But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.
Whoever keeps His word has the love of God brought to full expression and completion in him, and by this obedient keeping it is known with sure proof that he is in Him and abides in Him. His word means God's word, Christ's word, His commandments and His holy law as the standard of righteousness and rule of life. Genuine love is not proved by claims, feeling, or profession of holiness, but is shown and completed only in obedience to His commandments. True knowledge of Him is proved by keeping His commandments and walking even as Christ walked, while saying I know Him without keeping them is lying, and this is the test of every profession of knowing God, holiness, and sanctification. Provision is made for any who sin to have Jesus Christ the righteous as Advocate with the Father and propitiation for the sins of the whole world, so that those who keep His word are assured their sins are remitted through Christ alone.
Verse Wording and Setting
"His word" in the verse means God's word and Christ's word, His commandments and His holy law as the standard of righteousness and rule of life, demanding full obedience and not mere admission that they are of God or hearing and theoretically accepting truth only. To keep it is to comply with that law and keep Christ's commandments and do the will of God in daily practice, so that truth is stamped upon the soul, woven into the life, and sanctifies the character. Keeping in this way forms character that will enable standing, while rejecting the advanced light now given leaves one in darkness.
The commandment to be kept is no new commandment but the old commandment and word heard from the beginning, certain with no doubt, given in Eden with binding claims on all mankind, laid when the foundations of the earth were laid when the morning stars sang together before any people were distinguished as Jews. It is unchanged from before the fall of Satan and still the same law obeyed by the angelic family in heaven, written years after the resurrection of Christ to leave no doubt which commandments must be obeyed, including the Sabbath commandment spoken from Sinai. This obedience belongs to that old commandment made new and true in Him and in believers because darkness is past and the true light now shines.
The epistle was written by John when he was an old man, nearly one hundred years old, as a firm, decided testimony showing how God can use aged workers. He lived out this keeping by revealing the life of Christ in his own life, steadfastly maintaining his faith and repeating over and over the story of the crucified and risen Saviour while persecution put believers young in experience in danger of losing their hold on Christ.
The verse belongs with carefully reading 1 John 1, for its obedience test is understood better after that chapter. Its context gives the tests by which keeping is known: truly knowing Him by keeping His commandments, walking even as He walked, and loving one's brother and abiding in the light rather than hating one's brother and walking in darkness blinded so as not to know where one goes. Claiming to know Him without keeping His commandments makes a man a liar with no truth in him, while loving one's brother proves abiding in the light with no occasion of stumbling.
Love Perfected by Obedience
Whoever keeps His word has the love of God brought to its full expression, fullness, and completion in him, perfected in the keeper. This keeping gives sure assurance that the keeper is in God and in Christ and abides in Him. Knowing God is proved by keeping His commandments, and to claim to know Him while not keeping them is to lie with the truth not in the claimant. Abiding in Him requires walking even as Christ walked, and the commandment to do so is no new commandment but the old commandment and word heard from the beginning. Following Christ's steps in this keeping means lifting the cross, which brings courage and strength and points to Christ the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world.
Genuine love is not proved by claims or feelings alone, nor by religious feeling, profession of holiness, or saying one is sinless. It is shown and completed only in obedience to His commandments, with keeping His word as the test of every profession of holiness and of knowing God. Obedience does not earn salvation or pardon, for Christ has borne sin and is the propitiation for the sins of the whole world, freeing those who accept Him from the penalty of the law; obedience is the fruit of faith and love. When a person abides in Christ and God's love dwells in the heart, thoughts, feelings, and actions come into harmony with God's will and law. True love always produces the fruits of His Spirit in meekness and lowliness, springing from experimental knowledge of Christ and communion with Him as Redeemer and friend unto fervent love for God and for human beings.
A harsh, dictatorial, ungentlemanly spirit and wicked accusing words against brethren are no evidence of Christ's presence but evidence of the fallen foe and control by Satan, showing the person is not yoked with Christ nor learning in the school of the Master but learning disobedience. The perfected love is Christlike love that must live in the heart and appear in loving conduct toward fellow believers. Walking even as He walked means being full of pity, tenderness, and compassion. To keep His word is to keep His commandments, and this obedience gives assurance of knowing God and abiding in Him.
