Fear of the Lord Part #4

02/18/2026

THE ABSENCE OF FEAR

The modern church tends to be filled with false teachers who downplay (or even deny) the need for people to fear God. They rarely tell you what Scripture associates with the lack of such fear. In fact, they may not want you to know what it says, for then you would realize how false their teachings really were!

Scripture describes the “fear of God” as a necessary response from allpeople. My focus here is on the absence of fear.

First, I want to point out what scripture tells us about the lack of fear many Christians have.

CONSEQUENCES

God will deal with those without fear; Psalm 55:19 God, who is enthroned forever, will hear them and deal with them – men who have no fear of God.

Warnings from God; Luke 12:5 “But I warn you whom to fear: fear Him who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into hell! Yes, I tell you, fear Him!” God has authority over your eternity! Hell exists for those who make a mockery of God’s Holy Name and who also refuse Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

They will suffer the consequences of their attitude and actions: Proverbs 29-31 “Since they hated knowledge and did not choose to fear the Lord. 30 Since they would not accept my advice and spurned my rebuke, 31 they will eat the fruit of their ways.”

May have a shortened life; Proverbs 10:27 “The fear of the Lord lengthens one’s life; the years of the wicked are cut short. And, Eccles. 8:13 “Because the wicked do not fear God, it will not go well with them. They won’t live longer because of it.”

Non-believers and false Christians who do not fear God; John 9:31 “We know that God does not listen to sinners.” 

God knows our hearts. “Proverbs 21:2 “A person may think their own ways are right, but the Lord weighs the heart.” It is folly, and sometimes fatal, if we choose to decide for ourselves in our hearts instead of allowing God to decide what is right.

Without the fear of God, false Christians and society spiral into moral confusion, decay, arrogance, selfishness, pride, and rebellion—rejecting the boundaries and wisdom God has graciously established, along with the accepted norms and laws that uphold society.

Romans 3:10–18 is written to describe unbelievers; however, the world is increasingly filled with false Christians who claim to have accepted Jesus and assume they are saved, yet continue to embrace abortion, forbidden sexual practices, gender transitions, and other beliefs contrary to Scripture. They have eyes that do not see and ears that do not hear the Lord’s call to repentance.

Romans 3:10-18  As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; 11 there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. 12 All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.” 13“Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit.” “The poison of vipers is on their lips.”
14“Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.” 15“Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16 “Ruin and misery mark their ways, 17 “and the way of peace they do not know.” 18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

Christians who believe they have salvation yet do not follow Christ’s commands may face a sobering awakening on the day of judgment. Scripture warns us that profession of faith without obedience is deeply concerning. Consider these two serious passages that speak directly to salvation: 1 John 2:4  “Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what He commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person.” There are no liars in heaven.  And Matthew 7:21-23 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day, many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, “I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.”