...an interesting question. I don't think I've seen this discussed here before. Thoughts?

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Michael Turner
Christ Reformed Church | Independent [WCF]
Georgia

Hmmm. 62 views. No response....*bump*.

Perhaps the question is a little stumping. Maybe if we just start by just asking: Did Jesus fear God? Of course he is God. But he was also fully human and kept all of God's commands. Now, some will ask about the nature of his obedience. Did Christ obey the Father out of Godly fear or simply because he was one with the Father?

Surely this is a deep portion of the Trinity's mystery. But how far does the Scripture enlighten us here?

Jesus feared God as Isaac did (Genesis 31:42), but without any admixture of sin. We have express Biblical teaching that He feared God, Hebrews 5:7; since He increased in wisdom He must have had the root of the matter in Him -the fear of the Lord which is the beginning of it. Since His human obedience was perfect and complete, it included His motivations, and so we can confidently assert that He feared God and kept His commandments (Ecclesiastes 12:13).

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Ruben
Moderator
F.P.C.I.
Indiana

Vanities and disguises have covered us, and thereby we are naked; licenciousness hath inflam'd us, and thereby we are frozen; voluptuousness hath fed us, and thereby we are sterved, the fancies and traditions of men have taught and instructed us, and thereby we are ignorant.
John Donne

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Calvinistas Conversando
Teología en Mexico
The Howling Wilderness

There are several phrases in the OT that may be attributed to a right attitude before our Creator. We are called to serve, to worship, to obey, and to fear. I think all of these fall under the category of "evangelical" obedience.

The fear of the Lord is always put forth as that which holds forth covenant, life, blessing, wisdom, etc. Proverbs 14:2 says, "Whoever walks in uprightness fears the Lord..." Certainly Jesus was the consummate, upright man. It stands to reason, then, that He would lead us in this way. But Isaiah is the most expressive of how Christ will lead us in this way. He says of the root of the stump of Jesse, "And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and fear of the Lord. And His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord." (11:2-3b).

This "evangelical" obedience centers on the right position before a holy God. Much like Isaiah in chapter 6 when he bows before the thrice holy God and cries out "Woe is me." "Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!" (Ps 95:6). "And He withdrew from them about a stone's throw, and knelt down and prayed." (Lk 22:41). The posture is not as important as the attitude. Bowing, kneeling, even lying prostrate are just as much attitudes of the heart as positions of the body. And I believe Jesus leads us in all these things.

In Christ,

KC

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Heb 13:20-21

Kevin C. Easterday
Member Covenant OPC, St. Augustine, FL
Husband to Tina (August 13, 1988), Father and Teacher to Kamden (17) and Kolton (15)
Federal Theology Website
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Perfectly.

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Josh Hicks, Chloë's Dad
Christ Covenant Reformed Presbyterian Church, RPCGA
Facebook - The Calvinist Vent
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It is God that multiplies our sorrows.... God, as a righteous Judge, does it, which ought to silence us under all our sorrows; as many as they are, we have deserved them all, and more: nay, God, as a tender Father, does it for our necessary correction, that we may be humbled for sin, and weaned from the world by all our sorrows; and the good we get by them, with the comfort we have under them, will abundantly balance our sorrows, how greatly soever they are multiplied. - Matthew Henry