do all we can to persuade others to become followers of Christ.
- Finally, this has nothing to do with our personal sin. Psalm 32:5b says, "And you forgave the guilt of my sin." Notice, not just sin, but the guilt of our sin! "As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us" (Ps. 103:12). Gone!
As a kid I learned this little ditty/song:
Gone, gone, gone, gone,
Yes, my sins are gone.
Now my soul is free and in my heart’s a song.
Buried in the deepest sea,
Yes, that’s good enough for me.
I shall live eternally,
Praise God, my sins are g-o-n-e, gone!
Hallelujah,
Pastor Dave
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