There is no fear in love;
There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. (1 John 4:18)
As the Apostle of love, John speaks a lot about love; all of his letters are simply saturated with it. He reveals the very essence of love and how love is shown and manifested.
The love he speaks of is love AGAPE - the love of God. The love of God was revealed to us in that He gave His Son for us. The nature of God's essence - love AGAPE - came down from heaven in His Son and was expressed in grace. This grace was not only in salvation, but in the fact that through His love, in Jesus Christ, we abide in the Father and the Father abides in us; it is the grace of communion with the divine essence through love AGAPE.
The love of God is the grace of transformation into His image, because love AGAPE is His essence, it is He Himself. In those who do not have Love AGAPE there is no essence of God, there are none of His manifestations, and as a result transformation does not occur: And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him. (1 John 4:16).
To abide in love means to live a life where God expresses Himself in that one through His love. This condition causes love to reach perfection in that person, meaning that it manifests itself in that person in a perfect way: Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. (1 John 4:17). In complete surrender to God, it is possible for one to achieve the perfection of God's love, when God has all of a person and is able to manifest Himself in them, in the fullness of His will and essence. This is what John says: “…as He is, so are we in this world.” It is only possible for one to have boldness on the day of judgment when the Spirit of God testifies with one’s spirit that one is acting in this world as He is, or living in this world as He is, which is living the life of His love. If God is in us and we are in God, then the Holy Spirit gives courage without fear, waiting with expectation to meet with Him and for the day of judgment: There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. (1 John 4:18). When the love of God in us can be perfected, we attain within ourselves perfection in love. One cannot achieve perfection outside of the Perfect God. When we attain His love in us as He laid hold of us with His love, then we will attain the perfection of love: Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. (Philippians 3:12). In perfect love there is no fear of judgment, just as there is no fear of judgment for those in whom God is and who are in God. The presence of AGAPE casts out the fear of judgment from a person: Love has been perfected among us in this: 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 casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. (1 John 4:17-18).
Unless one gives themselves completely to God, so much so that God's love begins to control them, so that their life becomes a manifestation of God's love, then there can be no perfect love of God abiding in that person. Consequently, there will be no witness of the Holy Spirit that love has reached perfection within that person, or that the person lives and acts in this world as God would: Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. (1 John 4:17). There will be dissatisfaction within one’s conscience from the unfulfilled obligation and a feeling of fear of His judgment. If one does not receive the love of God and does not live in such a way that love has reached perfection, can one have boldness in the day of judgment? “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.” (1 John 4:18). We see, then, that the fear of judgment is absent in a believer if one attains perfection in love.
There is another reason, however, for a lack of fear in some, which is foolishness. This is when a person who calls themselves a believer lives carelessly, not thinking about the meaning of their life and not looking for the will of the One who bestowed it. Self-confidence (one having confidence only in oneself) is blindness and an eclipse of the mind. In this case, a person lives without that fear which is the beginning of wisdom and would lead them to the knowledge of the true word of God. The absence of this fear in one who does not have the presence of AGAPE is the presence of foolishness.
However, one should not confuse the fear of a believer who has not fulfilled one’s destiny with other fears that are present in a person’s life.
The fear of judgment, about which John speaks quite specifically in the previous verses, has nothing to do with the fear that is present in human nature and which was placed into mankind by God as an instinct for self-preservation. The presence of fear in the first man is mentioned in Genesis when God warns Adam not to eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God, addressing Adam, speaks precisely to the
fear within him as to one of the elements of the human mind: “... but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (Gen.2:17). Here the Lord addressed the fear present in the mind of man. It is not a fear of God nor a fear of the devil, but a fear for self-preservation. Human curiosity overcame the fear of self-preservation, as often happens in our lives, but this led to the death that God had warned about. The presence of this fear helps a person not to commit dangerous or deadly acts, it helps one to think about eternity, helps to keep one from the evil of this world. The absence of such fear is also a sign of foolishness, or demon possession, when demons throw a person into fire or water and the person does not feel fear when death approaches.
