Perfected! Through Christ. Perfect love casts out fear, what's perfect love.

Hope you are all having a great day!

God brought a few verses together for me recently, and I wanted to share.

Let’s start with 1 John 4:17-19 ESV: “By 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. 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. 19We love because he first loved us.”

From 1 John 4:17, the word for perfected (or has been perfected) is 5048 in Strongs, and the definition is to bring to an end, to complete, perfect. And expanded on that is that its working through the entire process, to consecrate, or accomplish. That makes me think of fulfilling or accomplishing what it set out to do. Extending out or unfolding is also mentioned. So if Gods love is to complete its action in us, to consecrate us, it is to work through us completely, and then fulfill that which is was to accomplish. Set us free, and go back to God, and to others. We are to receive God’s love for ourselves, we are to love God back, and to love others. This is a love accomplishing it’s entire process that it was set out to do.

Just like Jesus, as the word made flesh, came into the world, and did not return void. He set out what he came to accomplish (from Isaiah 55:10-12). He defeated the enemy. He set us free. He gave us the change to have eternal fellowship and life with Him. He broke the power of sin and death. And His word still does not return void. It’s a powerful seed, and it brings life and freedom.

The word perfect in the first part of 1 John 4:18 is from the same root word, but its finished, 5046 in strongs with the definition of having reached its end, complete, perfect. So when the love has reached its completion in us, in that we have received it fully, we have given it back to God by loving God with every part of us, and we love people as ourselves, than that love is perfect. Completed.

The next verse that came up is Colossians 3:14: “And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony” Colossians 3:14 ESV.

God brought back the information from 1 John 4 above, and I looked into the word perfect. The words in perfect harmony (or in perfect unity) is 5047 in Strongs, and the definition is completeness, perfection. And once again, the discussion was on love. God’s love, when we let it work through us, when we let it bind us, or knit us all together, we get perfection, we are complete and perfect. So beautiful. In colossians there is talk about being knitted together, as the body of Christ, and we are rooted and grounded with Christ, and that is its own knitting and weaving together. Waiting on the Lord, in Isaiah, has the definition of intertwining our hearts with Jesus like a rope. So it is good to get love in us, receive Gods love, and all His promises, that come because He loves us. And to receive all His promises enough that we can share the overflow out of our innermost beings.

Weaving in these verses, God brought “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, 11so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.” Isaiah 55:10-11 ESV. We have God’s love in us. We have the word of God in us. Lets let the Word penetrate us, fill us, through our spirit into our souls and bodies, and overflow back to God, and back to others. “We love because he first loved us” 1 John 4:19 ESV. In our spirit we are full of the Holy Spirit, the word of God, everything we need for life and godliness. Lets receive it into our soul and body!

Thank you God for your word being living and active!

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Here is a video on perfected by God's love:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdcRzjQs7eU

Scriptures are from the ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version) copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, ESV Text Edition: 2016. Used by persmission. All rights reserved. The ESV text may not be quoted in any publication made available to the public by a Creative Commons license. Th ESV may not be translated into any other language