The fear of God is not a fearful dread, but rather deep respect, trust, and gratitude. This is what the Chief Apostle made clear recently and showed what this means for our day-to-day lives.
“Oh, how great is Your goodness, which You have laid up for those who fear You, which You have prepared for those who trust in You in the presence of the sons of men!” Chief Apostle Jean-Luc Schneider used this Bible text from Psalm 31: 19 in a divine service he conducted in Boya in the Democratic Republic of the Congo South-East on Friday, 25 July 2025. Some 2,700 people attended the service.
Respecting God and taking Him seriously
The fear of God does not mean that we are afraid of God. It means that we respect Him and seek Him out. But what does it mean when we say that we respect God, the Chief Apostle asked.
God the Father: The Chief Apostle said that we must be aware of His majesty and omnipotence, submit to His authority, and obey Him. “We are not going to start arguing with God”, because “we know that He is perfect, that He never makes mistakes, that He is never wrong.” God wants to do give us good things, he said: “My God is a God of goodness, and even if I do not understand what He is doing, I trust him.” We are dependent on God. Nothing is due to our own merit. “What we have received we have received by grace.” Everything comes from God, and we are grateful for it.
Jesus Christ the Son: “We must not play with grace,” the Chief Apostle said, “because not taking our sins seriously is disrespectful to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.” Jesus suffered and died on the cross so that we can receive grace. And we should not make excuses, but follow the Lord’s call, “Come, today I will prepare you to enter heaven.” And “we must realise that Jesus gives us something that we cannot earn through our own efforts. He gives it to us by grace,” the Chief Apostle emphasised. “If He wants to give the same thing to someone else, that is not our business.” It is important that we accept this.
The Holy Spirit: The Holy Spirit teaches that God has revealed Himself in Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ shows us what God is like. God is a God of goodness, love, forgiveness, and mercy. He wants all human beings to be saved. “Let us take the word of preaching seriously. It is addressed to us and not to someone else,” the Chief Apostle appealed, urging, “Don’t grieve the Holy Spirit by stealing, lying, quarrelling, and the like.” This destroys what the Holy Spirit has built up. This way we harm His church, destroy the unity, and destroy what He intended to do with us by making us a new creation.”
Those who seek God want to be like Christ
“God grants His goodness to those who seek Him,” the Chief Apostle said. Those who seek Him want to know what God thinks before they make a decision. And those who seek God are those who seek to be like Jesus Christ. They know that this is the only way they can enter heaven. “God is good. He wants to give us eternal life, which we cannot earn ourselves,” the Chief Apostle affirmed and then summed up his sermon, “He bestows it upon those who fear the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.”
