EasyEnglish Bible 2018
1 John 4:18
18If we really love God, we will not be afraid of him. We cannot love him completely and also be afraid. We would only be afraid of God if we thought that he would punish us. So, if someone is afraid that God will punish them, it shows that they do not completely know God's love.
1 John 4:18 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)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.
- New International Version (NIV)There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
- English Standard Version (ESV)There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.
- New King James Version (NKJV)There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.
Context of 1 John 4:18
16So we know the kind of love that God has for us. We believe that God has put that love in us. God's nature is love. So, if someone continues to love other people, he is living together with God. And God lives in him. 17That is how we are able to love other people completely. Then, we will not be afraid on the day when God will judge all people. We can be sure that God will not punish us. We know this because we have lived in this world in the way that Jesus lived. If we really love God, we will not be afraid of him. We cannot love him completely and also be afraid. We would only be afraid of God if we thought that he would punish us. So, if someone is afraid that God will punish them, it shows that they do not completely know God's love. 19We are able to love God and other people because God loved us first. 20Someone may say, ‘I love God.’ But if he says that and he hates another Christian, he is telling a lie. He sees other believers but he does not love them. So he surely cannot love God that he has not seen.
Read all of 1 John 41 John 4:18 word by word
φόβος οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν τῇ ἀγάπῃ, ἀλλ᾽ ἡ τελεία ἀγάπη ἔξω βάλλει τὸν φόβον, ὅτι ὁ φόβος κόλασιν ἔχει· ὁ δὲ φοβούμενος οὐ τετελείωται ἐν τῇ ἀγάπῃ.Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- There isεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
- noοὐou · noG3756
- fearφόβοςphobos · fearG5401
- inἐνen · in/on/amongG1722
- loveὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
- loveἀγάπηagapē · loveG26
- butἀλλάalla · butG235
- perfectτέλειοςteleios · perfectG5046
- castethβάλλωballō · to throw: throwG906
- outἔξωexō · out/outside(r)G1854
- becauseὅτιhoti · that/since: sinceG3754
- hathἔχωechō · to have/beG2192
- tormentκόλασιςkolasis · punishmentG2851
- He that fearethφοβέωphobeō · to fearG5399
- isτελειόωteleioō · to perfectG5048
- ·δέde · thenG1161
Cross-references for 1 John 4:18
- Luke 1:74God said, “I will keep you safe from your enemies. Then you can serve me and not be afraid.
- Romans 8:15The Spirit that you have received from God does not make you serve him like slaves. That would make you afraid again. No. The Spirit that God has given to you causes you to become God's children. Now he takes care of you. God's Spirit makes us call God: ‘Abba, our Father.’
- 2 Timothy 1:7Be strong, because God has given us his Spirit. And his Spirit does not cause us to be afraid. Instead, his Spirit causes us to be powerful to serve God. He helps us to love God and other people. And he helps us to control ourselves properly.
- Hebrews 12:28But we are receiving a place where we will rule with God. We belong to God's kingdom, and nobody can ever shake that! So we should thank God. We should worship him in a way that makes him happy. He is great, and we should serve him well and respect him.
- Job 15:21He will hear things that frighten him. He may think that he is safe, but robbers will attack him.
- Psalms 73:19It will take just a moment to destroy them! Great fear will sweep them away!
- Psalms 88:15Since I was young, I have been in pain. I have always been near to death. You have caused bad troubles to frighten me, so that I feel helpless.
- Psalms 119:120I respect your great strength, so that my body shakes with fear. I am afraid of the laws by which you judge people.
- James 2:19You believe that there is only one God. That is good! But even the demons believe that! And it makes them very afraid.
- 1 John 4:12Nobody has ever seen God. But, if we love each other, it shows that God lives in us. As a result, we can love people completely, in the same way that God loves us.
Commentaries on 1 John 4:18
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 18There is no fear in love - The man who feels that he loves God with all his heart can never dread him as his Judge. As he is now made a partaker of his Spirit, and carries a sense of the Divine approbation in his conscience, he has nothing of that fear that produces terror or brings torment. The perfect love - that fullness of love, which he has received, casteth out fear - removes all terror relative to this day of judgment, for it is of this that the…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 18There is no fear in love - Love is not an affection which produces fear. In the love which we have for a parent, a child, a friend, there is no fear. If a man had perfect love to God, he would have no fear of anything - for what would he have to dread? He would have no fear of death, for he would have nothing to dread beyond the grave. It is guilt that makes people fear what is to come; but he whose sins are pardoned, and whose heart is filled with the…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 14-21Verses 14-21 The Father sent the Son, he willed his coming into this world. The apostle attests this. And whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. This confession includes faith in the heart as the foundation; makes acknowledgment with the mouth to the glory of God and Christ, and profession in the life and conduct, against the flatteries and frowns of the world. There must be a day of universal judgment…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 18Perfect love drives out fear: As we live with Christ and grow more mature and complete in God’s love, we have confidence in facing the day of judgment. This day will be terrifying for those who do not know God (Acts 24:25; Romans 2:16). Based on a sense of guilt, people fear the punishment they know they deserve. This fear produces dread, and that dread is like a small experience of the coming punishment. Christ died to set us free from this dread…Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 17-1817-18. (Compare 1Jo 3:19-21.) our love--rather as the Greek, "LOVE (in the abstract, the principle of love [Alford]) is made perfect (in its relations) with us." Love dwelling in us advances to its consummation "with us" that is, as it is concerned with us: so Greek. Lu 1:58, "showed mercy upon (literally, 'with') her": 2Jo 2, the truth "shall be with us for ever." boldness--"confidence": the same Greek as 1Jo 3:21, to which this passage is parallel. The…Read the comment
Topics related to 1 John 4:18
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on 1 John 4
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Illustrated New Testament
- Burkitt’s Expository Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Family Bible Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- The People’s New Testament
- Robertson’s Word Pictures
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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