The Terror of the Lord

December 30, 2018

“Knowing the terror of the Lord, we persuade men...” (2 Corinthians 5:11). Strange words, indeed, from the mouth of the apostle Paul. At first glance, he sounds like an old time pulpit pounder thundering fire and brimstone on his hapless listeners, but as I recently read this once more, I came away with an entirely different opinion. I don’t think Paul is here using these words to convince unbelievers to repent, but instead, to spur himself on to greater effort on behalf of those to whom he was sent.

With his own rather sordid record of having persecuted the earthly Christians, imprisoning some, even sending others to their death. I suspect that his conversion on the Jericho road was pretty traumatic as he is so blinded by a bright light (it sounds to me almost like the blinding light from a nuclear explosion) that his eyes are literally burnt to the point where he suffers for the rest of his life with vision problems (Galatians 4:15). He sees himself as “the worst of all sinners,” and is fully convinced of the fate that had awaited him had he not turned to Christ. 

His motive for preaching is the love of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:14); he is as he says, “compelled” by that love. Now, if there is no judgment to come, why is preaching the Gospel so compelling for him? If everything comes out all right in the end, there is nothing to worry about; everyone will be OK. But Paul is haunted by how close to the edge he had come, and is horrified at the thought that others should plunge through the guardrail that had saved him from his own destruction. The terror of the Lord is what he wants to save people from. The great love of Christ gives him the motivation to keep pushing on when others would have quit.

One of the problems of the Church today is that we have lost sight of eternity. When all we see is what is around us, we either get discouraged or complacent. Discouraged with the state of things; complacent because we don’t really believe in much past the grave, with the result being our discouragement rules the day. If there is no great danger, there can be no great salvation. 

It’s not a matter of scaring or threatening anyone into heaven. That rarely works. It is a matter of doing everything in our power, with both word and deed, to open people’s eyes to the great love of Christ. But before that can happen, we ourselves need to see it, and the greatness of it is only clearly seen against the backdrop of our predicament. I know full well that from which I have been delivered, which is why I keep doing what I do. I don’t want anyone whom God places in my life to be able to say I didn’t love them enough to offer them Christ. That’s as close to a New Year’s resolution as I’ll probably ever get, and I’m thankful tonight it is fully attainable through the power of the Holy Spirit.