Tag Archives: punishment

LIVING WITHOUT FEAR

May 8, 2025Christian Lifeno fear, perfect love, punishmentLuella Campbell

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.”

In this world as it is now, is the possibility of living without fear only a pipe-dream? Is it possible to face each new day with such confidence that fear has NO place in our responses to the stuff that happens?

I recently read the story of Anna to an elderly friend in a nearby frail care facility. Anna’s short life, encapsulated in a masterfully crafted book called, “Mr God, This is Anna”, by Fynn, is the true story of a five-year-old runaway child, discovered late at night in a street in pre-war London. Her benefactor, a teenage boy, took her to his home from where, for three years, he learned to travel with her on her journeys of discovery in the magical world of people, creatures, words, and numbers.

Anna was an adventurer. Her goal was Mr God. Every question, every experiment, every discovery, every conclusion led her straight to the heart of “Mr God” who was both her pride and her joy.

Anna’s relationship with Mr God was simple. As Fynn, the author, described… whatever Anna’s circumstances, she hurled herself at Mr God in a free fall of absolute trust, into His arms. Her constant refrain was these three little words, “I ain’t afraid!”

Anna’s short life came to an abrupt end when she fell from a tree in an attempt to rescue a stranded kitten. She was skewered on an iron railing and, without the aid of antibiotics, succumbed to infection. Her last murmured words were, “Fynn, I bet Mr God lets me into heaven for this!”

I believe that this is what real life, the abundant life, is all about…living without fear. We can never escape life’s unpredictability because we will always be a part of this world with all its evils but…what we do with what happens will make all the difference between an adventure and a nightmare.

Fear! Fear stalks everywhere. Its ghostly fingers clutch at our hearts around every dark corner but… fear is a phantom, a “what if” that invades our hearts, clouds our minds, and paralyses our responses if we allow its clammy fingers to squeeze out faith.

Why is fear such a persistent intrusion into our thoughts? The Apostle John said, “Fear has to do with punishment.” Is it possible that fear gets its energy from the subtle idea that every bad experience is God’s way of cracking the whip at us for every real or perceived wrongdoing, and every good experience God’s way of manipulating us with some unknown but sinister intention?

Unlike Anna, we humans are patholigically suspicious of “Mr God”. From where does this suspicion come? From our implacable enemy, the devil, of course. Fear is one of the most potent weapons in his arsenal. Whatever happens, both good and bad, fear intrudes to colour our perceptions of God. If good happens, is it real, how long will it last, why is God being good to me? If bad things happen, what have I done to displease Him?

The Bible is crowded with instructions not to fear. “Do not fear!” or its equivalent, occurs about 330 times in God’s Word, once for almost every day of the year. So, every day should begin with the resolution, “I will not be afraid.”

With this determination, “What if…” can undergo a change. “What if…” becomes “Even if…” when we choose to change our perspective. What can make the change?

God’s love for us, His reassuring antidote to fear, is written indelibly on every page of the Bible. Love and fear can never live together. One cancels the other. God’s love for us rotten sinners is written in blood…the blood of His own son.

John 3:16 NIV
[16] “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

Did you get that? Let’s say it again!

1 John 4:10 NIV
[10] “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”

Just for good measure, let the Bible say it a third time…

Romans 8:32 NIV
[32] “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?”

Is this not enough to convince us of a love so great that this God, who loves us with a love that gave all and withholds nothing for our good, still loves and will always love us beyond imagination?

John said, “God is love!”, not just “God loves us.” His essence is pure love. That means that He is who He is…LOVE.

Even David, before the cross, embraced this love so big that the universe itself was not big enough to contain or explain it.

Psalms 36:5 NIV
[5]”Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies.”

Psalms 103:11 NIV
[11] “For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him…”

Should we, then, not permanently banish fear and embrace the love God has for us in every situation, good or bad. Why? Is it not because life has a lesson to teach us about God’s love so great that it will alter every circumstance we endure from threat to opportunity?

We can only embrace a different response to the “stuff” that happens if we understand God’s purpose and the way He achieves it. If life, for us, is only a set of random happenstances, we will have no reason to expect a good outcome. Like a ball in a football game, we will feel like we are being kicked around by two rival teams, both intent on the winning the game.

