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I John 4: 18 (NIV)
There is no fear in love. But perfect
love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears
is not made perfect in love.
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| If it were a question of our own love, then every honest Christian would be continually in fear if he thought that his final acceptance depended on his own inward perfection in love.* |
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In First Corinthians, chapter 13, Paul defines love by
listing examples of what love is and what love is not. When John writes about
“perfect” love, is he adding another dimension to love? Or might we conclude
that there is no such thing as “imperfect love”? We call it love but if it is
selfish, jealous, neglectful, or abusive, is it really love?
In verse 16, John states that God is love. If we substitute God
for love in our passage, it looks
like this: There is no fear in God. But perfect God drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The
one who fears is not made perfect in God.
Now we start to understand what John is trying to tell us. We know that if we
are in God, we have no reason to fear punishment because God is – well . . .
love.
The world doesn’t fear God's punishment. But just because a person
doesn’t feel fearful doesn’t mean he
has nothing to fear. So while John’s words offer comfort and relief for
believers, those outside of God’s perfect love have an eternity to dread. If
only they knew . . . Maybe someone should tell them . . .
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| The enemy of fear is love; the way to put off fear, then, is to put on love.* |
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