“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” 2 Timothy 1:7 (King James Version).
As believers, we need to talk about the elephant in the room that is fear. We all fear something at some time or another, but what we do with that fear can have a dramatic effect of how that fear affects our situation. Many are paralysed by fear, incapable of making a decision that is not driven by fear. Many, particularly those in the media and the government, push fear upon others as they constantly whip the public into a frenzy of fear and panic so that they might leverage that fear into control. Once you successfully convince someone they need to fear something, you take away the rational thought that governs the decision making process and replace it with emotionally driven choices that need not follow logic, facts or reasoning. The Bible does not instruct us to confront fear with more fear. We do not fight fear with opinion or division, but rather Scripture confronts fear head on with the Truth.
Truth is not a subjective shade of reasoning we all have our own version of, Truth is objective because our feelings and opinions do not define Truth. The Truth is the Gospel, the power that we have, as believers, to battle everything from fear to the flames of Hell is that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who died for the sins of mankind. You see, once you understand that there is a way that we can be redeemed to God through Christ Jesus, then you understand that means something for you. We all know that those who truly believe, those who repent and accept the grace and mercy of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, become a son or daughter of God in Christ Jesus. Scripture teaches that if we are a son or daughter of Christ then we become an heir with Christ. Romans 8:17 tells us, “and if children, then heirs — heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if so it be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together.”
You see once you understand that you are an heir with Christ Jesus, you understand the power and authority that comes with that. We are not given power and authority to glorify our own lives, nor to spend it on the lusts of the flesh, but to glorify God through Christ Jesus that we might carry out the Great Commission. It is not that people do not want to be an heir with Christ, because in becoming an heir is all the good stuff we associate with the faith, but few want to “suffer with Him that we may be also glorified together.”
We are being asked to lay aside fear and accept that the walk with Christ will often be a difficult road, after all — if it were easy it would not be referred to as the “narrow gate.” If the life that we live now is the best life we hope to live, what kind of a view does that paint for all of eternity? If we seek to save this life we will lose it, but if we lose it for the sake of Christ we will have eternal life. God empowers those who are truly believers in Christ. Christ is not only the object of our faith but He is the source of power with which we walk that faith out in Him, for His glory and honor.
So since God has not given us a spirit of fear, and we live not for this life but for all eternity, why do we allow fear to dictate so many of our decisions? I am going to propose one reason that could account for fear being the dominant force that it is. That reason is that we feed the fear rather than fostering the power, sound mind and love of Christ we should be driven by.
I think that, sadly, we have allowed the world to define what love is even within the Church. In an attempt to be inclusive and non judgemental, we have limited the power of the Gospel only to the extent that we have censored it. Rather than dwelling in the shelter of the Most High in the noble pursuit of Scriptural Truth like the Bereans of Acts 17:11, we seek the approval of man at the expense of the sound mind that results from the study of Scripture. Let us reject this Spirit of fear that grips our world today, choosing rather to serve and even suffer with Christ for His Glory. It is not for us to tell God what His Word means.
We hope you enjoyed this article by Rev. Christopher B. Cain our Minister of Evangelism and discipleship here at Alive Ministries USA, follow us on Facebook and bookmark us here for Ministry News, Updates, and content only shared on our website.
