No Fear in Love
September 24, 2022
1 John 4:18 – “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.”
The book of 1John was written to a group of churches where “false prophets” were denying the incarnation of Jesus. So this first book was written to describe the love and fellowship we have with God. There were various tests written so that you could figure out if your communion with God is genuine. It also talks about the differences in the world and the Children of God.
Today’s text starts out by telling us that there is no fear in love. Fear, guilt and shame cannot co-exist alongside faith, hope and love. He’s telling us that fear and love contradict each other, and that our love and trust in God cannot live alongside a destructive fear because love drives the fear out. Someone who is fearful has not reached the mature love that God desires in His children.
The Bible tells us that if we love one another, then God remains in us, and the love of God will complete us. So if you are filled with God’s love, and doing and acting like God expects us to, then there is no fear of His punishment. Jesus took the punishment that we deserve when He died on the cross so that we don’t need to fear God’s wrath. He declared us righteous when we were saved.
When we give our life to the Lord, we have God’s promise that He will be with us through every little detail of our lives, every single circumstance, so we should not fear. He loves us with an everlasting love that we can’t even truly fathom.
When we sin, and ask for them to be forgiven, we should have no fear of life or death. If we don’t ask for forgiveness, our guilt and shame causes us to fear so much that at times we become physically sick with it! But when we ask for forgiveness, our hearts will overflow with God’s love and we don’t need to fear His wrath.
So, when we love each other, I mean really love each other, not just say the words, then the love of God reaches its goal of action in your life. You will experience a deep and unshakeable confidence in God. Fear will be pushed aside as we embrace the warmth of God’s love and see that love working in us.
If you are fearful about something, ask for the power of God’s love to stop those fears. He’ll help you out.