EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/23/2025 10:25 PM
My Worship Time Focus: “Perfect Love And The Christian’s Confidence in Judgment”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference:
1 John 4:17-21
Message of the verses: “17 By this, love
is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment;
because as He is, so also are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts
out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected
in love. 19 We love, because He first loved us. 20 If someone says,
"I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who
does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not
seen. 21 And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God
should love his brother also.”
Just to let all of you know that this section is the
last section in the 4th chapter of 1 John and it has one of my
favorite verses in it, the one that is highlighted.
Let
us begin with what is stated in verse 17b we may have confidence in the day of
judgment, and this is the experience of believers who not only know when they
have an accurate grasp of the gospel and other biblical doctrines, but also
when love is perfected within them.
MacArthur
explains that “The day of judgment refers in the broadest sense to the final
time of reckoning before God (cf. 2:28).
John says believers can live their lives with confidence (literally, ‘boldness’)
as they look to the day when Christ returns and they stand before God (1 Cor.
3:9-15; 2 Cor. 5:10; cf. James 1:12; Rev. 2:10). In 3:21 John used the same word (parresia) to refer to the confidence
believers can have that God will grant their prayer requests. In the present verse the apostle declares
that boldness and lack of fear should characterize believers (cf. Rom. 5:2;
Heb. 6:19) whenever they think ahead of God’s time of judgment (cf. Titus
2:13).”
Now
one may ask why can believers have such confidence? Because as He is, so also are we in this
world. Now this is a stunning statement which
means that the Father treats the saints the same way He does His Son Jesus
Christ. Now think about that statement for
a moment. God clothes believers with the
righteousness of Christ (Rom. 3:21-22; 2 Cor. 5:21; Phil. 3:9), and grants the
Son’s perfect love (Matt. 9:36; John 10:11, 14-16; 13:1; 14:21) and obedience
(cf. John 4:34; 5:30; 18:37). The truth
is that someday believers will stand before God’s throne as confidently as
their Lord and Savior does. (Think about
that statement). When they reach that
final accounting, they will see the fulfillment of 1 John 3:2b, “We [believers]
know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as
He is.”
Ok
it is Sunday evening and my Spiritual Diaries are shorter than on the week
days, and so it is my desire to be able to finish looking at the great and
wonderful verses in tomorrow’s evening SD.
2/23/2025 10:49 PM
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