1 John 4:18 (CSB)
There is no fear in love: instead, perfect love drives out fear, because fear involves punishment. So the one who fears is not complete in love.
How is love made perfect?
A true believer in God, one who has been born again, will show God’s love to those around them. Born again Christians who have fellowship with Jesus Christ and follow His commands need not fear punishment. The one who fears, does not have a complete relationship with God.
When God is in us and we are in Him, we do not fear God’s coming judgment on mankind. If we are of God and believe in Jesus Christ and are filled with His Holy Spirit we have absolutely no reason to fear judgment and condemnation because we have been made perfect in love. The ones who are fearful have not reached a mature level of love that God wants them to have. God is love.
Fear of punishment is very different to when we talk of ‘to fear God,’ as to fear God means to respect God.
Proverbs 9:10 (CSB)
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
As I write this, it is Good Friday 2024. Jesus Christ, when He died on the cross, took the punishment for all the sins of humanity. Punishment that we deserve, but God loves us so much that Jesus took the punishment instead of us.
James 4:8 (CSB)
Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
We need to have faith in God, repent of our sins, believe in Jesus Christ and be filled with His Holy Spirit, then we are forgiven and saved. It is because of Jesus dying on the cross and His resurrection that this has been made possible for us by God’s great mercy. When we draw close to God we desire holiness, to live as God wants us to live, to be made perfect in love.
Romans 12:1-2 (CSB)
Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship. Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.
Because of God’s great mercy to us we should live as God wants us to live, to focus on Jesus and our eternal life, to show love and kindness to others, to have a close daily relationship with God and to give Him all the glory, honoring Him and praising Him.
Here is a traditional Easter prayer from the Oxford Prayer Book.
“Come all the faithful, let us worship God, for through the Cross, joy has come to all the world. Ever blessing the Lord, we sing His Resurrection, for having endured the Cross for us, He has destroyed death by death.”
A blessed and Happy Easter to all.
Onward Christian Soldiers 