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DialogueOnWordsChristFear.html
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<author>Oleksandr Zhabenko, Zhytomyr, Ukraine</author>
<h2>Dialogue on the words of Christ (Luke XII, 4-5, Matthew X, 25-33).</h2>
<p>
The Lord Jesus Christ says: <q>I tell you, My friends: do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that they cannot do anything else. I will tell you whom to fear: be afraid of the One Who has the power to kill and throw into Gehenna. So I tell you: be afraid of Him!</q> (Luke XII, 4-5; compare: Matthew X, 26-33).
</p>
<p>It is about the fear of God. Christ says to fear God. Look, he does not say to stop being afraid, as if He does not want to decrease the power of fear. And there is a measure in boldness, for example, the holy archangel Michael <q>did not dare to judge the scornful one, but said: May the Lord rebuke you</q> (Jude I, 9).</p>
<p>When the Lord gives courage, which is one of His gifts, then fear really recedes. But sometimes the Lord does not give the gift of courage. And then fear is not a sin in itself, but it, according to the testimony of many, seems to <q>measure our imperfection</q>: <q>Beloved, if our heart does not accuse us, then we have boldness before God</q> (1 John III, 21), and also : <q>There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, because fear brings suffering; but whoever fears is imperfect in love</q> (1 John IV, 17-18). The Apostle Paul says: <q>Because you did not receive the spirit of slavery again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship, by which we cry: Abba, Father!</q> (Romans VIII, 15; 26-27).
</p>
<p>Why, then, does Christ say to fear God, and the apostles testify to the absence of fear as a step to perfection?
</p>
<p>The fact is that there is fear, which is a gift of God, and there is human, natural fear. Christ and the apostles in these places talk about different kinds of fear.
</p>
<p>Let's dwell deeper on the words of the Apostle Paul to see this more clearly. The fear that the
apostle Paul is talking about here is the purpose of <q>getting the spirit</q> (or <q>Spirit</q>?). This
<q>spirit of slavery</q> (or <q>Spirit of slavery</q>?) indicates a certain urge that is difficult to resist.
That is, almost certainly, after <q>receiving the spirit</q> it will be followed by fear, which is the
purpose of receiving. This fear, obviously, should protect from sins, which is why it is sent. The
expression <q>the spirit of slavery</q> itself is a stable expression, saying, a certain metaphor that
indicates the essential <q>tangibility</q> of what is received, as if something really fills a person. In
modern language, we would say not about <q>receiving the spirit</q>, but about a clear, tangible, substantial and weighty, significant inner urge to have (receive, acquire, feel) the fear of sinning. So, for example, the Scriptures say that the Lord will <q>awaken the spirit</q> someone for something important (cf.: Jeremiah LI, 11), about <q>prophetic spirits subjecting the prophets</q> (1 Corinthians XIV, 32), etc. In view of this, it does not make sense to translate here <q>Spirit of slavery</q> (capitalized instead of small ). The Apostle Paul says in another place: <q>For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, of love, and of a sound mind</q> (2 Timothy I, 7), speaking of vocation and of (active) power. He also says: <q>So I was among you in weakness, in fear, and in great trembling; and my word and my preaching, not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in manifestations of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith may not be through human wisdom, but through the power of God</q> (1 Corinthians II, 3-5).
</p>
<p>Returning to the words of Christ, you can see that He is talking about the present age, not about the Kingdom of God, because in the Kingdom of God there will be no need to fear that the Lord will throw someone into hell fire. So, like the commandment about marriage, this commandment refers directly to the time before the coming of the Kingdom of God. Someone can say that the perfect love that the apostle John speaks of will only be in the Kingdom of God, but then John's words become not a commandment, but a prophecy, which, as it should be considered according to everything known, does not correspond to the God's design. So, in the present age, we have different commandments regarding fear. So, these really are different kinds of fear.
</p>
<p>But it is still necessary to say that the words of Christ teach directly about fear, and the words of John the Theologian teach not fear, but love. Let's focus now then on the words of Christ, because really, He wants to teach us… to fear.
