Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God is saved, then God remains in him and he in God.
Because of this confession of belief in Jesus and God living in him, we believers have come to know and believe the love that God has for us. God is love and love (God) lives in the person when the person remains in God (love).
By remaining with God and in His love, love is perfected within us. In that way, we may have confidence on the day of judgment of our eternal inheritance with God in His kingdom because we are as He is in this world, living in it but not bound by its temptations and sins. We are saved by Jesus.
There is no fear in love; instead, perfect love—God’s love— drives out fear, because fear involves punishment. We believers should have no fear of punishment for, by their belief in Jesus, God, with His perfect love, removed the judgment for our sins.
So, any believer who fears has not reached perfection in love. For what do we have to fear since, by Jesus’ death, our sins have been wiped from our name in God’s books.
Jesus makes believers righteous by His sinless death. God’s love lives in us and we in Him if we remain in a close relationship with Him. As we draw closer to God and become more like Jesus, love is made more and more perfect—complete—in us. Because we have God’s love in us, we believers have no reason to fear. Instead, have confidence in the promise of our hope of eternal life with God. For from God’s love in us, we have no reason to fear punishment. We are walking with Him and growing in love of and from God.
Taken from 1 John 4:15-18
