As we continue in our study of 1 John, we are looking at line of reasoning which John has been presenting concerning the reality of our faith. The great concern of his as he is writing this epistle has been the false teaching that has arisen in the church. That false doctrine is what is called Gnosticism. Gnosticism comes from the Greek word ginōskō which means to know. John uses the word know 26 times in this epistle, and introduces it in the verses we are looking at today in vs 3-6. For instance, John uses it twice in vs 3, saying, “By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments.”
Now in the previous chapter, John identified three ways in which one professed to know God, but in actuality they showed by their actions that they did not know God. He said in vs6, “If we say that we have fellowship with Him and [yet] walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; …and in vs 8 “If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.” ... and in vs10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.”
Now in chapter 2 vs 4, John adds another false claim to know God, saying, “ The one who says, "I have come to know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.” Once again, as in the previous three, the claim is of an intimate knowledge of God which is not supported by one’s actions or behavior.
So one of the positive things that John is doing here is giving us assurance of our salvation. But at the same time, on the negative side, he is revealing the false claim of the imposter, or someone who is really not a Christian. And this is important in our day, just as much if not more than it was in John’s day, because in our culture there are many, many people that claim to know God, claim to be Christian, and yet their lives are evidence that what they claim is not true. John says if they say they know God and not keep His commandments then they are a liar.
You know, our Christianity is not evidenced by what church we belong to. Our Christianity is not evidenced by how many Bible studies we attend a week. Our Christianity is not evidenced by what spiritual gifts we may exhibit. Our Christianity is not evidenced by whatever theological degrees we may hold. Our Christianity is evidenced by our obedience to God.
Now in chapter one, the emphasis John made was on the claim of knowing God and yet practicing sin being incompatible with being a Christian. If you claimed to know God, but lived a life in which you practiced sin, then John says categorically, you are a liar and the truth is not in you. You may say you are saved, but you are deceived. You may say that you know God but you do not. You may say that you know the word of God but the truth is not in you. John is pretty direct about that. The proof is in the pudding, as they say. A Christian cannot, will not, live in sin, and if you do, then John you are not a Christian, period.
But in this chapter, John shifts gears somewhat. He says, a Christian is not just known by what they don’t do, but what they do. You know, when I was growing up, we used to sometimes hear this expression, “I don’t smoke, and I don’t chew, and I don’t go with girls that do.” I guess down in the part of North Carolina I grew up in, we had a problem with girls chewing tobacco. I don’t know how the expression came about really. Maybe it was the lyrics to an old song, I don’t know. But the thought behind it was that good Christians didn’t do certain things. And sometimes that list was pretty long. In the church I grew up in, we didn’t go to movies, we didn’t listen to rock music, we didn’t go to dances, men didn’t wear long hair, and we didn’t smoke, drink, or chew tobacco. And unfortunately, we oftentimes validated our Christianity by whether or not you kept that list.
So rather than just saying what a Christian doesn’t do, in this passage John introduces some positive proofs of Christianity. He says this is what a Christian does. A Christian does not practice sin, but a Christian practices righteousness. So John provides certain positive tests to our claim of knowing God.
Now these are tests by which we show we know God, not the means by which we come to know God. We know that salvation is by grace, it is the gift of God. We know that we receive eternal life through the gift of the Lord Jesus Christ who died for sinners, and that gift of eternal life does not depend upon our good works, or by our attempts at righteousness, but simply by the free gift of Christ’s righteousness which is reckoned to our account. So we are not saved by our works. But make no mistake, the miracle of grace produces a change in us. The miracle of grace produces a conversion, a transformation in us. So that I no longer am the same man I used to be. But by believing in what Christ has done for me, I am born again, I am a new creation. And so because I am a new creation, I have a new way of living. A lot of preachers emphasize that because of grace we show gratitude. And yes, of course we should. But that is not entirely it. What happened is that the grace of God changed me. The gift of God changed my heart, it changed my desires. I no longer lust after the things of the world, but I love the things of God.
Consequently, because I am a new creation, I have a new behavior. So that John can say in vs 3, “By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments.”
