1 John 4:19

Our ability to love and our practice of love come from God’s love for us. We need not fear standing before our Judge because we love Him and He loves us. This verse is the climax of the body of this epistle.

"The ultimate ground of Christian assurance (including confidence on the judgment day, 1 John 4:17) is not to be found in our loving, however ’complete’ (1 John 4:18), but in God’s prior love for us . . ." [Note: Smalley, p. 261. Cf. Dodd, pp. 122-23.]

"God always makes the first move in the game of love." [Note: G. S. Sloyan, Walking in the Truth, p. 49.]

Confidence is one of the great consequences of having intimate fellowship with God. We can have confidence now and confidence to meet Jesus Christ when He returns for us or when we die (1 John 2:28). Moreover we can have confidence in prayer (1 John 3:21-22) and confidence when we stand before His judgment seat to give account of our stewardship (1 John 4:17-19).