Fear and Faith

Proverbs 9:10,11

10

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

11

For through wisdom your days will be many,

and years will be added to your life.

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Proverbs 8:13

13

To fear the LORD is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech.

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I reached out and touched the flame. I withdrew my hand went I felt pain. The next time I desired to touch the flame, fear of pain kept me safe.

Fear of the Lord is the same. There are consequences to every action for those who do not carry the Holy Spirit in them. And for those who know what freedom there is by carrying the Holy Spirit, but revert back to acting on their own desires, they lose that freedom and consequences await their every move.

Wisdom is recognizing that Christ Jesus, the Holy One of God, set out this Law, so that all could learn to seek out ways to develop out of their animal behaviors. To think before they act. 

The ability to rely on the knowledge of good and evil, does not lead to salvation of the soul, but it does supply time that is free of the consequences of creating cost. This is what the holy commandments set forth through Moses provide. This knowledge, when relied upon, is wisdom.

Our primitive design stirs up violence and relies on hatred. We developed in fear of one another, and used fear we created in others to sustain ourselves. In terms of survival, we thrived on the fear we created in others to keep them at a distance. And our ego and pride in our power to control others with fear, was the power we relied on to sustain this sense of control. As primitive cultures developed, these attributes became authorities that were honored and worshipped.

Today, fear is still used to keep us under its authority. This is a form of dominion. Domination, is based on hatred and the threat of violence. The misuse of knowledge of good and evil is the basis of human authority, this is why the Commandments set out by Moses, separate wickedness from what is to be considered righteous. A nation will claim to be righteous in the eyes of God, but it is their actions that identify them. To clarify, there are none who are righteous, not one.

As Christians, we know that Christ Jesus is the Holy One of God. We also know that to do what is righteous, we have to humble ourselves, by not acting on our natural reactions. This is the basis of faith. We have confidence in the guidance of the Spirit of Truth we carry forward.

As Christians, because we deny ourselves, we can recognize the difference between what is a human act and what is a holy act. The power that ego and pride offer is human. The power of dominion is human. Only those who serve the will of God, by denying their own will, supply holiness. And it is these individuals who are therefore approaching the knowledge of good and evil with truth. They see no consequence, because their actions bring forth righteousness.

Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Knowledge of the Truth and actions based on faith in that Truth, leads to salvation.

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