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The Two Fears: Tremble Before God Alone, by Chris Poblete
Endorsed by Russell Moore, Peter Jones, Thaddeus Williams, Jared Oliphint, and more.
Most Christians will agree that we ought to love our God. But what about fearing God? The Bible says that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 9:10), yet a broad survey of modern evangelicalism reveals that the fear of God is hardly regarded as such anymore. Many Christians seem to wrongly assume that the gospel of grace trumps the fear of the Lord. Yet it is only the God of the gospel who is truly worthy of our reverential fear. The purpose of this book is to equip Christians with a healthy view of fearing God and to illustrate how it reconciles with the gospel of God’s grace to sinners.
Author
Chris Poblete serves Jesus as lead pastor of King’s Cross Church in Rancho Santa Margarita, California. He is a co-founder of The Gospel Colaition’s Orange County chapter and is pursuing a masters of divinity at Gateway Seminary.
Endorsements
“An importantly countercultural book, moving us beyond a homeboy God we could fist-bump to a holy God we can worship.”
—Dr. Thaddeus Williams
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“I don’t know about you, but most of the things I grapple with in ministry, and in my own life, are summed up in two issues. We are too scared. And we aren’t scared enough. This book by Chris Poblete points the way to crucify our fear of man and to rightly order our fear of God. Reading this book will prompt you to seek in your own life the biblical tension between ‘fear not’ and ‘fear God.’”
—Russell D. Moore, Dean, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
“In this practical and very readable book, Chris Poblete describes a side of our culture—the absence of fear. ‘Where have the God-fearers gone?’ he asks. He shows how both the absence of true fear and the presence of ‘unholy [false] fear’ stem from an absence of a knowledge of the awesome God of the Bible, and that, in meeting him, we discover the real dimensions of creational existence and the wonderful benefits of living in fear and deep respect before Him, freed from the ‘[false] fear of men.’”
—Peter Jones, PhD, Executive Director, TruthXchange; Scholar-in-Residence and Adjunct Professor, Westminster Seminary in California
“Our lives can be guided by what we fear and Chris Poblete wants us to fear the Lord! He unpacks for us, through the lens of God’s revealed character and the gospel, that fearing the Lord is not some cheap cliché, but a blood-bought gift for His people that leads to repentance, thankfulness, adoration and worship.”
—Darren Carlson, President and Founder, Training Leaders International
“A.W. Pink lamented that ‘the God of the twentieth century … commands the respect of no really thoughtful man … The God of many a present-day pulpit is an object of pity rather than awe-inspiring fear.’ What Pink said of the 20th century rings true in the 21st century where downsized deities and consumer-friendly ‘Christs’ are a dime a dozen. Chris Poblete has written an importantly countercultural book, moving us beyond a homeboy God we could fist-bump to a holy God we can worship. The Two Fears helps us recover a biblical fear of God and all the awe, repentance, and freedom from self-centered fears that go with it. An awesome resource!”
—Dr. Thaddeus Williams, professor, Biola University; author, Love, Freedom, and Evil: Does Authentic Love Require Free Will?
“Those who find themselves struggling to relate to God and man in a way that is balanced and biblical will find an excellent guide in The Two Fears by Chris Poblete. This simple and direct book confronts and redirects our misplaced fear of man, reminding us of truths that instill a fear of God that is both biblical and life-affirming.”
—Richard H. Clark, co-founder and Editor-in-chief, Christ and Pop Culture
“Readers will be equally challenged and blessed as they read The Two Fears and heed Chris Poblete’s call to embrace a holy fear of God—one that doesn’t cause us to cower in terror, but empowers us to move forward in Christ’s mission, entranced by the beauty and wonder of the cross of Christ.”
—Aaron Armstrong, author, Awaiting a Savior and Contend
“In this excellent and easy to read book, Chris Poblete tackles a topic that is often overlooked in contemporary Christian theology. As he examines an unhealthy fear of man and the fear of God, he leads his readers straight into the throne room of the One who is sovereign in and over all things—the One who is wisdom from God—the Lord Jesus Christ. Read this book, but beware—rather than you examining it, the Word of God will examine you and encourage you to consider that the God of the Bible is far more majestic and glorious than you ever dared to imagine.”
—Dave Jenkins, Director, Servants of Grace Ministries
“Chris Poblete is an artist and his book, The Two Fears, will take you on an engaging, picturesque journey through the orchard of fearing God. Along this path of wisdom, he will linger long enough for you to pluck its fruit and savor the richness of its gospel flavor, leading you to worship God as you forsake the lesser enticements of this world. By God’s grace, you will be freed from unholy fear and its fruits, and instead, enabled to embrace a lifestyle of faith and a habit of God-fearing worship: generosity instead of self-entitlement, humility instead of arrogance, reverence rather than indifference, dependence rather than doubt, obedience instead of revolt, and faith instead of faithlessness. The clarity and sobriety of The Two Fears will show you how to enjoy God as you magnify Christ and walk by the power of his Spirit. I commend this book to you: it will fuel your worship and empower your discipleship.”
