A Closer Look at 1 John 4:17-18

Read 1 John 4:17-18.
If you didn't understand parts of this passage, what could you do?
Start by reading this passage in another version of the Bible. If you first read it in a NASB, RSV, NIV, or KJV--try reading it in the NLT, TEV, or The Message.
Does your Bible have cross-references? Are they keyed to different parts of the passage?
Here are the cross-references from my NASB:
For verse 17--"love is perfected with us"--1 John 2:5 and 4:12
"confidence"--1 John 2:28
"as He is, so also are we in this world"--John 17:22; 1 John 2:6, 3:1, 7, 16
For verse 18--"perfect love"--Romans 8:15
"perfected in love"--1 John 4:12

Let's go through these cross-references to see how they enhance our understanding of these two verses.

(4:17) "love is perfected with us"
Read 1 John 2:5.
What has truly been perfected?
In whom has it truly been perfected?
Whose word must he keep?
Read 1 John 4:12.
What is perfected?
In whom is it perfected?
What causes the love of God to be perfected within someone?
Read 1 John 4:17.
What is perfected?
Whose love is perfected? If you're not sure, refer back to the previous verse. Who has and is the love?
How is it perfected? You'll notice that it's "by this." What is "by this"? Read the previous verse.
What needs to be happening in order for God's love to be perfected in someone?
According to these three verses, what needs to be present or happening with someone in order for God's love to be perfected in that person?
How are these three things related? How does John relate them in this letter?

(4:17) "confidence"
Read 1 John 2:28.
What does John tell the believers to do?
What benefit is there in abiding in Him?
When will be a great time to have this confidence?
What will this confidence keep us from doing?
Read 1 John 4:17.
If God's love is perfected in them, what will they have?
When will they have it?
How is that time similar to the time spoken of in 1 John 2:28?
Did John speak about that time in his gospel? Yes, he did. Read John 5:24.
What did Jesus promise in this verse?
For more information on this time and what Jesus said about it, continue reading through verse 29.

(4:17) "as He is, so also are we in this world"
Read John 17:22-23.
Who has been given glory?
Who is one?
What will they have?
What will the world know because of this?
Read 1 John 2:6.
What ought the one who says he abides in Him do?
Read 1 John 3:1.
Upon whom has the Father bestowed so great a love?
What are they called?
What is Jesus' familial relationship with the Father?
How is that similar to our relationship with the Father?
Read 1 John 3:7.
How is He described?
Who is He? (Look back at verse 5.)
Who else is righteous?
Who would that be?
So how are they like Jesus?
Read 1 John 3:16.
Who laid down His life for us?
How are we to be like him?

(18) "perfect love"
Read Romans 8:15.
What two spirits are contrasted in this verse?
Which one leads to fear?
Which one leads to crying out, "Abba, Father!"?
What is indicated by crying out, "Abba, Father!"? Who is it that can cry out, "Abba, Father!"?

(18) "perfected in love"
Read 1 John 4:12.
When is God's love perfected in us?
According to Romans 8:15, if we have this perfected love, what can we cry out? What type of relationship do we have with the Father?

Reread 1 John 4:17-18.
How did reading the cross-references for these verses help you to more fully understand what John was saying to his readers?