1 John 4:18
“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.”
King James Version (KJV)
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Following his words on confidence in the day of judgment, John shows that growing in God's love displaces the fear of condemnation.
What Does 1 John 4:18 Mean?
John declares that love and fear cannot share the same space: "perfect love casteth out fear." The fear in view, from the previous verse, is the dread of judgment -- the anxious worry of standing condemned before God. As God's love takes deeper root in a person and becomes "perfect" (that is, mature and complete), it drives such fear away. John explains why: "fear hath torment" -- it carries punishment or the anxious anticipation of it, which has no place in a relationship of love. The image of love "casting out" fear is vivid; the two are incompatible, and love wins. This is not about losing all reverence for God but about losing the terror that we are unloved or doomed. The more we know and rest in God's love, the less we are gripped by dread before him. John adds that the one still ruled by fear "is not made perfect in love" -- not yet fully assured, still growing into the security love brings. The remedy for fear, then, is not to try harder to feel brave but to grow deeper in God's love. Love matured leaves no room for dread.
In the Original Language
The Greek phobos ("fear") here is dread of punishment, kolasis ("torment") means punishment, and teleia agape ("perfect love") means mature, complete love.
Cross References
“For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.”
- Romans 8:15
“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”
- 2 Timothy 1:7
“I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.”
- Psalms 34:4
Application
When fear of judgment grips you, do not just try to feel braver -- grow deeper in God's love, which crowds out that dread.