This is part of the science of salvation, for the question of inheriting eternal life is answered by loving God wholly and loving one's neighbor as oneself and living accordingly. Keeping the word means living by the holy law given from the beginning, including that whole love to God and neighbor, shown in righteous conduct and practical care for others and not merely in words. It is Christlike love for brethren, loving God and neighbor and loving those around as precious souls for whom Christ died, without which there is no faith unto eternal life, for there is no such thing as a loveless Christian because God is love. He who so loves is filled with light and love, and God is in him and all around him, and by this love he knows that he is in Him. Keeping His word means loving one another as Christ has loved, following His example of holy obedience and sympathy with men in all their woes and afflictions, for the standard is one and unchanging, spoken by Jesus Christ Himself enshrouded in the cloudy pillar in Leviticus 19 and spoken again in the New Testament by the One in whom is the knowledge of God, who gave His life and stands as substitute and surety and Advocate and propitiation for the sins of the whole world to inspire men to obey.
This love does not excuse sin or join hands with sin, and to claim to know God while not keeping His commandments makes a person a liar in whom the truth is not. Abiding in Him requires walking even as Christ walked, not making a boast of piety with a heart destitute of the love of God. True love does not conceal unconfessed sin or require compromise with evil, and claiming to abide in Christ while transgressing God's law contradicts the verse; love for people must be joined with a firm stand for what is right. Neglecting one commandment makes apparent obedience to another worthless before God. Presenting beautiful theories is not enough unless the love of Christ is in the heart, giving fragrance to words and works, and loss of this love results in loss of all things. This plain truth is to be read and studied by those living in the last days together with Christ's warning about leaving first love.
Assurance of Being in Him
By this obedient keeping it is known with sure evidence, proof and assurance that the keeper is in Him, in God, in Christ, and abides in Him. Keeping His word brings the love of God to its full expression, fullness and completion in the keeper, and this perfected love is the sign that he is in God. Being in Him means abiding in Him and walking even as He walked. Keeping His word is shown in following the steps of Christ by lifting the cross, and those who lift the cross are lifted by it, given fortitude, courage and strength, and pointed to Christ the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
Those who keep His word may have the same unity with Christ that Christ has with the Father. In that union they are made partakers of the divine nature, with the divine nature fashioned upon them, whereby they escape the corruption that is in the world through lust. This oneness with Jesus Christ and with the Father makes believers rich toward God and makes them at peace and one with one another, speaking the same thing in unity and love, walking in the knowledge of the truth with minds constantly improving in comprehending the plain requirements of the word and gaining a genuine experience of present value. True knowledge of Him is proved by keeping His commandments, and obedience to God's commands shows that believers truly know Him and are His children. Saying I know Him without keeping His commandments is lying and shows the truth is not in the claimant.
Provision is made for sinners not to sin, and for any who sin to have Jesus Christ the righteous as Advocate with the Father and propitiation for their sins and for the sins of the whole world. On the basis of keeping His word Christians are free and are to be encouraged, for their sins are remitted through the merits of Christ alone, since forgiveness rests on God alone and not on any priest or pope. Forgiveness of sins for His name's sake belongs to the little children who so keep His word, who come into the light confessing sins and believing the promise to forgive and cleanse from all unrighteousness through the blood of Jesus, who do not continue in sin but keep His commandments in thankfulness for the perfect sacrifice and walk as He walked. Holding fast what was heard from the beginning keeps believers in the Son and in the Father unto the promise of eternal life and confidence without shame at His coming, in the old commandment heard from the beginning made new and true because darkness is past and the true light now shines, where loving one's brother proves abiding in the light with no occasion of stumbling and hating one's brother proves abiding in darkness, walking in darkness blinded so as not to know where he goes.
Commandments and Christ's Example
To keep His word is to keep all His commandments with full and entire obedience, complying with God's holy law as the standard of righteousness and rule of life, keeping Christ's commandments and doing the will of God in daily practice. It is not mere admission that they are of God, nor hearing only or theoretically accepting truth, but practicing it so that truth is stamped upon the soul, woven into the life, and sanctifies the character, believing the Word just as it reads. Neglecting one commandment makes apparent obedience to another worthless before God. God's word here is the commandments given from the beginning, where obedience and love belong together, and those who are in Christ must walk as Christ walked.
