Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. 1 John 4: 17, NKJV.
Dear God please help us to understand the meaning of these words that instead of being fearful we may rejoice at the thought of the judgment. In the name of Jesus Christ our Great Lawyer we pray. Amen.
I believe that there are many more people who are acquainted with the verse that follows our text for today (18) than those who are acquainted with today’s text. I also believe that the reason for this is because we do not spend enough time getting to the depth of today’s text. After all, it is today’s text that adds true meaning to verse 18. If verse 18 is true it is because we have proven verse 17.
A closer look at some of the preceding verses of this chapter makes understanding verse 17 easier.
“If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit” (12b-13).
It seems to me that in these two verses what the apostle John is saying is: “Because God’s Holy Spirit abides in us, we are enabled (equipped, perfected) to love one another, and be like Jesus. In this way, that love is perfected. Now let us apply this to the judgment:
In the Epistle of James, chapter 2, we find the following:
“If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, ‘ “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” ‘ you do well; but if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors. For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all. For He who said, “Do not commit adultery,”also said, “Do not murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty. For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment” (8 -13).
“Mercy triumphs over judgment”! What motivates someone to have mercy on someone else? Did I hear you say love? I agree. Mercy is a tender trait that is inspired by love. Are you beginning to understand somewhat clearer why we can have boldness in the day of judgment? Because we will be standing in Jesus’ merits on that day. We have become like Him in the world: merciful and compassionate, infused with His love! His love has been perfected in us through His Spirit who dwells within us – therefore, there can be “no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit” (Romans 8: 1). There is no need for fear in the judgment!