And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.
Keeping His commandments is the evidence, proof and test by which it is known that a person knows God. To claim to know Him while not keeping them makes a person a liar in whom the truth is not, while keeping His word perfects the love of God in the keeper and shows that he is in Him. This knowing is experimental and living, gained by communion with Him as Redeemer and Friend, not mere profession, theory, belief that Jesus is Saviour, or name on the church roll, and it requires full obedience, constant growth and entire surrender of self. Obedience is the fruit of love and faith that proves profession sincere and faith genuine, for faith does not release anyone from obedience and faith without obedience is presumption. The commandments meant are no new commandment but the old commandment from the beginning, the law given in Eden and spoken from Sinai in Exodus 20, binding on all and enduring forever, including the seventh-day Sabbath, and keeping them in love is true sanctification and the condition of acceptance, answered prayer and eternal life.
Test of Knowing God
Keeping His commandments is the evidence and proof and test by which it is known that a person knows Him. Keeping His word is evidence that love for Him is brought to full expression and perfected in the keeper and that the keeper is in Him. Individual obedience gives assurance that Christ abides in the believer and the believer abides in Christ, and this is the only evidence of union with God and the only condition of oneness with God and acceptance by Him. Claiming to know Him while refusing to keep His commandments is false, and keeping is how belonging to Him as His child is shown. Those who say they abide in Him must walk even as He walked.
This knowing is experimental and living, gained by communion with Him as Redeemer and Friend, leading to true obedience and fervent love for God and for human beings. It is not mere admission that the commandments are of God, not profession, not theory of truth, not belief that Jesus is Saviour and not an impostor, not belief in salvation through His name, not a name on the church roll, and not a claim, for whatever the profession it amounts to nothing unless Christ is revealed in works of righteousness. It belongs only to those who believe, who have been led to the cross, renounced self and all other dependence, and taken Jesus as Saviour and complete Redeemer to whom He is precious. It requires full obedience, most earnest individual work, and constant growing in the Lord. It means learning neglected lessons, refusing the selfishness that mars character, and yielding self fully to Christ.
Obedience is the fruit of love, and it tests discipleship and shows that profession of love is sincere. Genuine faith is shown in a life that follows Christ's example and walks as He walked, turning from selfishness and pretense toward seeking God's glory through the Holy Spirit's work, marked by holiness, kindness, compassion, joy in doing right, and the exaltation of Christ. Works show whether faith is genuine, for righteousness is right-doing and character is revealed by what is done, and this obedience is the genuine evidence of conversion and of fitness to pass scrutiny. Faith that does not lead to obedience is presumption, while disobedience shows disloyalty and apostasy.
Obedience is the safe path, grounded in principle rather than following the world, and those who know God keep His words. It is required for present and eternal good, for the course followed matters for salvation and failing to keep God's commandments means failing to gain eternal life. It must not be delayed until difficulties are removed, for Satan may place obstacles in the way and attack weak points, but Jesus helps the believer overcome, with Christ's sacrifice making its blessing possible and His blood cleansing from sin. God's Word gives enough light to guide each step toward heaven, so those who lose the way have no excuse.
Words Surrounding Verse
To claim to know Him while not keeping His commandments makes a person a liar in whom the truth is not, for keeping His commandments is the evidence that He is truly known. The profession is false when obedience is refused, and genuine knowledge is shown only in keeping. Coming out of darkness into light into the presence of God by confessing sins and believing the promise to forgive and cleanse is proved by such obedience.
Keeping His word perfects the love of God in the keeper and shows that the person is in Him. That keeping is the only evidence of union with God and the only condition of oneness with God and acceptance by Him. Individual obedience gives assurance that Christ abides in the believer and the believer abides in Christ, and Christ abiding in the heart brings the experience that makes a person acceptable to God as an abiding evidence. Obedience is the fruit of love that brings His love to its full expression in the person.
Saying he abides in Him requires walking even as He walked. That walk means keeping His Father's commandments and abiding in His love. It means lifting the cross and following the steps of Christ, and those who lift the cross are lifted by it with fortitude and courage and pointed to the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. It is followed with pity, tenderness and compassion.
The verse belongs with the call to sin not, yet if anyone sins there is hope because Jesus Christ the righteous stands as Advocate with the Father. He is the propitiation not for believers only but for the sins of the whole world, to meet the necessities of sinful erring man. John writes not that believers may continue in sin and transgress the law, but grace does not remove the test and forgiveness leaves obedience necessary. From Calvary come liberty, hope and encouragement, and there is no safety for churches unless keeping the commandments is enjoined as necessary.
