Are we to love God (Matt. 22:37) or fear Him (1 Pet. 2:17)?

Is the Godhead three or one? Is Jesus Christ fully God or fully man? Is God sovereign or is man morally responsible? Does God love the world or is He its eternal Judge? There are many such apparent contradictions in the Bible. Clearly, these are not contradictions to God, since He states both truths frequently with no trace of dilemma. In all such apparent contradictions we must hold to both at the same time.

A fear of God that does not truly love Him will result in a life of harsh condemnation and legalism. A love for God that does not truly fear Him will result in a wishy-washy life driven by unstable, emotional sentimentalism and spiritual self-centeredness.

Just as, in a single moment, we must fully embrace the sovereignty of God and the genuine moral responsibility of man, so we must, at the same time, deeply fear God and deeply love Him.

It is our Greek (Western) tendency that pressures us to try to resolve such apparent contradictions, by choosing one side and then subverting the other to it. But to do so necessarily means the loss of both truths. The Hebrew mind had no such artificial limitations; he fully feared God and fully loved Him – at the same time.

And now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the Lord’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good? (Deut. 10:12-13)