For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind, II Timothy 1:7. The spirit of fear is not the fear of God. The fear of God is healthy, clean and the beginning of wisdom. The spirit of fear is an unreasonable fear that separates men from God. And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself, Genesis 3:10. What Adam did there was not spiritually healthy. It was not clean and it did not start him on the road to wisdom. Likewise with Sarah when she lied to God; Then Sarah denied, saying, I laughed not; for she was afraid. And he said, Nay; but thou didst laugh , Genesis 18:15. People with a fear of God do not lie to him.
The spirit of fear has been in the sons of men since the fall of Adam. It is one of the seven spirits of carnal man. It is a spirit with an unreasonable fear of God through mistrust and ignorance. The Apostle Paul is rebuking Timothy over the unreasonable fears that have surfaced through the rumors and accusations surrounding Paul. He notes three spiritual antidotes that God gives for the spirit of fear.
He gives the spirit of power. For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power, I Corinthians 4:20. For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake, I Thessalonians 1:5. True salvation is accompanied by an inward power given by God. He gives the spirit of love, true salvation knows and understands the love of God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love, I John 4:8. He gives the spirit of a sound mind. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace, Romans 8:6.
So great is the draw of the spirit of fear in carnal man that God in his mercy gave it a trifold remedy. It is this fear to which John refers when he says, There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love, I John 4:18. If you meet someone who insists that he does not need the fear of God because of I John 4:18, (and there are a lot of them out there), give them a little hug. They've been brought up playing t-ball in league where no one keeps score and everyone gets a cupcake for participating. This blog is for the big boys.
Just as the carnal man is composed of seven spirits, so is the new man which God created in righteousness and true holiness, Ephesian 4:24. Those seven spirits are the person's own personal spirit along with the spirit of power, the spirit of love, the spirit of a sound mind (as listed in II Timothy 1:7); along with the spirit of meekness, I Corinthians 4:21; the spirit of faith, II Corinthians 4:13; and the spirit of holiness Romans 1:4.
We will see that there are 14 titles of Spirit with a capital "S". Seven of those will gender to the Father and seven will gender to the Holy Ghost. We will see that there are seven different titles of spirit with a small "s". They gender to Jehovah God, the Lord Jesus Christ. They are all the same Seven Spirits of God, but each bear seven different titles depending on which member of the trinity is being represented in the passage.
For now though we will be continuing with the seven spirits of carnal man.