One might see that Sinai does not work and get frustrated. They turn and say that God is neither just nor good. His law is unreasonable. His judgments unfair. So they run hard to get freedom from God’s law by traveling to that city where unrighteousness dwells. Attempting to find freedom from any bondage they run ahead to enjoy their newfound freedom. This of course does nothing to deal with the root issue, it just distracts the focus.

When fear invades then fear pervades.

Fear is powerful thing. Depending upon its severity it can preoccupy our minds and deeply affect our bodies. When fear grips you there is scarcely anything you can do except try to deal with it. Even when you think you have it out of your mind you are still dealing with it through patterns of manipulation and control.

The highest level of fear is fear of God. By this I do not mean a healthy, reverent fear of God but a cowering, uncertain, insecure, paranoid fear of judgment. How do you deal with this? How can anyone deal with the reality of an angry God and a place like hell designed to showcase God’s wrath by eternally tormenting rebels?

From my seat there are three common ways to deal with this kind of fear.

Run to Sinai: When we fear judgment it is often because of personal sin. We know that we have disobeyed God’s word, his 10 Commandments stand over us, accusing us of our lack of conformity to God’s law. The common reflex is to go to work. Like the guy who overindulged at the dinner or snack table and needs to get to work at the gym to atone for his caloric sins, so too the one who has been indicted for slackness in spiritual matters runs to the treadmill to burn off his excess by “doing better” or “trying harder”. The problem here is that it does not work. We cannot atone for our sins by aiming to do better. Our fingerprints smudge everything with our depravity; everywhere we turn we are sinful. Furthermore, we don’t have the currency necessary to make the payment. God does not take the payment of a sinner on behalf of a sinner. It is like trying buy a Lexus with Monopoly money. We can’t do it. It doesn’t work.

Run to Sodom: One might see that Sinai does not work and get frustrated. They turn and say that God is neither just nor good. His law is unreasonable. His judgments unfair. So they run hard to get freedom from God’s law by traveling to that city where unrighteousness dwells. Attempting to find freedom from any bondage they run ahead to enjoy their newfound freedom.

Read More