Omni-Benevolence

Connections are everywhere in the Bible. The personal connection between God and His creation, namely us, is the strongest and closest connection of all. As a result of this connection, one very interesting response we see in response to God’s omni-benevolence, or His perfect goodness, is that of fear. Our fear of God is connected to God’s ultimate goodness. We see this connection in Jeremiah 32:39–42:

39and I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me always, for their own good and for the good of their children after them.

This verse speaks of the salvation God will bring to Israel (and to all the world). But here we see that as God gives us one heart and one way (i.e., salvation), this gives us cause to fear Him as He can give or withhold this amazing good. But this fear is not for God’s good, it is for our good and our children’s good. The fear of God in our hearts causes us to seek after God and to glorify Him over ourselves. This is our good.

40“I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; and I will put the fear of Me in their hearts so that they will not turn away from Me.

Now we see God doing good to us through His covenant with us. He says, “I will not turn away from them”. This, again, is God’s good shown to us. We see situations throughout the Bible, especially the OT, where God does turn away from evil doers. But also notice that as God does good, He also places the fear of Him in our hearts. This fear is good for us as it causes us to want to obey Him. Not out of dreading God (as the unregenerate do), but out of a holy fear of Him.

41“I will rejoice over them to do them good and will faithfully plant them in this land with all My heart and with all My soul.

God comes back to His doing good to us and this time He rejoices over doing good to us.

42“For thus says the Lord, ‘Just as I brought all this great disaster on this people, so I am going to bring on them all the good that I am promising them.

Here in the final verse is the most poignant connection between God’s good and our fear of God. In God’s wrath He brought a great disaster on Israel (Babylon overtaking Jerusalem) as He can bring great disaster on us today. However, our holy fear of Him spurs us on to obey and delight in Him. When we do this, God brings all His good onto us.

This next verse talks of the dichotomy between God’s goodness and his wrath, Romans 11:22:

22Behold then the kindness and severity of God; to those who fell, severity, but to you, God’s kindness, if you continue in His kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off.

God’s goodness and wrath work in perfect harmony as they are both His infinite, perfect, and indivisible attributes. The glue that upholds these attributes is our fear of God, or lack of it. Let us be those who continue in His goodness until the day He calls us home.

Again, we see in the Psalms that God’s goodness is great and superior, Psalm 31:19:

19How great is Your goodness, Which You have stored up for those who fear You, Which You have wrought for those who take refuge in You, Before the sons of men!

This great goodness is stored up for us who fear God. Again, this is not an unholy dread of God, but a holy fear. This is a fear that drives us to take refuge in God, not run away from Him in dread.

Finally, God’s good is good in ALL things for us that love God, Romans 8:28:

28And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

So our fear is part of our love for God. Our fear is also the beginning of wisdom as it says in Proverbs. Our love, fear, and obedience to God are all connected. They determine our heart condition. And out of our heart we speak and act accordingly, showing that we are the salt of the world.