Perfect Love

This blog will define the meaning of the NT phrase PERFECT LOVE. The verse in question was authored by the Apostle John:

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. (1 John 4:18)

The key to understanding that verse is to define the term LOVE in its original historical context. As we have seen in a number of previous blogs, LOVE IS A COVENANT TERM. We also discovered that love means ALLEGIANCE + OBEDIENCE to the sovereign. In the case of Christians, the sovereign is the God of creation, aka: YHWH. In that light, what would PERFECT love be? Would it not be a fulfillment of the 2 greatest commandments in the law of Moses? In other words, wouldn’t PERFECT LOVE be UNDIVIDED ALLEGIANCE + COMPLETE OBEDIENCE to the One True God? Let’s review the 2 greatest commandments in the law:

36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the great and foremost commandment. 39 The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 Upon these two commandments hang the whole Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22)

The “great” commandment:

4 “Hear, Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! 5 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. 7 And you shall repeat them diligently to your sons and speak of them when you sit in your house, when you walk on the road, when you lie down, and when you get up. 8 You shall also tie them as a sign to your hand, and they shall be as frontlets on your forehead. 9 You shall also write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. (Deuteronomy 6)

The “second” commandment:

17 ‘You shall not hate your fellow countryman in your heart; you may certainly rebuke your neighbor, but you are not to incur sin because of him. 18 You shall not take vengeance, nor hold any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the Lord. (Leviticus 19)

The foundation of both:

Then God spoke all these words, saying, 2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 3 “You shall have no other gods before Me. 4 “You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath, or in the water under the earth. 5 You shall not worship them nor serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, inflicting the punishment of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6 but showing favor to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments. (Exodus 20 – Commands 1 & 2)

6 ‘I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 7 ‘You shall have no other gods besides Me. 8 ‘You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. 9 You shall not worship them nor serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, inflicting the punishment of the fathers on the children, even on the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, 10 but showing favor to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments. (Deuteronomy 5 – Commands 1 & 2)

As we saw in previous blogs, the first 2 Commandments of the Decalogue are the ALLEGIANCE + OBEDIENCE commandments that God requires every citizen of His kingdom to observe. We also saw in previous blogs that the commandment of Deuteronomy 4 is the premier commandment to FULLY LOVE GOD by obeying all of His laws. We identified those laws as the STIPULATIONS of Mosaic COVENANT. We also noted that such obedience to God’s law is what the Apostle Paul calls ‘works of law’, which is a good thing for those under the Mosaic Covenant. Conversely, we discovered that ‘works of the law’ will never ‘save’ anyone under any Divine covenant. The Apostle Paul is adamant about that! He is also adamant about Jesus’ redemptive work (dying on the cross) being the only way to ‘get saved’ (a modern Evangelical term).

We saw in previous blogs that the Leviticus 19 verses define the second greatest commandment (love your neighbor), which involves suing a fellow citizen when he sins against you but refuses to repent and make restitution. Jesus agreed with that in Matthew 18:15-20. Yet in Matthew 5:43-48 Jesus revealed God’s intent for that commandment. In other words, Jesus reminded all of us that the purpose for God giving us His law is so that we can learn how to be good, responsible people who will benefit others, instead of using the law as a weapon to exploit others. And that includes the government’s and businessmen’s use of the law! And as we saw in previous blogs, obeying both of these ‘greatest commandments’ is required of every citizen in God’s kingdom throughout human history.

We can now see that God requires all of His people to become experts in applying His law to themselves (and obviously their own family) so they can be good citizens of His kingdom. That is the same thing as PERFECT OBEDIENCE. So, this kind of perfection doesn’t come by birth into any particular nation, race or religion. Nor is perfection a part of our psyche by birth or genetics. No, it’s not any of that. Instead, perfection comes from years of practice in obeying God’s law in every circumstance, and that, out of noble motives.

Anyone who has learned new habits as an adult can easily see how this kind of perfection is not a big deal. Just think about how you learned your occupation and how well you do it with ease, day-in-and-day-out. It’s a no-brainer, right? Same with obeying God’s law. You just have to learn all of it a little at a time and then get into the habit of doing it in every circumstance of your daily life. It’s work, but it’s not complicated. It will eventually become second nature in your thought process and actions. Now imagine if the vast majority of citizens of any nation obeyed God’s law like that, what would life be like?

To summarize, PERFECT LOVE means FULLY KNOWING AND OBEYING GOD’S LAW WITH THE RIGHT MOTIVES. It’s obvious that part of having the right motives involves FAITH IN JESUS’ SACRIFICE FOR OUR SINS. That’s the GRACE part of the gospel message. The HOLINESS part of the gospel is the obedience part which, as we have just seen, involves achieving PERFECT LOVE. It’s like the Apostle John says in the context of the above quote. When you have PERFECT LOVE you do not FEAR God’s JUDGMENT DAY in the future when all humanity makes an appearance before Him for final judgment, resulting in either eternal punishments or rewards.

Thanks for stopping by and reading this GOSPEL truth. See you in the next blog!