Perfect love casts out all fear

(Psalms 130:4) “But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.”

From this Psalm of Ascents we learn many valuable lessons if cherished correctly. Misappropriation of the Word of God leaves us latching onto a false hope. Now there could be many reasons for that, however when summed up we can be confident with the Apostle John’s summation on how we are lured into chasing empty “rabbit holes” when in fact there is food in abundance on our table. If the Word of God is twisted to suit our own selfish wants then we will continue to chase our tails going nowhere fast. Sin is the catalyst that drives our independence; “For all that is in the world--the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions--is not from the Father but is from the world.” (1John 2:16)  

  

This opening verse gives us an accurate indication on how we at times misinterpret the volume of the text. We are taught that to fear God is the beginning of wisdom. Without reverent fear there will be no change in our characters, we must understand who we are dealing with and coined phrases like the “man upstairs” proves that we have very little understanding. HE IS THE GREAT I AM! And true forgiveness helps us arrive at that supposition, anything less than that proves our lack of understanding. There is nothing flippant about God; He is a deliberate God with great precision with all His commitments. HE IS PERFECT!

What is the mark of a righteous man? I am not looking for supposition on the opinions of “Tom, Dick and Harry” but rather the Word of God’s take; “There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil.” Even Satan, God’s arch enemy made this comment; “Then Satan answered the LORD and said, "Does Job fear God for no reason?” (Job 1:9) – Respectful fear must accompany a believer’s life in what he does and says. Thank God that He is merciful and for many of us we need to learn this lesson the hard way, I am forever thankful for the mercies of God in my life. Praise Jesus Christ my Lord and King from before time and forever more, Amen!

The understanding of forgiveness for our own sin must teach us to fear God as it opens our eyes to our sinful state before a holy God and our condition if we do not find His forgiveness. Woe to the man who does not repent! This then now leads us into Psalm 51; David’s cry for forgiveness after he blotched it with Bathsheba.

Reading through the Psalm it struck me between the eyeballs that David understood how he had offended God. Our sin must leave our understanding in a similar place before God. Until then we will nonchalantly carry on as if all is well when in fact it is not. Once we understand the offence of our sin before God, which is only the half of it, we then need to find His forgiveness for it. Forgiveness and cheap grace does not feature favourably in God’s character, He took our sin very seriously and this is why He sent the darling of Heaven, the Lord Jesus Christ to pay the price for our sin. The Lord Jesus, laid down His heavenly Godliness and became a man and through obedience to God the Father paid the price for the sins of mankind.  

We may offend many throughout our lifetimes, but it is only God who has it in His power to forgive us from eternal consequences, miss that and hell will be our final destiny! We must seek out forgiveness from those we offend, but that is a very small thing in contrast to finding God’s forgiveness for our sin and David teaches us this very clearly. Remembering that he slept with another man’s wife and he had her husband killed; “Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment.” (Psalm 51:2-4)

We focus far too much on earthly things when in fact eternity is just around the corner. God help us to understand this reality to the extent of radically changing our lives bringing glory to God. Our daily existence must be cemented on the Lord Jesus Christ with faith towards God driving every decision. This then is now my prayer for all who confess Jesus Christ as Lord.

It is only once we find true forgiveness for our sin that I believe we can truly understand what the Apostle John teaches us; “There 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.” (1John 4:18) – Only once we have understood to fear God and to earnestly find his forgiveness for our sins will we be able to walk in His perfect love which casts out all types of fear. David teaches us this very clearly in his Psalm; “For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. Do good to Zion in your good pleasure; build up the walls of Jerusalem; then will you delight in right sacrifices, in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings; then bulls will be offered on your altar.” (Psalm 51:16-19) – We must do things in the right order...

In conclusion, firstly we must acknowledge our sin before a holy God petrified of His judgement, seeking out His forgiveness and only once we truly find it will we realise the volume of His mercy in our lives, without God’s forgiveness we shall all be doomed! However, God so loved the world that He sent His Son into the world to pay the price for our sin, let us not take that lightly, let us value that as our greatest treasure. Only then will we have eyes to understand the love of God which casts out all fear, Amen!

Signing off

Tyrone