This document is a summary of a sermon on how fear fits within the new covenant of grace. It discusses different meanings of the Hebrew word "yara" which is often translated as fear but can also mean reverence. It explores how yara refers to a "flowing of the gut" and applies to God as referring to his nature and spirit flowing out to us. Overall it aims to resolve how believers can be instructed to fear God but also told not to be afraid by distinguishing types of fear and examining the context of loving obedience and relationship under grace rather than law.

1. ACTS 5:11-42
HOW DOES FEAR FIT WITH
THE NEW COVENANT OF GRACE?
Pastor Brent Lokker
June 22, 2019

2. Fear ~ phobos
1. Fear, dread, terror, that which strikes terror
2. Awe, obedient reverence, earnestness
3. Reverence for one’s husband
4. Can also denote the physical act of worship,
hence the “God-fearers” in the NT were those
who worshipped God.

3. Fear ~ phobos
I believe that how we respond to God,
whether being terrified of Him or
in awe of Him with reverent obedience,
has mostly to do with our own inner world
and what we perceive to be true about
the character and nature of God.

4. Acts 5:11-42

5. HOW DOES FEAR FIT WITH
THE NEW COVENANT OF GRACE?

6. HOW DOES FEAR FIT WITH
THE NEW COVENANT OF GRACE?

7. WHY ARE WE INSTRUCTEDTO FEAR GOD
BUTTHEN GODTELLS US NOTTO BE AFRAID?
Fear and Fear of the Lord/Fearing God are two different things
even though the same word is often used for both.
“In love there is no room for fear, but perfect love drives out fear,
because fear implies punishment and whoever is afraid has not
come to perfection in love.” (1 John 4:18, NJB)
“Be anxious for nothing…” (Philippians 4:6)
We are told “Fear Not!” more than 80 times in the Bible

8. BUT DIDN’T JESUS HIMSELFTELL USTO FEARTHE
ONE WHO HASTHE AUTHORITYTO CASTYOU
INTO GEHENNA?
Yep! It’s in Luke 12
Remember that Jesus is preparing people for the covenant of grace but they are still in the old
covenant of the law.
Let’s look at the context
He takes the Pharisees to task for wanting to look good on the outside to others, but their hearts
are far from God.
As the crowds press in, he says to his disciples that they can make the same mistake and to check
their inner motives that won’t stay a secret.
Don’t be afraid of what others think, but live your life in reverent obedience to your Father who
loves you and loves to take care of you! Don’t be afraid!
What about Gehenna? The Source N.T. translates it,The Garbage Pit Gehenna, a valley SW of
Jerusalem

9. Delight! So there is a meaning of fear that is not repulsive.
It doesn’t drive us away, it draws us in

10. “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 the fear of the Lord. And his delight shall
be in the fear of the Lord.” (Isaiah 11:2-3)

11. There is a sense of deep awe that the Lord is within us
and a deep longing for the divine potential within us to be realized.
Fear & Trembling (phobou kai tromou)
is much better rendered,“with earnestness and
concern.”
“Jesus humbled himself, listening to God to the point of
death, the death of the cross.
Consequently, my dearly loved ones, in the same way
that you always paid attention—not only just in my
presence, but also now much more in my absence—
accomplish your own deliverance with earnestness and
concern!" (Philippians 2:8,12-13 Source NT)

12. “By his divine power, he has lavished on us all the things we need
for life and for true devotion, through the knowledge of him
who has called us by his own glory and goodness.Through these,
greatest and priceless promises have been lavished on us, that
through them you should share the divine nature and escape
the corruption rife in the world through disordered passion.”
–2 Peter 1:3-4 (NJB)

14. HEBREW WORDYARA (FEAR)
FROM THE LIVING WORDS BY JEFF A. BENNER
He said, I heard your voice in the garden and I feared (yarah) because I was
naked and I hid myself. (Gen 3:10)
You will revere (yarah) the Lord your God and you will serve him and swear
upon his name (Deut. 6:13)
Yara doesn’t have two different meanings, fear and reverence. Each Hebrew
word has only one meaning but can have different applications.The literal
meaning ofYara is a “flowing of the gut,” which can be applied to “fear” or
“reverence.”
Have you ever been so scared or been in the presence of something so amazing,
that you could feel it in your gut? This feeling is the meaning of the word. It is a
feeling word, not an action.

15. HEBREW WORDYARA (FEAR)
FROM THE LIVING WORDS BY JEFF A. BENNER
The fear (yirah) of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; and the knowledge
of the Holy One is understanding (Proverbs 9:10, NIV)
The common understanding is, if one is afraid of or in great awe of
Yahweh, that person will have wisdom, but this is not consistent with
its use in the Hebrew language.
The author explains in great detail with the Hebrew word
construction used in this verse that it’s quite plain that the fear
belongs to God.

16. HEBREW WORDYARA (FEAR)
FROM THE LIVING WORDS BY JEFF A. BENNER
We know God cannot fear the way we usually understand fear, butYara literally
means “to flow out of the gut.” Now the question becomes,“What flows out of
the gut ofYahweh?”
In Judges 3:10, “And the Spirit of the Lord (ru’ahhYahweh) came upon Him…” (RSV),
the word ru’ahh means wind (another type of “flowing”)
What flows out of the gut ofYahweh?
His character, his nature, His own Spirit!
So Proverbs 9:10 would be better understood as “The true nature of the Lord
flows out of his gut, from His Spirit to ours, and this is foundational to knowing
his wisdom and understanding him by experiencing him.”

17. On the last and most important day of the Feast, Jesus stood up and
said in a loud voice, “If anyone’s thirsty, let them come to me and drink.
Whoever believes me, as the Scripture has said, will have streams of living
water flowing from within.” By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who
believed Jesus would receive later on. Up to that time the Spirit hadn’t yet
been given, because at that point Jesus hadn’t been given his full splendor.
(John 7:37-39,The Source N.T.)

19. Be imitators of God in everything you do,
for then you will represent your Father
as his beloved sons and daughters.
And continue to walk surrendered to
the extravagant love of Christ, for he
surrendered his life as a sacrifice for us.
His great love for us was pleasing to God,
like an aroma of adoration—
a sweet healing fragrance.
Ephesians 5:1-2 (TPT)

20. Once your life was full of sin’s darkness,
but now you have the very light of our Lord
shining through you
because of your union with Him.
Your mission is to live as children flooded
with his revelation-light!
And the supernatural fruits of his light
will be seen in you—
goodness, righteousness and truth.
Then you all learn to choose
what is beautiful to our Lord.
Ephesians 5:8-9 (TPT)

21. Whatever the revelation-light exposes,
it will also correct,
and everything that reveals truth
is light to the soul.
This is why the Scripture says,
“Arise, you sleeper!
Rise up from the dead
and the Anointed One
will shine his light into you!”
Ephesians 5:13-14 (TPT)

22. Beloved ones, with promises like these,
and because of our deepest respect
and worship of God,
we must remove everything from our lives
that contaminates body and spirit,
and continue to complete the
development of holiness within us.”
2 Corinthians 7:1 (TPT)

23. You are my dear children,
and I write these things to you
so that you won’t sin
But if anyone does sin,
we continually have a forgiving Redeemer
who is face-to-face with the Father,
Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.
He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins,
and not only for ours but also for the sins
of the whole world.
1 John 2:1-2