The Fear of God
By Arnold L. Frank
222 pages
This is the most helpful book I have read on the Fear of God. Frank does an excellent job differentiating between the various kinds of fear. He enumerates six of them:
Exclusively Ungodly Fear – This is the bad kind of fear, the kind from which we are delivered at salvation. (Ro.8:15)
Provisionally Godly Fear – This kind of fear can be a good thing in some contexts and a bad thing in others. It is a fear of God’s judgment, which can drive some away from God and others toward God.
Perpetually Godly Fear – This is the fear of the Lord commanded so frequently throughout both Testaments that is absolutely fundamental to the Christian life.
Peculiarly Problematic Fear – By this Frank means the fear of man, which is the great enemy of fear of God.
Peculiarly Afflicting Fear – This is ungodly fear with which believers are tempted.
Worship-Inclining Fear – This is the same as the perpetually godly fear. The purpose of this chapter is to serve as a reminder of the crucial importance of awe an deep reverence in worship.
The book concludes with a chapter on preaching about the fear of God.
Frank draws heavily on material from Puritan writers on the fear of the Lord. In fact, it seems to me he does so too much. There are so many quotations, at some points it is difficult to discern the value of the quotation.