Fear No Fear

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

“Jethro rejoiced for all the goodness which Yahweh had done to Israel, in that he had delivered them out of the hand of the Egyptians. Jethro said, “Blessed be Yahweh, who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of Pharaoh; who has delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. Now I know that Yahweh is greater than all gods because of the way that they treated people arrogantly.”“
(Exodus 18:9-11)

“If you call on him as Father, who without respect of persons judges according to each man’s work, pass the time of your living as foreigners here in reverent fear, knowing that you were redeemed, not with corruptible things like silver or gold, from the useless way of life handed down from your fathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb without blemish or spot, the blood of Christ, who was foreknown indeed before the foundation of the world, but was revealed in this last age for your sake, who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope might be in God.“
(1 Peter 1:17-21)

Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, ‘believed in God’s supremacy because of the Exodus events: the maltreatment of Isra’el followed by deliverance, as Moshe had explained to him’ (from the Complete Jewish Bible study notes). Jethro hadn’t witnessed these things first hand. He had heard of them from his daughter, Moses’ first wife, when Moses had sent her back to her father with his children for their own safety (both the Israelites and Pharoah had been gunning for Moses in Egypt during the plagues). Now that they were being reunited, Jethro heard from Moses about what had happened both before and after what Zipporah (Moses’ first wive) had witnessed. The testimony of what had happened and the obvious supernatural deliverance they had experienced, completely and totally convinced Jethro that God was THE God of the Universe. His IMMEDIATE response was praise and worship.

In Peter’s letter to the Jews scattered throughout the Roman Empire, he encourages them about witness. They were beginning to fall prey to limited thinking. To look at their deliverance as coming from a set of strict rules that they followed. Personal piety as exemplified in following those rules had replaced physical sacrifice in importance. A life of spiritual sacrifice as defined by the rules was just as important/effective as a blood offering. For an example of these rules, the sage Ramban listed 613 commands from the scriptures that Jews were to follow – such as not working on the Sabbath. However, oral teaching gave 39 categories of things that were considered ‘work’. These extra rules and guidelines (designed to keep a devout Jew from violating the commands of God) had created a HUGE burden on Jewish believers. The emphasis on these rules was that ONLY by following them could you avoid breaking the commands and ONLY by keeping the commands could you be saved.

Peter was calling the people back to EXPERIENCE. It was GOD who saved. God’s power was the ONLY saving power. The Exodus experience pointed to it. The Law pointed to blood as the ONLY thing that could pay the price of Sin. And the scriptures point again and again to Jesus’ blood being the ONLY truly unblemished sacrifice worthy of acceptance. By getting bogged down by RULES, they were forgetting it was their TRUST in Jesus that saved them and NOTHING ELSE. It is our experiential witness of God’s power, mercy, grace, and might that form the foundation of our belief and trust in Jesus – whose Name is the ONLY name by which we are saved (Acts 4:12).

Summary

We are NOT saved by our efforts. We are NOT saved because we are worthy. We are ONLY saved by trusting in Jesus. We are ONLY saved because God extends it to us by Grace and in Mercy. Not for what WE have done, but because of what JESUS has done. “for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, that no one would boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). We MUST keep this in mind and not fall into the trap of thinking that we must perform in order to earn or keep our salvation. God doesn’t deal with us according to what WE deserve. He never has and He never will. God deals with us according to what JESUS deserves. He loves us that much. Our behaviour then comes from our love of Him for how He loves us – obeying from love, not adhering to rules and regulations in order to earn His Blessing.