Ignorance and the Fear of the Lord

Then Christian addressed thus himself to his fellow:

Christian: Well, come, my good Hopeful, I perceive that you and I must walk by ourselves again.

So I saw in my dream that they went on apace before, and Ignorance he came hobbling after. Then said Christian to his companion, It pities me much for this poor man, it will certainly go ill with him at last.

Hopeful: Alas! there are abundance in our town in his condition, whole families, yea, whole streets, and that of pilgrims too; and if there be so many in our parts, how many, think you, must there be in the place where he was born?

Christian: Indeed the Word says, “He has blinded their eyes, lest they should see”, &c. But now we are by ourselves, what do you think of such men? Have they at no time, think you, convictions of sin, and so consequently fears that their state is dangerous?

Hopeful: Nay, do you answer that question yourself, for you are the elder man.

Christian: Then I say, sometimes (as I think) they may; but they, being naturally ignorant, understand not that such convictions tend to their good; and therefore they do desperately seek to stifle them, and presumptuously continue to flatter themselves in the way of their own hearts.

Hopeful: I do believe, as you say, that fear tends much to men’s good, and to make them right, at their beginning to go on pilgrimage.

Christian: Without all doubt it does, if it be right; for so says the Word, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”

Hopeful: How will you describe right fear?

Christian: True or right fear is discovered by three things:

  1. By its rise; it is caused by saving convictions for sin.
  2. It drives the soul to lay fast hold of Christ for salvation.
  3. It begets and continues in the soul a great reverence of God, his Word, and ways, keeping it tender, and making it afraid to turn from them, to the right hand or to the left, to anything that may dishonor God, break its peace, grieve the Spirit, or cause the enemy to speak reproachfully.

Hopeful: Well said; I believe you have said the truth. Are we now almost got past the Enchanted Ground?

Christian: Why, are you weary of this discourse?

Hopeful: No, verily, but that I would know where we are.

Christian: We have not now above two miles further to go thereon. But let us return to our matter. Now the ignorant know not that such convictions as tend to put them in fear are for their good, and therefore they seek to stifle them.

Hopeful: How do they seek to stifle them?

Christian:

  1. They think that those fears are wrought by the devil, (though indeed they are wrought of God); and, thinking so, they resist them as things that directly tend to their overthrow.
  2. They also think that these fears tend to the spoiling of their faith, when, alas, for them, poor men that they are, they have none at all! and therefore they harden their hearts against them.
  3. They presume they ought not to fear; and, therefore, in despite of them, wax presumptuously confident.
  4. They see that those fears tend to take away from them their pitiful old self-holiness, and therefore they resist them with all their might.

Hopeful: I know something of this myself; for, before I knew myself, it was so with me.

Christian and Hopeful

Once again Christian and Hopeful continue the journey, leaving Ignorance to walk behind. They have challenged Ignorance concerning his views of himself, God, how God saves sinners, and how sinners are able to respond to the gospel. As Christian and Hopeful continue their conversation, they lament Ignorance’s spiritual blindness and identify the root of his error. Ignorance fails to grasp the seriousness of his condition because he does not truly fear the Lord.

Though Ignorance desires to go to heaven (the Celestial City) and has embarked on a pilgrimage, he remains blinded by sin and doesn’t sense that his soul is in danger. Christian compares Ignorance to unbelieving Israel who had fallen under God’s judgment.

Therefore they could not believe, because Isaiah said again:
“He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts,
Lest they should see with their eyes,
Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn,
So that I should heal them.”
(John 12:39–40)

“Make the heart of this people dull,
And their ears heavy,
And shut their eyes;
Lest they see with their eyes,
And hear with their ears,
And understand with their heart,
And return and be healed.”
(Isaiah 6:10)

Ignorance trusts his heart and believes that he is the source of the good he sees in himself. His wrong assessment causes him to undervalue grace and overvalue his piety. His religious devotion feeds pride in himself rather than praise to God. His pride causes him to fear men (how others see him and what others say about him) rather than God. He is taken aback when Christian and Hopeful cast doubt on his testimony. He takes God for granted and assumes that God is pleased to have him along on the journey.

