[The text below represents an edited transcript of this Tomorrow’s World program.]

What Does Faith Over Fear Mean in the Bible?

Good-sounding religious axioms arise from time to time and become the rage for many. But how many actually live by these good-sounding sayings?

One of the recent, often repeated religious themes is faith over fear. It’s everywhere: books, Internet sermons, video shorts, and articles repeat this mantra directly or with slight variations. Whole clothing lines are lettered with it. You see plaques, trinkets, and crosses displaying these three words.

Yes, “faith over fear” is everywhere, especially since the pandemic, but are people living what they proclaim?

Examples of Courage in the Bible: Faith Over Fear

The Bible is filled with examples of people giving in to fear, but also of those who overcame fear. We think of David defeating the giant Goliath, of Daniel in the lion’s den, of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego defying King Nebuchadnezzar. Then there was Queen Esther, who put her life on the line to save her people. All these stories give us a lift in courage, if only in mind, and if only temporarily.

Few, if any of us, will ever face a literal giant, but it’s a common metaphor to face Goliath-like trials. Most often, these trials are presented in terms of a serious illness, the loss of a loved one, or being turned down for your dream job.

Yes, it’s true that faith can help us carry on. It’s good to overcome our fears when faced with such trials, but this is where I have a problem with the faith over fear fad.

True Faith Is Obedience to God (a Moral Decision)

We’re subject to many trials in life whether we endure them with faith or fear. Somehow we come out on the other side in due time, but the greatest necessity for exercising faith over fear has less to do with sickness and death than with obedience to God. And I’ll make that abundantly clear by the end of this program.

Hebrews 11:6 tells us the following:

But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him (Hebrews 11:6).

There is a difference between a trial of sickness, which we endure—whether in faith or in fear—and that which comes upon us requiring us to make a moral decision.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego: Faith Over Fear (Daniel 3)

Examples requiring moral decisions are found in the book of Daniel. There we read of three young men who were faced with a life-and-death decision. Chaldean King Nebuchadnezzar set up a giant image and commanded all people to bow down to it whenever the band began to play. This was, of course, a violation of God’s Ten Commandments. When the king was informed that three young Jewish men refused to bow before his idol, he gave them a second chance with an ultimatum. Notice it in Daniel 3:15:

Now if you are ready at the time you hear the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, and psaltery, in symphony with all kinds of music, and you fall down and worship the image which I have made, good! But if you do not worship, you shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you from my hands?

This was life or death right then and there. It would have been easy to reason that they could physically bow down to save their lives but not mentally worship it. Think about it! They did not know the end of the story as we do, yet they gave this bold response (vv. 16–18):

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up” (Daniel 3:16–18).

Another prime example of someone having to make a decision between obeying God or man is found in Daniel 6. Here we read of how the enemies of Daniel set him up with a decree forbidding the worship of the true God. Daniel could have reasoned that he could worship God silently on his bed at night, but he did not give into such reasoning. Instead, we read:

Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went home. And in his upper room, with his windows open toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days (Daniel 6:10).

Think about it dear friends. Consider the varying customs and doctrines found in professing Christianity:

• Some bow down before images of what they erroneously think Christ looks like.
• Others pray to Mary and/or various so-called saints, thinking of them as intermediaries between themselves and Christ.
• Some believe faith negates obedience.
• Others practice infant baptism while still others only baptize teens or adults.
• Some observe the seventh-day Sabbath, while others the first day of the week.

Is God working everywhere? Does He bend to our every whim? With the multitude of denominations extant today, is it not important to know where God is working?

Fear in the Bible: King Jeroboam’s False Justification (1 Kings 12)

I am challenging whether people who profess these words truly live by this popular mantra.

When Solomon’s son Rehoboam refused to lighten the heavy tax burden imposed by his father, the northern ten tribes rebelled, creating two separate nations: the house of Judah (that is the Jews and Benjamites) and the house of Israel.

The northern house of Israel chose Jeroboam as their king. But instead of putting his faith in God, Jeroboam feared the people. Notice it in 1 Kings 12:26–29:

And Jeroboam said in his heart, “Now the kingdom may return to the house of David: If these people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will turn back to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah, and they will kill me and go back to Rehoboam king of Judah.” Therefore the king asked advice, made two calves of gold, and said to the people, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, O Israel, which brought you up from the land of Egypt” (1 Kings 12:26–29).

