Everybody knows ‘God is love’ but is this written in God’s Holy Word? And what is the greatest act of love ever recorded in history? Tune in now to find out. In this broadcast, Carl continues his journey through John’s first epistle, with a focus upon God’s sacrificial love toward humanity, expressed by the death of His only begotten Son. Our struggle with fear is a function of our ignorance of God’s love toward us. As we are perfected in His love, fear is overcome. Join Carl now to find out how…
Here is a complete transcript of the broadcast (below)…
Today I’d like to introduce Pastor Carl who likes to talk about the first epistle of John, capisce? And he likes to speak in the funny accent because he’s not from around here, you understand? And you can take it or leave it, it’s up to you. Have you got it? Good. Now I would like to pass on to him, and remember he reads from the King James, primarily. I don’t know, he’s a kind of a strange guy, but just give him a break and I’ll just hand over to him now. Pastor Carl, take it over. Thanks, Chris, for that introduction. And we are going to continue 1st John the Epistle study in chapter 4, verse 4, a very famous scripture that you should be familiar with, “You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because greater is he that is in you than he that is in this world.” Who is the them in this scripture? It’s the Nicolaitans, it’s the Gnostics, the one who claim that Jesus didn’t come in the flesh.
You have overcome them and every other spirit in the world, including the spirit of error and the spirit of Antichrist. Why? Because greater is he that is in you than he that is in this world. The he that is in you is the Holy Spirit, is the Son of God, is God the Father. They made their abode in you, and the he that is in this world is the Prince, Ruler, and God of this world, little G. Verse 5, “they are of the world, therefore they speak of the world and the world hears them. We are of God. He that knows God hears us.” He that is not of God hears not us. Hereby we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. Friend, do you know the spirit of truth? You should, he lives on the inside of you. You should be able to discern between truth and error because the abiding, indwelling Holy Spirit is gonna help you, amen? And again the onus is on love in verse 7, “Beloved, let us love one another for love is of God and everyone that loves is born of God and knows God.” Once again the love in this context is agape, the unconditional love of the Father to us. As he has bestowed that love to us, we need to give it away.
As we receive his love, we need to give it away, amen? Verse 8, “he that loves not knows not God, for God is love.” You know people will say, I really believe that God is love, and that’s true. Where do they get that information from? They may never have read the Bible, but maybe inwardly they know that God is loving, and that’s a truth, friend. It’s spoken of twice in this chapter alone, that God is love, but they believe in that fluffy God, right? God is love. He doesn’t judge, you know. They believe in the nurturing aspect of love, but they don’t believe in a corrective love. They believe in the fluffy God of doughnuts who’s not gonna judge. He’s not gonna judge pedophiles. He’s just gonna let everybody do what they want because God is loving. He’s loving. He’s just so nice and fluffy and cuddly. That’s the God they love, right? God is, first of all, masculine, male, father.
There’s been an attack on fathers because it’s a representation of God himself. God the father. We have Mother Earth, right? Loving mother who’s gonna pack up, you know, your sandwiches and put you off to school as you learn more about carbon credits and become indoctrinated in that system, but it’s the father who’s gonna correct you, who’s gonna discipline you, right? The masculine side is the Godhead, all right? Now, I’m speaking the truth, friend, and some people are so spiritually and biblically ignorant that they may even be getting offended at some of the things I’m saying. I’m reading the Word of God to you, friend. Verse 9, “And this was manifested, the love of God towards us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world that we might live through him.” If we don’t have eternal life, we’re dead. We’re dead now. I have eternal life now because Christ is in me, but there may be people out there who I’m speaking to who are already dead, who’ve never received life. And, you know, there’s no doubt in the New Testament as to the Son of God.
He is mentioned 47 times in the New Testament and 28 times in the Gospels alone. His identity is Jesus Christ. Verse 10, Here is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Remember, Jesus is the mercy seat, amen? He is the one that has covered the wrath that is towards us because of what our ancestors did in the garden. And it’s because he loved us first. We were already hostile to God, but then God reached out again after we rejected him and sent his Son. Oh, praise the Lord. And then in verse 11, “Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.“ Again, that marker has been repeated over and over again in this book of loving one another. How many times have we heard that? Verse 12, “No man has seen God at any time.” If we love one another, God dwells in us and his love is perfected in us. So the practice of love toward another person is a measure that God not only dwells in us, but that his love is being perfected in us. And if you look at that word in the Greek, it’s teleo, which means to complete, to consummate, to consecrate, to finish, to fulfill. As we practice the love that has been shared with us from the Father towards other people, that love is fulfilled in us. Hereby, we know that we dwell in him and he in us because he has given us of his spirit. And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. Thank you, Jesus. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwells in him and he is God.