Everyone who says he abides in Him ought to walk even as Christ walked, following His example who delighted to do God's will with the law within His heart and kept His Father's commandments and abode in His love, suffering for us and leaving an example that we should follow His steps. Walking as He walked means being full of pity, tenderness and compassion. It is the privilege of every son and daughter of Adam to walk in this world as Christ walked, standing apart from the faithless, careless, unbelieving world, talking faith, and being determined to follow Christ's holy life with mind and eyes single-minded, single-hearted, and single to the glory of God. This walk was made possible because Christ laid off His kingly crown, laid aside His royal robe, clothed His divinity with humanity to stand at the head of humanity, and purchased humanity by the sacrifice of His own blood in covenant with His Father.
Christ did not abolish the law to redeem the race but died as victim for transgression because the law could not be abolished, and His death proves the law is immutable and will endure through eternity, including the Sabbath commandment spoken from Sinai against the substitution of the first day. Claiming sanctification while disobeying God's commandments, including the Sabbath, is false, and this obedience belongs to genuine Bible sanctification joined to repentance for breaking God's law and faith in Jesus Christ. Loving God with all the heart is impossible while breaking the fourth commandment, which stands in the center of the Ten Commandments, and keeping it in obedience fits for eternal life. Deliberate violation of a known commandment is incompatible with knowing God and being in harmony with Him.
The standard is one and unchanging, for Jesus Christ Himself spoke the lessons of Leviticus 19 enshrouded in the cloudy pillar and speaks the same standard in the New Testament. He is the One in whom is the knowledge of God, who gave His life and stands as substitute and surety and Advocate and propitiation for the sins of the whole world to inspire men to obey. The question of inheriting eternal life belongs to the science of salvation and is answered by loving God wholly and loving one's neighbor as oneself and living accordingly. Those who do this abide in Christ's love even as Christ kept His Father's commandments and abides in His love, honor both God who gave the law and Christ who died to magnify it, and abide forever.
True Sanctification Tested
The verse is the test of every man's profession of knowing God, of holiness, and of sanctification, for true Bible sanctification is loving God and keeping His commandments, with the love of God made complete in whoever keeps His word, and this obedience proves that a person knows God and is in Him. Claiming sanctification while living in transgression of the law, willfully violating one of His requirements, or disobeying the Sabbath commandment is false and without foundation, exposing outwardly beautiful claims that hide destructive errors, and such claims must be joined to repentance for breaking God's law and faith in Jesus Christ. Holiness must be measured by God's only standard of holiness in heaven and earth, the moral law, and no one who feels no weight of that law, belittles God's precepts, or breaks one of the least commandments and teaches men so has a founded claim. John's full teaching on love does not excuse disobedience or disregard of God's requirements.
A faith that professes to release men from obedience to God is not faith but presumption, for salvation is by grace through faith and faith without works is dead. Obedience does not earn salvation or pardon and does not mean people perfect their own moral character; it is the fruit of faith and love, while those who accept Jesus as personal Saviour are freed from the law's penalty, receive forgiveness through repentance, and share in Christ's righteousness with His life as the pattern for how they should walk. When a person abides in Christ and God's love dwells in the heart, thoughts, feelings, and actions come into harmony with God's will and law, following His example who delighted to do God's will with the law within His heart and kept His Father's commandments and abode in His love. Obedience is the plain proof of Bible election and gives a clear title to the immortal inheritance that will never be questioned, to the mansions Christ has gone to prepare. Those who by faith enter the kingdom of God now and hold fast their profession of faith will possess the kingdom forever and ever, with responsibility to glorify God in body and spirit as those bought with a price, rising above sordid influences and putting away earthliness.
