As I noted before, fear can lead to anxiety or awe, depending on how that fear is oriented and what its impulses are. The fear of the Lord that leads to wisdom is the fear which leads to awe – the fear growing out of a true knowledge of God and self. On the other hand, we are also told that true love casts out fear (1 John 4:18). Again, in this context, fear is not that which leads to awe but to punishment. This kind of fear is fostered in those of us who read Rom. 8:1, where we are told that there is now "no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus," but are unable to allow that truth to sink in. There is, again, too much guilt and shame corroding the foundation of our knowledge of God in Christ. We can often accept God as loving and God as forgiving, but fail to know the God who loves us and forgives us. True love casts out fear, because true love is not dependent upon the deservedness of the one loved, but the abundance of love in the lover. In Christ, we find the abundance of God’s love. In Christ, we find fear cast aside, because Christ did not die for those who were good, but in the midst of our sin and depravity Christ died for us.