It is pride that makes us susceptible to worldly fear and immune to godly fear. Worldly fear intimidates and weakens us. It arises from threatening or overwhelming circumstances. It causes us to tremble before men and forget God. It instills anxiety and dread. But godly fear helps and strengthens us. Christian explains how to discern true godly fear:

  1. It arises from conviction of sin, compels us to flee from sin, and helps us see our great need of a Savior.
  2. It removes all confidence in ourselves and drives us to Christ as our only hope.
  3. It instills reverence of God in the soul. Reverence is a spiritual posture of worship that keeps us mindful of God’s presence with us. It is an awareness of God that humbly acknowledges and submits to Him as Creator and Lord of all.

“True or right fear” fears God and not men.

And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell (Matthew 10:28).

It leads to blessing—

Blessed is every one who fears the Lord,
Who walks in His ways.
(Psalm 128:1)

And to confidence and life—

In the fear of the Lord there is strong confidence,
And His children will have a place of refuge.
The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life,
To turn one away from the snares of death.
(Proverbs 14:26–27).

True fear is the beginning of wisdom.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,
But fools despise wisdom and instruction.
(Proverbs 1:7)

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
(Proverbs 9:10)

And to man He said,
“Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom,
And to depart from evil is understanding.”
(Job 28:28)

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;
A good understanding have all those who do His commandments.
His praise endures forever.
(Psalm 111:10)

Even kings and judges are called to be wise and fear the Lord.

Now therefore, be wise, O kings;
Be instructed, you judges of the earth.
Serve the Lord with fear,
And rejoice with trembling.
(Psalm 2:10–11)

But Ignorance does not understand the difference between worldly fear and godly fear. He equates all fear as weakness and a stain on his devotion. He is a false believer who dabbles in religion but shuns conviction. He seeks to stifle fear, even godly fear that could eternally benefit his soul. Christian explains how the ignorant stifle their fears:

  1. They believe all fear is bad and wrongly attribute it to the work of the devil. They see virtue in suppressing fear because they equate it with resisting the devil.
  2. They equate faith with confidence and assurance and see fear as undermining their faith.
  3. They believe that they should “fear not” and so confidently put down their fears.
  4. They want others to see them as spiritually strong and pious. They believe fear makes them weak and less sure of themselves, so they stifle fear in an effort to feel holy inwardly and appear holy outwardly.

We live in a day when many have lost the fear of the Lord. People don’t live from the vantage point that there is a Sovereign God who has created all things and who will one day judge the world. They champion confidence and self-esteem as strength. They disparage humility and fear as weakness. Though they may be religious and acknowledge God’s existence, they try to set their own pace and make their own rules. They imagine their own ideas of truth and justice and hold God in contempt for not making the world the way they believe it should be.

We must not make the same mistake as Ignorance. Godly fear is not weakness. It is wisdom and strength. It anchors us in God and His provision for us in Christ. It leads us to true justice and righteousness found in Christ and His Kingdom. Godly fear is indeed a true treasure.

The Lord is exalted, for He dwells on high;
He has filled Zion with justice and righteousness.
Wisdom and knowledge will be the stability of your times,
And the strength of salvation;
The fear of the Lord is His treasure.
(Isaiah 33:5–6)

A Guide to John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress
See TOC for more posts from this commentary

The text for The Pilgrim’s Progress and images used are public domain
Notes and Commentary ©2019 Ken Puls
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the New King James Version (NKJV) ©1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.

Ignorance and Divine Calling

Hopeful: Ask him if ever he had Christ revealed to him from heaven.

Ignorance: What! you are a man for revelations! I believe that what both you, and all the rest of you, say about that matter, is but the fruit of distracted brains.

Hopeful: Why, man! Christ is so hid in God from the natural apprehensions of the flesh, that he cannot by any man be savingly known, unless God the Father reveals him to them.