What if, instead, we know where God is taking us and can work with Him in gaining His objective? What if we can cancel fear by embracing God’s love? What if we are learning that every adverse happenstance is peeling off another layer of suspicion and mistrust in the perfect love of the Father? What if God’s plan is so to refine our faith in His love that we can turn every “what if” into a resounding “even if”? What if we can grow a trust in God like that of the three Hebrew men who declared, at the threat of the fire,

Daniel 3:16-18 NIV
[16] Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. [17] If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. [18] But EVEN IF he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”

No fear!

God’s purpose, in all things, is to restore in us the image of His Son. He desires a family of sons and daughters who perfectly resemble Jesus, His blueprint. Testing is His method. Only testing us can expose the flaws that foul our faith in Him. Every circumstance is a test. Good things and bad things arouse suspicion. Every suspicion calls in question God’s trustworthiness. Every time we say, “even if”, our trust in His infallible love is strengthened and takes us a step nearer to likeness to Jesus.
Every lesson learned means one less test, until, as Paul declared…

Romans 8:37 NIV
[37] “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”

Is it possible to live without fear, unmoved from our unwavering confidence in God’s perfect love? A resounding “Yes!”, if we choose to change from “What if?” to “Even if!”

Romans 8:28-29 NIV
[28]”And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
[29] For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.”

Armed with this conviction, we can do and be what Paul prescribes…

1 Corinthians 15:58 NIV
[58]”Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. LET NOTHING MOVE YOU. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”

LOVE AND FEAR, MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE

November 17, 2024Bible StudyLove drives out fear, No fear in love, punishmentLuella Campbell

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.”

OBEY – RIGHT OR WRONG

May 14, 2021Bible Studypunishment, rulers, submit, swordLuella Campbell

OBEY – RIGHT OR WRONG

“But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to inflict punishment on the wrongdoer. Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience. This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants who give their full time to governing.

“Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, then pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honour, then honour.” Romans 13:4b-7.

Apart from it benefitting the whole of society when we obey the governing authorities, there is another even more important reason for believers to submit to the government, good or bad – because of who we are.

We have Jesus as our example. God wants us to respond to people and situations as His sons and daughters, not because of what people do to us. Just as we used to be reactive, now we are to be responsive. That means, as Jesus responded in every situation and to every kind of person as the Son of God, representing and being a mirror image of the Father, gracious, compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love and faithfulness, and submissive and obedient to His Father, so must we.

“In this world we are just like Jesus.” 1 John 4:17b.

According to Paul, our response is a matter of conscience. When we act like Jesus rather than rebelling and resisting because we don’t like or agree with the law or the treatment we are receiving, no matter how we are misused or treated unjustly, we will have a good conscience before God. Better to be unfairly condemned by others than to have our conscience condemn us because we have acted against God.

There is a second consideration – the matter of our tormentors. Will they misuse us and get away with it? What if God allows people to treat us badly because it is part of His discipline to refine our faith in Him? Peter speaks at length about the trials he and his readers were suffering at the hands of their persecutors, both Jewish and Roman. Why did God allow it to happen to them?

Habakkuk struggled with the same problem. He could not understand why his people were wicked and yet, God sat on His hands. God’s response was shocking, to say the least.

“Look at the nations and watch and be utterly amazed. For I am doing something in your days that you would not believe even if you were told. I am raising up the Babylonians, that ruthless and impetuous people who sweep across the whole earth to seize dwellings not their own. They are a feared and dreaded people; they are a law to themselves.” Habakkuk 1:5-7.

Habakkuk was appalled. “How can you do that to your people?” he protested. Again, God’s response was sobering but, in the end, satisfying. “Every person will carry responsibility for his own behaviour.”

“See, the enemy is puffed up; his desires are not upright – but the righteous person will live by his faithfulness.” Habakkuk 2:4.

What is God saying? You may be mistreated by godless people, but submit anyway; hang in there and continue to trust God. They will not get away with it. God is giving them an opportunity to do the right thing. If they do not, they will face His judgment for what they have done to you.

“God is just; He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with His powerful angels. He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 2 Thessalonians 1:6-8.

We can safely obey God, not matter what, and trust the outcome to Him.

