Now let’s just slow down and think about this a minute.
The Bible says:
“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment…”
If you’re still afraid of God… afraid of punishment… afraid of what’s coming…
Love ain’t finished its work in you yet. Fear and punishment go together. People don’t fear someone who loves them well. They fear someone who might hurt them. So when John says fear has to do with punishment, he’s telling us fear comes from expecting pain, judgment, or rejection.
But perfect love kicks that fear clean out the door. So what happens to punishment? If fear comes from punishment, and perfect love removes fear, then punishment cannot be endless. God is not in the business of scaring people forever. He corrects, refines, and heals.1
Like a blacksmith’s fire, God’s fire makes something better—it does not destroy what He loves. If love is perfect, it does not stop until fear is gone.2
Plain truth: If someone still fears God, love is not finished. And God always finishes what He starts.
But wait a minute – Now somebody may ask, …
“But doesn’t the Bible tell us to fear God?” Yes, it does. But not every use of the word fear means the same thing. “The fear of the Lord” in Proverbs is the beginning of wisdom—that is, the awakening of reverence, humility, and moral seriousness before a holy God. But 1 John 4:18 is talking about fear that has to do with punishment. That kind of fear is not the end goal of God’s work. Reverence may begin the journey, but perfect love finishes it. God may first shake a man awake, but He does not mean to scare him forever. He means to bring him into trust, sonship, peace, and love. For example, a small child may initially obey a good father because he fears discipline. But as the relationship deepens, the child obeys more and more out of love, trust, and delight. The father has not become less holy or less authoritative. The relationship has become more complete.
Romans 8:15 says believers have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but the Spirit of adoption. We move from slavery and dread into sonship and intimacy. Likewise, 2 Timothy 1:7 says God has not given us a spirit of fear. Hebrews 12:6 says God disciplines those He loves, which means correction is real, but it is parental and restorative, not endless abandonment.
Another way to say it:
Yes, the Bible says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Beginning!
That means it starts there, not that it ends there. A man may first come to God shook up, convicted, and scared of judgment. But if he keeps walking with God, that fear ought to give way to trust. Why? Because 1 John 4:18 says fear has to do with punishment, and perfect love casts that kind of fear out. So reverence stays, but terror goes. Respect stays, but dread goes. God may wake a man up with fear, but He don’t aim to keep him there forever. He aims to bring him home.
Bring him home full of love, real eternal divine love.
Enjoy a down-to-earth country song about the Perfect Love of Jesus:
Footnotes
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