Do you believe the sentence "Perfect love casts out fear" in 1 John 4:18 can be used to mean "since we want to love perfectly as God does, let's have no fear of others"? I don't think this is the meaning of the text (it's rather "God's love for us drives out the fear of him (his judgement) from us"), even though out of context it could have meant that, but not in the context. Am I wrong? -- Christian Arbogast (Paris)
I think the fear in 1 John relates more to fear of judgment (as in chapter 3:19-21). But then I suppose the faith/confidence vis-à-vis salvation may be extended into our human relationships. In support of this idea, the Psalms often mention fear of God and fear of others. Yet to answer your question directly, I would say No, this is not what the passage directly refers to. It's a nuanced matter...