Jeroboam’s two golden calf idols were strategically set up—one in the north and the other in the south as closer locations to worship than going all the way to Jerusalem. But he had to make another change, a change in the very manner and time of worship. We read of that in verses 32–33.

Jeroboam ordained a feast on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, like the feast that was in Judah, and offered sacrifices on the altar. So he did at Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he had made. And at Bethel he installed the priests of the high places which he had made. So he made offerings on the altar which he had made at Bethel on the fifteenth day of the eighth month (as opposed to at the Feast of Tabernacles a month earlier), in the month which he had devised in his own heart. And he ordained a feast for the children of Israel, and offered sacrifices on the altar and burned incense (1 Kings 12:32–33).

Notice where he got this idea. It was not from God, but it was an idea “devised in his own heart.” His fear of man, rather than faith in God, led the northern ten tribes of the house of Israel down a path from which they never recovered, eventually leading to national slavery.

Always Choose to Obey God, Not the Path of Least Resistance

It’s a huge mistake to follow one’s heart rather than God when it comes to which days are holy and which are not. Only God can make time holy.

When God brought Israel into the promised land, He warned them not to inquire after the quaint customs the inhabitants of the land dreamed up to worship their gods.

Do not inquire after their gods, saying, “How did these nations serve their gods? I also will do likewise.” You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way; for every abomination to the Lord which He hates they have done to their gods; for they burn even their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods. Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it (Deuteronomy 12:30–32).

The example of an ancient king may seem too far removed from your day-to-day life, so let’s bring this closer to home.

Adam and Eve: Disobedience in the Bible

The second example, which is the account of Adam and Eve is more than a bedtime story. One lesson we may draw from it is that Adam was more interested in pleasing his wife than pleasing God. We are told in 1 Timothy 2:14 that:

Adam was not deceived (1 Timothy 2:14).

Yes, Adam knew better, so why did he partake of the fruit? We are not told how Eve enticed him into that disastrous decision—whether through her feminine wiles or whether there would be no peace until he gave in. But what is certain is that he was more interested in pleasing his wife than pleasing God.

It’s easy to say faith over fear, but is your faith in God greater than your fear of upsetting your mate?

Jesus tells us in Luke 14:26, 33:

If anyone comes to Me and does not hate [in other words, meaning love to a lesser degree by comparison] his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple (Luke 14:26–27, 33).

Dear friends, do you understand the gravity of Jesus’ words?

Who is most important in your life? Who do you love the most? Do you have faith in God, or do you fear your mate, your family, your associates?

Few people are willing to leave their comfort zone to fully obey their Creator.

I know it is shocking to hear, but the Christianity of today has little in common with that of Christ and first century Christianity. As highly respected historian, Professor Rufus Jones wrote:

If by any chance Christ Himself had been taken by His later followers as the model and pattern of the new way, and a serious attempt had been made to set up His life and teaching as the standard and norm for the Church, Christianity would have been something vastly different from what it became.… What we may properly call “Galilean Christianity” had a short life, though there have been notable attempts to revive it and make it live again, and here and there spiritual prophets have insisted that anything else than this simple Galilean religion is “heresy”; but the main line of historic development has taken a different course and has marked the emphasis very differently (The Church’s Debt to Heretics, 1924, pp. 15–16).

3 Common Justifications for Disobedience to God

While it is unlikely you will face a literal fiery furnace or den of lions, other difficult decisions have already come your way.

For example, have you ever asked yourself these questions:

• Why is the most sacred holiday in modern Christianity named after a pagan fertility goddess and celebrated with fertility symbols—eggs and rabbits?
• Why is the birth of Jesus celebrated on the birthday of the sun god, Mithra?
• Why does professing Christianity observe these days which are nowhere found in the Bible?
• And why does modern Christianity reject the days that Jesus, His apostles, and His first century followers kept?
• Why do [most] churches observe the first day of the week—Sunday—when God commanded us to keep holy the seventh day of the week—Friday sunset to Saturday sunset?

The Sabbath Test: Obedience to God or Fear of Man

Here are three faulty justifications professing Christians use to get around these contradictions of scripture.

