No Fear in Love [1 John 4:18]

1Jn 4:18 There is no fear in love; instead, perfect love drives out fear, because fear involves punishment. So the one who fears has not reached perfection in love.

Let’s first take a moment and examine what the “fear of God” is. From what I can find, there are three aspects of the fear of God:

The first is: Awe and reverence for who He is. This is that feeling of complete amazement that you get when you look over a field of flowers, knowing that God placed each one individually. It’s the realization you get when you look into the sky and see the vastness of space; knowing that the God who holds that in the palm of His hand, cares about you individually. It’s Laminin (http://youtube.com/watch?v=xg_ZVS6Kecw). It’s the fact that our God is the only God and in His awesomeness and His greatness, He is unfathomable.

The second is: The fear of His punishment. What makes us deserving of God’s punishment? Sin. If we have sinned, we no longer live up to God’s righteous standard and are deserving of His punishment. Matthew 25:46 tells us that the unrighteous will go away into eternal punishment. In Jude 1:7, we read that sinners will be cast into eternal fire. That is definitely something to fear! There is good news though! If you are a Christian you no longer have to fear that punishment. That punishment has been paid by Christ’s sacrificial death on the cross. That fear has been removed.

The third (this is the one I believe this verse deals with): The fear of His discipline. Proverbs 3:11-12 tells us that God will discipline the ones He loves. Just as a father disciplines his child for doing wrong, so does God. A child does not look forward to getting spanked by his father, in reality, he fears that. It is a painful experience.

It seems that this verse is talking about the fear of God’s discipline in the Christian’s life. When we do things contrary to God’s Word, it is sin. In order to get us back on track, God will correct that sin and as we said before, that is not pleasant. It is when we love God with our entire being, with everything we are we desire to grow more and more intimate with Him, that this fear is removed. No longer will we be caught in the fear of discipline because God will not have to discipline us. This is the perfection in love talked about. What areas do you need to change to reach “perfection in love?”

Aaron Taylor