1 John 4:18 (YLT)

Passage

fear is not in the love, but the perfect love doth cast out the fear, because the fear hath punishment, and he who is fearing hath not been made perfect in the love;

Nearby Context

1 John 4:16 and we--we have known and believed the love, that God hath in us; God is love, and he who is remaining in the love, in God he doth remain, and God in him.

1 John 4:17 In this made perfect hath been the love with us, that boldness we may have in the day of the judgment, because even as He is, we--we also are in this world;

1 John 4:18 fear is not in the love, but the perfect love doth cast out the fear, because the fear hath punishment, and he who is fearing hath not been made perfect in the love;

1 John 4:19 we--we love him, because He--He first loved us;

1 John 4:20 if any one may say--`I love God,' and his brother he may hate, a liar he is; for he who is not loving his brother whom he hath seen, God--whom he hath not seen--how is he able to love?

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "fear", "love", "perfect", "doth", and "cast". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "fear" and "love", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 17's "In this made perfect hath been the..." into verse 19's "we--we love him because He--He first loved...", so "fear" and "love" belong inside that flow. In 1 John context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "fear" and "love" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.