FEAR GOD

Christian: Someone who follows the teachings and life of Jesus Christ, recognizing Him as the Son of God and Savior. God incarnate on Earth, part of the divine Trinity with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Trinity: A fundamental Christian concept that God is unique in His essence, but He is represented in three distinct persons: the Father, the Son (Jesus Christ), and the Holy Spirit. An inseparable unity sharing the same divine nature. Why Believe in God? You have surely, at least once in your life, heard of Jesus Christ. Whether in your family, at school, in the media, movies, books, during a visit to church after your Christian friend invited you, or in a speech by your favorite athlete… In short, there is a strong chance that this name is not unknown to you. But do you really know Him, to the point of calling Him your Lord and Savior? Perhaps this sounds far-fetched, even absurd to you. That’s normal when one has never questioned what the Bible truly teaches, without necessarily being a creationist (following the Bible literally). Perhaps your difficult experiences and the suffering in the world have led you to conclude that there could be no Almighty God, full of love for you and His creation. Being in a religion other than Christianity is definitely a major factor when it comes time to consider Jesus Christ as your God. If you grew up in an environment of a Christian denomination (Catholicism, Orthodoxy, Protestantism, etc.) and drifted away due to dissatisfaction and/or disappointment with human actions that preached God’s love but acted contrary to Christ’s teachings on the importance of love, forgiveness, and repentance, you are not alone. Too many people have acted immorally, abused their so-called religious status and notoriety to manipulate, lie, and destroy their neighbor for personal gain, including money and power. This is exactly what Jesus Christ and the Bible expose: human hypocrisy, influenced by our sinful nature. Whether you are the most atheistic person or the most devoted to your beliefs, no matter where you stand in this quest for truth that answers the questions “Where do we come from?”, “What is the purpose of our existence?”, and “What happens after death?”, it is our responsibility as humans to recognize the truth, take an interest in it, and live according to it. For truth, to be alive, must be reliable across time and the different cultures of this world. There are surely some among you who are more inclined to say: “To each his own truth.” The problem with this statement is that it forces us to admit that truth can be subjective and that, as a result, murder, lying, theft, sexual abuse, and other forms of what the world generally denounces must be accepted. Of course, we live different realities and challenges. We all have distinct gifts, visions, and environments that could lead us to this argument of relative truth. Relative lives do not mean relative truth. You may come from a family that once owned slaves and abused them without you supporting slavery. There are societies that advocate punishing innocent people when it is not a matter of self-defense but rather cold-blooded violence and murder. Some peoples around the world practice cannibalism and child sacrifice. Others will admit that stealing from neighbors who have more material goods is perfectly legitimate because it supposedly advances a more equitable system of resources. I believe you get the point. Are acts justified simply because a majority adheres to them physically/mentally? Can a society’s moral consensus simply be reinforced by the fact that its popularity expands and is accepted by many? According to the ideology of “relative truth,” yes. Everything would be permitted, regardless of the consequences. My truth does not belong to you and vice versa; therefore, you cannot criticize my actions and ideologies, and I cannot criticize yours. You decide to commit the mass killing of the century that makes headlines for a year? It’s your truth, and we should accept it. This extreme example should make it clear that we have this internal compass that denounces certain actions and thoughts. It is absolute truth. The one that cuts through illusion and helps us have a moral reference point, no matter the system imposed within a people. This absolute truth allows us to push back evil that leads to chaos and disorder, starting by applying it to ourselves. But when we decide to follow it wholeheartedly, we realize its greater global necessity even more. With all the negative projections of this world through the media and what we can hear, we may sometimes say there is no hope, that human beings are power-thirsty beasts and will never change, that humanity’s destiny is doomed to failure because human nature is condemned to destruction. Yes, we have barbaric, selfish, and vain tendencies, hence the need to cling to an absolute that, first, knows the foundation of our rebellion against what is right to do and, second, wants us to live in a way aligned with what serves our environment and not our endless thirst for accumulation without finding satisfaction, leading to the perversion of truth. Based on the principle that our moral compass serves to maintain order, reliable and timeless righteousness that rejects evil, does this compass then guide us to the source of its existence? Let us then enter into the heart of the truth and see how, with the evidence, history, and testimonies we have, it manifested itself in its absolute form on Earth in Jesus Christ. Without yet speaking of divinity, if you doubt the reliability of Jesus’ existence as a true historical figure and of His crucifixion, you must then, by