Deus Est Caritas

"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."
- 1 John 4:18

The word "love" here is agape. It means charitable love. Charity, in this verse, must not be confused as "benevolent giving." It means an unlimited loving-kindness, despite any circumstance. It is God's love for mankind. Charity glorifies and reflects the nature of God. It is self-sacrificial, in its most extreme. This is God's sacrifice: that he came down and died for man, that man may have eternal life.

"Perfect", in this verse, is the greek word, "teleios." It means finished, full-grown, brought to its end, lacking nothing neccesary to completeness. God understand it is a process to be dwelling in perfect love. To reach that point takes time. It is not an immediate result. It is made complete, made to lack nothing. Perfect, here, means that love has matured. Now, how does love matures? Love matures through fellowship with Him. He! And only He embodies agape, the unlimited, non-circumstantial, emotion-independent, selfless Love. Fellowship with Jesus and intimacy - deep, sweet intimacy with God, will make perfect what was infantile - what was imperfect in us.

To know how to love, to know the agape form of love or caritas (charity) is, in essence, to know God. Because God is love. To know God in his fullness - with that overwhelming presence that only comes from Him - is to know Agape!

The intimacy with the Christ, Jesus, made perfect in man through the Holy Spirit casts out fear. Casteth (ballo), in this verse, means to throw out, or let go, without caring where it falls. It's to completely let our fears go, without being certain or apprehensive of anything that will come after it. It's total surrender of fear.

It is that awareness of Him, of Love, that fear is naturally cast out. It ceases to be a burden. Fear ceases to matter because of Love.

Fear here is phobos. Phobos is the dread of God. Terror! Absolute, absolute terror. Now, this terror does not mean the same as the fear-reverence word, yir'ah. This is phobos. It does not mean the fear - the trembling reverence of such an awesome, powerful, infinite being as God is. This fear, this phobos means a crippling terror of God. It is man's natural response to the exposing of his sin. Such shameful revelation and awareness of man's sin brings forth an unbearable shame and intense fear of God and His mighty Holiness. This fear sprouts from a spirit of condemnation, a fear of terrible punishment. And this is not necessarily "bad." (STAY WITH ME!)

Man should feel condemned and should be afraid of God. It should go beyond feeling. It is embedded, it must be deeply rooted in their souls. Man is afraid because he is staring at his lowly, pathetic mortality. His awareness of sin humbles and shames him, all at once, and with such intensity and force, that their world changes.

The whole world owes God this: they they have all sinned.

They all fall short of His glory.

Therein lies the gist of this whole thing: that we, as sinners, are justified by His grace. We are bathed in the blood that Jesus Christ has shed on the cross. It is His perfect Love that overwhelms, overpowers, and takes away the unbearable shame and intense terror of God.

He has come not to judge and condemn the world, but to save.

We have all sinned to God. We don't deserve any of this. But our faith in Him has clothed us anew. Jesus Christ has clothe us with the robe of His righteousness.

Phobos is cast out by Agape. The experience with Him casts out the terror of judgment from Him. Man is free to live a Holy Life, solely because of His grace.

He who lives under the terror of sin and His judgment has not experienced and have been made complete in Love/Agape. Or he does not remember what it means.

All of man should be ashamed and afraid of their glaring mortality against His Holy backdrop. But, God, in his infinite love, has cast out all phobos of Him. For He is love. He is just. He saves. He loves you.

And may we be made complete in His love.


Deus est Caritas. God is Love.