love for God. John is not suggesting that any Christian’s love could in this life be flawlessly perfect, but rather developed and mature, set fix edly upon God. “Herein is our love made perfect” should literally read “in this is love perfected with us” (RSV), but that the AV certainly gives the correct sense is clear from the two marks of love for God which are now described, namely confidence before God and love of the brethren. 17. Parresia, boldness or confi dence, is a characteristic word of this Epistle. The author has already writ ten of the unshrinking confidence which we shall have at Christ’s com ing if we abide in Him now (2:28), and of our present confidence before God in prayer (3:21, 22), which, as he says later, is an assurance not only of access but also of being heard and answered (v. 14, 15). Here, how ever, he reverts to the future, to the day of judgment which will follow the Lord’s return. There is no evi dence that John has jettisoned belief either in the Parousia or in the Judgment Day. That day will be one of shame and terror for the wicked, but not for the redeemed people of God. Our confidence (like obedience in 2:5) is a sign that our love is made perfect. It is grounded upon the fact that as He is (i.e. Christ), so are we in this world. Jesus is God’s beloved Son, in whom He is well pleasedwe too are God’s chil dren (cf. 3:1) and the objects of His favor. If He called and calls God “Father,” so may we. We are “ac cepted in the beloved” (Eph. 1 :6) ; we can share His confidence towards God. Stott writes: (18) “ The same truth is now stated negatively. The love that spells confidence banishes fear. There is no fear (i.e. no servile fear) in love, that is, ‘there is no room for fear in love’ (NEB). The two are as incompatible as oil and water. We can love and reverence God simultaneously (cf. Heb. 5:7), 32
but we cannot approach Him in love and hide from Him in fear at the same time (cf. Rom. 8:14, 15; II Tim. 1:7). Indeed, it is by love for God that a false cringing fear of God is overcome. It ‘flings it out of doors’ (Law). The reason why perfect love cannot coexist with fear is now giv en. Torment should be ‘punishment’ (RV, RSV, the word being kolasis which occurs elsewhere in the New Testament only in Mt. 25:46). Hath ( echei) may mean ‘has to do with punishment’ (RSV). That is, fear introduces the category of punish ment, which is quite alien to God’s forgiven children who love Him. Or it may signify r a th e r ‘includes, brings with it’ the punishment it fears. In other words, ‘fear has it self something of the nature of pun ishment’ (Brooke, Law) ; to fear is to begin to suffer punishment al ready. Once assured that we are ‘as he is’ (17), God’s beloved children, we cease to be afraid of Him. It is evident, therefore, that he that fear- eth is not made perfect in love.” 19. So we are not afraid of God. Instead, we love Him, or, following the better reading, simply and abso lutely without any expressed object, we love (agapomen, which is here surely an indicative statement and not an exhortation in the subjunctive as it is in verse 7). Our great char acteristic if we are Christians, he says, is not that we fear, but that we love. God’s love was primary; all true love is a response to His initia tive. John repeats the truth he has asserted in verse 10. Fear dwells within us by nature and needs to be cast out (18). Agape, godlike love, on the other hand, does not reside in our fallen nature; “our very ca pacity to love, whether the object of our love be God or our neighbor” (Dodd) is due entirely to His prior love for us and in us. 20. Love for God does not only express itself in a confident attitude towards Him, devoid of fear, but also
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