default, doubt the reliability of most major figures of antiquity accepted by historians, such as Socrates, Julius Caesar, Pythagoras, and even Cleopatra! The abundance of sources, particularly Jewish, Roman, and Christian, on Jesus’ existence far surpasses these historical figures, making Jesus one of the most credible beings to have walked the planet Earth. After all, He is also our calendar reference point. The non-Christian sources, about fifteen of them, include the historian Flavius Josephus (c. 37–100 AD), a Jewish historian, who mentions Jesus twice in his work Antiquities of the Jews. He highlights His wisdom, astonishing actions, the crucifixion under the Roman prefect of Judea Pontius Pilate (c. 1st century BC – died after 39 AD), and names Jesus’ brother James as “the brother of Jesus called the Christ.” Tacitus (c. 56–120 AD), a Roman historian, mentioned in his Annals (~116) the persecution of Christians under the Roman emperor Nero and that “Christus,” who started the movement, was executed by Pontius Pilate during the reign of Tiberius. There is also Pliny the Younger (c. 61–115 AD), a Roman governor who, in one of his letters to Emperor Trajan, reports that Christians gather to sing hymns to Christ “as to a god.” So already, we have sources attesting to the existence and execution of Jesus Christ, without yet having to delve into the most widespread and most printed source of any other work in the world: the Bible. Not only does it confirm Christ’s existence and execution, but it describes the central core of Christian life: His resurrection. The pivotal historical point on which the truth rests is specifically Jesus having conquered death. For if He is risen, this confirms the reliability of His message, His divinity, and His supreme authority. If His message is reliable, then He is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6). Jesus, according to the Scriptures, is the revelation of God, fully human, fully God, the ultimate reality opposing the lies of this world, the only way to access heaven, to life after death. But are the Scriptures trustworthy enough to confirm who Jesus really was during His time on Earth? The Bible, as a Christian source considered the Word of God by believers, is itself a collection of 66 books that prophesy Jesus’ coming, describe His life, teachings, divine nature, crucifixion, resurrection, theological teaching following His ascension to heaven, the life of the first Christian communities, and the hope of His return. It is divided into two sections: the Old Testament (39 books) and the New Testament (27 books). Many will believe that the New Testament is a new version of what is written in the Old Testament and that, therefore, it cannot be convincing. Let us break this fallacious claim once and for all. The Old Testament describes events that took place before Jesus Christ’s coming, and the New Testament gathers the events surrounding His life, the beginning of the Church (the community of believers as a whole, not the building), and apocalyptic visions focusing on the definitive triumph of good over evil. It is considered the Word of God because, even though written by men, they were under God’s divine inspiration. This claim is supported by several factors, including the fulfillment of about 2000 prophecies. At least 300 of these Old Testament prophecies were fulfilled by Jesus concerning His life and death, centuries before His birth. There is also the internal consistency and unity of the Scriptures, demonstrating a humanly impossible harmony with more than 60,000 cross-references between the texts. The Bible was written over an approximate period of 1600 years (c. 1500 BC – c. 95 AD), by about 40 different authors (mostly Jews), in three different languages (Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek), across three different continents (Asia, Africa, and Europe), all with one unified story and consistent narrative: God’s plan to save humanity from sin through Jesus Christ (we will return to this below). No archaeological discovery refutes the consistency and credibility of the Bible. In reality, the more time advances, the more archaeology supports it. Discoveries such as the Mesha Stele, which relates the victories of the king of Moab from 2 Kings (found in 1868, dating to the 9th century BC), the Pilate Stone, a limestone block mentioning “Pontius Pilate, Prefect of Judea” confirming the historical figure who condemned Jesus (discovered in 1961, dating to the 1st century AD), the Tel Dan Stele, a fragmentary Aramaic inscription mentioning “the house of David,” a biblical figure (found in 1993, dating to the 9th century BC), and the list continues. The Bible is also supported by a mass of ancient manuscripts, including more than 5800 Greek manuscripts of the New Testament and about 1000 ancient manuscripts of the Old Testament, mainly in Hebrew, including the Dead Sea Scrolls. The Dead Sea Scrolls are highly significant. They were discovered between 1947 and 1956 in caves near Qumran, an archaeological site in the West Bank. It is a collection of more than 900 parchments and fragments (papyrus, leather, copper) dating from the 3rd century BC to the 1st century AD. Among them are the oldest texts of the Old Testament, proving the fidelity of the Hebrew text transmission. All these discoveries make the Bible the primary and sure source for knowing God, the Creator of the universe, the absolute truth manifested in Jesus Christ and His teachings, which still revolutionize the world 2000 years later, demonstrating that truth is not limited to a specific era or culture. What the Bible, the concrete Word of God, teaches is simpler than one might