Its context includes the old commandment heard from the beginning which is also new and true in Him and in believers because darkness is past and the true light now shines. Loving the brother keeps a man abiding in the light with no cause of stumbling, while saying he is in the light while hating his brother leaves him in darkness, walking blinded so he does not know where he goes. Little children know their sins are forgiven for His name's sake and know the truth in which there is no lie, and by letting what was heard from the beginning abide in them they continue in the Son and in the Father with the promise of eternal life, and by abiding in Him they will have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming. The teaching of the second chapter is better understood after carefully reading the first chapter, where denial of sin proves self-deception and absence of truth, confession brings faithful and just forgiveness and cleansing from all unrighteousness, denial of having sinned makes God a liar, and being born of God does not commit sin.
Commandments and Historical Setting
The commandments meant are no new commandment but the old commandment heard from the beginning, with no change made in the law from the beginning. They are the law given in Eden with binding claims upon all mankind, the same as it was before the fall of Satan. They are the same law obeyed in the heavenly courts by the angelic family when the foundation of the earth was laid, when the foundations were laid and the morning stars sang together, so there is no mist or confusion about which commandments must be obeyed. Full obedience is required, not mere admission that the commandments are of God, and disobedient lives that wrest the Scriptures to suit disobedience while attacking God's commandment-keeping people for taking the Word just as it reads stand condemned by this test.
They are the law God spoke in awful grandeur from the Mount, found in the twentieth chapter of Exodus, which will endure throughout eternity. That law was not abolished when Christ gave His life to redeem the race, for He died as victim for the world's transgressions because the law could not be abolished, and His death on the cross of Calvary is the strongest evidence that the law is immutable. Keeping them includes the fourth commandment, the Sabbath of the Lord, the seventh-day Sabbath of creation, which is the sign between him that serves God and him that serves Him not and distinguishes God's people from the world. This stands in contrast to observance of the first day instituted to counterwork God, held in the face of a world that worships a false sabbath by those who take the Word just as it reads and love God and keep His commandments. Claiming sanctification while living in opposition to the Sabbath is not genuine Bible sanctification.
John wrote this firm, decided testimony years after the resurrection of Christ, when he was an old man. He lived to be nearly one hundred years old, revealed the life of Christ in his own life, and steadfastly maintained his faith when persecution came and young believers were in danger of losing hold on Christ. Over and over he repeated the story of the crucified and risen Saviour to bring others into fellowship with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ, showing how God can use aged workers. The second chapter of First John is practical instruction presented as a guide for applying trust in God and the light of His Word to daily life. Keeping His commandments in harmony with His holy law forms character that will enable standing, while rejecting the advanced light God is now giving leaves a person in darkness.
Faith Grace and Law
Faith does not release anyone from obedience, for keeping Christ's commandments is how it is known that a person truly knows Him, and claiming to know Him while refusing obedience is false. This obedience is evidence of relationship with Him, not a means of earning freedom from the law's penalty or of perfecting character by the law, for Christ bore sin and is the propitiation for sin, and those who accept Him as Saviour are free from that penalty. When weighed against God's law people are found wanting, so they need Christ as Saviour and Advocate, receiving forgiveness through repentance and sharing in His righteousness. Keeping His word brings God's love to its fullness in the believer and shows the person is in Christ, and those who abide in Christ should walk even as He walked.
Keeping all His commandments is possible for human beings under the Abrahamic covenant, which is the covenant of grace, by the grace and by the power and strength God gives to those who receive Christ as obedient sons of God. The commandments are not grievous, and there is happiness in doing them. The commandments meant are no new commandment but the old commandment from the beginning, laid back in the world's history before any people were distinguished as Jews, made when the foundations of the earth were laid when the morning stars sang together, so there is no mist or confusion about which commandments are meant. Being taken unawares and led into sin by Satan's temptations does not remove hope in Christ, because Jesus Christ the righteous is Advocate with the Father and propitiation for the sins of the whole world, so the sinner must keep seeking God in prayer and keep trying to obey rather than give up, for giving up puts a person wholly on Satan's ground and does what Satan wants, and no one who has had light on what keeping the commandments comprehends will be saved in transgression of them.
God's law is a law of love and the commandments are not opposed to love, for knowing God is shown by walking in His word and obeying His commandments. The commandments in view are the old commandment received from the beginning, identified as God's word, and keeping His word shows that God's love is perfected in the person and that the person is in Him, while claiming to know God while refusing His commandments is false. Righteousness is right-doing, character is revealed by what is done, all will be judged by deeds, and works show whether faith is genuine. Believing that Jesus is not an impostor and is the only Saviour, believing the theory of truth and believing in salvation through His name, making a profession of faith in Christ, and having a name on the church roll are not enough, and whatever profession is made amounts to nothing unless Christ is revealed in works of righteousness, which obedience is the genuine evidence of conversion and of fitness to pass the scrutiny of the great King at the gospel feast.