The fear in one’s spirit should not be mistaken for fears of the soul and the flesh. Apostle Paul always lived in the fear of the Lord, which is called wisdom, and it was not an indication that he had not been made perfect in love, since he did not live in fear of judgment – he was living in the fear of the Lord. The feelings associated with this fear always arise from love, creating an unwillingness to lose the close relationship with the Beloved, a fear of upsetting Him with one's behaviour, disobedience or non-fulfilment of His will. Such fear helps one to constantly watch over oneself and constantly seek the Lord and His will. However, there were moments in the life of Paul when his life was in danger and the fears of his soul were present, as would be in any normal person. Paul himself tells the Corinthians about one these situations: “For indeed, when we came to Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were troubled on every side. Outside were conflicts, inside were fears.” (2 Corinthians 7:5).
A human being is made up of a body, soul and spirit. The Bible refers to the body and soul of a person as the outer man, and the spirit of a person as the inner man. One can simultaneously have satisfaction in the inner man and sorrow with bitterness in the outer man. Paul speaks of this division of the outer and the inner man: “Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.” (2 Corinthians 4:16). When Paul described his presence in Macedonia, he spoke of the condition of his outward man. The battles around him and the fears within his soul did not give rest to his outer man, although inwardly he was abiding in God's peace.
It is more than naive to think that the early Christians did not experience fear during the times of persecution, which are described in the Acts of the Apostles: “Now Saul was consenting to his death. At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him. As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison.” (Acts 8: 1-3), “…and asked letters from him [high priest] to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.” (Acts 9:2). It is further described that it was difficult for the Christians of that time to accept Paul's repentance and believe that he had changed, as they were so frightened by his fierce persecution: “And when Saul had come to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples; but they were all afraid of him, and did not believe that he was a disciple.” (Acts 9:26). Is it possible that the first Christians did not experience fear when they were made a spectacle of in the arena in Rome and were given over to torture and death? The outer man will not be afraid only when he has lost his mind.
The fear of the soul always arises in a person at the sight of an approaching danger and it is a gift from God, given to man for the self-preservation of the body and the life of the body. It has nothing to do with the fear of the Lord and the fear that the spirit of man can experience. However, in Christ, in faith to God and in closeness with Him, the outer man’s soul-fear is not controlled by reason but by the spiritual mind. This is why Paul says that they are fools for Christ's sake, meaning that by the understanding of this world our actions can look like foolishness. Jesus calls mankind to live in the spirit, that is, He calls us to victory over the outer man, with all its associated fears.
There is a fear that is greater than the fear of death, this is the fear of God and His judgment: “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Mt. 10:28). God has the power to cast both soul and body to hell or to give both the body and the soul to Satan for torture. The fear of God is greater than the fears of the outer man and greater than the fear of the death of the flesh. We see two instances in Paul's ministry when, under the authority of the Holy Spirit, he delivered the body and soul of a person to Satan in order to save the spirit of the sinner. The first case was a member of the Corinthian church who committed fornication with his father's wife: “For I indeed, as absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged (as though I were present) him who has so done this deed. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together, along with my spirit, with the
power of our Lord Jesus Christ, deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.” (1 Corinthians 5:3-5). The second case with the persecutors of Paul, during his ministry: “…of whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I delivered to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme.” (1 Tim. 1:20), “Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm. May the Lord repay him according to his works. You also must beware of him, for he has greatly resisted our words.” (2 Tim. 4:14-15). In order for the person to be saved from the hands of Satan, in both cases, the requirement was repentance which is the fear of God – no other fear could have saved them from the hands of Satan.
One who has the fear of God already lives in victory over other fears that are present in one’s flesh, in one’s soul, or that arise from the attack of dark forces: “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world - our faith.” (1 John 5:4). Faith in Jesus Christ leads us to the knowledge of love and the desire to be perfected in it. Without faith there can be no fear of the Lord. Therefore, the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord, which is born from faith and conquers the fear of the world.
Pastor Taysa Kotov
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