Fear No Fear

(All scripture from the World English Bible, ebible.org, all rights reserved)

but chiefly those who walk after the flesh in the lust of defilement and despise authority. Daring, self-willed, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries,
2 Peter 2:10 (emphasis added)

We’ve been talking about not fearing. About not letting fear hold you back from the things of God. Not letting fear poison your mind and heart. Not letting it rob you of a quality of life —mental and physical. Not letting it keep you from seeing what you were meant to see. We’ve talked about the flip side of that where we should be pursuing peace. You don’t have peace when you fear. Far from it. Fear robs you of peace. Here we have today a verse about unbelievers and they are walking without fear. But they’re walking without fear where they should have it. Doubly so. Both fear as in should not be comfortable doing it and fear as in reverence. It’s a double whammy of an example of what not to be. The message is do not fear, but not in the way they are not fearing.

“For if God didn’t spare angels when they sinned, but cast them down to Tartarus, and committed them to pits of darkness to be reserved for judgement; and didn’t spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah with seven others, a preacher of righteousness, when he brought a flood on the world of the ungodly, and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, having made them an example to those who would live in an ungodly way, and delivered righteous Lot, who was very distressed by the lustful life of the wicked (for that righteous man dwelling amongst them was tormented in his righteous soul from day to day with seeing and hearing lawless deeds), then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptation and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgement, but chiefly those who walk after the flesh in the lust of defilement and despise authority. Daring, self-willed, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries, whereas angels, though greater in might and power, don’t bring a slanderous judgement against them before the Lord. But these, as unreasoning creatures, born natural animals to be taken and destroyed, speaking evil in matters about which they are ignorant, will in their destroying surely be destroyed, receiving the wages of unrighteousness; people who count it pleasure to revel in the daytime, spots and defects, revelling in their deceit while they feast with you; having eyes full of adultery, and who can’t cease from sin, enticing unsettled souls, having a heart trained in greed, accursed children!” (2 Peter 2:4-14).

Now that’s a list. Daring and self-willed. Living a lustful life. Unrighteous. Training their hearts in greed. Enticing the unsettled. Revelling in deceit. Unreasoning, speaking evil, destroying, speaking evil and bringing slanderous judgment. That is the heart of the unbeliever. No matter how ‘good’ they appear to be. No matter how kind and loving. In the deep down part of themselves, all those who are not saved have this in their hearts to one degree or another. If you’re not living according to the spirit you are living according to the flesh. There is nothing else. It isn’t about being a good person or not. There are many good people who didn’t accept Jesus as Lord. It is about being unrighteous or righteous. Righteousness is righteousness. Not a spot of anything that isn’t righteous. Totally, absolutely, and immutably purely righteous. This is not humanity.

At some point we have all lied. Lusted after someone. Given a slanderous judgment against a politician or other official. We’ve taken the biggest piece of dessert before anyone else can pick. We’ve told a lie. We’ve convinced someone to do something they were waffling on—but it was a fudging of the rules. We’ve said something mean to say something mean. We can take it further because righteousness is purely righteous. We have all disobeyed the law. I’m not talking about refusing an unjust or immoral law. I’m talking about jaywalking. Speeding. We’ve parked and cheated the meter. Parked in a fire zone just for a minute. Not come to a complete and total stop at a stop sign. Sounds stupid? Maybe to us. But it is a law. The Word tells us to obey the laws of where we live—unless they go against the Lord’s morals—(Romans 13:1-7). If we are breaking a law (man-made or of the Lord) we are unrighteous. It only takes one thing done only once to invalidate us on the righteousness front. “For whoever keeps the whole law, and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all” (James 2:10).

