His perfect love cast out fear!
1 John 4:12-19
12 No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us. 13 By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 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. The Consummation of Love 17 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. 18 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. 19 We love Him because He first loved us. The New King James Version
The dispensation of the Grace of God was given to Paul by revelation. Kept secret from the beginning but revealed to him by Christ that “all who believe in Him” would be saved. In His teachings we begin to understand the depth of God’s love for us. In faith in Jesus Christ we will have everlasting life in fellowship with Him. In Him all believers are fellow heirs as part of the Body of Christ. This mystery was given to Paul to preach among the Gentiles. The work of the Cross placed all the sins of the world on Him in Him it is finished. Because of His sacrifice all of us are offered this gift of grace from God.
Galatians 2:9 and when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that had been given to me, they gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. They desired only that we should remember the poor, the very thing which I also was eager to do.
Peter agreed to minister to the Jewish circumcised believers and Paul to minister to the uncircumcised Gentiles.
2 Peter 3:15 and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation—as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand,
At the end of his life Peter wanted them to remember that the long suffering of the Lord is salvation, and the mystery given to Paul, though hard for the Jew to understand, is the will of God for all who choose to believe in Jesus. Carla
No one has seen God in His full, manifest form. John argues that although no one has seen God, His character can be seen in believers who love as He does. In the old testament, figures like Abraham, Moses, and Isaiah had encounters with God, yet none involved witnessing God in His full glory—as He really is. John doesn’t consider those characters to have seen the fullness of God.
God’s Spirit not only resides in believers, but teaches them the truth concerning the saving work of the incarnate Christ. Savior of the world describes the purpose of Christ’s incarnation—to rescue humanity from sin. John wants his audience to understand that properly responding to Christ’s saving act requires affirmation of Christ’s existence in bodily form. By implication, the false teachers reject the basis of God’s plan of salvation by denying that Christ was the Son of God in the flesh. God resides in us through the work of God as Holy Spirit in the life of a believer. A person who is truly a Christian and part of the Christian community correctly identifies Jesus as the incarnate Son of God. Christians demonstrate their belief in Jesus by loving others, admitting sin, and letting God transform their life. These actions also define a person as a true child of God and a member of the believing community. God’s love is made perfect, or complete, among believers when they reflect God’s loving character in their lives. Love is not an abstract concept for John; it concerns the outworking of the believers’ faith in ordinary interactions with people. Believers can be confident on the basis of God’s love toward them; they do not have to fear His judgment. John further explains why believers can be confident of God’s love on the day of judgment. God’s wrath is reserved for those who unrepentantly dishonor others with their apathy. While believers may remain confident of their position on the day of judgment, they should also maintain serious reverence for God. God first loved us is demonstrated by offering salvation through Jesus. Faithlife Study Bible
By this looks forward to the evidence of His Spirit rather than back to the evidence of love for proof that we abide in Him, and He in us. Mutual abiding refers to the fellowship we have with God as a result of our salvation. The evidence that God abides in us and we in Him is the experience of the Holy Spirit dwelling in us. In the remainder of this passage John explains how a believer can know that the Spirit is working in his or her life. A sincere confession of belief is an indication that the confessor is saved. Abides in this context refers to salvation rather than the fellowship that results from salvation. To be a Christian, a person must believe that Jesus is the Son of God. Abides in love means the Christian lives within the sphere of God’s love. That love is both experienced and expressed through the Christian’s life. The mature expression of perfected love produces confidence as a Christian anticipates Jesus’ judgment of the world. A person who abides in love will not be ashamed when Jesus returns. A mature understanding of God’s love removes any fear of God’s judgment. The NKJV Study Bible
Jesus was equal to God, He was with God, and He was God (John 1:1). Yet while remaining fully God, He took on human flesh and served others, even performing the tasks of the lowliest servant, like washing feet (John 13:1-11). Then He suffered and died on the cross for sinners like you and me.
When we are tempted to think too highly of ourselves, let's remember Jesus' sacrifice for us and instead "do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than [o]urselves" (Philippians 2:3, CSB). First5
With one simple gesture of kindness, light is spilled.
And here’s the deal: when I am inundated with internal and external hubbub, I forget about the heart I can bring, with one small gesture, to this day.
The touch I can give to people around me who are tussling with bleakness.
The gift of welcome I can offer people who are left out and diminished.
The calling I have (to be Tikkun Olam, repairer of the world) to bring pardon and hope and love.
In the New Testament, Jesus was often in the midst. I love that phrase. So, when you "get in," get ready for the ride of your life. I am in touch with, and available to... Give, forgive, risk, fail, try, create, offer, feel, see, wonder, build-bridges, cry, laugh, play, grieve, mourn.
Fall-down, get-up-again, offer mercy, receive mercy, paint, write, see poetry in the clouds, lend a helping hand, hold a hand that needs it, and give in to the vulnerability of trusting another who pushes the wheelbarrow. Sabbath Moments
No comments:
Post a Comment