Ignorance: That is your faith, but not mine; yet mine, I doubt not, is as good as yours, though I have not in my head so many whimsies as you.

Christian: Give me leave to put in a word. You ought not so slightly to speak of this matter; for this I will boldly affirm, even as my good companion hath done, that no man can know Jesus Christ but by the revelation of the Father; yea, and faith too, by which the soul lays hold upon Christ, if it be right, must be wrought by the exceeding greatness of his mighty power; the working of which faith, I perceive, poor Ignorance, you are ignorant of. Be awakened, then, see your own wretchedness, and fly to the Lord Jesus; and by his righteousness, which is the righteousness of God, for he himself is God, you shall be delivered from condemnation.

Ignorance: You go so fast, I cannot keep pace with you. Do you go on before; I must stay a while behind.

Then they said:

Well, Ignorance, wilt thou yet foolish be,
To slight good counsel, ten times given thee?
And if thou yet refuse it, thou shalt know,
Ere long, the evil of thy doing so.
Remember, man, in time, stoop, do not fear;
Good counsel taken well, saves: therefore hear.
But if thou yet shalt slight it, thou wilt be
The loser, (Ignorance), I’ll warrant thee.

Christian and Hopeful speak with Ignorance

Ignorance was gravely mistaken in his understanding of justification—how he can be made right with God. But his error extends further to divine calling—how he is able to respond to the gospel and come to Christ in the first place.

For Ignorance, it is no wonder that he is a pilgrim on his way to the Celestial City, for he fails to see the true wonder and amazement of salvation.

Ignorance believes himself to be a man of intellect and reason, capable of setting his own course and making his own choices in regard to following and serving Christ. For him religion is a personal choice—a choice he was wise enough to make.

Hopeful encourages Christian to ask Ignorance if God had ever opened his heart so he could understand the gospel and know Christ savingly. Ignorance thinks such a notion is whimsical and “the fruit of distracted brains.” How can these pilgrims question his devotion or doubt his salvation? See how far he was walked in the Way! He believes in God and wants to go to heaven. He is a religious man who acknowledges the goodness of Christ. He is trying to follow Christ and live according to God’s Law. What need does he have for “revelations”? He has already made it his goal to one day reach the Celestial City.

Ignorance’s error is once again rooted in his underestimation of his sin. He believes he is basically good and has never felt the weight of his sin. He denies that he is blinded by sin or in bondage to sin. His sin, as he compares it to others, is light, so he is perfectly capable of making amends. His religious devotion, blessed by Christ, more than makes up for any wrongs he has done.

Though Ignorance is confident that his faith is “as good as” Hopeful’s, Scripture teaches otherwise. Apart from God’s grace, we are “dead in trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1). We would remain ensnared “in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind” and be under God’s condemnation as “children of wrath” (Ephesians 2:3), “BUT” for “God, who is rich in mercy” (Ephesians 2:4).

God must open the heart if we are to heed His Word (Acts 16:14). God must give light if we are to escape darkness.

For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 4:6).

But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9).

Only God can draw us to Himself and grant us salvation in Christ.

All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out” (John 6:37).

No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day (John 6:44).

And He said, “Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father” (John 6:65).

We need the power of God’s Spirit if we are to come to Christ and submit to Him as Lord.

Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:3).

We need the power of God’s Spirit to open the eyes of our understanding. Paul prays in Ephesians 1:

that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power (Ephesians 1:17–19).

It is the gracious power of God that calls us, draws us, and saves us. It is not our works—including our own good sense, intellect, or reason. It is all of God—

who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began (2 Timothy 1:9).

God alone can save us and He alone receives the glory.

For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence (1 Corinthians 1:26–29).

Apart from the grace of God, we will continue to walk in ignorance.

This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart (Ephesians 4:17–18).