</p>
<p>Christ admits that one of his followers, friends may be afraid of death from persecutors (or something else, after all, His word is presented briefly). He does not deny that someone can be afraid. He does not claim that the fear per se applies to this age (compare with the words about marriage and the resurrection of the dead, who <q>do not marry</q> after the resurrection). I wonder why. Obviously, Christ wants to encourage the disciples. Not every experience of this age does Christ say that it is temporary, but He says about fear that it ends. Regarding marriage, the Lord does not want it to occupy a central place in life, but regarding fear… He goes further, and does not want us to be afraid. But fear itself says to make it <q>reasonable</q>. <q>Reasonable</q> is that which relates to eternity directly, therefore commands to fear the Judge, the Eternal God.
</p>
<p>Man has something in common with the eternal God, an eternal soul created as the image of God, which does not perish due to the temporary death of the body.
</p>
<p>Therefore, the fear of God is <q>more complete</q>, it concerns the whole human being, not just the body. At the same time, it is fear that can turn into love. It is hardly natural and consistent to begin to love that which caused fear, but with God it is natural and consistent. For example, if a person really threatens you and demands the performance of certain actions in response, then you can hardly trust such a person and fearlessly fulfill his / her wishes. But God desires for us the greatest blessings that we can contain, first of all our eternal salvation and cognition of the truth, eternal bliss.
</p>
<p>Someone will say: if God loves us so much, why does He even allow the possibility of falling, the possibility of death? But think: if there is no possibility of falling, then how great is it to stand? If it is impossible to die, then what is special about existing? This is then simply the natural order of things, <q>that's the way it should be</q>. There is no significant development, no real growth, qualitative changes, nothing significant in such a state. If freedom is not able influence the state of nature, then nature - whether it has such freedom or not - remains more or less a <q>constant</q>, something defined, formalized, completed. But then her freedom itself becomes a kind of formality. Whether it is there or not - almost nothing about nature depends on it. God intended for us to have perfect freedom, and it involves the ability to influence the state of nature, the ability to self-determine in modern language. God is All-Perfect and Infinite in holiness, and His freedom never influences His nature in the direction of deterioration, but only in the direction of eternal fruitfulness and joy in love. The Father perfectly loves the Son and the Spirit, and the Son perfectly loves the Father and the Spirit, and the Spirit perfectly loves the Father and the Son.
</p>
<p>Someone will say again: <q>If I have such freedom, then why can't I change myself for the better in eternity, when the glory of God and He Himself will manifest?</q>. But let's look deeper: when the Lord manifests, when His plan is fulfilled, then what is special about believing? In the desire to be with God? What is so special about responding to His will? After all, anyone, having seen and convinced himself, becomes confident, but not because of the ability to believe, but because of obviousness. I am not afraid to say: <q>What is divine in believing when you see what you believe in? What is divine in fulfilling God's will not out of trust and love, but out of obviousness and necessity?</q>. And we are endowed by God with just such, divine freedom in all its dimensions.
</p>
<h2>Freedom and the result, meta-freedom (supplement of 19.05.2023)</h2>
<p>In addition to divinity, freedom can be characterised in the following way. It has the ability to be accomplished, the ability to be established, the ability to be exercised and to be realised. Fulfilled freedom has a certain real result. Moreover, this result radically changes the character of the freedom realised in it. Having been realised, having a result, it is no longer the same as it was before, it is not <q>freedom before</q>, but becomes <q>freedom after</q>, it continues to exist in <q>meta</q>-freedom, <q>after</q>-freedom (in the following I will write according to the spelling <q>meta-freedom</q>, <q>after-freedom</q>).
</p>
<p>The characteristic of such meta-freedom is a kind of <q>state of being clothed</q> in the result, the realised result as a certain characteristic of meta-freedom itself. It is here that the previously mentioned divinity of freedom and its connection with God are most clearly manifested. It is during the exercise and accomplishment of freedom that it becomes meta-freedom, and here it interacts with God to the greatest extent. That is why God, in order to save people and bring them to Himself, creates so that the path to the final result is <q>broken up</q> into a <q>network of intermediate sub-results</q> so that at each node of the network one can interact with God more. This is also very important for repentance and learning.