believe. In today’s world saturated with diverse information on everything, where straying into false doctrines claiming to be truth has never spread so quickly, it is important to cling to what is true. Let us not forget: if truth is subjective, then everything is permitted, and I cannot criticize your actions any more than you can criticize mine. But deep down, you know that evil truly exists. The remedy is its opposite, beyond what society may perceive as “noble” or “good.” Earlier, it was mentioned that the consistent narrative of the Bible is God’s plan to save humanity from sin through Jesus Christ. But what is sin, and how does Jesus save us? The Bible, with its sharp reliability, focuses on the relationship between humanity and God. It shows us, through multiple events and teachings, that God has perfect, spotless justice that exposes evil. Absolute truth, God, cannot have any flaw, otherwise we could not call Him absolute truth. It teaches us God’s commandments (the divine law) so that we may be aligned with the truth, with God’s will that governs our lives and moral behavior. It is the act of submitting to the supreme authority, to the One who gave us the breath of life and the privilege of knowing Him. Sin is everything outside of absolute truth (God), the unchanging standards of reality. From the Greek term hamartia (ἁμαρτία), sin means “to miss the mark,” or failing to be in God’s will. It is acting immorally to satisfy selfish flesh, a transgression of the divine law, direct rebellion against the Creator, doing evil. We, as imperfect humans, can easily say we are “good” people because we do not kill, think of others, have a good heart, etc. The Bible is clear on this kind of comment. The book of James in the New Testament clearly states that sinning in one commandment makes one guilty of all (James 2:10). So it is not a crime considered hateful by society that makes us guilty before God. If you have ever lied or harbored resentment in your heart, even once, you are guilty according to divine standards. Going deeper, it is written that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). This means we are born with a sinful nature. In the beginning, God created a perfect world, until the day sin entered the world through the disobedience of the first man, Adam (Genesis 3). Through one sin, physical, spiritual, and eternal death, fear, and corruption spread throughout human genealogy (Romans 5:12). Human beings were created in God’s image (Genesis 1:27) to live in peace and harmony with their environment. Man wanted autonomy, disregarding God and His words, thus bringing a world of suffering that follows us to this day. We do not become sinners because we sin. We sin because we are born sinners. According to the Scriptures, there is no one righteous, not even one, except God (Romans 3:10; Luke 18:19). But if we are deprived of God’s glory because of sin, how can we access it? The standard for being with God, accessing life after death, is perfection, because God’s nature is perfect and cannot coexist with our sinful nature within us. Truth cannot live with lies. Sin makes us imperfect, breaking our relationship with God. God’s plan to restore this relationship is to send a Savior, an intermediary between God and humans, to restore what was broken. One who can make us perfect under His covenant, the bridge between us and the Creator. The Bible presents Jesus Christ as the Messiah who came to accomplish this mission through His life, death, and resurrection. He is the messianic figure announced in the Old Testament, anointed by God. He is prophesied as a suffering servant who bears the sins of His people, leading to divine restoration (Isaiah 53). The Scriptures share that He is the Son of God (God incarnate in man), born of a virgin, that He committed no transgression, performed miracles by divine authority, was executed under Pontius Pilate on the cross, shed His blood for our sins, paid the debt of our nature that prevented us from accessing God, rose three days after His death, and returned to heaven until the time He comes a second time with power and glory for the final judgment of evil and lies. This will mark the end of the world as we know it and the beginning of a new creation, the resurrection of the dead, and the reward of the righteous—those who have decided to believe in Him, His sacrifice, and His resurrection. This is what is called the Good News. It is realizing that Christ conquered death, the debt of sin He bore for us, and that by placing our faith in Him, we can conquer it too and be reunited with our Creator. We can access absolute truth not by our deeds, works, prayers, and good intentions, but by what Jesus Christ did. This is the grace God grants us. This is what true love is called. God is considered love (1 John 4:8). For love to be true, it must be free. This is why God does not force us to love Him or believe in what He has done: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) Free will allows humans to choose whether they want to be reunited with God for eternity or separated from Him forever. He created us free in our choices. But we must realize that our choices have eternal consequences. Whoever is reading this, know that God loves you. The One who gave you life wants the best for you, and the best is Him. This is why He is also called Father (God, but not the Son). He watches over us, our directions, and our spirits. The Father refines His children so they are well equipped to face the evil of this world, doing what is good and right in His eyes. Being spiritually sharpened means better serving one’s neighbor and sharing the Good News while letting God guide