Tag: God-fears

Our survey of wisdom in the NT sees significant continuity with the OT. Jesus is the epitome of God’s wisdom, or, perhaps better, the very incarnation of God’s wisdom. He is the one on whom the Spirit of the Lord rests. His delight is in the fear of the Lord.*

Thus, the church is called to relationship with him and to inculcate** and demonstrate the same fear that is the beginning of wisdom. Christians are God-fears who submit to the instruction of Christ. The book of James urges Christians to seek wisdom from above (from God) and to demonstrate that wisdom in their speech, their relationships with others, their planning, their handling of money –indeed, in all of life.

Tremper Longman III, The Fear Of The Lord Is Wisdom (Baker Academic, 2017), p.256

* The Scripture reference is Isaiah 11: 1-3 and is a prophecy about Jesus Christ:

Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, And a branch from his roots will bear fruit. And the Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him, The spirit of wisdom and understanding, The spirit of counsel and strength, The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. And He will delight in the fear of the Lord… (NASB)

**inculcate: to teach and impress by frequent repetitions or admonitions