Fear Not, Just Love

“Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (Jn. 8:31,32). While it is true that a book needs to be written on the meaning of this integral passage of scripture, I would like to point out just a couple of key elements about it today. Knowing the truth, as defined by Jesus, makes one free from a great many things; but there are two things that it would do a world of good for God’s people to be made free from today. These two spiritual bonds go hand in hand because one of them is actually caused by the other. These things are fear, and the need to prove something religious to someone else; particularly someone who is outside of the confines of one’s own religious circle. I am talking about a sectarian spirit that makes those under it afraid that some brother or sister in Christ who is apart from one’s own religious environment, is going to try to ‘put something over on them.’ Almost everyone in the body of Christ has been “taught by the precept of men” regarding the way of Christ, and the spirit that has taught them has also taught them to see others in Christ who are not part of their affiliation as enemies of ‘the faith’ (Isa. 29:13). Few would admit that they feel this way simply because they know that it is wrong, but yet they demonstrate that they feel that way by their suspicion of those apart from their environment, and their reluctance to engage them graciously and reasonably. That same fear and suspicion compels many to try to impose something of their ‘belief’ on others because they are anticipating that the same is going to be done to them first if they do not. So what is the result of all of this? Well, the continued separation and strife among God’s people of course. Who do you suppose is the author of that confusion? Yep, you got that one right. The scripture tells us something that is very crucial to the faith of all who hope to inherit eternal life: “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” (I Jn. 4:18). The fact of the matter here is that being made free means that we rid our hearts and minds of everything that is contrary to the love of God, and we can only do that by the empowerment of the holy Ghost (Mat. 5:8; Acts 1:8; Tit. 3:5; I Jn. 3:3).

If we can be honest with ourselves about the state of our heart, we can spend focus ourselves in prayer on the purpose of purifying our hearts from everything other than God’s love; which love the scripture says, “is shed abroad in our hearts by the holy Ghost” (Rom. 5:5). When we have accomplished that, and we refuse to allow anything undue back into our hearts; then there is no more fear, only love. The love of God is not afraid of anything at all, and better yet it has nothing to prove; but rather it just IS! When someone is under dominion only to God’s Spirit of love, they are not suspicious or afraid of anyone trying to put something false over on them; neither are they defensive, seeing they have nothing to defend. In fact they have the full confidence that they are the total possession of God, and that HE defends THEM! But the religious spirit of sectarianism has everything to be afraid of, seeing it is a lie to begin with, and fears greatly being found out. Yet the same spirit tells those who are under it that they are doing their godly duty by staying hunkered down in their own little confined space, and keeping everyone else out. It also convinces them by that same fear to try to impose their will on others so that they cannot do it to them first. As I alluded to already, seeing that the greater majority of God’s people are in this kind of mindset, the evident result is confusion and division. That division my friend is of the devil, because he knows what will happen if and when God’s people can come together in God’s Spirit and in his truth: “And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul… And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all” (Acts 4:32,33). So the question that we are left with is this: Are we content to be incomplete and in a state of fearfulness and unrest, or do we truly want to go forward in “the unity of the Spirit” into the things that we just read from the book of Acts? (Eph. 4:3) If we would choose to go forward and leave all of the religious ideas of men behind, then it isn’t a difficult task. All it takes is the honesty and humility to acknowledge where we are in our hearts, and the determination to purify ourselves by the power of God’s holy Spirit of truth and love. Trust me when I tell you, if we take that route of pure simplicity of truth, there is only one place for us to end up at, and that is at the state of perfect love that casts out fear. The real beauty of that is that God is with us and for us to do exactly that. Amen.