1. Faulty Justification: The Sabbath and biblical Holy Days were for the Jews only.

Not according to Jesus. In response to the Pharisees trying to impose their man-made, overly restrictive traditions on Jesus and His disciples, we read in Mark 2 beginning in verse 27:

And He said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27–28).

Note that Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath—and He is not Lord over something that does not exist. And when was the day that He is Lord of made holy?

And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it [in other words, He set it apart as holy], because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made (Genesis 2:2–3).

We see from this that the Sabbath was made at creation for man—long before there was a Jew. Therefore, the justification that the Sabbath was made only for the Jews is patently false.

And regarding the annual Holy Days and festivals for worship that are found in the Bible, Paul reminded the Gentile church at Corinth of the significance of Passover, and then commanded them to keep the Days of Unleavened Bread, which immediately follow Passover (1 Corinthians 5:7–8).

For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

The Ten Commandments Are Still God’s Law

A second faulty justification is that:

2. Faulty Justification: The Ten Commandments were replaced by grace.

Now this is a huge subject, so let’s cut to the chase. Go down the list of the Ten Commandments. Which ones do we NOT need to keep? Is it okay to:

• Have another god before the true God?
• Use idols in the worship of God?
• Use God’s name frivolously?
• Dishonor parents?
• Kill?
• Commit adultery?
• Steal?
• Bear false witness?
• And covet what belongs to your neighbor?

No, dear friends, those who proclaim the commandments are done away only have a problem with one of the ten—the Sabbath command. Some also reason around the one about idols, but they do not find fault with the others.

Now think about this. In other words, “God, you did okay. You got nine out of the ten correct.” Or in some cases eight out of ten. How foolish is that?

True Christianity vs Pagan Traditions

Then there is:

3. Faulty Justification: It does not matter which days we observe as long as we do so for Jesus.

So dear friends, where is that found in Scripture? And why not simply keep the days Jesus kept?

The fact is that professing Christians choose to keep days made up in the imagination of their own hearts, just as Jeroboam did. Now let me remind you of that passage that we read earlier in this program—1 Kings 12:33.

So he [that is King Jeroboam] made offerings on the altar which he had made at Bethel on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, in the month which he had devised in his own heart.

Read the books of 1 Kings and 2 Kings and see how that turned out.

Following Jesus Christ vs Fear of Family and Friends

So why don’t people simply obey God and observe the days He chose rather than the days Emperor Constantine and arrogant rebellious men chose?

And that brings me to you. Do you have the faith to obey God? Or do you fear men: your boss, your friends, your neighbors, or your family? Look at yourself in the mirror. Ask yourself that question, and be honest with yourself.

Highly respected historians, such as Jesse Lyman Hurlbut, explain the transition away from original Christianity.

The services of worship increased in splendor, but were less spiritual and hearty than those of former times. The forms and ceremonies of paganism gradually crept into the worship. Some of the old heathen feasts became church festivals with change of name and of worship. About 405 AD images of saints and martyrs began to appear in the churches, at first as memorials, then in succession revered, adored, and worshiped. The adoration of the Virgin Mary was substituted for the worship of Venus and Diana; the Lord’s Supper became a sacrifice in place of a memorial; and the elder evolved from a preacher into a priest (The Story of the Christian Church, p. 79).

Faith Over Fear—Whom Will You Obey?

That’s a small glimpse into what happened, but why do people today, who can read the Bible and read history, go along with it? Why do they go along with pagan traditions masquerading as Christianity? The answer is simple: They fear family, friends, fellow workers, and neighbors rather than God.

They fear being ostracized by those closest to them. Men and women who know it’s wrong to follow a non-biblical tradition are afraid to make waves in the household if their mate has not come to the same conviction. They may be afraid of losing their job over keeping the biblical Sabbath. Teen who know it is wrong to vape or use drugs go along with his peers lest he be looked down upon and belittled. In other words, faith over fear sounds good until you are confronted by an unpleasant choice between obeying God or going down the path of least resistance.

You know Halloween is a bizarre and weird custom with pagan roots but are afraid to make waves.

• Pleasing friends and neighbors is easier than stepping out in faith.
• You know Christmas is a fraud with pagan origins, but skipping the Christmas party may jeopardize a future promotion.
• And who is willing to stir up the wrath of your wife or husband?

The answer is simple: Faith over fear sounds good until it comes down to obedience to God.