Proverbs 8:13 – Perfecting Holiness:
Embracing the Fear of God for Spiritual Growth
(13) The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.
In II Corinthians, Paul stresses the need for believers to separate themselves from what defiles—evil. His concluding
instruction is that the fear of God is the means by which we accomplish this perfecting of holiness:
II Corinthians 6:14-18
14 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness?
and what communion hath light with darkness?
15 And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?
16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said*,
I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I
will receive you,
18 And will be* a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons* and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.
II Corinthians 7:1
1 Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit,
perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And
what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an
unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God
has said: “I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” Therefore
“Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you.”
‘I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters,’ says the LORD Almighty.” Therefore, having
these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness
in the fear of God.
We who believe in Christ’s name, who have received Him, have been given the right—the authority—to become children of
God.
John 1:12
12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
If we, as Paul instructs, separate ourselves from what is unclean, we will be His sons and daughters.
Children resemble their parents, and one way that we learn to resemble God is by loving the things that He loves and
hating the things that He hates. God hates those things that harm the life and liveliness of His current and future
children. As we grow in His image, we should also hate what is evil. That is one way that we fear and respect Him.
The more we fear and reverence the holiness of God, the more we grasp our own flaws and defilement. This, in turn,
causes us to hate the evil that we find within ourselves and to despise the elements of our nature
that would make us miserable or that would cause misery in others if they were allowed to continue forever.
Matthew 5:3-4, 6
3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
Yet, identifying those things is impossible without allowing the light of truth to shine into our lives. That light comes
through knowing God and Jesus Christ. Knowing Them helps us to develop the proper fear of God, and at the same time it
helps us to begin to see, by contrast, what things in us cause harm to life and liveliness.