Acknowledgement

No Fear In Love

November 27, 2015Bible StudyGod is love, like Jesus, made complete, no fear, punishmentLuella Campbell

NO FEAR IN LOVE

And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God and God in them. This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment. In this world we are like Jesus. 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. We love because He first loved us (1 John 4: 16-19).

God is love! The world refuses to believe this one truth about God. It places the blame for all the evil in the world at God’s feet as though He were the one who opened the “Pandora’s box” of misery and released it on the human race. People blame God for every hardship they suffer. “Why did God allow this to happen?” she whines when she discovers she is pregnant after a one-night stand. She forgets that she made the choice by submitting to lust.

“Why did God do this to me?” weeps a teenager when he stares at the mangled body of a child whom he has just run over while driving under the influence of alcohol. Did God force the drink down his throat and shove the car keys into his hand? Why do people blame God when tragedies happen when they never give Him a thought at any other time? Have they not thought of taking responsibility for their choices?

Satan will do anything and everything in his power to cast doubts on the character of God. He tricked Eve into believing that God was withholding from them their “right” to make their own rules. He was crafty. He questioned God’s love for the first pair by suggesting that he knew better than God what was good for them. If they just tasted the fruit of disobedience, they would be free from God’s restrictions.

It did not occur to them that God set up boundaries around their choices to protect them from harm, not to restrict their enjoyment of what He had given them. Why did he place restrictions on our use and enjoyment of sex, for example? He made marriage, i.e. the union of a man and women for life, the fence within in which they can enjoy His perfect gift of love. He created us with our physical and psychological makeup. He knows how He put us together to resemble and reflect Him. When we defy His boundaries, we damage ourselves.

No responsible mother would allow a toddler to play in the garden if she left the gate onto a busy highway open. Why would God allow His beloved children to play with sex without closing the door on the danger of promiscuity? People foolishly believe that they can “play in the street” without being damaged by their disobedience to God’s “boundary fence”. God has set up His warning signs, to change the metaphor, at the edge of every precipice to prevent us from stumbling over the edge. Why blame Him when we fall?

God loves His offspring enough to warn us of danger before we ruin ourselves, but we still blame Him or doubt His love when “stuff happens”. Every time we defiantly ask “Why?” when we experience trouble or tragedy, we are inadvertently demanding to know what we have done to deserve such treatment from God. We question “why” because we are expressing fear. We are suspicious of God because we do not believe that He loves us. Of what are we afraid?

Punishment! John stated that we do not experience the perfect love of God when we are afraid. Slaves, not God’s children, fear punishment. We fear punishment when we are not convinced that God punished Jesus for all our sin once-for-all. In any legal system, no one can be punished twice for the same crime. Why, then, would God punish His children for their sin again when He punished Jesus for all sin when He died on the cross?

But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, He sat down at the right hand of God, and since that time He waits for His enemies to be made His footstool. For by one sacrifice He has made perfect forever those who are being made holy (Heb. 10: 13-14).

Gods’ love provided the sacrifice for sin – the lifeblood of His own Son. There can be no greater demonstration of love. God’s love gave us to solution to our sin, but God cannot prevent us from ignoring His boundary fences if we choose to do so. We must face the consequences if we defy His instructions. He does not treat us as puppets.

How must we interpret the adversities we experience that we did not cause through disobedience? Is God responsible for hurting us? Can we blame Him when we suffer hardships despite our faith in Him? There are two valid reasons for continuing to trust God even when we are going through hard times.

Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as His children . . . God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in His holiness (Heb. 12: 7: 10b).

God wants to expose and get rid of everything that causes us to mistrust His love.

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. For those God foreknew He also predestine to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters (Rom. 8: 28-29).

God is removing everything in our lives that hinders us from becoming replicas of Jesus. He wants us to be His faithful sons and daughters just like our elder brother.

ISBN: Softcover – 978-1-4828-0512-3, eBook 978-4828-0511-6

Available on www.amazon.com in paperback, e-book or Kindle version, on www.takealot.com or order directly from the publisher at www.partridgepublishing.com.

My second book, Learning to be a Disciple – The Way of the Master (Copyright © 2015, Partridge Publishing), a companion volume to Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart, has been released in paperback and digital format on www.amazon.com.

