Reference: John 4:18
The definition for the word perfect is,being without defect or flawless. Perfect love is therefore a love that isperfect in every detail. We are told in God's word that he is love: thereforewe can say that when Christ has been perfected in us, then we can believe thatwe have perfect love within us. Just to say that Christ abides in our heartsbased on the fact that we say we have accepted him as Lord and Saviour is in nowise proving that we have perfect love, because Christ can only be perfected inus as we walk in and obey the revealed truth of God's holy word.
Christ is the living revealed word of God.The word of God can be perfected in us as we come to the knowledge of it havingbeen revealed to us by the revelation of the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost revealsChrist in us as we are obedient to the truth. The apostle John tells us thatperfect love casts out fear. He also tells us that if we are yet fearful thenwe are not made perfect in love. If we are not perfect in love then thisreveals to us that Christ has not been perfected in our lives.
The apostle John tells us in I John 2:4-6 that whosoeversays they know God but fails to keep his commandments, then he is a liar andthe truth (which is Christ) is not in him. If we confess to be children of God,but fail to keep and obey God's word of truth, then we are proven to be liarsin the sight of God. But then John goes on to say that if we keep his word,then verily is the love of God perfected in us. To keep the word of God meansthat we receive and obey the truth as it is revealed to us. The religious worldtoday has been led to believe that Christ was perfected in them when theyaccepted him as their Lord and Saviour. They believe this simply because of thefact that Christ is perfect, but what they are blind from is the fact thatChrist can only be perfected in and through our lives as we receive and walk inthe light of the knowledge of truth.
The fulness of Christ is not received whenwe first come to God asking for mercy and pardon from sin. The common teachingin the religious world today is that a person becomes a born again new creationin Christ when they accept him as their own personal Lord and Saviour, butGod's word plainly reveals that Christ is perfected in us in a daily process aswe walk in and obey the revealed word of truth.
The apostle Paul tells us in Ephesians 4:8-13that Christ gave the ministry gifts for the perfecting of the saints till weall come to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God,unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.These scriptures plainly proves that Christ is perfected in us through a dailyprocess. Since Christ is the living revealed word of God, then this reveals tous that we can have perfect love by our obeying the truth of God's wordrevealed in the gospel.
If we keep and obey God's word of truth,then our love will be perfected and fear will be cast out completely. This fearthat will be cast out is the fear that we have in our hearts that automaticallycauses us to fear when certain conditions arises in our lives such as sicknessor any other threat to our life. Fear is directly opposite to faith. Wherethere is fear there is no faith and where there is no fear there is faith. Fearis condemnation, which is caused by our failure to keep God's word. We can'tpossibly have confidence in God if we fail to keep his word. The apostle Johntells us in I John 3:20-22 if our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our heartsand knows all things, but if our hearts condemn us not, then we have confidencetoward God and whatsoever we ask we receive of him, because we keep hiscommandments and do those things pleasing in his sight.
It's impossible to have true faith in Godif we fail to keep God's word of truth. To keep the truth and obey it willremove all fear from our hearts. If we fear what may happen to us, this willcause us to fail in trusting God for our deliverance from whatever we may befaced with. We are told in God's word that there will be no temptation that wewill be faced with that we will not be able to overcome, because God willprovide a way for our escape so that we can be able to bear and go through it.
There are many instances where our faithcan be tried in proving our love to God. Reguardless as to what situation wemay find ourselves in, we can find deliverance if we stand on what God has saidin his word about him providing a way of escape. The reason why most peoplefail to go through their trials and temptations is simply because they are notreceiving and obeying the revealed truth of God's word.
Jesus said that truth shall make us free,so if we are not free then it's plain to see that we would be void of truth. Ifour faith is not being increased, then it's either because we are not obeyingthe truth or else we are not hearing the truth, because we are told that faithcomes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Only the absolute truth willset us free and increase our faith. The religious world today has madeshipwreck concerning faith.
Faith in God is not only a belief onChrist, but rather it's a belief and obedience to the revealed word of truthcontained in the gospel. To believe on Christ means to believe and obey theword of God as it is revealed to you. Perfect love can only be perfected in usif we walk in and obey the word of God. Our obedience to the word of truth willperfect the fruits of the Spirit within us. The love of God is a love that goesway beyond the natural love. Natural love, of which everybody has, can onlylove in return when someone does good to them, but the love of God can love anenemy. We are told to love our enemies and to pray for them that despitefullyuse us, but only the love of God can do this.
The love of God is shed abroad in ourhearts by the Holy Ghost which is given to us as so stated in Romans 5:5. This love isshed abroad in our hearts as we walk in and obey the truth revealed to us bythe Holy Spirit. Keeping God's word will perfect love in us and will remove allfear. If we are yet fearful then it's an evident fact that we are not madeperfect in love. The apostle John tells us that there is torment if we havefear. This is very true because to fear will certainly have a great effect onus and it can possibly lead to heartfailure. Jesus said that men's hearts will fail them because of the fear theywill have when the things spoken of in God's word begins to take place.
Fear is a tormenting influence that willactually cause many people to worry themselves sick. Perfect love will cast outfear, but this love will be in a very few, because keeping God's word is theonly thing that can and will perfect this love and not many are willing to obeyGod's word of truth. To obey the truth will crucify the lusts and the desiresof the flesh and for this reason very few will receive it. It is very easy toexamine ourselves to see what kind of love we have when we are faced withdifficulties in our everyday life. Perfect love can trust God no matter howsevere the test may be. True born again children of God knows that God willprovide a way of our escape no matter what we are faced with....