—Gabe Tribbett, Director of Life Education and Leadership Development, Christ’s Covenant Church, Winona Lake, Indiana
“The writer of Hebrews teaches us that ‘It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God’ (Hebrews 10:31). The writer of Proverbs states that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge (Proverbs 1:7; 9:10). Poblete not only stirs us up to this truth, but teaches us what it means to fear God, that we stand in awe of God by hearing and heeding his Word in Scripture, and that the fear of the Lord will set us free. A person who learns to fear the Lord need fear nothing else, for though God’s wrath is fearful, his mercy is awing as well. I hope you will hear Chris out, and that his book will teach us to both tremble and rejoice in the majesty of our God.”
—Brad Williams, pastor, New Covenant Baptist Church, contributor, Christ and Pop Culture
“This timely book enters into a church context where ‘God-fearing’ is out of vogue. Combining biblical passages, theological categories, pastoral wisdom, and his personal story, Poblete has given us a needed reminder of how important it is to be God-fearers if we seek to know God and live for him.”
—Jared Oliphint, Regional Coordinator, Westminster Theological Seminary; Contributor, Reformed Forum
Blog Review –
“A modern, theologically solid, pastoral, and easily accessible work I will be recommending to everyone”
The “fear of God” is a subject that always raises good questions, but unfortunately leaves many confused. My favorite treatment of the doctrine has always been John Bunyan’s Treatise on the Fear of God, but it’s not something I feel comfortable handing out to everyone. It can be overwhelming to work through.
This is why I am so thankful to God for Chris Poblete and his new book,_ The Two Fears: Tremble Before God Alone_. Calling readers to maintain a holy fear of God while cautioning against an unholy fear Chris offers a modern, theologically solid, pastoral, and easily accessible work I will be recommending to everyone–Christians and non-Christians.
“Holy fear compels us to run to God as our only hope. Unholy fear drives us away from God and toward whatever false savior seems close at hand” (page 64)
Read this book and you will understand what it means to fear God and why it matters.
Our God holds the power to save sinners, to reverse death, to destroy the bonds of Satan and sin. He is the mighty Savior and great Redeemer who can regenerate a heart, reform it from the inside out, and keep it for all eternity.
Do you know this God? Do you know the power he has over you? Do you acknowledge–give credence to–his power? His majesty? His splendor? His being?
This is godly fear. It is the fear of the Lord (page 16).
His familiarity with the classics on the subject come through in this small book, and helps to establish it as an excellent compliment to the good works that have preceded it.
You need this book, and you need to share it with others.
Joe Thorn, JOETHORN.NET
Blog Review –
“Practical, easy to read, but very deep at the same time.”
There has been one aspect of faith that has always confused me. That is the concept of the fear of God. I have always struggled with what that really means and what that looks like in real life. It has always been an abstract thought and complex issue for me. I get loving God and revering Him, but fearing Him has not been as easy for me.
Now I have understood fearing man. I was a scrawny kid all through school and for awhile I dealt with my share of being picked on and made fun of, that is until the first day of fifth grade when I befriended one of the strongest guys in my class. Maybe that is why this whole fear God thing has been such a difficulty for me. I know I should not fear Him the same way I feared my elementary school tormentors.
Perhaps you have struggled with this concept as well. If so I have some great news for you. Read this book by Chris Poblete. In this book the author starts by discussing the nature of fear and its impact on our life. Through continuing this discussion to explore the nature of God and how a Holy fear of God frees us and empowers us to rid ourselves of those unholy fears.
This book is practical, easy to read, but very deep at the same time. I encourage you to read it.
I received this book in ebook form from the publisher, Cruciform, for the purpose of review with no requirement to write a positive review.
Todd Gragg, PastorTodd78
Blog Review –
“Not a dry-as-bone book, but enriching and practical.”
Everyone fears, the question is who or what do we fear? Jesus puts it explicitly when he says “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28). And this is what _The Two Fears_ seeks to do.
First, it explains what fear is, “To fear something is to give credence to its power over you” which is I think a better explanation of fear as compared to how Christians normally explains that fear of God is not like your fear of spiders. This definition works well in both kind of fears.
After defining it, it then moves to explain why we must fear God, mainly explaining about the characteristics of God. Most importantly, His Otherness (set apart-ness), i.e. His Holiness. After explaining who God is, Poblete then explains what God does (or will do), namely judge all sinners.
Which then moves to the next motivation of our fear as Christians. We fear God not because of punishment, but because we are saved by the Son, we fear out of a grateful heart. This is what Poblete calls Holy Fear. He then moves on to explain what benefits we as Christians can have as we cultivate such holy fear.
Next, he explains the unholy fear, which is directly opposite of holy fear. The consequences of unholy fear is then examined. I personally thought that this chapter was the most well written since it really can show the heart of a person who shows unholy fear in his life.
Two more examples of unholy fear is then expounded, first the fear of man, and then the fear of situation. The fear of situation and the following chapter after that was also well written and shows close connection between the unholy fear, and the God whom we should have holy fear for. Poblete correctly points out that both Christians and non-Christians will face situations that may have cause for fear, the only difference is that as Christians our focus is not on the situation, our focus is on the God who brings us in, and through the situation, all the way.
The last chapter is a heralding call to the church, to fear God together as a congregation.
This is a good book with points adeptly explained and well illustrated, very good for those who need a introduction to this topic and even for those who already have some knowledge about the topic. This is not a dry-as-bone book, but enriching and practical.
Chris Ho, in a 4-star review on Amazon