“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.” (1 John 4:18 NIV)
Last week, in Freedom From Fear, Part A, we learned that fear only exists where there is no perfect love! The reason we have fear is that we have not yet achieved the highest level of relationship with the Lover of our souls!
But what of this part of the above text that says, “because fear has to do with punishment”?
The dictionary defines fear as: “an unpleasant feeling of anxiety or apprehension caused by the presence or anticipation of danger.” (Microsoft® Encarta® 2007. © 1993-2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.)
I don’t believe anyone would argue that fear is a painful and distressing emotion, but let’s see what the Bible says about the subject: “For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship …” (Rom 8:15 NIV)
Living in fear, then, is like living in slavery. Our fears establish dominion over us, and we become enslaved to them. This idea is also suggested in Heb. 2:15: “and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death …”
It’s true. Some have a fear of being alone, and their fear keeps them bound in abusive relationships. Others have a fear of heights, and their fear keeps them earthbound, dictating that they miss out on the enhanced view from above. And then there’s the fear of change. Bound by this fear, it is easy to get stuck in a rut. There may be a much better way of doing things, but our fear dictates we will never be able to see it.
What does this have to do with punishment?
No one who has ever been enslaved to another would deny that slavery is a form of punishment, and fear leads directly to this punishment!
But it doesn’t stop here.
Fear also brings weakness and trembling: “… I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling …” (1 Cor 2:3-4)
Fear takes away your strength! When you are afraid a bad medical diagnosis, it is impossible to stand strong on the road to recovery, to hold on to hope. Fear makes us weak, it causes us to tremble, and it can lead to our fall.
Is this not, also, a form of punishment?
And what about the story recorded in Matthew 8? Jesus frees a man who had been bound by demons, and then sends the demons into a herd of pigs. The pigs, then, overcome with the fear of the demons, ran over the cliff and drowned in the sea.
In this case, we are talking about pigs. But doesn’t fear also drive us, humans, to do risky things as well? A sudden noise in the dark makes you run, but being unable to see where you are going, you plow into a tree. When you turn to run from a vicious dog, you inadvertently charge out into the road, in front of an oncoming car. Fear of falling makes you so nervous that you are much more likely to fall.
And what about the reaction of the people, after seeing the pigs run over the cliff? “Then the whole multitude of the surrounding region of the Gadarenes asked [Jesus] to depart from them, for they were seized with great fear.” (Luke 8:37 NKJV) Fear drove these people to ask Jesus, the healer, the Messiah, the only One who could bring them true hope, to leave!
We see this happening in the persecuted church. Driven by fear of persecution and death, many renounce their Lord and Savior. But before we are too hard on persecuted Christians, are those who live in the Western world any less enslaved? Many of our young people fear standing out in a crowd and not being accepted. Their fear pushes them to compromise. Fear of the gift of tongues caused me to not use this gift for many months.
I could go on reciting examples of how fear drives us into the worse things we’ve ever known, but I think you get the picture! We are not punished because we fear, instead, it is our fear that drives us into punishment!
Enough to ponder, but do ponder this: Fear brings punishment. It causes us to push true help away, and it drives us into even worse problems. It makes us weak and unable to stand up to the storms of time, and it is totally unnecessary. We CAN be free from fear. All we have to do is learn to have faith in the love that Jesus has for each of us!
But just what is faith, and how can we have it? Join us next week for FREEDOM FROM FEAR, Part 3: What is Faith?
In His love,
Lyn
Lyn Chaffart, Mother of two teens, Author and Moderator for The Nugget, a tri-weekly internet newsletter, and Scriptural Nuggets, a website devoted to Christian devotionals and inspirational poems, www.scripturalnuggets.org, with Answers2Prayer Ministries, www.Answers2Prayer.org.
(To access the entire “Freedom From Fear” mini-series, please click here.)