WHY IS FEAR OF THE LORD THE BEGINNING OF WISDOM?

Pro 9:10  The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom

Why is fearing the Lord the beginning of all wisdom? On the surface, fear seems like such a negative emotion, but in this case, it most definitely isn’t. Having reverence for our Creator shows at least a certain level of humility and comprehension of our plight.

If you ask many people whether they consider themselves to be good people’, I’d bet the majority would say yes with little hesitation. Yet, at the same time, the bible says exactly the opposite:

Rom 3:10  As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: 

Rom 3:11  There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. 

 Jer 17:9  The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? 

 How is it then possible for a Christian to hold the new-agey belief that people are generally good? It all comes down to subjectivism, and the scale we use to measure our ‘goodness’. It is very easy to turn on the news and compare ourselves to murderers and rapists, and get a sense that – by comparison – we are good people. And if we believe we are good people, it’s easy to believe that God is pleased with us for ‘doing the best we can’. And if God is pleased with us, then there is certainly no reason to fear Him, as we’ve earned His favor by not being as bad as the people frequently featured in the police log. Subjective human morality inspires feelings of self-righteousness, ones that I’m no stranger to.

Jesus rebuked the Pharisees continuously on their synthetic piety and belief that by following hundreds of self-made laws, they could earn the respect of God and as an extension, their own salvation. When we read the bible, the common theme is that we aren’t good enough, we can’t be good enough, and we will never be good enough. We will be judged not only on our physical deeds, but even on our thoughts. We will have to account for every idle word we’ve ever spoken:

Mat 12:36  But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. 

When you let that sink in, it is absolutely horrifying! We deceive ourselves into a state of self-righteousness, via use of dishonest moral weights and scales. When we read the bible, it should reflect our wickedness back to us like a mirror. When we analyze ourselves using God’s objective and perfect moral standards, each and every one of us falls so woefully short, that it would be laughable, if not for our eternal souls being at risk of eternal damnation. Here is another biblical example showing how dire the situation is:

Psa 5:5  The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity. 

We are ALL workers of iniquity. Even the very best of us (of which I am certainly not one,) fail miserably to meet God’s incomprehensibly high moral standards, all day, every day. This is why fearing the Lord is the foundation of all wisdom. If we build our moral foundation on sand, errantly believing we are good in God’s eyes, then everything that follows will take us further and further off course. It’s only when we begin to comprehend how evil we are, that we can understand how desperately we need the Savior, who is Jesus Christ. This also causes you to be in awe of the fact that a Holy God would love us enough to sacrifice Himself for us, despite how woefully inadequate we are morally.

The wages of sin is death, and if we are judged on our works/ by the law, we all deserve eternal damnation, period. It isn’t even close. When we foolishly choose to believe that we are good enough to earn salvation ourselves, we are (consciously or not,) attempting to steal God’s glory for ourselves, which is something He will never tolerate:

Isa 42:8  I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images. 

 And if we believe we are good (or at least good enough,) in God’s eyes, there is really no need for a Savior, as if He isn’t unhappy with us, there’s really nothing to be saved from. And we can’t be co-contributors, as even if we could (and make no mistake, we definitely can’t!), somehow crunch the numbers to attribute even 1/1000 of 1% of our salvation to ourselves, it is then no longer grace. Even if our contribution is microscopically small, we could still then claim some kind of credit for obtaining our own salvation.

Salvation is either 100% Christ, or it’s not; there is no gray area:

Gal 2:16  Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. 

Praise God for his incomprehensible mercy and grace in saving us workers of iniquity from the eternal damnation we so rightfully deserve. Only by the spilled blood of Jesus Christ are we spared from that horrific fate.