GOD FIRST LOVED US - 1 JOHN 4:19-21

Verses 19–21: We love, because He first loved us. If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also.

John begins by affirming exactly what makes it possible for the believer to exhibit personal love for God the Father: because He first loved us. God took the initiative, the first step in reaching out to man by providing redemption for sinful mankind through His Son, Jesus Christ. For “while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8b). This is the evidence of His first loving us. Our response is not to beat our chest and proclaim “I found God!” The right response is to diligently seek Him (Proverbs 8:17; Jeremiah 29:13) and to believe in Jesus Christ for salvation (Acts 16:31). The apostle Paul summarizes:

Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. (2 Corinthians 5:18–19)

Duplicity of Love

It should be noted that the brother mentioned in verse 20 is not a sibling but specifically a fellow believer in Christ. John, the master of forthrightness, previously told us that the deceptive believer who hates his brother is in the darkness (2:9) and that “everyone who hates his brother is a murderer” (3:15). And now here, he clearly states that the one who claims to love God and hates his brother is an unequivocal liar. Darkness, murderer, liar is quite an indictment for the hating believer.

He follows with a logical conclusion to this indictment. Simply stated, if you hate your brother who you see, you cannot love God Who you have not seen. It is noteworthy that John points out that seeing someone becomes the basis of loving another. Often, someone’s visual characteristics will initiate attraction towards another, whether it is their face, hair style or the way they walk. For it stands to reason that it is more natural to love a real live human being that can be seen. How can there be genuine love expressed with someone met and conversed with on the internet that has never been actually seen? In our times, they may not even be a real live human; they could be an AI entity. Therefore, mankind was designed to have physical, tangible relationships with other people.

But in contrast, John is attempting to demonstrate that the most important relationship that man can have is with his Creator. That it may not be physical or observable with the human eye, yet this is far more real and authentic than a physical relationship because of the spiritual union the believer possesses with God. This is the abiding relationship that John has been discussing (4:16); it is an eternal relationship that is knowable because God has revealed Himself through His Word. And by learning and obeying the principles and directives in His Word we gain this intimate relationship with God that the unbeliever cannot. The Apostle Paul explains why this is so:

But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one. For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he will instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ. (1 Corinthians 2:14–16)

Paul develops this further, that the Holy Spirit assists the believer in comprehending His Word.

That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3:16–19)

By being “filled up to all the fullness of God” the believer experiences a relationship with the God Who “first loved us.”

This Commandment

There is a commandment given by God that “you shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18; Matthew 22:39). But John is referring to a specific commandment when he says this commandment, one that Our Lord personally gave to His disciples prior to His death, to “love one another, just as He commanded us” (3:23):

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.” (John 13:34)

This is a reciprocal love that produces a harmonious relationship within the community of believers so that consequently “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35).

This presupposes the obedience of “the one who loves God” and corresponds with the mandate Our Lord described as “the great and foremost commandment” (Matthew 22:38): “you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37).

But here John integrates this great and foremost command with the directive Our Lord gave to the disciples during His Upper Room Discourse (John 14–17): “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments” (John 14:15).

Love for His Brother

 To what degree are we to love fellow believers? It is worth quoting again the late Bible teacher Chester McCalley (1935-2000) and his concise summary of this type of love:

Love directed towards man is the mental attitude that demands that we do what is best for another in the light of eternity no matter what it costs us.1

This is in accordance with what Our Lord told His disciples:

“Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13)

And it is exactly what Our Lord did, having mentioned it 4 times in his discussion of the Good Shepherd laying down His life for the sheep (John 10: 11–18).

The apostle Paul succinctly outlined how Jesus Christ demonstrated His greater love for His sheep:

For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:6–8)

When we consider the enormity of His command to love our brother in Christ, are we willing and able to follow His example, no matter what it costs us?

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[1] McCalley, Chester. http://wordoftruthkc.org/sites/default/files/file/Philippians%20Commentary.pdf, p. 4. [Retrieved April 19, 2025]

 

© David M. Rossi 

 

WHEN FEAR STRIKES OUT - 1 JOHN 4:18

Verse 18: There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.

The idea that “the opposite of fear is love”1 has been proclaimed by many in the community of believers.2 But unfortunately it is an inaccurate summary of this passage. For the context establishes that fear is the opposite of confidence (v.17) and as simply stated by R.C.H. Lenski: “where the one is, the other is not.”3

No Fear in Love

John begins with this declarative statement of absolute truth: there is no fear in love. There are two things to consider at the outset: the meaning of fear and the significance of the phrase in love. First, various degrees of the word fear are designated in Scripture depending upon its usage—“fear, dread, terror...reverential fear.”4 The fact is, fear does not always indicate terror or the frightfulness designated as “fear with trembling” (1 Corinthians 2:3; 2 Corinthians 7:15; Ephesians 6:5; Philippians 2:12). For here, John is referring to an anxious dread5 in anticipation of the day of judgment (2 Corinthians 5:10-11) and loss of reward (1 Corinthian 3:14-15) as was discussed in the previous verse.