This doesn’t sit well with us. We are all about mitigating circumstances, having a reason, being justified. It is all foolishness. If you have done wrong you have done wrong. There is no justification for doing wrong. There is no such thing as a white lie. A lie is a lie is a lie is a lie is a lie. And God says that is wrong. The world will teach you that in the right circumstances, for the right reasons, lying can be noble. But if it is a lie, then it is not truth. Therefore, you are not righteous if you lie. Period. Even saying this my brain is coming up with three or four scenarios where lying could be justified. But whether or not we justify it, we will be unrighteous if we do it. This is one of the principles you can use to meditate on the Lord. “God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should repent. Has he said, and he won’t do it? Or has he spoken, and he won’t make it good?” (Numbers 23:19). God never, ever, ever lies for any reason whatsoever. God is righteous.

This was why Jesus had to come. This is why the Law cannot impart to us righteousness in fact. It can in principle because God said that it could. If you kept the whole of the Law in your heart as well as by your deed, you would be righteous. Deuteronomy 30:11 tells us it is possible. We’re told a little later in verses 19 and 20 that it is a choice between life and death. When Jesus came, one of the major things He pointed out is that we weren’t keeping the Law in our hearts. We were saying one thing with our mouths and another with our hearts. One great example is in Matthew 22:18-21. Look at verse 19: “Show me the tax money.” They brought to him a denarius.” At this time, the Jews considered all images forbidden in the temple. If you wanted to give your tithe you had to exchange your coins with images on them for special coins with no images on them. When Jesus asked for tax money, He was in the temple. He entered in Matthew 21:23 and didn’t leave until Matthew 24:1. So Jesus asked for a coin and they brought Him one with faces on it. He asks them whose face is on it and they replied Caesar’s (Matthew 22:20-21). They were breaking the rules by having the coin while they were trying to trap Jesus and accuse Him of breaking the rules. They professed righteousness, but broke the rules themselves. They were not keeping Torah in their hearts.

This is what Paul is talking about in Romans 14:23. Whatever we do that isn’t based in faith, is sin. Everything we do is to be based on faith. Without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). Faith is a gift of God, which makes it good (Ephesians 2:8-9). Faith is strengthened by the Word (Romans 10:27). Everything we do should be in line with the Word because the Word is the will of the Father revealed to us (Romans 12:1-2). If we love the Lord we will seek to obey the Lord (John 14:15-24). In word, in deed, and in thought. With all that we have (Mark 12:30). We will keep His commandments, statutes, and laws with our minds and our hearts and our bodies. But what about all that stuff I just said about humanity being unable to keep the moral law of God? Yeah. That’s the catch. We can’t.

It’s a pretty big catch too because the law had two sides. One is the things we SHOULD do. The other is what happens when we don’t. And it isn’t the smitey bit. This isn’t God up on a cloud looking to bring plague and calamity. This is simply the natural consequences of disobedience. This is the warning that there are nasty things roaming out in the fields of disobedience and you’re wise not to go there. God wants you safe and secure under His wings. In His yard. Not out where you have no protection. Not out where you are subject to the natural fruit of a fallen flesh. Not where the enemy can get at you just for fun. Just to see how far he can push you down the ladder. No. God wants everyone safe and secure and away from the enemy (1 Timothy 2:4-6). That’s why Jesus came.

When you believe in Jesus as payment of your sin and as resurrected by the Father to life again; when you confess Jesus as your Lord and submit to Him you are redeemed. Double coupon eternity. Saved and sealed. “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us. For it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree,” that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith” (Galatians 3:13-14). “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to the intent that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we would live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present age; looking for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify for himself a people for his own possession, zealous for good works” (Titus 2:11-14).

In Jesus, we can do it. In Jesus, we can have no fear. In Jesus, we can be righteous. In Jesus, we can be free from sin. In Jesus, we can be free from the curse of the Law. In Jesus, we can walk in fulfilment of the Law—joyfully obeying God’s moral guidelines. In Jesus, we can be all that He wanted us to be. But it has to be in Jesus. Not us. Not our efforts. Not our successes. All Jesus. All the way. We need to be broken and admit we need Him. Every moment of every day. We need to look to Him and abide in Him and renew ourselves in the Word—which Jesus is. THIS is the victory. THIS is the taking up of our cross. Staying in that state of admitting we need Him and relying on Him for all. THIS is what the enemy is so desperate to get you away from. THIS is what the world doesn’t understand and kind of hates because of that. It brings us all sorts of wonderful blessings straight from heaven. It empowers us to prosper here on earth—in all ways, not just money. It is healing to us. It is health to us. It is fellowship with Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and the Father. It is great and awesome. But at its core it is broken submission in every area.

