Perfect love casts out fear

1 John 4 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. ² By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; ³ and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world. ⁴ You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. ⁵ They are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them. ⁶ We are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

⁷ Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. ⁸ The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. ⁹ By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. ¹⁰ In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. ¹¹ Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. ¹² No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us. ¹³ By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.¹⁴ We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.

¹⁵ Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. ¹⁶ We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. ¹⁷ By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in 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, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. ¹⁹ We love, because He first loved us.²⁰ If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. ²¹ And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also.

In today’s text it says: The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.   God is love, is a statement we hear all the time. Love is part of God’s character; part of who He is. But, what does it mean that He is love? Do we really understand what the love of God and the God of love is? In the English language love has many meanings or applications. We can love our families, our spouses and our children. We can love our job, our house and our car. We can love a movie, a TV show or a song. We can love pizza or chocolate. With so many things we love, do we truly understand the love of God? The text says:   By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.   So God’s love is manifested in us, not in how we feel toward Him or toward others, but rather in that He sent Jesus to pay for our sins. Jesus says:  “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) Romans 5:8 says:  God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.    So the love of God is not a warm and fuzzy feeling. It is not an emotion or something that is self pleasing. The love of God is demonstrated in the sacrifice of Christ for our sins. It is given, demonstrated, not so that we could continue as we were, but rather, the love of God was manifested in us so that we might live through Him.  Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 

So, how do we love one another in a way that manifests the love of God? Like God, our love should be demonstrated not in that we embrace their sin, but rather in a way that causes them to see Christ who died for our sins. John says:  There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. We love, because He first loved us.  Perfect love casts out fear because only the love of God, demonstrated in the cross is perfect love. Fear is the opposite of faith. Fear is believing more in the things we don’t want than in the things we do want. Having faith, believing in God’s perfect love, demonstrated in Christ, casts out and overcomes all fear. The love that the world has and demonstrates cannot cast out fear. In fact imperfect love actually increases fear because it includes and involves self satisfaction, jealousy and even greed. The world says that we show love through tolerance, but in truth we tolerate things we do not love or even like. We tolerate the things we despise and don’t understand. We also fear the things we despise and don’t understand. Only perfect love, the love of God casts out fear.

The text says:  Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world. You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. They are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God. Any love that is not rooted in the fact and foundation and in the confession that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh, to die for our sins, is not true and perfect love. Imperfect love cannot cast our fear, rather it increases fear.  Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God.  

John closes saying:  We love, because He first loved us. If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also.  It is important that we take note that John speaks again today about the love that we have for a brother; a fellow believer. The commandment is simple. If we love God we are to love our fellow believers. After all the same Holy Spirit dwells in us all and the same Christ paid for our sins. The love we are to have, to manifest, to demonstrate to the world is the same as the love God demonstrated to us. We love, because He first loved us. First and foremost our love for the world should be like the love of God who:  so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.  We should love them with the demonstration of the perfect love of God, that all fear may be cast out, that they might have faith and believe.

Thank You heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit for Your perfect love. May it be that I truly love because You first loved me and may I allow Your love and Your life to be manifested in and through me. Amen.