How Divine Love is Evidenced

Think about the phrase “...His love is perfected in us...” . In this phrase John tells us that our gracious Lord is doing a constant work for us. He is perfecting us. Note it does not say “His love was perfected in us” or “His love is perfect in us”, but rather, “His love is perfected in us”. The Lord's perfecting is an ongoing work that constantly pushes us towards the impossible goal of Godly perfection. John then follows with a series of familiar “...by this...” statements which tell us we should expect to see evidence of God's divine love at work in out lives. Do you know what the evidence of God's love is in your life?

There is some obvious evidence, a Christian will confess that Jesus is the Son of God who was sent by the Father to be the Savior of the world, but, it does not stop there. Growing in the love of God also means growing in the understanding of God and His Law. Seeking to know and obey God is deeply connected to God working in us.

All professing Christians concede that Jesus came to die for our sins, and unfortunately, many rest on that alone. John tells us there is much more than just this when he talks about how God's perfect love casts out fear of judgement. If the Christian walk only required belief in Jesus, why would John mention fear of judgement?