1 John 4:18

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

16We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him. 17By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, we also are in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. 19We love, because He first loved us. 20If someone says, “I love God,” and yet he hates his brother or sister, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother and sister whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.

1 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

• There is noοὐou · noG3756
• fearφόβοςphobos · fearG5401
• in loveἀγάπηagapē · loveG26
• perfectτέλειοςteleios · perfectG5046
• drivesβάλλωballō · to throw: throwG906
• becauseὅτιhoti · that/since: sinceG3754
• involvesἔχωechō · to have/beG2192
• punishmentκόλασιςkolasis · punishmentG2851
• and the one who fearsφοβέωphobeō · to fearG5399
• perfectedτελειόωteleioō · to perfectG5048

Cross-references for 1 John 4:18

• Luke 1:74To grant us that we, being rescued from the hand of our enemies, Would serve Him without fear,
• Romans 8:15For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons and daughters by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!”
• 2 Timothy 1:7For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.
• Hebrews 12:28Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let’s show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe;
• Job 15:21Sounds of terror are in his ears; While he is at peace the destroyer comes upon him.
• Psalms 73:19How they are destroyed in a moment! They are utterly swept away by sudden terrors!
• Psalms 88:15I was miserable and about to die from my youth on; I suffer Your terrors; I grow weary.
• Psalms 119:120My flesh trembles from the fear of You, And I am afraid of Your judgments.
• James 2:19You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.
• 1 John 4:12No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God remains 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

• Assurance
• Fear of God
• God
• Love
• Righteousness

In the dictionaries

• Benevolence
• Fear
• Love
• Perfect
• John, the Epistles of
• fear, afraid, frighten
• punish, punished, punishment, unpunished

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