Conversion and Sanctification
True conversion always shows itself in the character of the converted person. It transforms character into Christlikeness so that pride no longer rules the heart. Sin comes to be hated, personal weakness is recognized, and help is sought from Christ in conscious dependence on Him. Obedience marks those who become members of the Lord's family, for keeping His commandments is the proof that He is known, while claiming to know Him without keeping them is false and without truth. This knowing is not mere claim but a life of obedience requiring most earnest individual work and constant growing in the Lord, learning neglected lessons, refusing the selfishness that mars character, and yielding self fully to Christ.
Obedience so understood is growth in grace, shown by increased ability to work for God in the assigned place in His vineyard. It is learned in the school of Christ in learning how to pray and speak for the Master, submitting to the training of the great Teacher to reach perfection in God's service. Day by day there is better comprehension of spiritual things and better fitness to help others, and by abiding in Christ much fruit is borne. Keeping His word perfects the love of God in the keeper and shows being in Him, which requires walking even as Christ walked, while Jesus Christ the righteous stands as Advocate with the Father and propitiation for sins with the call not to sin.
This obedience belongs to true Bible sanctification, which is loving God and keeping His commandments. Keeping God's commandments is how it is known that He is known, and keeping His word brings the love of God to perfection in the person. Obedience to all His commandments is the only true sign of sanctification, while disobedience shows disloyalty and apostasy. It stands opposite a false sanctification that looks beautiful on the outside while covering destructive errors within. Claiming sanctification while living in opposition to the fourth commandment, the Sabbath, is not genuine.
This true knowledge belongs only to those who believe. They have been led to the cross of Christ, have renounced self and all dependence on anything else, and have taken Jesus as Saviour and complete Redeemer, to whom He is precious. Knowing Him means pressing close to Jesus in self-denying discipleship, hearing His call, denying self, taking up the cross daily and following Him with whole-life service. The One so known is Jesus the Sin-bearer who takes away the sin of the world, the Advocate and the propitiation for sins and for the sins of the whole world. This knowledge holds even in terrible conflict, where God is present with believers as with Moses at the burning bush, a consuming fire working as a refining fire to burn away dross of character without consuming the human agent.
This entire transformation of character is necessary before entering the holy city to live the life that measures with the life of God. Without perfect self-surrender no one can see the kingdom of God.
Promise Prayer and Judgment
Keeping the commandments is the evidence of truly knowing Christ, and that obedience also demonstrates love and faith, while claiming to know Him without keeping them makes the claim false. Keeping His word is how the love of God is perfected in the keeper, and Christ's life is the pattern for how the believer should walk. Obedience is a condition of acceptance with the Father and of the fulfillment of His promises in answer to prayer, for those who do His word show that they believe it and may confidently take hold of the promises. To bring petitions claiming His promise while not complying with the conditions insults Jehovah and would dishonor His name, and prayer can never take the place of duty. Yet failure or sin does not make prayer useless, for the call is to keep seeking God with the aim of not sinning, with Jesus as Advocate and propitiation for sin.
Individual obedience to the commandments gives assurance that Christ abides in the believer and the believer abides in Christ. Keeping them is the only evidence of union with God and the only condition of oneness with God and acceptance by Him. Christ abiding in the heart brings into the life the experience that makes a person acceptable to God, which God gives as an abiding evidence. Profession of belief alone does not prove real connection with Christ, for it is shown in words, conduct, and character conformed to God's will. When sin, which is transgression of the law, is renounced, the life is brought into obedience, as the Holy Spirit works this change through the studied word and conscience, producing genuine love for Christ made visible through obedience.
Keeping His commandments is the proof of truly knowing Him and the test by which to examine conscience, theology, and religion. This is Christ's instruction for self-examination in the present great day of preparation, when the day of test and trial is upon us and every character is being weighed. It means not exalting self and disparaging others but criticizing self, confessing and forsaking personal sin, making diligent work of repentance, and setting the heart in order to be cleansed from sin. This is required because souls are in peril in the great day of atonement and must be ready for the Lord's appearing without a moment to lose. If any sin there is an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, who is the propitiation for the sins of the whole world, so that sins confessed now go beforehand to judgment to be blotted out when the times of refreshing come from the presence of the Lord. The course followed matters for salvation, for failing to keep God's commandments means failing to gain eternal life, and God's Word gives enough light to guide each step toward heaven so that those who lose the way have no excuse.
