PERFECT LOVE CAST OUT FEAR

                                                                  1 John 4:16-19

Morning Meditations

The following is an answer I gave to one of our faithful readers of the Morning Meditations concerning the question of the perfect love that casts out fear.

She writes:

The following was in a book called "A pocketful of hope" by Mary C. Crowley.

“Human love is a response to divine love. It is not a product of the human heart, although we might think it is when we love our children, sweethearts, or others. The origin of this love is God. No matter how much we distort it or misapply it, the fountainhead of human love is God.”

Where is the verse for this? She doesn’t give one. And there isn’t one. The only kind of logic that could be used to make such a statement is that God created man and love was a part of the man God created. That would also be true of faith. Lost men have faith. They exercise it all the time. Human beings love dogs, cats, snakes and people who love them. The love we have on the human level has been corrupted by the fall and it operates strictly on a human level. God has nothing to do with it any more than He has with any other thing that has to do with the flesh. God had declared perpetual war against Amalek. Exo 17:16 says, “For he said, because the LORD hath sworn that the LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.” Amalek is a type of the flesh. Anything that springs out of the flesh as its source is corrupt and cannot be dedicated to the Lord.

The love of God in man is not man’s love enhanced by the new birth. Our new birth is not a new patch on an old garment. The love we have as believers is described in Romans 5:5: “And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.”

Human love is ok for lost people. It is all they have. But it is always conditional. I love you because you love me.

We have a new kind of love when we are Christians. It is God’s quality of love put in us (our new man) by the Holy Spirit. This love is unconditional. At this point I need to say a lot of Christians operate in the Christian life on human love and not divine love. When we walk after the flesh this is all we have to operate on. God will not help His children walk after the flesh. When we are operating on God’s love we do things for people even when they don’t appreciate it. They may never say thank you. A saved wife may love her unsaved husband with the love of Christ. He may not appreciate it or even thank her. She does it anyhow. But at this point he is coming in touch with God not his wife. If there is any hope for him, this may be the thing that will bring him to Christ. She is not loving her husband because he loves her. She is loving her husband because she loves the Lord and it is a commitment she has made to the Lord.

Back to the perfect love that casts all fear. This has not been an easy verse for me to explain. For instance. You are saved. You are a believer. You have the love of God in you (Rom 5:5). Why do those old fears surface? Is the presence of fear an indication that this verse is not working in your life?

Lets look at 1John 4:16-19 “And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. We love him, because he first loved us.”

This epistle was written to believers for their joy and assurance of salvation; 1:4 and 5:13.

John says “And we have known” which means that “we came to know in the past and we still know it of a certainty (perfect active indicative verb) and “believed” which means that “we came to believe in the past and as a result remain believers now (Also a perfect active indicative verb) the love that God “hath” which means “continues to have at the present time (present active indicative verb) to us. The people John is talking to are not having problems believing that God loves them. If one were to get to doubting God’s love, at least for the time of the doubt, it would upset the apple cart.

The words “Herein is our love made perfect” must be taken in the light of the preceding statement: “and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.” This is positional truth and is true of every Christian. We can rest in this truth. The words “herein is our love made perfect” is through our realization of His love for us and our position in Him. It is realizing who you are in Christ.

Note the statement: “as He is so are we in this world.” The verb is is a present tense. It is not how He was or how He will be but how He is right now in His glorified state. It says “As He is so are (present tense) we in this world. God sees us perfected in Christ right now while we are in this world. It is very humbling. But I am already as perfect as He is. Not because of any holiness on my part but because of His imputed righteousness.

What can death do to alter this? Absolutely nothing. What can Satan do to alter this? Absolutely nothing. I cannot lose. I am safe. I am protected. The worse possible thing that can happen to me cannot alter or separate me from the love of God.

The words “perfect love casteth out fear” means that fear must flee before perfect love (mature love that is based on our acceptance of who we are in Christ). The word “casteth” means “to throw or let go of a thing without caring where it falls.” It is a present active indicative verb. This means that this explains what perfect love will do for us now. The fact that fear can be cast out assumes its presence. There is nothing wrong with a Christian who has fear. This is telling us how to get rid of fear.

How do I deal with fear. First, go over the truth that God loves me unconditionally. My love for Him has nothing to do with His love for me. He loves me regardless. My perfect love is grounded in my realization of His love for me. He did something for me because He loved me. His Son died for me. When I trusted Him as my personal Saviour, He put me in Christ and Christ in me. Now He says, “As He is so are we in this world.” As I consider this truth the Holy Spirit begins to work in me a gratitude and a love for God and all of a sudden fear is cast out. It can no longer live in the same body with me. God loves me and I love God is the combination that fear can’t handle.

This love also gives me boldness in the day of judgment (v 17). What’s left to fear. Hallelujah!!!

May the Lord bless these words to our hearts..

In Christ

Earl White