Seventh Day Baptist
Christian Education Council
PO BOX 1678
Janesville, WI 53547
—1 John 4:7-21
by: Dale Rood.
When John wrote about perfect love, he was using “perfect” as a verb and not an adjective. In this passage, he gave instruction on how we can do that. The key is love, but we must put feet on that love. For God, love was sending His only Son (v.10) on our behalf. For us, love is acknowledging, in the power of the Spirit, that Jesus, God’s Son, is our Savior. This means that we acknowledge our need for a Savior (v.13-15), overcome fear to take a stand for what is right (v.18), and love our fellow humans—believers in particular—as God loves us (v.19-21).