us. Everything is spiritual because the body is temporary and weak. He left us His Word and the Holy Spirit (the Spirit of God sharing the divine essence with the Father and the Son) to cling to until the end of this world. He wants a relationship with you. He wants to pour out His love into your life. He wants you to overcome the fear the world projects, to keep your eyes fixed on Him and His promises of redemption, no matter the challenges and tribulations. Jesus said: “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33) All you need to do is personally respond to the salvation God offers you in Jesus Christ. It is to recognize your sins and the need for forgiveness. It is to be born again in Christ, to crucify your current life, and to walk in your new life in obedience to the Word of God, who became flesh in Jesus Christ (John 1:1; John 1:14). You must place your faith in Jesus Christ, welcome Him into your heart and life as Savior and Lord. Here is a prayer of repentance you can make with a sincere heart right now to receive eternal life: “God, I know I am a sinful being. I know I deserve the consequences of my sins. However, I recognize Jesus Christ as my Savior. I believe He died and rose again for the forgiveness of my sins. I trust in Him alone as my personal Savior and Lord. Thank You, Lord, for saving and forgiving me! Amen!” Everything rests on whether Jesus is credible or not. If He is credible, then His words are too. Jesus said to His disciples: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6) This means He is the only way to access the Kingdom of God. He is the only person worthy of being glorified, followed, and having our faith placed in Him. If Jesus is credible, there are no other gods, no other way to be in the presence of absolute truth, your Creator. Any movement, any other religion and doctrine that departs from the teachings of Jesus Christ, His death, His resurrection, and the hope of His return for the final judgment are lies intended to confuse the masses and keep you away from the truth. Why do you think the name of Jesus Christ bothers so much? That Christianity is perceived as taboo in many societies? Evil does not love the light. Demonic spirits roam the Earth to corrupt souls. These spirits come from absolute evil, the direct opposition to Christ’s truth, called Satan, the devil, the father of lies. His goal is to destroy God’s creation (you and me) so that you cannot be saved, since he himself is not. Satan was once an angel named Lucifer. Angels are spiritual beings who can serve God (there are good ones who do and bad ones who reject His authority, like Satan) and who have intelligence, emotions, and a will. Lucifer rebelled against God out of pride, wanting to rise above the Creator, take His throne, and be glorified at the same status. He was the highest angel under God, but his ambitions and pride led God to cast him out of paradise. He decided not to follow God’s commandments and to do his own will. Does this sound familiar? He currently operates on Earth in the spiritual realm, tempts believers and accuses them so they fall, doubt God’s authority, and the power that dwells in them under Christ. He uses all means permitted by God (for Satan is limited) to lead them away from God’s will and make them slaves to their sins. Your best defenses against his lies are submission, total faith in God, prayer, and the Word, so as not to believe his lies and flee sin. The devil knows the Scriptures very well. He will try to use them against you. He wants to create fear and make you feel guilty. He especially does not want the Good News to spread, so he will try everything to extinguish the fire of Christ within you. As soon as you give your life to Jesus, you become a target of the kingdom of darkness, of lies, because you carry a precious treasure: you are covered by the blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the one who conquered death. Evil, the devil, the opposition to truth and Jesus, will use distraction, the futile things of this world, vanity, comfort, money, power, media, political parties, terror, wars, pride, sexual immorality, debauchery, lust, drugs, pornography, poor diet, laziness, anger, envy, video games, overconsumption, false truth movements, false religions, etc. Everything the flesh desires so that you are not aligned with the absolute truth manifested in Jesus Christ. The devil wants to give you the satisfaction that you can succeed, live, and rejoice in life without God’s help, making you your own god, the very image of the father of lies. You then become a prisoner of darkness and begin to fear being exposed to the light. He wants you to fear confessing your sins, to fear submitting to God, to fear appearing soiled before the world, to fear declaring His Name, to fear sharing the Good News so that you remain conformed to this world. The Bible warns us against loving the world: “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.” (1 John 2:15-17) For the world is under the influence of Satan: “We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.” (1 John 5:19) And that he blinds unbelievers: “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” (2 Corinthians 4:4) As mentioned, everything is a spiritual battle: “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (Ephesians 6:12) So stay close to God so that He gives you wisdom and discernment, to be a faithful servant of the light, of truth, the opposition to evil. Cultivate His Word and do not treat it as an option. Take it as the supreme weapon to cut between good and evil, between truth and lies. Let His teachings be attached to your heart. God is the only one who can fill this