Commentary on First Peter (33)

Again, Peter says in verse 17 that because we have a Father "who judges each man's work impartially," we must therefore "live as strangers here in reverent fear." The grammatical, contextual, and theological considerations make it unlikely that he is referring to the final judgment. It seems that he is instead speaking of the Father's present judging activities, and from this he draws an application about how believers should behave in the world. Thus the "fear" refers to a fear for the parental discipline that Christians would receive from their heavenly Father, who examines our conduct in justice and righteousness, regardless of who we are before the eyes of men.

Grudem is without question correct in saying that the translation "reverent fear" is "too comfortable for modern readers." Nowadays it is common to teach that to "fear" God is merely to show "reverence" or to be at "awe" toward him, and it is sometimes even reduced to mere "respect." These are diluted versions that make the idea more acceptable or sound more pleasant to those holding to modern assumptions about what true religion ought to be like. However, all biblical evidence compels us to preserve in the fear of God the idea of terror – of being afraid, of being scared. What a believer should be afraid of is another question. Christians are not supposed to fear final condemnation, but it does not follow that all sense of terror should be eliminated.

A child might be quite afraid of being disciplined by his father. This fear regulates his conduct and keeps him from trouble. And because he does not yield to peer pressure to participate in foolish and immoral activities, he might become a stranger to those around him. Others might make fun of him or even ostracize him. He might feel pressured, but still he is unmoved, for he fears his father's displeasure and discipline more than he fears those who would press him to do wrong, and this fear in fact gives him the courage to resist their temptations. This fear is not a mere respect for his father, but there is a real sense of terror to it.

But although the child fears his father this way, he might at the same time feel very secure about his place in the family. Although he makes mistakes and incites his father's anger on occasions, the thought that his father might cast him out of the family never crosses his mind. So the child feels secure in his relationship to his father, but he feels fear at the thought of receiving discipline from him. These are the two necessary aspects to a healthy parent-child relationship. There is no conflict or paradox here, since we are referring to two different aspects of a relationship, and not two contradictory things about one aspect of a relationship.

Similarly, it is possible to have a genuine fear of our heavenly Father's displeasure even though we are assured of our salvation and confident of our place in his family, and that we will not be finally condemned or cast away. Again, this fear is not mere reverence, or awe, or respect, but it entails a real sense of terror. It is to be afraid to offend our Father and incur his discipline.

This fear, and the awareness that he judges every man's work, regulates our conduct and keeps us from sin. And because our fear of God is greater than our fear of man, it actually gives us the courage to resist temptations. Although holy living makes us strangers to the unbelievers, so that they may make fun of us, ostracize us, or even persecute us, our fear of God also gives us the strength to endure their ill-treatment, for what is man's wrath compared to God's displeasure?

Therefore, the fear of God is far from being an oppressive thing, and it is by no means contrary to having love and security in our relationship with our Father. But it keeps us from temptations, and empowers us to become bold witnesses for Christ in this hostile world.

Then, because we have been adopted into this new heavenly family, just as God has become our Father through Jesus Christ, other believers have become our brothers and sisters. Our natural family might misunderstand us or even disown us for becoming Christians, and the whole world might hate us and persecute us, but comfort and acceptance ought to be given to every believer from his own heavenly family.

Sadly, we do not always find this to be the case in the church. Instead, we find jealousy, rivalry, gossip, deceit, hypocrisy, and all kinds of destructive attitudes and behaviors among those who call themselves Christians. Infighting is especially dangerous when the church is under attack from the world. But sin is irrational, and cares little for consequences, or about right and wrong. So Peter reminds us to love one another sincerely and fervently (v. 22), and to rid from among us all malice, all deceit, all hypocrisy, all envy, and all evil speaking (2:1).