Now let’s break that down a little bit. John says, “By this we know that we have come to know Him.” If you look at that statement, you have to recognize that the apostle believed it was possible to know God, and secondly, he believed it was possible to know that you know. In other words, it is possible to know God, and it is possible to have assurance of that knowledge.
So how may I know that I know him? Because I had some experience? No. Through signs and wonders? No. Through speaking in tongues? No. Through hearing voices from heaven or because God supposedly spoke to me? No, John says it's we have assurance that we know God because we keep His commandments.
The word keep in the Greek is tēreō. It was a word often used to speak of a sentry or a guard, so it suggests that we should be on guard to obey God's will. Strong’s definition of “tereo” is to attend to carefully, take care of, to guard, to observe. That reminds me of the way God spoke of His commandments to the Israelites in Deut. 11:18-21 God said, "You shall therefore impress these words of mine on your heart and on your soul; and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. You shall teach them to your sons, talking of them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road and when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, so that your days and the days of your sons may be multiplied on the land which the LORD swore to your fathers to give them, as long as the heavens [remain] above the earth.” That’s the idea behind keeping the commandments, or keeping the word of God.
So what John says simply, "I may know that I know him by the practical test of obedience to the commandments.” Now remember, the basis for our salvation is found in vs 2, Christ is the propitiation for our sins. And we receive forgiveness and His righteousness by faith through grace. But the evidence of our salvation is found here in vs 3, if we keep His commandments. We're not saved by obedience, but our obedience evidences the salvation that we genuinely have.
The question arises then, what are the commandments? I can’t help but think that just asking that indicates a desire on our part to escape any obligation on our part, doesn’t it? That’s what the rich young ruler asked. Remember the rich young ruler came to Jesus and said, ““Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life?” And Jesus said, “Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good; but if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” And the rich young ruler replied, “Which ones?” That question reveals his heart, doesn’t it? All the commandments of God are good. Paul said the law is good. They all must be kept.
John helps us to understand this principle in vs 5. Notice in vs 5, John says, "whoever keeps His word.” Now up to this time he has been saying whosoever keeps His commandments. Now he shows that the “word” is interchangeable with “commandments.” So, he is speaking of more than just the 10 commandments. He is speaking of keeping the word of God, which encompasses the whole Bible, both Old and New Testaments.
But let’s try to summarize the commandments of Christ. We can find a succinct statement by Christ to that point in John 15:12. Jesus said, “This is my commandment, That you love one another, as I have loved you.” Now at first glance that sounds simple enough, but it’s actually a lot more comprehensive once you consider it.
There was a lawyer who came to Jesus to test Him and he asked of Him the question, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And He said to him, “ ‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’ “This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ “On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”
Now the point I want to emphasize there is that these two commandments encompass the entire law. It’s not that we don’t consider the rest of the law because we only have these two that are in effect in the new covenant. But it means that all the law can be summarized in these two.
For instance, if you love your neighbor you will not commit adultery with his wife. If you love your neighbor you will not steal from him. If you love your neighbor you will not covet what he has. As Paul said in Romans 13:10 “Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of [the] law.”
Love isn’t some new law, it’s the same old law. It’s just a new way of looking at the law. John goes on to say in vs 7, “Beloved, I am not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning; the old commandment is the word which you have heard.” And as John gets further along in his letter, he is going to say a lot about the law of love, and how we need to think about it. Love is not sentimentality, it’s not an emotional response, it’s not even predicated on whether or not you like someone, or whether or not you are attracted to someone. Love is what you do for someone, how you act towards someone.
So John presents this truth of how we know that we know God by both a negative statement and a positive statement. It’s one sentence, split over two verses. Once again the translators did a disservice in their numbering of verses. John gives the negative part of the statement in vs 4 and continues in vs 5 with the positive part of the statement. “The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected.”
Once again, notice the correlation between the commandments and His word. John makes them synonymous. But then notice he says the person who keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. Now what does he mean by perfected? Does this mean that we should reach some level of perfection where we no longer sin? Is it possible for a Christian to be perfect?