inner void you try to fill with the distractions of this world. He is the only one who can give you healthy rest in the storms of your life. He is the beginning and the end, the Alpha and the Omega, your Heavenly Father, who only wants your heart to be close to Him for eternity. He is the ultimate comforter of human suffering. If you still doubt the reliability of Jesus and His sacrifice, know that His first disciples were martyred for proclaiming their faith after seeing the risen Christ. One does not die for a lie one knows to be false. One dies for the truth. They were men with fears who became confident in Jesus to the point of accepting death rather than denying their testimonies. To this day, millions of Christians are persecuted around the world because of their faith in Christ. Yet Christ’s message boils down to this: Love God with all your heart, love your neighbor and your enemy as yourself, and forgive those who hurt you. He calls His disciples to live a good life in humility, mercy, and peace, elevating radical love. He focuses on the heart of man and not external appearances; true transformation comes from within, and all can access God through Him. He teaches not to repay evil with evil but with good. His instructions are considered revolutionary, even for non-believers. He is the perfect example to follow. He pushes us to forgive the sins and actions of others because He forgives our sins. That is God’s grace. To act with others as Jesus acted with the world and to realize the magnitude of His sacrifice. If the resurrection is true, then the Bible completes it, for God does not lie. If it is true, then it answers the questions: Where do we come from? What is the purpose of our existence? Where do we go after death? We are created by God, here to love Him, honor Him to spend eternity by His side, to serve our neighbor, by believing in the Son of God, Jesus Christ, and His sacrifice on the cross. It is then up to you to share the Good News of the Kingdom of God. “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” (Matthew 28:19) I encourage you now to read the Bible, to pray to God (to communicate with a sincere heart with Him) to reveal Himself to you through reading, your environment, people… To reveal Himself to you by all possible means so that you may be in His will and not in the will of your selfish flesh. To ask Him to remove everything that is not from Him in your life and replace it all with what He wants for you, to serve better. Often, prayer can seem vain, unheard, and ineffective. Let us not fall into that lie. God’s plan is perfect, and when you are His, all things work together for the good of those who love Him. Sincere prayer does not necessarily come with flowers and earthly abundance as one might imagine. God wants above all to change your heart and realign your life to walk close to Him. So no matter what happens in your life after these deep and sincere prayers, accept your new conditions. God tests hearts so that you are not troubled by life’s vicissitudes. You must become so rooted in Him and His Word that even negative events must be perceived as blessings and protections. Do not put your trust in things you will not carry with you after death. Put your trust in God so that He uses your gifts, talents, resources, and faith for the advancement of His Kingdom on Earth before being reunited with Him after this life. We are called to be His representatives on Earth, to guide people to God through our light. Stop fighting your fears, vices, addictions, bad habits with your own strength. Draw near to God and see your life changed for the better. Pray for your loved ones and for those not yet in Christ, so their souls may be saved. The ultimate refuge is God. Illness, job loss, divorce, personal and global insecurities, lack of money, fatigue, exhaustion, suicidal thoughts… In short, all obstacles and burdens of life cannot erase God’s glory and love. He will never abandon you. Knowing that life here is temporary makes everything lighter. Paradise is being in God’s presence, without the suffering we experience now. Let us hasten the coming of Christ and the final judgment on evil. That is the hope of the world. When Christ lives in you, you are called to perform miracles like Him. “Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.” He said to His disciples. “And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.” (Romans 8:11) Respond to the call. Pray to God, read His Word, repent of your sins, start attending a church that teaches the Bible truthfully, gather with Christians, praise and love the Lord with all your heart, be intercessors, and let God guide you constantly in this adventure with Him. I recommend starting your Bible reading with the Gospels, the four first books of the New Testament: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, which share Christ’s life, teachings, death, and resurrection—the very foundation of the Good News. The Bible is not just another book; it is God speaking to you. Ask Him to enlighten you on His words to gain wisdom and discernment. This text is only a simple summary of the Christian faith and how the reliability of the evidence we have points to Jesus and His ultimate sacrifice, which one must fully believe in to be saved from eternal separation from God, the One to whom we owe life. It is ironic to see how some assume the beginning of the Church was established for power, control, and myth, when its first disciples endured suffering and death. Their reward was not earthly power but eternal glory. “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” (Matthew 28:19) Original text written by @david.unleashed on February 25, 2026