¹⁷By 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. ¹⁸There 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.

Eternal security, as a doctrine, is belittled in some evangelical circles. This teaching asserts that those who come to genuine faith in Jesus Christ and are saved can never lose their salvation. Some mock this teaching as absurd, for in their thinking, it removes the motivation for living the Christian life. Indeed, how can a person claim to believe and then think he could commit murder or live a self-centered life and still be eternally saved?

The apostle John gives a perfect response to such mocking. He writes of the perfection of love, the same love he just wrote about as being the essential character and identity of God and His Son Jesus Christ (“God is love”). And he puts this love in relationship to “the day of judgment,” a reference to our final standing before God at the end of time. It is the love of God that gives us confidence before God and removes any fear of condemnation (“There is no fear in love”). This removal of fear is not found in our love for God, as though He will judge us in the end for how much we loved Him. That way of thinking will never give us any assurance! For which of us can claim we love God enough to pass His judgment? John certainly wouldn’t say that; he consistently identified himself not by how much he loved God, but as “the disciple whom Jesus loved.”

The objections to the teaching of eternal security go against John’s teaching here because they use fear of punishment as the necessary motivator for Christian living (note: we are aware of the “warning” passages in the book of Hebrews and deal with them elsewhere). We must not hold believers over the precipice of hell, using fear to keep them in line with the Christian lifestyle. That would be spiritual bullying. That way will never bring spiritual maturity, as John writes: “The one who fears is not perfected in love.”

What then is the motivation for continuing in a life of faith? The answer is this: love provides a stronger incentive than fear of punishment. The worldly mindset requires fear to get Christians to live rightly. But the eternally secure love of God infinitely eclipses the fear of loss of salvation for the one who is abiding in God’s love. To fear losing salvation when God has loved us so much—now that is absurd and an insult to His perfect love! How could you or I possibly not love and obey the God who loves us through Jesus Christ?

Lord, Your love is so amazing; I want to fully abide in You and live for You.