One of the first steps before us in order to cast out fears is to reorient our desires to the things God promises and away from the things we would like to guarantee for ourselves. The latter is a sure path to fear, anger, discontent, and conflict; the former is essential to casting out the fears which so often tower over us.

Hebrews 13:5–6: [5] Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” [6] So we can confidently say,“The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?” (ESV)

We have seen in previous posts how the fear of God must be paramount, that it is wise to fear God (that in fact fearing God is the sine qua non of wisdom), and that if we would live for God through Christ then we must fear him. We have also established that the Christian’s goal is not to be fearless but to be fearful. However, the fear of which we are supposed to be full is not of the kind which so often plagues us – that is, the innumerable fears and phobias of daily life. Instead, we are to be full of a fear that casts out other fears. We are to be ruled by a fear that brings peace rather than by fears which bring disorder and chaos into our hearts.

There are plenty of instances in the Old Testament in which Yahweh instructs his people not to fear. Many of them are specific to certain situations, such as the taking of the Promised Land (e.g., Num. 14:9; Deut. 1:21). And those, like all Scripture, are instructive and helpful for us today. Nevertheless, there may be confusion if we port those same instances too quickly over to ourselves. Regardless, the New Testament leaves us in no doubt about how we should handle our fears.

Old Covenant Promises and New Covenant Fears

Notice that the quotes in the passage from Hebrews above are from the Old Testament (Josh. 1:5; Psalm 27:1; 118:6). They show that New Testament believers today share the same general protection as Joshua and David did. This does not mean that we can expect God to help us conquer another land. But it does mean that our covenant with God through Christ contains promises which are as grounding for us as the promises made to Joshua and David.

So, how do Christians come to the point where they are able to say, “I will not fear”? A few observations are in order.

First, we must remember that for the Lord to be anyone’s helper that person must fear the Lord. For example, Psalm 33:18 says, “Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love.” (cf. Psalm 103:11, 13, 17; 149:19; Luke 1:50).

Read More