Friend, love is the manifestation of God in us. We are measured by our fruit and loving other people. A religion that tells its followers to go into the innocents and blow them up with Semtex and to cause heinous destructive murders on a mass scale, that’s not from God the Father. That’s from the enemy. That’s from the thief who comes to steal, kill, and destroy. That religion is satanic in origin, friend. Okay? Verse 16, “and we have known and believed the love that God has to us. God is love and he that dwells in love dwells in God and God in him.” And again, that theme of God is love is repeated again in this verse 16. It was mentioned in verse 8. That agape, God is that unconditional love that is both nurturing and corrective. There’s two sides to it. Verse 17, “here is our love made perfect that we may have boldness in the day of judgment because as he is, so are we in the world.”
In other words, because of this deposit of the Father’s love in us, there should be a tangible change in our character and our actions so that as we are in this world, we can behave like Christ did in terms of what we think, say, do, and even praying for people who have needs, right? We can actually pray for the sick. We can cast out spirits in Jesus’ name. So are we in this world because greater is he that is in me than he that is in this world. And then verse 18, “there is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear because fear has torment. He that fears is not made perfect in love.” Friend, are you worrying about provision in your life? Are you worrying about the future? Are you fearful for what could happen to you walking down the street? If this is true for you, then you are not perfected in the Father’s love.
You’re not aware of the fullness of God’s agape love towards you. As you bask in the word of God and fellowship with the Father, your faith is going to rise in his goodness. And the spirit of fear is going to be quenched in your life because you’re not perfected in love yet. And that’s why you feel fear according to God’s word. Fear does have torment. And Father, in Jesus’ name, I speak to any spirit of fear that would be on my brother or sister now. As they relinquish agreement and break agreement with that spirit, I ask, Lord, that you would show your fullness, the full fulfillment of your love in their hearts and know that you’re a father who’s going to take care of them. And as they agree with this, Lord, they’re going to feel the love of God shed abroad in their heart in a greater manifestation. Friend, I have felt warm waves of love in my heart. In times of deep worship, I have felt a physical presence of God’s love in my heart. I’m almost tearing up while I’m talking about it because God’s love can be felt tangibly. It’s not just an ideological idea. Oh, yes, I like God’s love. That sounds wonderful. Yes. As an idea, yes, God’s love. No, it’s meant to be felt. And then in verse 19, we love him who, God the Father, because he first loved us.
If a man says, I love God and hates his brother, he’s a liar. For he that loves not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? Again, if a religion’s telling me to blow everybody up, that’s not loving my brother, is it? No. The love of the Father is not in that religion because the love of God is manifested through the Son, and who does not acknowledge the Son cannot entertain love or experience it in their heart. And this commandment we have from him, that he who loves God loves his brother also. And again, the brother in this context is the Christian brother, all right? And we’re supposed to be loving towards the unsaved as well. We’re supposed to be reaching out to them, and sowing into them, and showing them what it is to live a life of peace and love. You know, people should be jealous of our walk. Man, there’s something different about that person. You know, they have peace in every situation.
There’s a calmness about them. I want to know more about that person and eventually more about the God in whom that person serves. Your life is a walking testimony for Christ. You’re an ambassador for him, friend. But if you’re overcome by fear and you’re just shivering because of fear, you need to go back to the Father’s love, like I said, and be perfected and fulfilled in his goodness. And sometimes, friend, people require deliverance in this life. I believe in deliverance, all right? It’s just that deliverance can be abused. Everything’s a demon, you know, the demon of this, the demon of that. I no longer have a will. And so there can be a crossover of poor theology that the church has embraced. But some people have been so harassed and abused by Satan through people that they no longer trust anybody. And it can take weeks and months even for a pastor to build up trust to talk to a person so that he may touch the wound of abandonment or rejection.
And friend, you know, we need to build trust with people and confidence with people so that when they speak, it’s in confidence and not to be shared. And I’ve been involved in some deliverance sessions down the years and seen almost overnight breakthrough because once that spirit has been broken and the power behind it and the ungodly belief that fed it, then you see breakthrough. See, some people cast out spirits, but they don’t address the underlying belief system. This is called ungodly beliefs. And so if you continue to believe falsely, then you’re going to entertain that spirit once again. And so many times, whether it’s porn addiction or whatever it is, an addiction to substances, you have to wash your mind in the Word firstly, okay, and bathe in the fact that you are the guardian and bastion of your mind, and you’re not allowed to entertain thoughts that come in contrast with God’s Word, right? We’re to take captive every thought to the obedience of Christ.
