I surely hope you have a Neal in your life. I do. 

Last Sunday our community of faith was looking at the Gospel of John, and also his epistle, and a verse about fear really caught our eyes. You know the one, I'll bet:

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love (1 John 4:18).
 

It's a familiar passage, but have you meditated much on the bit that says, "fear has to do with punishment..."? There was something about that particular phrase that struck a chord with several of us on Sunday.

I had begun our teaching time with the question, "What does the resurrection have to do with abiding in Christ-- of being in the vine?" We had some good discussion (Epiclesis folks are really deep thinkers) but Neal kind of brought it all home in his usual thoughtful, succinct, and very deep way. Here's a paraphrase of his insight: "The answer is that perfect love took the punishment on Himself. That's how fear is cast out, and that's how we can abide in Him."

Isn't that beautiful? In other words, the straight line that connects fear and punishment goes straight through Perfect Love. The resurrection makes abiding in the Vine possible because fear and punishment have been separated.

I love learning from Neal.

Praying that you have a Neal in your life,

Pastor Chris