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.
Parallel translations
- WEB There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear has punishment. He who fears is not made perfect in love.
- BSB There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear, because fear involves punishment. The one who fears has not been perfected in love.
- 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.
- NASB 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.
- 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.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
There is no fear in love; mature love drives out the dread of punishment. Resting in God's love frees us from terror before him.
Overview
John contrasts the slavish fear of judgment with the confidence that God's perfect love produces. Because Christ has borne our punishment, those who grasp God's love need not cower before the day of judgment. This is not the reverent 'fear of the Lord' commended elsewhere in Scripture, but the tormenting dread of condemnation, which the gospel removes.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- 2 Tim 1:7For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
- Rom 8:15For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
- 1 Jn 4:12No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.
- Luke 1:74–75That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear,
- Heb 12:28Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:
- Jas 2:19Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
- Ps 119:120My flesh trembleth for fear of thee; and I am afraid of thy judgments.
- Ps 73:19How are they brought into desolation, as in a moment! they are utterly consumed with terrors.
- Job 15:21A dreadful sound is in his ears: in prosperity the destroyer shall come upon him.
- Ps 88:15–16I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up: while I suffer thy terrors I am distracted.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Jesus is the Word of life made manifest, the propitiation for our sins, the Son in whom is eternal life — 'that you may know that you have eternal life.'
How 1 John 4:18 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.