Perfect Love Casting out Fear

1Jo 4:18 - Show Context
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.

This verse I have been meditating on, the reason is that if we see a god of perfect love then fear should be no problem is say evangelism or at work sharing your faith.
Why do all christians have a problem with fear.
I have been thinking if perfect love is present in our churches then there will be no relationship problems.
What is perfect love? Do you see any demonstrations of perfect love among believers?

This verse is glibly quoted, but what about the present reality. Many People losing there jobs and houses, do we trust in God enough.

I have alot of fears at the moment fear of getting married, fear of getting fired because I am not taking a prepaid mastercard. Fear of not working, Fear of what the world is going to be like in the future?

Ro 5:8 - Show Context
But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Many great preachers have had to stand up to there society at risk of death namely William Tyndale and even the young men in Daniel and many others, do we have that perfect love in our life, a love of our saviour to stand up.

Daniel 3
1 Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof six cubits: he set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon. 2 Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent to gather together the princes, the governors, and the captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counsellors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, to come to the dedication of the image which Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up. 3 Then the princes, the governors, and captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counsellors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, were gathered together unto the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up; and they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. 4 Then an herald cried aloud, F20 To you it is commanded, O people, nations, and languages, 5 That at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, F21 and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath set up: 6 And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. 7 Therefore at that time, when all the people heard the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and all kinds of musick, all the people, the nations, and the languages, fell down and worshipped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.

8 Wherefore at that time certain Chaldeans came near, and accused the Jews. 9 They spake and said to the king Nebuchadnezzar, O king, live for ever. 10 Thou, O king, hast made a decree, that every man that shall hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, shall fall down and worship the golden image: 11 And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth, that he should be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. 12 There are certain Jews whom thou hast set over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; these men, O king, have F22 not regarded thee: they serve not thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. 13 Then Nebuchadnezzar in his rage and fury commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Then they brought these men before the king. 14 Nebuchadnezzar spake and said unto them, Is it true, F23 O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, do not ye serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up? 15 Now if ye be ready that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the image which I have made; well: but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands? 16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. 17 If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. 18 But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.

19 Then was Nebuchadnezzar full F24 of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego: therefore he spake, and commanded that they should heat the furnace one seven times more than it was wont to be heated. 20 And he commanded the most F25 mighty men that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. 21 Then these men were bound in their coats, F26 their hosen, and their hats, and their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. 22 Therefore because the king's commandment F27 was urgent, and the furnace exceeding hot, the flame of the fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. 23 And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. 24 Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonied, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counsellors, F28 Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king. 25 He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God. 26 Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth F29 of the burning fiery furnace, and spake, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, ye servants of the most high God, come forth, and come hither. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, came forth of the midst of the fire. 27 And the princes, governors, and captains, and the king's counsellors, being gathered together, saw these men, upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was an hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them.

28 Then Nebuchadnezzar spake, and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king's word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God. 29 Therefore I make F30 a decree, That every people, nation, and language, which speak any thing amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill: because there is no other God that can deliver after this sort. 30 Then the king promoted F31 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, in the province of Babylon.

These men had a love of God which let them stnad up to there idolatry in there day. Do we have enough courage to stand up to a king or a ruler with the lord jesus help at risk of death, do we have that perfect love?
Job was a man in the bible who overcame all his fears because he had his whole world fall flat but yet he trusted God! he became fearless.
Jesus help me have your perfect love to overcome all my fears

thank you for posting this. this very thing has tormented me this day.
and thank you to the replier,
and thank You, o Lord God, may it be to us as YOU have said. please don't let us listen to the lies of our flesh or our enemy.

Dear Deltadom,

You are right to turn to the Word during times of fear, doubt and anxiety. God is faithful. He is our Father. He will provide for our needs when we place our trust in Him.

"Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." Matt6:31-34

Remember, even the darkness is light to our God!

Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee. Ps139:12

Grace and peace. :-)

Psalm 39 is one in which I have found comfort.

and Isaiah 41:10 Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

and best of all, to me, Jesus spoke these words:
Mark 5:36 . . . . Be not afraid, only believe

Luke 8:50 . . . .Fear not: believe only.

Kind regards,
white stone

Dear deltadom,

After my post, I was not satisfied with all I had given you. Not that the scriptures did not fit but that something was missing. The definition of 'fear' as John was using it in this verse was not clear to me, so opening Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Bible I found:
There is no fear in love (v. 18); so far as love prevails, fear ceases. [b]We must here distinguish, I judge, between fear and being afraid[/b]; or, in this case, [b]between the fear of God and being afraid of him[/b]. The fear of God is often mentioned and commanded as the substance of religion (1 Pet. 2:17; Rev. 14:7); and so it imports the high regard and veneration we have for God and his authority and government. Such fear is constant with love, yea, with perfect love, as being in the angels themselves. [b]But then there is a being afraid of God, which arises from a sense of guilt[/b], and a view of his vindictive perfections; in the view of them, God is represented as a consuming fire; and [b]so fear here may be rendered dread; There is no dread in love[/b]. Love considers its object as good and excellent, and therefore amiable, and worthy to be beloved. Love considers God as most eminently good, and most eminently loving us in Christ, and so puts off dread, and puts on joy in him; and, as love grows, joy grows too; so that perfect love casteth out fear or dread. [b]Those who perfectly love God are, from his nature, and counsel, and covenant, perfectly assured of his love, and consequently are perfectly free from any dismal dreadful suspicions of his punitive power and justice, as armed against them; they well know that God loves them, and they thereupon triumph in his love[/b]. That perfect love casteth out fear the apostle thus sensibly argues: that which casteth out torment casteth out fear or dread.

This cleared it up for me. With the understanding of this scripture as I read it, the fear John is speaking of is dread of God's wrath. Of course, the more we can fill our hearts with His perfect love the more everyday fears will be cast out and made unimportant. Hope this helps,
white stone

deltadom wrote:

These men had a love of God which let them stnad up to there idolatry in there day. Do we have enough courage to stand up to a king or a ruler with the lord jesus help at risk of death, do we have that perfect love?

Job was a man in the bible who overcame all his fears because he had his whole world fall flat but yet he trusted God! he became fearless.
Jesus help me have your perfect love to overcome all my fears

God over the last few years has been talking to me about sanctification. Know you might ask what has sanctifcation got to do with perfect love. A lot, a real lot Wesley talks about Christian perfection know through my studies I have came to the understanding that Sanctification, Christain perfection is the name of what Paul calls Perfect Love.

Someone who has heart that has perfect love, loves God with all his heart and loves people like they love themselves. As we know that that are the two greatest commandments Mat 22:37-40.

Paul in 1 Cor 12:31 says he will show us a more excellent way, the excellent way this way is the way of Love.

“Love suffers long”—it drives away all impatience.

“Love is kind”—it leaves room for no unkindness.

“Love envies not”—all jealousy is banished.

“Love vaunteth not itself”— boasting and self-assertion disappear.

“Is not puffed-up”—pride finds no place in the heart.

“Does not behave itself unseemly” ----- folly goes.

“Seeks not its own”—“self” is dead—selfishness will be unknown.

“Is not provoked”—anger and wrath will not be seen.

“Takes no account of evil”— brooding over so-called “wrongs” will be no more. Malice and all uncharitableness are not found in the heart.

“Bears all things”— complaining will never be heard.

“Hopes all things”—despair, anxiety, despondency go.

“LOVE NEVER FAILS.” 1 Cor 13:1-10

No wonder Paul adds, “When that which is PERFECT is come” What is it that is “Perfect?” why, just the love of God—shed abroad in our hearts.

Perfect love casts out fear but it also casts out a whole procession of sins as seen above.

The Great Men of God have stood up in the there generation knew of this more excellent way the way of Love.

How is the way of Love found, God brings you onto the excellent way by testing by trails. Look at Jobs life he goes through all the testing and trails then in Job 42:5 Job declares that in the past I had heard by the hearing of the ear, my but know my eyes see you. We know Job had his heart purified because of Matt 5:8 that the pure in heart shall see God. So during the testing Job opened up his heart up to God in a new way that allowed God to purifiy it.

Sanctifcation causes us to have a pure heart, a pure heart walks in the more excellent way (the way of love) against which there is no law Gal 5:22. Which then takes us into Romans 7 and 8 but I am not going there today.

The men that stood up in past genarations walked the more excellent way. They stood up because they loved God, but they also loved the people of there generation and laid down there lives not because of the law but because of love.

Let us open out heart to God as we approach this time of testing and trial and let the Holy Spirit purify our hearts Acts 15:8-9 and find the more excellent way so we can stand in his generation as Christian soldiers and march into the war that is raging in this genearation.