Secondly, in love again refers to the believer’s ideal place of spiritual residence—in the sphere of God’s divine love. This was discussed in verse 16, that “the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.” Thus, while the faithful believer resides consistently in this unique and intimate fellowship with God it is impossible for there to be any dread or fear present.

Fear and Punishment

In contrast, perfect love casts out fear. The emphasis is on the word perfect which derives its meaning from the Greek to be “complete, full, wanting in nothing,”6 in the sense of having matured and of being excellent in quality. Fear and dread is evidence of an immature believer, impeding their ability to think and therefore hindering their growth to maturity. It also means that the believer is no longer in fellowship and is residing outside of the sphere of God’s love. Whereas, perfect love is characterized by the confident believer who is in fellowship and is producing good works. Mind you, this perfect love does not originate from the believer, for it is God’s love, and the believer replicates it when empowered by the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). Thus dread of the judgement of the believers’ works is literally thrown out by an active decision by the believer to endeavor that this perfecting process of His love be accomplished together with us (v.17).

Note also the consequences of fear and dread: it involves punishment. Bishop Trench asserts that this word punishment implies disciplining with “reference to the correction and bettering of the offender.”7 The writer of Hebrews declares:

“For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, And He scourges every son whom He receives.” It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? (Hebrews 12:6–7; cf. Job 5:17-18)

The question one might pose is how exactly can a believer avert His discipline? The answer is not quite as forthcoming as one may anticipate, yet John continually reminds us to keep His commandments (2:3; 3:22, 24; 5:3; cf. John 14:15) implying our need to search Scripture for these commands.

However, within the context of chapter 4, John is emphasizing the love relationships of the faithful believer: to love one another (v.7, 20-21) and to consistently abide in God in the sphere of His divine relationship of love (v.15-16). Thus, the believer who is not intent upon pleasing the Lord may well expect to undergo the dread of impending discipline for their failure to walk in the light, because all of their works while they are in the state of sin will be judged as “wood, hay, and straw” and burned up as inadequate for reward (1 Corinthians 3:12-14). These works are considered human good, “dead works” (Hebrews 6:1), performed in the power of the flesh (Romans 7:18), instead of divine good, accomplished while empowered by the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:16, 22).

Our Discipline

The writer of Hebrews affirms God’s objective for our discipline: “But He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness” (Hebrews 12:10b). Sharing in His holiness is when the believer is sinless and able to fulfill His desire that we “bear more fruit” (John 15:2) in the production of divine good works. This is to assure that the quality of our works will be acceptable to God, enduring the testing of fire so that we “will receive a reward” (1 Corinthians 3:13-14) on the day of judgment. Thus, discipline “is designed so that a good man may become a better man.”8 The Apostle Paul outlines the essential need of the believer to achieve spiritual maturity and to avoid discipline:

All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16–17)

John concludes with this fact: the one who still dreads impending discipline has not been made perfect in love—they have not become a mature believer in the sphere of God’s divine love relationship. Unfortunately, the immature believer may be totally unaware of God’s discipline for their sinful condition and will lose out on all the benefits of an abiding fellowship in Christ (John 15:5) inside the sphere of God’s divine love relationship.

A Final Thought

Therefore, it is a necessity for all believers to objectively analyze every instance of spiritual testing to determine if it is meant as a forewarning for them to return to fellowship (1 John 1:9), or if it is a “testing of your faith” in order to develop spiritual endurance to become “perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (James 1:3-4) in our life of faith, while residing in the sphere of God’s love.

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[1] Schneider, J. (1964–). κόλασις. In Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (G. Kittel, G. W. Bromiley, & G. Friedrich, Eds.). Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 3.817.

[2] Yunuen Trujillo, (lay minister): https://uscatholic.org/articles/202309/the-opposite-of-love-is-fear/; Robert O’Neill (Episcopalian Bishop): https://medium.com/@TEC_CO/the-opposite-of-love-fear-d38508f943d2; Judith E. Lipson, (Licensed Professional Counselor): https://www.spiralwisdom.com/the-opposite-of-love-is-not-hate-it-is-fear/; J.D. Walt: https://seedbed.com/1john-the-opposite-of-love-is-fear-not-hate/  [Retrieved June 2025]                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

[3] Lenski, R.C.H. (2001). Commentary on the New Testament, Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 11.513.

[4] Vine, W. E., Unger, M. F., & White, W., Jr. (1996). In Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words. Nashville, TN: T. Nelson, 2.230.

[5] Henry, M. (1994). Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible. Peabody: Hendrickson, p. 2452.

[6] Zodhiates, S. (2000). In The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament (electronic ed.). Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, G5046.

[7] Trench, Richard (1975). Synonyms of the New Testament, Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, p. 24.

[8] Chafer, Lewis Sperry (1976). Systematic Theology, Dallas, TX: Dallas Seminary Press, 7.72.

 

© 2025 David M. Rossi