</p>
<p>The result is not usually final, but is included in being together with other results, together with God, other people, nature, and thus has the meaning of the consequences of the freedom realised - if one looks at the direct immediate result of the freedom realised, it is a partial result, if one sees wider and deeper, it is a rich result, and if one sees the whole and complete, final result, it is a complete result. The latter is a result that is common to all, is the Kingdom of God and the people in front of its gates (not before the death of a person, but before the Kingdom of God after the general Resurrection of the dead), and this full result is realised by God.</p>
<p>Freedom, therefore, can be characterised by the words:
</p>
<ul class="paragraph-ul">
<li>divinity;</li>
<li><q>feasibility</q> - the ability to act and obtain the corresponding result (<q>processuality</q>);
</li>
<li><q>realisability</q> - the ability to obtain a result as a given, effectiveness;
</li>
<li>existence of meta-freedom, freedom after the result.</li>
</ul>
<h2>Freedom and fear</h2>
<p>Therefore, a person with God will either rejoice forever, or the same divine freedom will become a possibility (but not the culprit) that a person will perish forever.
</p>
<p>Someone will say: <q>If I only have a limited time until the Kingdom of God comes, while I am alive, why did God not give me the opportunity to live long, did not give me much time for conversion and knowing Him?</q>. But let's see: but He gave. And it continues to give even now, when I write, and when someone reads these words. And what is special, I will say again, about learning to do good by virtue of endless repetition? But we have received freedom, which is able to lead us to salvation in a (relatively) short time. Which concerns everything, everything that can limit it as a creation, but which at the same time is able to rise to God. And also: but not everyone, even having a lot of time and times for conversion, does not convert, but continues to sin, harming themselves and others. And again we see the reason why God purposefully stops people's sins. So, as a conclusion, we have divine true freedom, which is not satisfied with anything but God, has no rest anywhere but God.
</p>
<p>Back to fear: if you can start fearing something or someone else and stop fearing something or someone at the same time (it doesn't really matter whether <q>sequentially</q> or <q>in parallel</q>), then such fear is part of freedom. And as you master it, your freedom grows. The fear of God will save you from sins, but God will reveal something more: He gives love.
</p>
<p>Someone will say: <q>I can't, I don't have the strength (knowledge, experience, skills, etc.).</q> But look, according to what is written in the works
<a class="links" href="https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/uk/christisrisen1/spokusy.html"><q>How the Lord wants us to overcome temptations</q></a> (Ukrainian text)
and <a class="links" href="https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/PowerOfHuman.html"><q>Human power. Full version</q>,</a> - actually we can.
</p>
<h2>Addendum dated 12.06.2022
</h2>
<p>Does the Lord advise this approach for all cases? He doesn't say this clearly in the Gospel itself, but let's think about it: if He says something in the Gospel, it means that this kind of approach to this issue is good in His eyes, that this is how you can achieve the best possible results or even moreover, other approaches may be wrong, or at least sometimes produce worse results, or not produce what is needed at all.
</p>
<p>So, if you know that you have a key - some special key, unique, which has no duplicates…
</p>
<p>If you know that you have such a key and it is the only one that opens one important door, and then you find yourself in a situation where you also have a closed door, and you still have other keys, then wouldn't you like first to try that special key, the one that opens the one and only door that no other key can open, wouldn't you try to open that door, without knowing what key fits it, with that special key, and therefore you can think that this is a certain pattern -- the Lord offers a pattern to a situation that He knows exactly how to solve. Based on this situation, we can think about others, knowing that the Lord will not offer us something that is not at all suitable for something like this, something that will contradict, that will break the connection, so I believe that this approach is correct for other cases as well, although it does not necessarily have to be only and exclusively correct, but he is correct if it is possible to grasp it, if it is possible to achieve it as a certain goal, a certain means to the goal, the main goal - to be with God and in God, then thank God for this, and it is necessary to do it then, fulfilling the words of Christ.
</p>
<p>Lord, help us, intercede, save, have mercy and protect us, God, with Your grace!
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit always, now and forever, and forever and ever. Amen.
</p>
<p>Date: 29th January, 2023. First publication for limited audience: 12th June, 2022. Publication of the first part for limited audience: 26th March, 2022. Date of publication of the actual version: 19.05.2023 р.
<p>Source: <a class="links" href="https://www.facebook.com/Oleksandr.S.Zhabenko/posts/1683385722077550">https://www.facebook.com/Oleksandr.S.Zhabenko/</a></p>
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