The Terror of the Lord as Persuasive to Holy Obedience

Paul's declaration in 2 Corinthians 5:11 anchors Christian persuasion in a paradox: "Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men." The gospel presents both supreme clemency and ultimate severity—a necessary interweaving for humanity's spiritual benefit.

This terror operates through four dimensions. First, the phobos (fear) of preparation for judgment itself. Second, the terror of Christ's actual appearance as Judge. Third, the terror inherent in His judicial proceedings. Fourth, the terror of the final sentence pronounced upon all souls.

Yet Paul expresses absolute assurance: "Knowing therefore...we persuade." This knowledge rests not upon speculation but upon demonstrated evidence. The apostle identifies the efficacy of this argument: among all Christian motives to reformation of heart and life, none moves the general conscience more powerfully than the certainty of judgment.

Bishop Stillingfleet observed that if this argument fails to persuade, no other argument can reasonably be expected to succeed. The condition of those unmoved by judgment's reality is spiritually desperate.

God's threatened punishment is no empty threat. It secures the salutary effects of His moral government upon subjects. Essential to any moral authority is the credible enforcement of law through announced consequences. At Mount Sinai, Moses himself "exceedingly feared and quaked," for the fear of the Lord was meant to establish righteous conduct: "That His fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not."