Claiming to know God while refusing His commandments is false, while keeping His word brings God's love to its full expression. This is the science of salvation, for the question of inheriting eternal life is answered by loving God wholly and loving neighbor as self, and doing so. Those who claim Jesus as personal Saviour must accept responsibility to glorify God in body and spirit, rise above sordid worldly influences, and put away all earthliness. Abiding in Him means walking even as He walked, and the commandment to be kept is no new commandment but the old commandment from the beginning. Those who love God and keep His commandments have by faith in His word a clear, unquestioned title to the immortal inheritance, the mansions Christ has gone to prepare, and everlasting life in the kingdom of God forever.
Love and Daily Living
To know Him is proved by keeping His commandments, and to keep them is to possess Christlike love for the brethren, for saying I know Him while not keeping them makes a liar without the truth, while keeping His word perfects the love of God in the keeper and shows abiding in Him. Walking even as He walked is the applied proof of that knowing, which means being full of pity, tenderness and compassion. Keeping His commandments keeps believers as God's little children, never becoming so big in their own eyes as to trust individual wisdom to lead others who need wisdom and counsel, but loving Jesus Christ and working out His divine instruction in simplicity of truth. Those who walk after the true Pattern show this knowledge by perfecting character after the sample given and overcoming day by day every defective, selfish, covetous trait. Faith without that love cannot give eternal life, and to suppose otherwise is the greatest and most fatal deception, for he who loves God and neighbor is filled with light and love, with God in him and all around him, loving those around him as precious souls for whom Christ died, since there is no such thing as a loveless Christian, and lovelessness shows claimed knowledge is false and the need of sanctification.
Knowing Christ in this way is experimental, gained by communion with Him as Redeemer and Friend, leading to true obedience and fervent love for God and for human beings, since the love of God always produces the fruits of His Spirit. Harsh, dictatorial, ungentlemanly words to brethren and wicked charges against Christ in the person of His saints prove Christ is not present and Satan is in control. Such a speaker is not yoked with Christ and is not learning in the Master's school of meekness and lowliness but in the school where Adam learned disobedience, with character entirely out of harmony with God. Instead each must take heed that truth abides in the heart rather than sitting in judgment on brethren, for there is only one Judge, the One who died, took human nature with all its infirmities, and gives vantage ground with God. That self-examination means not exalting self and disparaging others but criticizing self, confessing and forsaking personal sin, making diligent work of repentance, and setting the heart in order to be cleansed, because souls are in peril in the great day of atonement and must be ready for the Lord's appearing without a moment to lose.
For the church as the bride, the Lamb's wife, proving knowledge by obedience means keeping herself pure, sanctified and holy, indulging in no foolishness, and living up to her exalted position as bride of a King so she is all-glorious within. This obedience acknowledges Christ's just claim over every human being by creation and by redemption, because at infinite cost He has purchased the human race and as Redeemer of the fallen race has been given the deed of possession entitling Him to claim them as His property. It stands in contrast to the world that does not acknowledge that cost and did not know or receive Him.
The verse is the standard for truly converted believers who consecrate all their powers to God's service, make every household a home-church, and show a zeal that is Christlike in purpose and action and tempered with meekness and lowliness of heart. Keeping the commandments joined with the faith of Jesus is the solid rock to place the feet on, bringing out of an unsettled condition and keeping faith from failing, pressed as a loving warning. Knowing God is proved by walking in knowledge of the truth and partaking of the divine nature, keeping His plain requirements in singleness of purpose because the time to work is short, with every soul individually accountable to God for service and needing the wisdom that comes from Christ who is sanctification and righteousness, to obtain a genuine experience of great value and to walk humbly with God. This test belongs with walking in the light and having fellowship one with another as plain truth for the last days, in harmony with growing up into Christ in love, and it must be considered together with Christ's call to remember, repent and do the first works, for beautiful theories are not enough unless the love of Christ is in the heart, and loss of that love is loss of all things.
True love for Jesus never remains indifferent and idle but always works to teach men blind and ignorant about God and the Saviour. Obeying Him means growth in grace shown by increased ability to work for God in the assigned place in His vineyard, learning in the school of Christ how to pray and speak for the Master, submitting to the training of the great Teacher to reach perfection in God's service, daily gaining better comprehension of spiritual things and better fitness to help others, and abiding in Christ to bear much fruit. Obedient and disobedient people show a marked difference in character and life, and many who profess to keep the commandments break them and so show they do not know Him. Abiding in Him requires walking as He walked, and the verse condemns those who attack God's commandment-keeping people for believing the Word just as it reads, whose disobedient life condemns them while they wrest the Scriptures to suit their disobedience.
Keeping God's commandments is evidence of knowing Him, and obedience is required for present and eternal good and should not be delayed until difficulties are removed. Satan may place obstacles in the way and attack a person's weak points, but Jesus helps the believer overcome. Christ's sacrifice makes the blessing of obedience possible, and His blood cleanses from sin.