Christian tells Ignorance plainly that “no man can know Jesus Christ but by the revelation of the Father.” Only God can give sight to the blind, light to those in darkness, and life to those who were once “dead in trespasses and sins.” Yet Christian then calls Ignorance to repent and come to Christ: “Be awakened, then, see your own wretchedness, and fly to the Lord Jesus; and by his righteousness, which is the righteousness of God, for he himself is God, you shall be delivered from condemnation.” Here Christian echoes Matthew 11 where Jesus prays in verses 25–27:

 “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight. All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him” (Matthew 11:25–27).

Jesus affirms in His prayer that the truth of the gospel is hidden to some and revealed to others. God must open the eyes of our understanding if we are to find rest in Christ. But He follows His prayer with a consoling call to repentance and faith.

Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:28–30).

Here we see the glorious union of two essential truths: the sovereignty of God (He must give us understanding) and the responsibility of man (we must come to Christ). In Christian’s counsel to Ignorance, Bunyan points us to both truths. We must give God all the glory, for He alone saves. And we must ever plead with men to repent and believe in Christ, “for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

A Guide to John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress
See TOC for more posts from this commentary

The text for The Pilgrim’s Progress and images used are public domain
Notes and Commentary ©2019 Ken Puls
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the New King James Version (NKJV) ©1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.

Ignorance and Justification

Ignorance: Do you think that I am such a fool as to think God can see no further than I? or, that I would come to God in the best of my performances?

Christian: Why, how do you think in this matter?

Ignorance: Why, to be short, I think I must believe in Christ for justification.

Christian: How! Do you think you must believe in Christ, when you do not see your need of him! You neither see your original nor actual infirmities; but have such an opinion of yourself, and of what you do, as plainly renders you to be one that did never see a necessity of Christ’s personal righteousness to justify you before God. How, then, do you say, I believe in Christ?

Ignorance: I believe well enough for all that.

Christian: How do you believe?

Ignorance: I believe that Christ died for sinners, and that I shall be justified before God from the curse, through His gracious acceptance of my obedience to His law. Or thus, Christ makes my duties, that are religious, acceptable to His Father, by virtue of His merits; and so shall I be justified.

Christian: Let me give an answer to this confession of your faith:

  1. You believe with a fantastical faith; for this faith is nowhere described in the Word.
  2. You believe with a false faith; because it takes justification from the personal righteousness of Christ, and applies it to your own.
  3. This faith does not make Christ a justifier of your person, but of your actions; and of your person for your actions’ sake, which is false.
  4. Therefore, this faith is deceitful, even such as will leave you under wrath, in the day of God Almighty; for true justifying faith puts the soul, as sensible of its condition by the law, upon flying for refuge unto Christ’s righteousness, which righteousness of His is not an act of grace, by which He makes for justification, your obedience accepted with God; but His personal obedience to the law, in doing and suffering for us what that required at our hands; this righteousness, I say, true faith accepts; under the skirt of which, the soul being shrouded, and by it presented as spotless before God, it is accepted, and acquit from condemnation.

Ignorance: What! would you have us trust to what Christ, in His own person, has done without us? This conceit would loosen the reins of our lust, and tolerate us to live as we list; for what matter how we live, if we may be justified by Christ’s personal righteousness from all, when we believe it?

Christian: Ignorance is thy name, and as your name is, so you are; even this your answer demonstrates what I say. You are ignorant of what justifying righteousness is, and as ignorant how to secure your soul, through the faith of it, from the heavy wrath of God. Yea, you also are ignorant of the true effects of saving faith in this righteousness of Christ, which is, to bow and win over the heart to God in Christ, to love His name, His word, ways, and people, and not as you ignorantly imagine.

Christian Instructs Ignorance

As Christian continues to press Ignorance with the truth of God’s Word, Ignorance responds with what appears to be a sound answer. Ignorance denies that his confidence is in himself and that he can come to God on the basis of his own works, even in his “best performances.” He claims: “I must believe in Christ for justification.” Christian, however, won’t allow him to get by with using the language of salvation while missing the truth of salvation. Ignorance speaks of believing in Christ, but he doesn’t grasp his need for believing in Christ. He sees value in Christ’s righteousness, but he doesn’t see Christ’s righteousness as his only hope.

