1 John 4:18 English Standard Version (ESV) There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.

When we love someone we do not want that love challenged. It hurts hearing a loved one saying “You don’t love me any more.” Those are words we do not want to hear our Lord say to us.

We fear that our sins say to our Lord that we do not love Him perfectly. If we allow fear to influence our image of ourselves in Christ this is true, we are not perfect in love.

Perhaps we should define sin in a way that we now longer fear sin.

What is sin?

One definition is a law breaker. If we break God’s law we are a sinner. Do we know all of the law? Which laws, man’s, God’s or both? One answer to that is that we are no longer under the law but under grace. Does grace have a law? Does being gracious mean we are keeping the law of grace? What does that mean? Does it even exist?

This leads us into the trap of performance based quilt. Guilty consciences lead us towards repentance and seeking forgiveness. Those are emotions based on our perception of sin.

Most of us do not know about a law until we are caught violating that law. We are ignorant of many laws. We are not ignorant of perfect love because we have been told in 1 Corinthians 13 how love acts.

If we focus on what love is and how it acts we will stop thinking about sin. It still exists but it will not be our focus. Thinking about sin does not prevent us from acting on it. Likewise focusing on perfect love does not guarantee we will perform it perfectly. It will however give us a measuring stick to gauge our performance.

Some have described sin as missing the target of perfect love. We aim to love and perfect love is that little red circle in the middle of the target. If we hit it we feel good, if  we miss it we feel bad. We tend to believe that practice makes perfect. If we practice more we will get better scores. That is just a mechanism for making ourselves feel good emotionally.

Here is a secret for hitting that perfect love target.

Get closer.

Romans 8:29 English Standard Version (ESV) For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

Being conformed into the image of the Son is to look like but that does not make us The Son. We are still corruptible.

1 Corinthians 15:51-53 English Standard Version 

51 Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.

Being transfigured gives us immortality and a body like His but we are still not The Son.

We cannot say what that will be like. We have some hint of eternity but nothing that we can relate to in this life. Conformation however is something that we can see for it is an image.

What does this life in Christ look like now that He abides in us?

How do we see ourselves? Have we changed? Yes but in what ways?

John 14:21 English Standard Version (ESV) Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”

Jesus will manifest Himself to us if we love Him. If we have His commandments and keep them then we have shown Him that we love Him. What does that mean to us? Does having and keeping commandments mean we no longer sin?

1 John 1:8-10 English Standard Version 

8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

“His Word is not in us” indicates one who does not have his commandments and keeps them.

Sin is not a sign of lack of love nor of imperfect love. It just means we are mortal.