Keeping His commandments is the evidence, proof and test by which it is known that a person knows God. To claim to know Him while not keeping them makes a person a liar in whom the truth is not, while keeping His word perfects the love of God in the keeper and shows that he is in Him. This knowing is experimental and living, gained by communion with Him as Redeemer and Friend, not mere profession, theory, belief that Jesus is Saviour, or name on the church roll, and it requires full obedience, constant growth and entire surrender of self. Obedience is the fruit of love and faith that proves profession sincere and faith genuine, for faith does not release anyone from obedience and faith without obedience is presumption. The commandments meant are no new commandment but the old commandment from the beginning, the law given in Eden and spoken from Sinai in Exodus 20, binding on all and enduring forever, including the seventh-day Sabbath, and keeping them in love is true sanctification and the condition of acceptance, answered prayer and eternal life.
Test of Knowing God
Keeping His commandments is the evidence and proof and test by which it is known that a person knows Him. Keeping His word is evidence that love for Him is brought to full expression and perfected in the keeper and that the keeper is in Him. Individual obedience gives assurance that Christ abides in the believer and the believer abides in Christ, and this is the only evidence of union with God and the only condition of oneness with God and acceptance by Him. Claiming to know Him while refusing to keep His commandments is false, and keeping is how belonging to Him as His child is shown. Those who say they abide in Him must walk even as He walked.
This knowing is experimental and living, gained by communion with Him as Redeemer and Friend, leading to true obedience and fervent love for God and for human beings. It is not mere admission that the commandments are of God, not profession, not theory of truth, not belief that Jesus is Saviour and not an impostor, not belief in salvation through His name, not a name on the church roll, and not a claim, for whatever the profession it amounts to nothing unless Christ is revealed in works of righteousness. It belongs only to those who believe, who have been led to the cross, renounced self and all other dependence, and taken Jesus as Saviour and complete Redeemer to whom He is precious. It requires full obedience, most earnest individual work, and constant growing in the Lord. It means learning neglected lessons, refusing the selfishness that mars character, and yielding self fully to Christ.
Obedience is the fruit of love, and it tests discipleship and shows that profession of love is sincere. Genuine faith is shown in a life that follows Christ's example and walks as He walked, turning from selfishness and pretense toward seeking God's glory through the Holy Spirit's work, marked by holiness, kindness, compassion, joy in doing right, and the exaltation of Christ. Works show whether faith is genuine, for righteousness is right-doing and character is revealed by what is done, and this obedience is the genuine evidence of conversion and of fitness to pass scrutiny. Faith that does not lead to obedience is presumption, while disobedience shows disloyalty and apostasy.
Obedience is the safe path, grounded in principle rather than following the world, and those who know God keep His words. It is required for present and eternal good, for the course followed matters for salvation and failing to keep God's commandments means failing to gain eternal life. It must not be delayed until difficulties are removed, for Satan may place obstacles in the way and attack weak points, but Jesus helps the believer overcome, with Christ's sacrifice making its blessing possible and His blood cleansing from sin. God's Word gives enough light to guide each step toward heaven, so those who lose the way have no excuse.
Words Surrounding Verse
To claim to know Him while not keeping His commandments makes a person a liar in whom the truth is not, for keeping His commandments is the evidence that He is truly known. The profession is false when obedience is refused, and genuine knowledge is shown only in keeping. Coming out of darkness into light into the presence of God by confessing sins and believing the promise to forgive and cleanse is proved by such obedience.
Keeping His word perfects the love of God in the keeper and shows that the person is in Him. That keeping is the only evidence of union with God and the only condition of oneness with God and acceptance by Him. Individual obedience gives assurance that Christ abides in the believer and the believer abides in Christ, and Christ abiding in the heart brings the experience that makes a person acceptable to God as an abiding evidence. Obedience is the fruit of love that brings His love to its full expression in the person.
Saying he abides in Him requires walking even as He walked. That walk means keeping His Father's commandments and abiding in His love. It means lifting the cross and following the steps of Christ, and those who lift the cross are lifted by it with fortitude and courage and pointed to the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. It is followed with pity, tenderness and compassion.
The verse belongs with the call to sin not, yet if anyone sins there is hope because Jesus Christ the righteous stands as Advocate with the Father. He is the propitiation not for believers only but for the sins of the whole world, to meet the necessities of sinful erring man. John writes not that believers may continue in sin and transgress the law, but grace does not remove the test and forgiveness leaves obedience necessary. From Calvary come liberty, hope and encouragement, and there is no safety for churches unless keeping the commandments is enjoined as necessary.
