1 John 4:18 NIV
[18] “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.”

I’ve thought long and hard about John’s statement. Why did he contrast love and fear? Why not love and hate? Why is our love for God imperfect because of fear? Why are we afraid of punishment?

Let’s go back to Jesus’ final words on the cross, according to John.

John 19:30 NIV
[30] “When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.”

Looking at Jesus’s words from a theological perspective, we could draw out a wealth of meaning from this one Greek word, “tetelestai”! However, when we view its meaning from the essential purpose for His death, we must conclude that Jesus meant, “Sin is finished.” He came to die in our place to pay the debt for our sin.

Which sin did He finish? Since the Bible states, more than once, that Jesus died “before the foundation of the world”, His death must be the payment for all sin from Adam’s first transgression until the end of time.

Revelation 13:8 NIV
[8] “All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the Lamb’s book of life, the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world.”

Does this mean that God dealt with the issue of sin before He created the world? Did God forgive all sin before He made Adam? God is outside of time, therefore all “time”, for Him, is now. The fact of Jesus’ death in history and its effects, span the whole of time. Therefore, He could forgive sin in the Old Covenant, pictured by animal sacrifices, because of Jesus’ death even though, from the human point of view, He was yet to die in time.

I know this is difficult for us to understand because we cannot think and experience outside of time. However, we must receive this truth by faith since it is God’s Word.

This brings me back to our Scripture. If Jesus’ death provides forgiveness for all sin for all time, we are called to trust in God’s perfect love no matter what and whenever stuff happens to us in this life. When we experience hardship, pain, or loss, we must learn to view these adversities through God’s love. This is not punishment. This is discipline. Why?

The writer to the Hebrews assures us that God is treating us as sons. Human fathers discipline their children to correct wrongdoing and train them to live responsibly, as an expression of their love. How much greater is God’s love for His children! He uses trials, suffering, and hardship to guide us towards holiness because, without holiness, we cannot have fellowship with Him, and we will not “see Him”.

Hebrews 12:9-11, 14 NIV
[9] “Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! [10] They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. [11] No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it…
[14] Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.”

If we still insist on thinking that God is punishing us for some or other sin we have committed now or in the past, we immediately cancel our faith in Jesus’s words, “It is finished.” We have denied the truth! We are believing a lie! Now, the fear of punishment, which is Satan’s lie, replaces our confidence in God’s love.

The only way we can become mature in our faith in God’s love is to cling to the truth that, even if we sin, God has made provision, forgiven our sin, cleansed us from sin’s pollution, and will always love and treat us as His sons and daughters.

Does this mean that any sin I may commit in the future has already been forgiven? Apparently, yes! Does this mean that sin doesn’t make any difference to my standing with God? Yes and no!

Yes! Sin affects my fellowship with the Father and with His children but, no, it does not alter my standing as His son or daughter.

1 John 1:5-7 NIV
[5] “This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. [6] If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. [7] But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.”

Again, it’s John who assures us that God has made provision to forgive and restore our fellowship with Him. Jesus is not only the sacrifice but also the Advocate who presents His blood to the Father as His solution for our sin.

1 John 2:1-2 NIV
[1] “My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. [2] He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.”

So…

1 John 1:9 NIV
[9]”If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

Confessing our sin doesn’t provide for forgiveness. Jesus did that on the cross. Confession restores fellowship with the Father and with our fellow believers.

Our love for God matures, when we trust His love for us, no matter what. Our thoughts, focused on God’s unfailing and unconditional love, drive out fear by replacing them with God’s love.

So, Paul was convinced, through his own experience that God’s love was infallible and impenetrable, no matter what.

Romans 8:31, 35, 37-39 NIV
[31] “What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?…
[35] Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?..
[37] No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. [38] For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, [39] neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”