The Best Question One Could Ask

“But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation?” (Lu 23:40 AV)

 This question was asked by the malefactor crucified with Christ.  The other mocked Christ challenging Him to come down off the cross and bring the two with Him.  He was not sincere, for if he was, he would understand he and his companion deserved death on the cross whereas Jesus did not.  Jesus is the Christ.  He is the Son of God.  He, above all men, is innocent of any and all charges.  Not just those brought by the illegal court of the Jews, but of any sin whatsoever.  Upon scorning the Son of God, the other makes this statement to him.  One that every lost soul should ask.  And every child of God should live.  To challenge the Son of God while hanging rightly condemned shows a complete lack of fear toward the God who has your soul in the palm of His hand.  To show no remorse shows a total lack of fear.  The question is more than a question.  It is a rebuke and a challenge.  How we react to our condemnation will reveal just how much we fear God.

Defiance is all the rage.  Challenging those who hold our freedom in the palm of their hands doesn’t seem to change how we react.  Recently, a group of believers were preaching at a public gathering protesting an ungodly event.  Kudos to them.  But, they were arrested on a minor technicality while the event was violating the same ordinance.  Again, kudos to them.  Anyone who would publicly condemn something God hates should be applauded.  We need more believers willing to do the same.  However, they greatly erred in their interchange with the police.  They were clearly breaking the law.  There was an ordinance against what they were doing.  It didn’t matter that those to whom they were protesting were doing the same thing.  It was still breaking the law.  The individual who was recording the police exchange said some things that a saint should not say.  He was accusing the authorities of things that were not true.  He was mildly scoffing at the authority that came to arrest the preachers.  This was not a good testimony.  They should have yielded to the authority if their demands were according to the law.  Unless obedience to the law was a direct violation of the command of scripture, according to Romans chapter thirteen, they should have packed up their equipment and continued to preach.  For someone who was preaching the fear of God, he wasn’t showing it.  The fear of God is something missing in our churches as well as the world.

The fear of God is a very valuable thing. Solomon repeatedly extols the value of fearing God.  Having the utmost respect for our Creator brings many benefits.  Even if it did not, fearing the One who created you and who controls your very existence is a purifying way to live.  The fear of God is not something we preach much.  Which is a shame.  If one truth should be preached above all others, the fear of God might be that truth.  If we have no fear of God, we have no repentance.  If we have no fear of God, our end is condemnation.  If we have no fear of God, we have no respect for those whom He created.  If we have no fear of God, our end is complete destruction.  To fear God is the beginning of wisdom.  To fear God is to walk by faith.  To fear God is to love your fellow human being.  To fear God is to welcome all that comes your way as from God and for your own good.  To fear God is the primary goal of life.  Solomon concludes in the book of Ecclesiastes, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this [is] the whole [duty] of man.” (Ec 12:13 AV)  The question from the penitent thief was the question of the ages.  If we are condemned, why is it we do not fear God?