A healthy fear of God

“Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” Matthew 10:28
Our relationship with God is a balancing act, between fear of punishment for every little sin on one hand, and feeling like you can get away with anything because of God’s grace and love. We need to have a healthy fear of God – realising that He isn’t our ‘buddy’ and giving Him the respect He so rightfully deserves; yet not being fearful that at any moment our salvation may be pulled out from underneath us for falling into sin one time too many.
Yes, God is able to destroy men’s souls in hell, but if we are His children, this punishment for our sin has already been meted out. If we still have this fear, John tells us that we have not yet been made perfect in love (1 John 4:18). It’s like standing at a lookout spot at the base of a thundering waterfall. We can look at it in awe, sensing the great power of it; but we don’t need to be afraid of falling over the edge of it or being crushed by it, because we are in a safe place.
Consider what Peter and John said to the Sanhedrin when they were commanded not to preach the gospel and Christ raised from the dead: “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God. For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:19-20). We are to obey the authorities that God has established (Rom. 13:1), but when they require us to do something contrary to the Word of God, we are released from that obligation. We must obey God rather than man.