English Standard Version
1 John 4:18
18There 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.
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.
- 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.
- New Living Translation (NLT)Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love.
Context of 1 John 4:18
16So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 17By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. 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. 19We love because he first loved us. 20If anyone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom 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 1:74that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear,
- Romans 8:15For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, "Abba! Father!"
- 2 Timothy 1:7for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.
- Hebrews 12:28Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe,
- Job 15:21Dreadful sounds are in his ears; in prosperity the destroyer will come upon him.
- Psalms 73:19How they are destroyed in a moment, swept away utterly by terrors!
- Psalms 88:15Afflicted and close to death from my youth up, I suffer your terrors; I am helpless.
- Psalms 119:120My flesh trembles for fear of you, and I am afraid of your judgments.
- James 2:19You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!
- 1 John 4:12No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in 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
English Standard Version — © 2001 Crossway Bibles
Commentaries