Taking up a cross isn’t fun. But Jesus said His yoke was easy. His burden light (Matthew 11:28-30). It must be done with purpose. With intent. The blessings are many and will amaze you. Enjoy them. But never lose sight of that cross we are to have with us. Never stop informing your mind with the Word. Never stop submitting to Jesus. The minute you do, you start backing out of the yard. Out of where you should be walking. Out from under His wings. We’re not promised freedom from persecution—far from it. But where would you rather be persecuted? Under His wings and protection or out on your own? It’s like facing a rampaging horde naked with a pointed stick instead of a suit of armour and a sword because you’re really good at poking things. It’s balancing on a pair of stilts in a moat while defying a siege instead of being in the castle. We need Jesus. Without Him we are nothing (John 15).

Walk by the spirit as He is in the spirit (Galatians 5:16-18). Yoke yourself to Jesus and never look back. Submit to the Lord. Be obedient. Repent when you go wrong. Don’t be scared. He is faithful and just. You will be forgiven your trespasses. You will be helped to turn around and not walk in that sin any longer. Jesus could have stayed here on earth after His resurrection, but that wasn’t the Father’s plan. If Jesus had stayed it would have been awesome, but not as awesome or beneficial for us. Because unless He went to heaven the Holy Spirit could not descend. Without that spirit life that raised Jesus from the dead within us, we have no hope of walking where He walked and how He walked. But with it? We can do all things in Christ who is the hope of glory and the source of our strength (Philippians 4:11-13). Get into the Word with intent. Seek Him. You’ll find Him. Abide in Him. He is in you. Take heart. Here there is no fear. Here there is perfect love and perfect peace. Dwell in Him and let His righteousness be your righteousness.

Daily Affirmation of God’s Love: 2 Corinthians 5:20-21

Being an ambassador is a privileged position. There are a lot of responsibilities. They represent their home country. They have to build and maintain relationships. They provide information and advice. They protect the interests of their citizens. Ambassadors usually reside in the country where they are posted and maintain an embassy or consulate, which serves as a hub for diplomatic activity. They are also responsible for managing the embassy’s staff and budget, as well as ensuring the safety and security of their country’s citizens who are living or travelling in the host country. This is our role. Except instead of being open to bringing citizens of the world into the kingdom as visiting foreigners, we want to bring them in as fellow disciples. Until they are fellow disciples, we serve as ambassadors of the kingdom presenting them information and keeping up friendly relations with them as people — even though we decry their policies. We can only do this in Jesus. Without Him we’re judgmental. Without Him we hold things against people or — worse — treat them as different than we are as human beings just because of how they are acting. This is not our job. We are ambassadors of Christ but we must maintain that role IN Christ. It’s the only way we have access to His spirit. His love. His acceptance of the humanity even as He does not condone the sin. It is hard for us to separate. We get so hypocritical so fast. But to Jesus, it is easy. It is clear. There is no hypocrisy. If we abide in Him and do what the Father shows us and say what the Father tells us to say, we will have a victorious stay in this world. We will be able to perform the role He has for us. Do not rely on your own strength. He is the one who strengthens us. He is our joy. He is our shepherd. He is the vine and we are the fruit. We are not the fruit who are also vines. We are the sheep of His pasture. Stay broken before the Lord and let His attitudes become yours. Let His acceptance of people become yours. He is the only one who can do it without compromise or error. Let Him lead you. Let Him lead us all. Amen.

Your Daily Confession of God’s love to YOU:

Today God loves that I _______.