Romans 3:18 – The fear of GOD 

There is no fear of God in front of their eyes.

Romans 3: 10-18 paints an extremely bleak picture of who man is and what he is capable of. Supplemented with numerous quotes from the Hebrew Bible. Especially from the books of the psalms. Similarly, the above verse, which refers to Psalm 36:2. With this concluding quote, Paul summarizes in one short sentence what the sin of man constitutes. That man’s feet lead him astray, and that his mouth is full of curse and bitterness, is (however bad it may be) but a consequence of sin. The cause is exposed here.

That a person sins or misses the mark, is because of his orientation. The direction in which we look will also be the direction in which we steer. Our focus determines the path we take.

The word for ‘fear’ in Greek is ‘phobos’, in which we immediately recognize our word phobia. That does not necessarily have to be negative. Note that this is not about fear of judgment but about fear of GOD. Not for something but for Someone. It indicates a deep respect for Him who disposes everything, without a human being able to do anything about it! 

Delen: