My Favorite Verses - Vol V (Feb 17 to Jun 17)

1 John 4:18 … No fear in LOVE
(05/16/2017)
“There is no fear in Love –
and perfect Love casts our fear”
~ unknown (1 John 4:18)
I think if I were forced to pick just a handful of verses from the entire Bible to
share with folks (Christian & non-Christian alike), this verse would undoubtedly
make that very short list … Indeed, for anyone sincerely interested in coming to a
fuller comprehension of the deeper meanings of the Scriptures (and certainly for all
of those wishing to properly & fully worship the same) 1 John 4:18 is truly a crucial
verse to know & understand … And this is so for the following reasons: First, it
is so because 1 John 4:18 (like the over-arching Way of Christ taught & lived by Jesus
himself in the Gospels) essentially mandates not only that we love others with our
thoughts (i.e. our gratitude & our prayers for others‟ Peace & Joy), our words (i.e. our
apologies for self & our encouragements of others), and our emotions (i.e. our empathy
for those in pain and our revelry for those in celebration), but that we first & foremost
have the courage to dramatically & courageously LOVE others fully (i.e. humbly &
earnestly) with our actions (a la Matthew 18:3-4 & John 13:15-17 & Matthew 7:21-14
& Matthew 24:12-14 et al) … Second, remember as well that God is composed of
“perfect Love” (the Greek agape here – meaning unconditional regard & affection, and
the same Greek agape we find in Matthew 5:43-48), and that such Love knows no fear
whatsoever. As such, we cannot be called to ever "fear God" (as many traditional
worshippers & preachers incorrectly advocate) but rather are to humbly “revere” Him
– as the actual Old Testament Hebrew often advocates we do (a la the Hebrew yare
in Exodus 34:30, Leviticus 19:14, Leviticus 19:32, Leviticus 25:17, Leviticus 25:36,
Psalm 33:8, Ecclesiastes 3:14, Ecclesiastes 8:12-13 et al – Strong‟s #3372) … Third,
the latter half of this verse is crucial as well (the half that states “for fear has to do
with punishment, and thus whomever fears [and thus whomever punishes] has not
reached perfection in Love”) – specifically because it strongly implies that there is
no Hell in the Universe of a God of perfect Love; seeing as how Hell is quite
clearly a punishment, and that a God of perfect Love can express neither fear nor
the punishment that ensues therefrom ... Yes, it is true that conservative Christians
tend to respond by saying that it is the willing sinner who somehow chooses to
burn in Hell for eternity – that it is not God‟s fault that sinners decide to suffer
forever, and yet this argument is obviously ludicrous; if for no other reason than
A) it presumes that sinners are objectively & fairly aware of that eternal
consequence (which they are most certainly not), and B) that sinners thereby
purposefully choose to burn forever rather than kiss the celestial bottom of their
Divine Despot (which only the very few clinically diagnosed masochists – and the even
fewer unassailable Saints -- in human history would ever do).
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