Its context includes the old commandment heard from the beginning which is also new and true in Him and in believers because darkness is past and the true light now shines. Loving the brother keeps a man abiding in the light with no cause of stumbling, while saying he is in the light while hating his brother leaves him in darkness, walking blinded so he does not know where he goes. Little children know their sins are forgiven for His name's sake and know the truth in which there is no lie, and by letting what was heard from the beginning abide in them they continue in the Son and in the Father with the promise of eternal life, and by abiding in Him they will have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming. The teaching of the second chapter is better understood after carefully reading the first chapter, where denial of sin proves self-deception and absence of truth, confession brings faithful and just forgiveness and cleansing from all unrighteousness, denial of having sinned makes God a liar, and being born of God does not commit sin.
Commandments and Historical Setting
The commandments meant are no new commandment but the old commandment heard from the beginning, with no change made in the law from the beginning. They are the law given in Eden with binding claims upon all mankind, the same as it was before the fall of Satan. They are the same law obeyed in the heavenly courts by the angelic family when the foundation of the earth was laid, when the foundations were laid and the morning stars sang together, so there is no mist or confusion about which commandments must be obeyed. Full obedience is required, not mere admission that the commandments are of God, and disobedient lives that wrest the Scriptures to suit disobedience while attacking God's commandment-keeping people for taking the Word just as it reads stand condemned by this test.
They are the law God spoke in awful grandeur from the Mount, found in the twentieth chapter of Exodus, which will endure throughout eternity. That law was not abolished when Christ gave His life to redeem the race, for He died as victim for the world's transgressions because the law could not be abolished, and His death on the cross of Calvary is the strongest evidence that the law is immutable. Keeping them includes the fourth commandment, the Sabbath of the Lord, the seventh-day Sabbath of creation, which is the sign between him that serves God and him that serves Him not and distinguishes God's people from the world. This stands in contrast to observance of the first day instituted to counterwork God, held in the face of a world that worships a false sabbath by those who take the Word just as it reads and love God and keep His commandments. Claiming sanctification while living in opposition to the Sabbath is not genuine Bible sanctification.
John wrote this firm, decided testimony years after the resurrection of Christ, when he was an old man. He lived to be nearly one hundred years old, revealed the life of Christ in his own life, and steadfastly maintained his faith when persecution came and young believers were in danger of losing hold on Christ. Over and over he repeated the story of the crucified and risen Saviour to bring others into fellowship with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ, showing how God can use aged workers. The second chapter of First John is practical instruction presented as a guide for applying trust in God and the light of His Word to daily life. Keeping His commandments in harmony with His holy law forms character that will enable standing, while rejecting the advanced light God is now giving leaves a person in darkness.
Faith Grace and Law
Faith does not release anyone from obedience, for keeping Christ's commandments is how it is known that a person truly knows Him, and claiming to know Him while refusing obedience is false. This obedience is evidence of relationship with Him, not a means of earning freedom from the law's penalty or of perfecting character by the law, for Christ bore sin and is the propitiation for sin, and those who accept Him as Saviour are free from that penalty. When weighed against God's law people are found wanting, so they need Christ as Saviour and Advocate, receiving forgiveness through repentance and sharing in His righteousness. Keeping His word brings God's love to its fullness in the believer and shows the person is in Christ, and those who abide in Christ should walk even as He walked.
Keeping all His commandments is possible for human beings under the Abrahamic covenant, which is the covenant of grace, by the grace and by the power and strength God gives to those who receive Christ as obedient sons of God. The commandments are not grievous, and there is happiness in doing them. The commandments meant are no new commandment but the old commandment from the beginning, laid back in the world's history before any people were distinguished as Jews, made when the foundations of the earth were laid when the morning stars sang together, so there is no mist or confusion about which commandments are meant. Being taken unawares and led into sin by Satan's temptations does not remove hope in Christ, because Jesus Christ the righteous is Advocate with the Father and propitiation for the sins of the whole world, so the sinner must keep seeking God in prayer and keep trying to obey rather than give up, for giving up puts a person wholly on Satan's ground and does what Satan wants, and no one who has had light on what keeping the commandments comprehends will be saved in transgression of them.
God's law is a law of love and the commandments are not opposed to love, for knowing God is shown by walking in His word and obeying His commandments. The commandments in view are the old commandment received from the beginning, identified as God's word, and keeping His word shows that God's love is perfected in the person and that the person is in Him, while claiming to know God while refusing His commandments is false. Righteousness is right-doing, character is revealed by what is done, all will be judged by deeds, and works show whether faith is genuine. Believing that Jesus is not an impostor and is the only Saviour, believing the theory of truth and believing in salvation through His name, making a profession of faith in Christ, and having a name on the church roll are not enough, and whatever profession is made amounts to nothing unless Christ is revealed in works of righteousness, which obedience is the genuine evidence of conversion and of fitness to pass the scrutiny of the great King at the gospel feast.
