Fear is a broad topic in the Bible.
There are many kinds of “fear” which appears in the scriptures of God. Each meaning has a lesson to be learned.
People of God don’t live in fear. They only live to fear the Lord God. This is the teaching about the fear of God. Job 28:28 And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding. We are asked to fear the Lord, and to show our fear, we must follow His commandments and depart from every evil.
Another kind of fear is the fear that is similar to phobia, the fear of something. People of God are also taught to be brave to face the world, even if the world is turning upside down. They don’t have the spirit of fear. 2Ti 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
Rom 8:15 For the Spirit that God has given you does not make you slaves and cause you to be afraid; instead, the Spirit makes you God’s children, and by the Spirit’s power we cry out to God, “Father! my Father!”
The Apostles of Jesus are examples of people whom at first showed fear, but later on showed courage when they fully believe in Him. They showed fear when they saw Him walking on the water. Mat 14:26 When they saw him walking on the water, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost!” they said, and screamed with fear. Mat 14:27 Jesus spoke to them at once. “Courage!” he said. “It is I. Don’t be afraid!”
They left Jesus because of fear of death when He was arrested by the Roman soldiers.
But it is Jesus resurrection and the power of the Holy Spirit bestowed upon them that made them all brave and courageous to do what Jesus had already told them to do.
Jesus has already told them, Mat 10:28 Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather be afraid of God, who can destroy both body and soul in hell.
Apostle Paul teaches, that though we are to be brave, it doesn’t mean that we have to fight anyone we want as often as we want if we think we are right. That is not what it’s meant. Jesus told us to humble ourselves to others, so that others may know that we are God’s sons and daughters.
Sons and daughters of God need not fight each other, neither fight anyone because Christ has already taught us to love each and everyone of us including our enemies.
So, it is illogical, and not spiritual to declare “holy war” to someone or to others. Declaring a war is not a matter of faith. But war against the corruptions of this world is another thing. Paul says, Eph 6:12 For we are not fighting against human beings but against the wicked spiritual forces in the heavenly world, the rulers, authorities, and cosmic powers of this dark age.
We are encourage to fight, but not to one another, but to fight against wicked spiritual forces, against evil and wicked things, and we have to be brave to be able to do it. We will fight the wicked person beneath our being, and see to it that we change according to the will of God.
Meanwhile, living in fear in this life means having no God in their lives. They are afraid that something might happen to them. They are afraid to get hungry. They are afraid to loose their jobs and love ones. They are afraid to loose their lives because of tragedies and unfortunate events.
People of God don’t have these kind of fear. Be it bad or good, they will continue to be brave and let everything be entrusted to the Lord God.