Well, John answered that in the last chapter saying, “If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.” So perfected doesn’t mean obtaining perfection, but rather completion. The word translated perfected would be better translated completed. And what that refers to is this. John said in 1John 4:19 “We love, because He first loved us.” Because God first loved us, it produces love in us. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” But then a few verses further Jesus says what the love of God produces in us in vs21 "But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God." That indicates that the response of the new life is a new way of living, a life in which our deeds are manifested as having been wrought in God.” It’s like a circle, we love, because He first loved us, and that love changed us, so that we have His desires and do His will, and His will is that we love one another. Our response of love completes what God initiated. So “whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected.”
Then in the second part of vs 5 and continuing through vs 6, John gives the second way we have assurance of our salvation. He says, “By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.”
It’s interesting that John changes the paradigm from knowing God to being in God. To be “in Him” is a curious expression, but one which refers to having our life in Him. We are made alive in Him, we are made righteous in Him, we have eternal life in Him. It refers to our union with Christ. He is our federal head. In Him refers to Christ being our representative, our substitute, our propitiation, which was talked about in vs 2. We are joined to Him, in much the same way that a husband and wife are joined together in marriage so that they become one.
Paul speaks of being in Christ in 2Cor. 5:14-15, 17 “For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf. ... Therefore if anyone is in Christ, [he is] a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” So we died with Christ, we live in Christ, so that our works are wrought in Christ. To be in Him is what it really means to know God.
Notice also that John uses the word ought in vs 6. He says “the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.” Ought is a good old fashioned word that means a moral obligation. Isn’t it funny that John doesn’t distinguish between love and ought, or you might say between love and duty or responsibility.
You know, I love my wife. So I married my wife because I love her. I stay married to her because I love her. I’m faithful to her because I love her. Some mornings when I wake up I don’t feel very loving. But simply because I don’t feel love doesn’t mean I am no longer married to her. It doesn’t relieve me of my vow to God to love her until death do us part. I have a responsibility to love her, to treat her as I would like to be treated, to do what is best for her. Love is a commitment that is not dependent upon how I feel, but on how I treat her.
So the claim: he who says he abides in Him. The responsibility: “ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.” To walk indicates behavior. Our behavior should be the same as the behavior of Christ.
I’ve quoted from Peter in regards to this topic many times. Peter was a person who knew the Lord, but he also knew what it meant to walk after the Lord. He knew that there was a cost to following Christ. He knew there was a sacrifice in following Christ. But even better, Peter knew that there was a great reward in following Christ. Peter says in 1Peter 2:21 “For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps.” The Greek word used there for example is hypogrammos, which was a writing tablet used to teach children the alphabet. They would trace over the letters in order to learn how to write. That’s what it means to walk as Jesus walked. To imitate Christ in our daily lives.
I shouldn’t have to detail for you the way Jesus walked. But I can tell you this; there was no fault found in Him. He broke none of the laws of God, and in fact, He fulfilled the law. He followed the Father’s will explicitly in every respect. He was the spotless, blameless, Lamb of God. And we are to follow Him so closely that we imitate Him, we mirror Him, we reflect Him to a watching world.
So John gives us two assurances of our salvation. One, we can know that we have come to know Him if we keep HIs commandments. And second, we can know that we are in Him because we walk as He walked. If that is true in our lives, then we have assurance of our salvation. But it’s also a test, isn’t it? It’s the evidence of our salvation by which we examine ourselves. If we do not keep his commandments, then we are a liar. If we do not follow Him, then we do not know Him. You can’t claim to know God if the evidence of your life does not show it.
I urge you therefore today in light of this truth from God’s word that you examine your faith in regards to these tests of our faith. Jesus said you will know them by their fruits. Is there fruit of your faith that gives evidence to a new life in Christ? If not, then I urge you to call upon Jesus to save you, confessing Him as Lord of your life, and surrender to Him that you might be remade, converted, transformed into a child of God. Today is the day God has given you to turn to Him. Do not let this invitation to know God pass by without your commitment today.
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