“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.” (1 John 4:17 NASB).
John is sharing a wonderful assurance with us in 1 John 4:17. He is saying that God wants us to be confident that, in His coming day of judgment, we will be like Him. The Lord’s Exchanged Life in us that we have seen in 2 Corinthians 5:21, casts out all fear, guilt, and shame. God sees us right now, moment-by-moment and forever, with the righteousness of His Son—as our Exchanged Life. Is that not good news? And what does this do to all the talk about failing God’s expectations? It evaporates it. Such talk is nothing more than a fallen misconception chased away by the light of God’s reality and truth. Consider the King James Version of Romans 10:11, which reads, “Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.” This is another one of those verses which declares that believing alone is the basis for our salvation and relationship with God. This verse declares that whoever believes will not be ashamed. There is no requirement of performance in this verse. What a comforting word this is for us who believe.
“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.” (1 John 4:18 NASB).
Grace means that God is perfecting His love in us and banishing all of our fears.