One of the clearest signs that a soul has grown self-righteous, drifted from God, or quietly fallen away is this: it no longer trembles at the word of God.
The holy fear—the inward trembling wrought by the Spirit in hearts freshly washed in the blood of the Lamb—has vanished. What remains is familiarity without awe, language without weight, doctrine without fire.
There are others who have been raised in church—often in very conservative churches—who outwardly adhere to the Sermon on the Mount with strict seriousness, yet have never once trembled before the word of God. They have never seen their own wretchedness because they have never truly known God as He is. They were reared inside a dead religion, one that prides itself on being unlike the world and superior to the worldly church. Their assurance rests not in the fear of the LORD, but in comparison. They remain confident because they still believe the Sermon on the Mount must be kept—and indeed, it must. But obedience divorced from awe easily becomes a pedestal for pride rather than a posture of humility.
Yet Scripture will not allow us such illusions. Even Job, whom God Himself called blameless, trembled when he beheld a manifestation of the Almighty. Even Isaiah cried out in terror when he saw the LORD of hosts in His glory. Neither man congratulated himself on his moral seriousness. Neither stood tall in self-confidence. Both collapsed under the weight of divine holiness.
For when God is truly seen, man is truly revealed.
And the first fruit of that revelation is not self-assurance—but trembling.
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“Reason dictates that persons who are truly noble and who love wisdom will honor and love only what is true. They will refuse to follow traditional viewpoints if those viewpoints are worthless...Instead, a person who genuinely loves truth must choose to do and speak what is true, even if he is threatened with death...I have not come to flatter you by this written petition, nor to impress you by my words. I have come to simply beg that you do not pass judgment until you have made an accurate and thorough investigation. Your investigation must be free of prejudice, hearsay, and any desire to please the superstitious crowds. As for us, we are convinced that you can inflict no lasting evil on us. We can only do it to ourselves by proving to be wicked people. You can kill us—but you cannot harm us.” From Justin Martyr's first apology 150 A.D. Martyred A.D. 160