Ignorance rightly believes that Christ died on the cross for sinners, but he thinks that his justification rests in his own obedience to God’s Law, made acceptable to the Father through the merits of Christ’s righteousness.

Ignorance’s error is rooted in a false assumption. He has grossly underestimated the vastness and vileness of sin. And he has greatly overvalued his own righteousness in comparison. He believes he is basically a good person. He sees his righteousness as humanly weak, but not filthy (Isaiah 54:6) and wretched (Romans 7:24). He trusts that God will graciously infuse the divine goodness and perfections of Christ with his own sincere efforts of religious devotion and, by virtue of Christ’s merit now fortifying his own, accept him as righteous.

Christian rightly concludes that Ignorance has a “false” and “fantastical” faith.

  1. What Ignorance believes is not in accord with the revelation of Scripture, but contrived from the logic of religion.
  2. Though acknowledging Christ for divine assistance, Ignorance believes he will be justified by God’s gracious acceptance of his own obedience to the Law.
  3. He is coming not as a wretched, condemned sinner looking to Christ to justify his person, but rather as a sincere, devout follower looking to Christ to justify his religious duties.
  4. Therefore, his faith is deceitful and dangerous because it leaves him under God’s wrath and condemnation, while convincing him that all is well.

God’s Word is clear. We cannot be justified—declared righteous before God—by our own works.

knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified (Galatians 2:16).

Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin (Romans 3:19–20).

If we are to be justified, it can only be by a gift of God’s grace through the redemption provided for us in Christ. We cannot stand before God in our sinfulness. We cannot reach God through our own meager righteousness. We need the righteousness that is found in Christ alone for all who believe in Him by faith!

But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus (Romans 3:21–24).

God does not justify us by our works made acceptable in Christ, but by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.

But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness, just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works: “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, And whose sins are covered; Blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin” (Romans 4:5–8).

Our justification rests solely upon the person and work of Christ. God takes the guilt of our sin and places it on (or imputes it to) Christ, so that Christ is treated as we deserve to be treated. We deserve the wrath and condemnation of God; we deserve death. Though Christ was (and still is) perfect and holy, He died for us on the cross, paying our debt and bearing God’s wrath for us that we might live. This is God’s wondrous mercy! But there is more! God takes the perfect righteousness of Christ and places it on (or imputes it to) us, so that we are treated as Christ deserves to be treated—as sons and daughters. Though we are sinners (and continue to struggle with sin even as Christians) we are regarded as perfect and holy. We are clothed in Christ’s righteousness and stand acceptable before God, not because of what we have done, but because of what Christ has done. Because of Christ, we are purified, cleansed, forgiven, accepted, and made right with God. Christ’s perfect life of obedience and sacrificial death on the cross, purchased this for us. He is the only hope for sinners to be rescued from sin and the dire consequences of sin.

Ignorance argues that if God accepts us as righteous solely on the basis of Christ’s obedience, then sin would be given free reign. We would presume upon God, live however we want, and plunge headlong into sin. Paul anticipated this line of reasoning in Romans:

What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? (Romans 6:1–2)

Ignorance again has based his conclusion on a false assumption. He thinks that free grace from God would embolden sinners rather than restrain them. But true saving grace not only justifies, it also sanctifies. In Christ we have not only forgiveness of sin, but power to turn away from sin (Romans 1:16–17, 1 Corinthians 1:18).God not only declares us righteous in Christ, He gives us a heart that loves righteousness and desires to pursue righteousness. He takes away our love of sinning and more and more causes us to “love His name, His word, ways, and people.” By God’s grace we can live for Christ and not in sin. We can walk by faith and not walk in ignorance.

A Guide to John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress
See TOC for more posts from this commentary

The text for The Pilgrim’s Progress and images used are public domain
Notes and Commentary ©2019 Ken Puls
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the New King James Version (NKJV) ©1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.