The Message (Part 4) Conviction and the Fear of God

The Law is meant to drive a person to a conviction of sin and a fear of God's wrathful punishment that will surely come upon those who do not repent and believe in Christ. There are those who make fun of the preaching of fire and brimstone, and I'll admit maybe some do take it way over the top, and never preach the message of salvation through Christ. But the fire and brimstone is not some fairy tale that preachers made up to make the story more interesting and scary.

To be convicted according to Webster's Dictionary:
Law.
1. The judgment of a jury or judge that a person is guilty of a crime as charged.
2. The state of being found or proved guilty: evidence that led to the suspect's conviction.

We'll think of it along the lines of the legal terms. Because this is what I'm getting at, it's basically the guilt that is found in a person once confronted with his actual sin and is convicted before God to be eternally punished.

"You are dead in your trespasses and sins, you are a slave to sin, you are blind and deaf, your heart is hard and cold. You do not know of God's holy nature that demands righteousness in your life. You do not believe God truly will pour out His wrath and judgment upon you. The pleasure of sin feels so good it can't be bad! Suddenly, by grace, you were slowly awakened through the conviction of God's Holy Spirit. The Spirit awakens you to the reality that you are a condemned sinner and today you are to be put to Eternal Death." (Stealing From Mount's Email)

If the law of God has any effect on the person's heart, it will reveal to that person that they or not as 'good' as they once thought they were. They judged their 'good' by their own standards, (which is hard to tell what those standards consist of) and not by the standards that God requires. A fear of God should start to build on their conscience. Jonathan Edwards put the wrath of God in this way, in his "Sinners in the hands of an angry God" sermon:

"There is not one single reason that God should not drop you into the flames of hell this very moment."

The realization of eternal death comes upon the person, and their sin and retaliation against God should produce a Godly sorrow, such as the one that David experienced when Nathan confronted him about Bathsheeba, and lead to repentance.

"And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed." (John 3:19-20)

This verse makes it pretty clear, there will be some who will hear the law and their guiltiness, and they will not care, because they are in darkness they love their sin more than the light.
An old pastor, talking about the Bible, wrote in his:
"Either this book will keep you from sin or sin will keep you from this book."

I think this is very true. Some will understand their guilt and be convicted by the holy Spirit, but others will run and hide their face from God. They will love their sin more than the truth.

A Godly fear is a very good thing, it leads unbelievers to repentance and Christ. And keeps believers from letting sin into their lives. The Bible makes it very clear that God is the one to fear, not anything else...

"And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell." (Matthew 10:28)

"You shall fear the LORD your God. You shall serve him and hold fast to him, and by his name you shall swear. He is your praise. He is your God..." (Deuteronomy 10:20-21)

Is not your fear of God your confidence, and the integrity of your ways your hope? (Job 4:6)

For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised;he is to be feared above all gods. (Psalm 96:4)

God is to be feared always by believers and unbelievers. Not all will fear Him in this life, but one day they will and by then it will be too late.

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It is important to understand this not just for unbelievers but for believers as well. It rejoices the heart, to know that we once were great sinners, and if not for God's great mercy none of us would be here. God did not have to do anything for our sin, He did not have to step off of His throne to die on a cross, for you or me. This offers hope, you confront a person with their sin and now they are in despair for what they have done, their sin is more than they can bear. But the story doesn't end there, there is good news, and if they truly have a Godly sorrow, they will receive this news with great joy.

John Newton as he was getting old(Who was a slaveship master converted to Christianity and wrote "Amazing Grace")expresses this truth well in saying:

"My memory is nearly gone; but I remember two things; That I am a great sinner and Christ is a great savior."


Citation:
*ESV Bible
*My roommate Jonathan Mounts
*Jonathan Edwards "Sinners in the hands of an angry God."
*Websters Dictionary
*Sinclair Ferguson "The Christian Life"