Conversion and Sanctification
True conversion always shows itself in the character of the converted person. It transforms character into Christlikeness so that pride no longer rules the heart. Sin comes to be hated, personal weakness is recognized, and help is sought from Christ in conscious dependence on Him. Obedience marks those who become members of the Lord's family, for keeping His commandments is the proof that He is known, while claiming to know Him without keeping them is false and without truth. This knowing is not mere claim but a life of obedience requiring most earnest individual work and constant growing in the Lord, learning neglected lessons, refusing the selfishness that mars character, and yielding self fully to Christ.
Obedience so understood is growth in grace, shown by increased ability to work for God in the assigned place in His vineyard. It is learned in the school of Christ in learning how to pray and speak for the Master, submitting to the training of the great Teacher to reach perfection in God's service. Day by day there is better comprehension of spiritual things and better fitness to help others, and by abiding in Christ much fruit is borne. Keeping His word perfects the love of God in the keeper and shows being in Him, which requires walking even as Christ walked, while Jesus Christ the righteous stands as Advocate with the Father and propitiation for sins with the call not to sin.
This obedience belongs to true Bible sanctification, which is loving God and keeping His commandments. Keeping God's commandments is how it is known that He is known, and keeping His word brings the love of God to perfection in the person. Obedience to all His commandments is the only true sign of sanctification, while disobedience shows disloyalty and apostasy. It stands opposite a false sanctification that looks beautiful on the outside while covering destructive errors within. Claiming sanctification while living in opposition to the fourth commandment, the Sabbath, is not genuine.
This true knowledge belongs only to those who believe. They have been led to the cross of Christ, have renounced self and all dependence on anything else, and have taken Jesus as Saviour and complete Redeemer, to whom He is precious. Knowing Him means pressing close to Jesus in self-denying discipleship, hearing His call, denying self, taking up the cross daily and following Him with whole-life service. The One so known is Jesus the Sin-bearer who takes away the sin of the world, the Advocate and the propitiation for sins and for the sins of the whole world. This knowledge holds even in terrible conflict, where God is present with believers as with Moses at the burning bush, a consuming fire working as a refining fire to burn away dross of character without consuming the human agent.
This entire transformation of character is necessary before entering the holy city to live the life that measures with the life of God. Without perfect self-surrender no one can see the kingdom of God.
Promise Prayer and Judgment
Keeping the commandments is the evidence of truly knowing Christ, and that obedience also demonstrates love and faith, while claiming to know Him without keeping them makes the claim false. Keeping His word is how the love of God is perfected in the keeper, and Christ's life is the pattern for how the believer should walk. Obedience is a condition of acceptance with the Father and of the fulfillment of His promises in answer to prayer, for those who do His word show that they believe it and may confidently take hold of the promises. To bring petitions claiming His promise while not complying with the conditions insults Jehovah and would dishonor His name, and prayer can never take the place of duty. Yet failure or sin does not make prayer useless, for the call is to keep seeking God with the aim of not sinning, with Jesus as Advocate and propitiation for sin.
Individual obedience to the commandments gives assurance that Christ abides in the believer and the believer abides in Christ. Keeping them is the only evidence of union with God and the only condition of oneness with God and acceptance by Him. Christ abiding in the heart brings into the life the experience that makes a person acceptable to God, which God gives as an abiding evidence. Profession of belief alone does not prove real connection with Christ, for it is shown in words, conduct, and character conformed to God's will. When sin, which is transgression of the law, is renounced, the life is brought into obedience, as the Holy Spirit works this change through the studied word and conscience, producing genuine love for Christ made visible through obedience.
Keeping His commandments is the proof of truly knowing Him and the test by which to examine conscience, theology, and religion. This is Christ's instruction for self-examination in the present great day of preparation, when the day of test and trial is upon us and every character is being weighed. It means not exalting self and disparaging others but criticizing self, confessing and forsaking personal sin, making diligent work of repentance, and setting the heart in order to be cleansed from sin. This is required because souls are in peril in the great day of atonement and must be ready for the Lord's appearing without a moment to lose. If any sin there is an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, who is the propitiation for the sins of the whole world, so that sins confessed now go beforehand to judgment to be blotted out when the times of refreshing come from the presence of the Lord. The course followed matters for salvation, for failing to keep God's commandments means failing to gain eternal life, and God's Word gives enough light to guide each step toward heaven so that those who lose the way have no excuse.