For more details, check my website:

http://luellaannettecampbell.com/

Have you read my blogs on www.learningtobeason.wordpress.com ?

The Power Of The Cross – We Have Been Justified By His Blood

October 20, 2015Gospeljustified, not guilty?, punishment, transgressedLuella Campbell

THE POWER OF THE CROSS

WE HAVE BEEN JUSTIFIED BY HIS BLOOD

When Adam and Eve chose to believe the devil’s lies over God’s truth, little did they know just how much damage they would do to themselves and to the human race by their choice. We have already examined a number of aspects of their lives that went wrong, that they passed on to the human race, and that needed the intervention of God to put right. They became slaves to sin; they were estranged from God, they lost their oneness and fellowship with Him; they were guilty and condemned to death and under God’s wrath – and so we can go on.

Without divine intervention, they were doomed to be separated from God forever, in the torment of knowing what could have been had they but heeded the Father’s instruction. Guilt, shame and fear would drive their consciences day and night, living in the terrible regret of “if only”. Even if people refuse to own their guilt or understand the reason for their torment, is that not what puts many a person in a psychiatric hospital?

In the wisdom that the Holy Spirit gave him, Paul had the answer that everyone desperately needs to hear.

Since we now have been justified by His blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through Him. (Rom 5: 9)

What does “justified” mean? In the simplest legal terms it means to be declared, “Not guilty”. But how can God do that seeing that we are all guilty of transgressing His laws?

Let’s look at it this way. Say you are accused of a committing a crime. You are arrested and put in prison awaiting trial. All the evidence is gathered and the trial date is set. You have a defence lawyer whose task is to prove that you are not guilty, while the prosecutor’s job is to secure a “guilty” verdict based on the indisputable evidence that you did it. It is his job to see that you get the punishment you deserve if you are found guilty.

Both sides present their evidence and their conclusions, and it is now up to the judge or the jury to decide whether the evidence is conclusive enough for them to reach a verdict. All the forensic and circumstantial evidence points to you. In the end, your guilt is proven beyond reasonable doubt. The judge passes sentence and you are fined an appropriate sum of money or sent to prison as an appropriate punishment. You have been proven guilty and there is nothing you can do about it. The law has spoken. You must serve your sentence without complaint.

But what if the judge is your father? What if you have an older brother who loves you so much that he chooses to take your punishment for you? He steps up to the judge and pays the fine, or he takes your place in the prison cell so that you can go free. What if he chooses to be executed in your place so that you do not have to die?

Are you still guilty of your crime? No, because you have been “justified”. You were guilty – you were sentenced – but the sentence has been carried out by your brother. Your father, the judge, is satisfied that the crime has been paid for. He can declare you “Not guilty” because it is illegal to demand punishment for the same crime twice.

That is exactly what Jesus did to secure our release from guilt. God decreed that the appropriate punishment for transgressing His laws was death. He gave the first pair one command – “Don’t eat the fruit of that one tree.” Why? Was it because the fruit of that tree was poisonous? No (and, by the way, the Bible does not say that it was an apple tree). It was a simple test to determine the reality of Adam’s love for God. Jesus said:

If you love me, keep my commands. (John 14: 15)

Adam was deceived because he believed that God was withholding something good from him. Satan’s trap was very subtle. God created man in His image – he was like God in his nature so that he could have fellowship with Him. Satan suggested that he needed something different to be like God – the right to independence; the right to make his own rules. What he did not tell Adam was that he aspired to be Lord and, if Adam listened to him rather than to God, it would prove that he was, in fact, in charge.

Adam fell for his lie, disregarded God’s instruction and brought the whole superstructure of God’s intention crashing down on his head. Only another man, made in the likeness of the first Adam, without sin, could set it all right by willing to be sentenced in Adam’s place. He did it and we are now free – justified; declared not guilty.

There is a consequence to Jesus’ obedience to the Father. Paul said: How much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through Him.

We were not only saved from death, but God’s wrath against sin was satisfied. He is no longer angry with the sinner. We are now the objects of His favour. Did you get that? He is no longer angry with anyone – not even those who reject Him and refuse to obey the truth.

But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Rom. 5: 8)