Turning Fear Into Faith

Is fear always a sin?

One summer, I was invited to preach at a youth camp along with other pastors. In addition to our preaching responsibilities, we were expected to serve as the panel for a Question & Answer session at the end of the week-long camp. Students could write their questions and submit them anonymously in a box. At the end of the week, the pastors sat down with the stack of questions, read through them together, and consolidated them into similar questions or themes. There were many heart-searching questions from these attentive students. (Do not underestimate the minds of young people to understand the Word of God and ponder soul-transforming questions!) One question I vividly remember was this: "Is fear always a sin?" A fellow pastor quickly chimed in as we read the questions out loud to each other, "No! We are commanded to fear the Lord!" Each of us took a group of questions to meditate on how to biblically answer them that evening during chapel. It was my task to answer this question on fear.

While I knew I would have to include the well known positive command to fear the Lord (however hard that concept is to articulate in itself), I could not avoid addressing the fact that fear is often a sinful response to frightening circumstances. While fear is not always sin, fear is often sin. Just as we are commanded positively to fear the Lord, we are also commanded negatively not to be afraid. For example, we read this combination of fear/do not fear in 1st Peter. "Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor" (1 Pt 2:17) followed in the next chapter with "But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled. . . " (1 Pt 3:14). Similarly, every Christian is called to "conduct [themselves] with fear" (1 Pt 1:17). Yet Christian wives, the spiritual daughters of Sarah, are not to "fear anything that is frightening." (1 Pt 3:6)

Peter's letter clearly illustrates the two-fold approach we must take when addressing the issue of fear, and he is not alone in presenting these two paths side by side. In fact, Peter is drawing from the Old Testament Scriptures themselves, as he so often does.

Peter's use of Sarah

Peter illustrates the holy conduct expected of Christian wives by referring back to Sarah, the wife of Abraham. For over two thousand years, from the time of Abraham to Peter's day (and another two thousand years to our own day), Sarah stood out as a woman of faith in the Jewish consciousness. She was a woman who not only respectfully obeyed her husband, exemplified by her calling him "Lord," she believed in God's promise that she would conceive a child despite her advanced age and life-long barrenness. While the scene in Genesis (18:10–12) which Peter appears to be drawing from seems to cast Sarah's response in a negative light (she laughed at God's promise), she nonetheless is commended by Peter and Hebrews for her faith. Indeed, despite the ample reasons for her to fear motherhood or doubt God's promise because of her age, "Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised" (Heb 11:11). Peter's use of the Sarah story was to help his Christian sisters likewise look to the Lord and live by faith even in discouraging or impossible circumstances. Such character is common to Christian women. In this way, such Sarah-like behavior of Christian wives is evidence indeed that one is trusting in God in the first place. As Peter puts it, the evidence of fear fading into faith proves that you already are a daughter of Sarah. You share in her spiritual heritage as her spiritual offspring, similarly to how believers are called the offspring of Abraham (Rom 9:6–9). Like mother, like daughter.

What does a Christian wife (or woman) who struggles with fear do with the conditional element of 1 Peter 3:6, "if you do good and do not fear anything that is frightening"? First of all, it is helpful to know that the Greek word for "if" is not explicitly in the text. However, a conditional sense can be implied by the words that are there and this is how many of our English translations have chosen to translate it. Others say "when" such as the NET's "You become her children when you do what is good and have no fear in doing so." Misunderstandings can result from either of these two translations, however. Are women the spiritual daughters of Sarah only when they do what is good and are not afraid? Can they move in and out of Christianity from moment to moment? Does one become a Christian by behaving a certain way? Is your Christianity predicated on your performance, your good works, your track record of fearlessness? The rest of Scripture forces us away from these misunderstandings. Good news for those who struggle with fear.

There is a better way to translate the passage. Darby's translation of old is helpful here: ". . . Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord; whose children ye have become, doing good, and not fearing with any kind of consternation." Similarly Elliott translates the verse "you became her children now doing what is right and not fearing any terror." The stress of these two translations falls on the standing of the women as children already, which is typical for Peter. Peter establishes the foundation of what God has accomplished for us in Christ then proceeds to describe what kind of Christian life necessarily follows from who we already are: we have already been born again; we are already a holy nation; we are a royal priesthood, for example. And all of this from the first moment of faith. The action, "doing" and "not fearing" naturally flow out of that.

Alternatively, another viable way to translate the Greek text is to translate the participles (the –ing words) with the force of commands (something that Greek does frequently and is clearly how we must render the participles in 2:18; 3:1 and 7). Michaels suggests "you have become Sarah's children, so do good and do not fear any intimidation." Notice how the commands follow from the status. Either of these alternatives to our standard English translations, in my estimation, do more justice to the Greek text while upholding the gospel-foundation-which-leads-to-gospel-living pattern frequent in 1st Peter while avoiding the potential misunderstandings from translating this passage as conditional ("if") or temporal ("when").

So how does this help you? My sisters, you are Sarah's children, now act like her. You are her children already doing good. You may be looking at your circumstances initially with skepticism, doubt, "laughter," or panic, but your heart is drawn to look away from anything terrifying and trust God who is faithful, just like Sarah.

Peter's (possible) use of Proverbs 3:25

Additionally, it's possible that Peter is drawing from Proverbs when he pens the words, "not fearing anything that is frightening" or "do not fear anything that is frightening." Proverbs 3:25–26 says, "Do not be afraid of sudden terror or of the ruin of the wicked, when it comes, for the LORD will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being caught." The words "sudden terror" are only found here in the entirety of the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible. Likewise, the word only shows up one place in the Greek New Testament: 1st Peter 3:6. Do not fear that which is "frightening".  Since the word is unique to both testaments, it strengthens the possibility that Peter is consciously citing the Greek translation of Proverbs 3. Certainly the themes are consistent. We are not to be afraid of fearful circumstances or wicked people. Furthermore, since "Do not be afraid of sudden terror" is clearly a command in Proverbs, the preferred translation of 1st Peter 3:6 should follow suit as Michaels suggests: "You have become Sarah's children, so do good and do not fear any intimidation."

Whereas this passage has often driven fearful people to more and more fear, afraid that they are too afraid to actually be called Sarah's children, the passage is actually encouraging you Christian women about your status, your shared character with Sarah (that transformation has already been brought about by the grace of God). Now you are called upon to turn your fears into faith. Whether circumstances or wicked people come into your life suddenly, "have no fear of them or be troubled" (1 Pet 3:14).

In my next article, we will explore Peter's use of Isaiah and the Psalms.