1 John 4:19 Commentary and Bible Study

Lest any are discouraged by the lofty goal which the previous verse has set before us, John brings God’s encouragement to us. He gives us help to cast out that fear which should not be in us but, because our love is not yet made perfect, so often is in us. Our love does not have the impossible task of approaching the Almighty, of coming to one who is on the point of consigning us to judgment, of pacifying his wrath towards us on account of our sin, and of loving him while he is still our enemy. Our love has only to respond to his love, a love which was there from the beginning. How can we fear one who always loved us? He loved us while we were still enemies, and his love did all the work of removing the barrier between him and us. He took the initiative in reconciling us to himself, and demonstrated love in its purest form, for his love had to yield up his Son to the shame of the cross, to pour out the full punishment for our sin upon him to satisfy divine justice, and to create a new nature in each one of us. All this has been done for the believer, and therefore it should not be hard for us to come with confidence to God and to put away fear. It is true that the sheer magnitude of grace astounds us and our faith is amazed at the scale of it, but we advance with confidence because of God’s invitation and do not draw back in fear, for our love overcomes fear as God strengthens us.