What comes to mind when you hear the phrase, “There is no fear in love”? Honestly, I think about how scary loving can be. To love is to be vulnerable and open to hurt and rejection. This statement comes directly from 1 John and it is an incredible truth that God invites us to embrace through His Word.
John was writing the letter we now know as 1 John to early believers who were fearful of God’s judgment and punishment. They understood what Jesus accomplished, but they could not help but allow fear to creep in that called into question if they would really be found faultless before God on the day of judgment. It is this fear of punishment that John is specifically addressing when he writes the truth we will be digging into this week. Check out the broader context here:
“Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 17 By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. 19 We love because he first loved us.” 1 John 4:15-19
John is not giving us a secret formula to eliminate all the fears in our life but points to the truth of what God’s love has made possible. 1 John 4:10 says, “In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” The finished work of Jesus on the cross made it possible for all our sins past, present, and future to be forgiven. The love of God in action through Jesus removes the believer’s fear of punishment because we are made faultless before God. This love is then “perfected” or “completed” when we love others with the love we have received from God. The goal of God’s love was not to end with us but to flow through us to those around us. There is no fear in love because perfect love gives us confidence that we have been made faultless.
Reflection:
- What fear does perfect love cast out?
- How does a right understanding of God’s love for you impact your fears today?
- What does perfect (completed) love look like in our lives?
Pray through the truth of 1 John 5:20
“And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.”