That’s where spiritual warfare is, all right? It’s not fighting the devil. It’s just being obedient to what God’s Word says. And once you break that in the mind, then the spirits, quite frankly, they don’t want to stay because you’re not cooperating with them. Think of them as pets. If you keep feeding that pet and entertaining that pet, it’s going to be in your lap. But as soon as you break that agreement, there’s no food and there’s no entertainment, and those spirits are going to go, ooh, man, this is getting a little heavy, a little heavy. We started with Christopher Walken, and now we’re talking about demonology. Well, listen, friend, like I said, no topic is off the table, amen? And then chapter five, we’re getting close to the end. Whosoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone that loves him that beget loves him also that is begotten of him.
By this we know that we love the children of God when we love God and, and conjunction, keep his commandments. Again, love God, keep his commandments, right? How many times has that been repeated in this epistle? We are to actually do what the word says. Verse three, for this is the love of God that we keep his commandments, and his commandments are not grievous. You know, the ESV says his commandments are not burdensome. The ISV says his commandments are not difficult. So, you know, we’re calling God a liar if we can’t do what he says. You know, you can’t get to heaven and say, well, I read the New Testament, and you know, it was a little bit tough, and frankly, I couldn’t do half of it, because how could anybody even do that? You’re calling God a liar when you say that. Some people have abandoned this book because they think it’s too hard. And again, the onus is on their own strife and doing it by themselves instead of allowing the Holy Spirit to flow through them. This is a different mindset, okay? And that’s why some of you have struggled. Anyway, God bless you. We’re going to continue tomorrow.
https://carljosephministries.com/podcast/how-to-grow-spiritually-part-2-live/
https://www.raystedman.org/new-testament/1-john
Title: Commentary on 1st John: Part 6
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Six Frequently Asked Questions:
1. What is the greatest act of love ever recorded in history?
The greatest act of love is God sending His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to die for our sins (1 John 4:9–10). This sacrificial act, known as propitiation, means Jesus absorbed the wrath we deserved, restoring our relationship with the Father. God loved us first, even while we were still in rebellion toward Him.
2. Why do many believers still struggle with fear if they are loved by God?
Fear remains when we are not yet perfected in God’s love (1 John 4:18). Fear brings torment, but God’s perfect love casts it out. As we grow in understanding and experience of God’s love, fear loses its grip. This isn’t just theoretical—it can be felt, known, and lived.
3. How does God’s love help us live without fear in this world?
As we receive and abide in God’s love, we begin to trust Him fully for provision, protection, and purpose. This results in boldness, even in the face of uncertainty or judgment (1 John 4:17). God’s love secures us and makes us confident, not anxious.
4. How can I tell if God’s love is truly in me?
Scripture teaches that love for others, especially fellow believers, is evidence of God’s love in us (1 John 4:20–21). If we claim to love God but harbor hatred or bitterness, the Bible calls us liars. True love is not just words—it’s action, patience, forgiveness, and compassion.
5. Is God’s love only nurturing, or is it also corrective?
God’s love is both nurturing and corrective. While many emphasize the “fluffy” side of love—comfort and acceptance—true love also disciplines, protects, and teaches (Hebrews 12:6). God, as a Father, doesn’t ignore sin but calls us to walk in holiness because He loves us.
6. What does it mean that “perfect love casts out fear”?
This means that when we are mature in our understanding and acceptance of God’s love, fear no longer controls us. Whether it’s fear of judgment, rejection, lack, or death—God’s love offers security, identity, and peace. The more we abide in His love, the less room fear has to operate.
Carl is an authority. He is a biblical scholar, minister, author, husband, father, and life coach. In his mid-twenties he had a powerful encounter with God and saw miraculous healings as a result. Carl is a unique researcher who investigates current affairs, societal trends, prophecy, technology, cults, and end time events, all through a biblical lens.
Carl holds a Doctorate in Theology (Th D). His Alma Mata includes: Salford University, Manchester, UK, Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, London, UK, Rhema Bible Training College (Tulsa), and Southwestern Christian University (Oklahoma City).
Carl Joseph Ministries empowers believers in Christ to fulfill their God given potential. Join Carl every other Monday on the Lions Unchained Podcast, available on Spotify, iTunes and other mainstream platforms.
He currently resides in Colorado, with his lovely wife Amy, and their three children.
