Fear of God or fear of man...

Galatians 2:1-16 (NASB) from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Then after an interval of fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along also. ² It was because of a revelation that I went up; and I submitted to them the gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but I did so in private to those who were of reputation, for fear that I might be running, or had run, in vain. ³ But not even Titus, who was with me, though he was a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised. ⁴ But it was because of the false brethren secretly brought in, who had sneaked in to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, in order to bring us into bondage. ⁵ But we did not yield in subjection to them for even an hour, so that the truth of the gospel would remain with you. ⁶ But from those who were of high reputation (what they were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality)—well, those who were of reputation contributed nothing to me. ⁷ But on the contrary, seeing that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been to the circumcised ⁸ (for He who effectually worked for Peter in his apostleship to the circumcised effectually worked for me also to the Gentiles), ⁹ and recognizing the grace that had been given to me, James and Cephas and John, who were reputed to be pillars, gave to me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, so that we might go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. ¹⁰ They only asked us to remember the poor—the very thing I also was eager to do.

Peter (Cephas) Opposed by Paul

¹¹ But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. ¹² For prior to the coming of certain men from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he began to withdraw and hold himself aloof, fearing the party of the circumcision. ¹³ The rest of the Jews joined him in hypocrisy, with the result that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy. ¹⁴ But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in the presence of all, “If you, being a Jew, live like the Gentiles and not like the Jews, how is it that you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?

¹⁵ “We are Jews by nature and not sinners from among the Gentiles; ¹⁶ nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified.

“But when they came, he began to withdraw and hold himself aloof, fearing the party of the circumcision.” The hypocrisy which Paul confronted in Peter was rooted in the fear of man. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom(Psalm 111:10) The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge(Proverbs 1:7) Fear of man on the other hand can lead us into all sorts of negative things. Fear of man is concerning ourselves more with what people may think of us than what God thinks. The negative influence of the fear of man works in our lives both from within the church as we see in today’s text and from outside the church, as we try to fit in and give in to peer pressure.

The best way for us to resist falling to the negative effects of the fear of man is to begin as the psalmist says with fear of the Lord. Jesus Himself when He walked as a man said: “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner. (John 5:19) We, like Jesus, can avoid the negative effects of the fear of man and peer pressure if we will be certain to follow the will of the Lord, to do the things He is doing. Jesus says: "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. 5"I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. (John 15:4-5)

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Abiding in Him is the fulfillment of that wisdom. When we abide in the Lord we say as the psalmist: In God, whose word I praise, In the LORD, whose word I praise, 11In God I have put my trust, I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me? (Psalm 56:10-11)  As long as we walk in the flesh, our carnal self centered nature we will be subject to the fear of man. God made us to need and desire fellowship. It is natural then that we will want to fit in with others. The fellowship we are created for is first and foremost,   fellowship with God. Jesus speaks of our relationship, our fellowship with God in John 4:23-24.

"But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. 24"God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."

Our worship and our fellowship of and with God is a spiritual worship and fellowship. When we are subject to the Holy Spirit we have true fellowship. When we are subject to self and the flesh, we have fellowship that depends on our emotions and feelings, we are open to the fear of man. The world often judges the church saying believers are hypocrites. We need to understand that it is hypocrisy for us as believers to walk in the fear of man, whether subjecting ourselves to the bondage of the doctrines of men or succumbing to peer pressure and embracing the sin of the world. Jesus says:  “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. ¹⁴ For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it. (Matthew 7:13-14) The wide gate of the fear of man has an opening both on the side of legalistic doctrines of man and the sin of the world. The narrow gate of true fellowship begins with the fear of the Lord.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit help me today and every day to abide in You, to seek and desire not the fellowship of the flesh but the true fellowship of the Spirit. Empower me to walk not in the hypocrisy that comes from the fear of man, but in the truth that comes from abiding in You.    Amen.