Law as the context for the formula 'the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom'

The context for understanding the great biblical formula 'the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom' is this: the distorted, twisted law of God used as a weapon by fallen angels and fallen man to accuse, shame, and coerce everybody into conforming to the demands of the world, the flesh, and the Devil.

Meaning, when you fear God alone you then don't fear man and the world and their demands they make on you, explicitly and implicitly.

This is why fearing God alone is such a shocking (and dangerous) act. Your family, your community, the fallen angels above will register their outrage, disapproval and ultimately their contempt for you when you do this.

The law of God is all the law there is. Positive law (man made law) is derivative of God's law commanded in the Bible. The act of making law(s) is derived from the existence of God's law itself. Man can make good and useful laws; he can also make laws that serve his fallen nature to Satanic degrees; but it's all derived from the existence of God's original law revealed in the Old and New Testaments.

The mechanism, or use and effect of law is the same whether it is God's pure law or it is man's or the Devil's impure law. It demands, it accuses, it coerces. It defines sin by its existence, and it enflames sin by its existence and its impure use.

The main point is law itself, whether God's pure law or that law twisted and distorted by fallen man and fallen angels, is a curse on humanity. It is a curse of the fall. It is a curse in its pure form because after the fall we no longer are able to follow God's law, thus it only condemns now. It is also a curse in all impure forms of it because it is used to enslave and coerce and accuse.

This universal medium of law is what we exist in. It's like existing in a black cloud. We can't escape it.

Then God tells us: the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. What does fear of the Lord mean, practically? It means when you fear God alone you no longer fear the law as it is perversely wielded by the world and the Devil to coerce, accuse, and shame, which frees you to pursue true wisdom. It ultimately means faith in Jesus Christ and his work on the cross. Because that is the only thing that frees us from that everpresent black cloud of the law described above. With faith in Jesus Christ and redemption from the curse of the law which we have in the blood of Christ who came to fulfill the law and pay the penalty of death sentenced on us by Adam's fall we are no longer in bondage to the law and to fallen man and fallen angels wielding that law in twisted, distorted ways as a means to suffering and death.

Then, what does the beginning of wisdom mean? It means the beginning of sanctification to the end of glorification.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. In the context of the law and the gospel.

What is new in all the above is seeing law as permiating all phenomena of existence, blanketing and smothering all interactions between God and man, angels and man, and man and man. All society from the enviable ideal of American liberty to the horror of totalitarian enslavement. The ideal of the American system of government which seeks to contain and put checks and balances on man's fallen nature and misuse of law to the totalitarian states which allow the free flow of evil through their leadership to their suffering prisoners.

This is a higher vision take on law, but necessary to see what law and gospel really is; to see how it effects all humanity of whatever belief (or non-belief) in whatever part of the world; to see its universal relevance to all humanity; to see its power over all; to see its everpresent effect in all of life; to truly see our situation (which understanding is all enhanced by honestly seeing it as well in human nature and in history).

When you walk into a room or outside you walk in a medium of the law; and when you fear God alone and not man or the world you are now a dangerous figure on the landscape of the world, no longer in bondage to that law. You are a king. A true king.