Claiming to know God while refusing His commandments is false, while keeping His word brings God's love to its full expression. This is the science of salvation, for the question of inheriting eternal life is answered by loving God wholly and loving neighbor as self, and doing so. Those who claim Jesus as personal Saviour must accept responsibility to glorify God in body and spirit, rise above sordid worldly influences, and put away all earthliness. Abiding in Him means walking even as He walked, and the commandment to be kept is no new commandment but the old commandment from the beginning. Those who love God and keep His commandments have by faith in His word a clear, unquestioned title to the immortal inheritance, the mansions Christ has gone to prepare, and everlasting life in the kingdom of God forever.
Love and Daily Living
To know Him is proved by keeping His commandments, and to keep them is to possess Christlike love for the brethren, for saying I know Him while not keeping them makes a liar without the truth, while keeping His word perfects the love of God in the keeper and shows abiding in Him. Walking even as He walked is the applied proof of that knowing, which means being full of pity, tenderness and compassion. Keeping His commandments keeps believers as God's little children, never becoming so big in their own eyes as to trust individual wisdom to lead others who need wisdom and counsel, but loving Jesus Christ and working out His divine instruction in simplicity of truth. Those who walk after the true Pattern show this knowledge by perfecting character after the sample given and overcoming day by day every defective, selfish, covetous trait. Faith without that love cannot give eternal life, and to suppose otherwise is the greatest and most fatal deception, for he who loves God and neighbor is filled with light and love, with God in him and all around him, loving those around him as precious souls for whom Christ died, since there is no such thing as a loveless Christian, and lovelessness shows claimed knowledge is false and the need of sanctification.
Knowing Christ in this way is experimental, gained by communion with Him as Redeemer and Friend, leading to true obedience and fervent love for God and for human beings, since the love of God always produces the fruits of His Spirit. Harsh, dictatorial, ungentlemanly words to brethren and wicked charges against Christ in the person of His saints prove Christ is not present and Satan is in control. Such a speaker is not yoked with Christ and is not learning in the Master's school of meekness and lowliness but in the school where Adam learned disobedience, with character entirely out of harmony with God. Instead each must take heed that truth abides in the heart rather than sitting in judgment on brethren, for there is only one Judge, the One who died, took human nature with all its infirmities, and gives vantage ground with God. That self-examination means not exalting self and disparaging others but criticizing self, confessing and forsaking personal sin, making diligent work of repentance, and setting the heart in order to be cleansed, because souls are in peril in the great day of atonement and must be ready for the Lord's appearing without a moment to lose.
For the church as the bride, the Lamb's wife, proving knowledge by obedience means keeping herself pure, sanctified and holy, indulging in no foolishness, and living up to her exalted position as bride of a King so she is all-glorious within. This obedience acknowledges Christ's just claim over every human being by creation and by redemption, because at infinite cost He has purchased the human race and as Redeemer of the fallen race has been given the deed of possession entitling Him to claim them as His property. It stands in contrast to the world that does not acknowledge that cost and did not know or receive Him.
The verse is the standard for truly converted believers who consecrate all their powers to God's service, make every household a home-church, and show a zeal that is Christlike in purpose and action and tempered with meekness and lowliness of heart. Keeping the commandments joined with the faith of Jesus is the solid rock to place the feet on, bringing out of an unsettled condition and keeping faith from failing, pressed as a loving warning. Knowing God is proved by walking in knowledge of the truth and partaking of the divine nature, keeping His plain requirements in singleness of purpose because the time to work is short, with every soul individually accountable to God for service and needing the wisdom that comes from Christ who is sanctification and righteousness, to obtain a genuine experience of great value and to walk humbly with God. This test belongs with walking in the light and having fellowship one with another as plain truth for the last days, in harmony with growing up into Christ in love, and it must be considered together with Christ's call to remember, repent and do the first works, for beautiful theories are not enough unless the love of Christ is in the heart, and loss of that love is loss of all things.
True love for Jesus never remains indifferent and idle but always works to teach men blind and ignorant about God and the Saviour. Obeying Him means growth in grace shown by increased ability to work for God in the assigned place in His vineyard, learning in the school of Christ how to pray and speak for the Master, submitting to the training of the great Teacher to reach perfection in God's service, daily gaining better comprehension of spiritual things and better fitness to help others, and abiding in Christ to bear much fruit. Obedient and disobedient people show a marked difference in character and life, and many who profess to keep the commandments break them and so show they do not know Him. Abiding in Him requires walking as He walked, and the verse condemns those who attack God's commandment-keeping people for believing the Word just as it reads, whose disobedient life condemns them while they wrest the Scriptures to suit their disobedience.
Keeping God's commandments is evidence of knowing Him, and obedience is required for present and eternal good and should not be delayed until difficulties are removed. Satan may place obstacles in the way and attack a person's weak points, but Jesus helps the believer overcome. Christ's sacrifice makes the blessing of obedience possible, and His blood cleanses from sin.