True conversion produces transformation of character into Christlikeness where pride no longer rules the heart, sin is hated, and believers become Christlike in purpose and action, consecrating all powers to God's service with zeal tempered by meekness and lowliness and refusing a dictatorial spirit. As people know Christ more clearly they recognize their own weakness and need of His help, and obedience does not remove that need but is evidence of relationship with Him. Growth in grace is shown by increased ability to work for God in the assigned part of the Lord's vineyard, learned in the school of Christ under the great Teacher through prayer and speaking for the Master, with humble realization of lack of wisdom and experience, bringing daily growth in comprehending spiritual things and daily increased fitness to help others so that abiding in Christ bears much fruit. This keeping requires most earnest personal work and constant growing in the Lord, learning lessons often neglected, refusing selfishness, learning the hardest lesson of yielding self to Christ, beseeching Christ as a true humble learner to cleanse the heart from all defilement and rid the character of all deformity, living a life that leads others to Him, and undergoing an entire transformation of character through perfect self-surrender, without which no one can enter the holy city, live the life that measures with the life of God, or see the kingdom of God.
Those who walk in the light as Christ is in the light, confess and forsake their sins, and overcome sin in this present life receive fellowship with one another and cleansing from all sin in the blood of Jesus through the pledge of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This present time is the only probation for securing the eternal reward with no second probation after death, and those who truly believe and keep His word grow more and more like Christ until complete in Him, made free from sin to serve righteousness with fruit unto holiness and eternal life. In the judgment, when everyone is judged by the things written in the books, the law will be seen as holy, just and good in all its requirements with decisive claims against transgressors, dividing humanity into only two classes, those who violate God's law and those who keep it. Keeping His word is the only safety against following a strange path after a false standard, requiring searching the Scriptures, being diligent students of the Word of God and following the Light of Life. In the last days this means looking unto Jesus Christ and speaking to one another words of genuine faith and love, words of love, tenderness and true brotherly kindness, and standing on the solid rock of the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus as a loving warning to sin not and stand firm. Keeping His word forms character that will enable standing, while rejecting the advanced light God is now giving leaves one in darkness.
Practical Christian Application
Keeping His word belongs to making Jesus known to the world by both word and deed, for the love of God reaches its full expression and completion in the keeper and gives assurance of being in Him and in God. That obedience is practical and lived out toward other people in a life of goodness, love, and truth, with actions and words that fit the new pure nature and show the influence of religion. The verse therefore calls for urgent self-examination instead of exalting self and disparaging others, for criticizing self, setting the heart in order without delay, confessing and forsaking personal sins, and making diligent work of repentance so as to be cleansed from sin and made ready for the Lord's appearing while living in the great day of atonement. It requires taking individual heed that the truth as it is in Jesus abides in the heart and walking even as He walked.
This keeping forbids placing oneself on the judgment seat to pronounce sentence against brethren, since there is only one Judge, the One who died and took human nature with all the infirmities of humanity so that believers might stand on vantage ground with God. A harsh, dictatorial, ungentlemanly spirit and wicked accusing words against brethren are no evidence of Christ's presence but evidence of the fallen foe and control by Satan. Such a spirit shows the person is not yoked with Christ nor learning in the school of the Master but is learning disobedience. Keeping comes from experimental knowledge of Christ and communion with Him as Redeemer and friend, leading to true obedience and fervent love for God and for human beings, with the love of God always producing the fruits of His Spirit in meekness and lowliness. Obedience is a condition of claiming God's promises in prayer, for asking while refusing to obey does not show faith and love for Christ.
Obedience to God's will is for present and eternal good and should not be delayed until difficulties are removed, for although Satan places obstacles and attacks a person's weak points, Jesus helps the person to obey. Under the Abrahamic covenant, which is the covenant of grace, it is possible in the name and strength God gives to be obedient to all His commandments, and His commandments are not grievous but bring happiness and joy rather than mourning, doubt, and uncertainty. All who serve Christ as loyal subjects and work out His commands can know they are in Him, for the word and commandments meant are the law given in Eden with binding claims upon all mankind, and full and entire obedience brings joy. When taken unawares and led into sin, which is transgression of the law, one must not give up hope in Christ, cease to pray, or say there is no use trying, for to stop trying and become an open transgressor is exactly what Satan tempts him to do, and no one who has had light on what keeping the commandments comprehends will be saved in transgression of them.
For the church as the bride, the Lamb's wife, being in Him means keeping herself pure, sanctified, and holy, indulging in no foolishness, living as the bride of a King and realizing her exalted position so she becomes all-glorious within. This rests on Christ having purchased the human race at infinite cost and holding a just claim to every human being by creation and by redemption, with the deed of possession as Redeemer entitling Him to claim them as His property and giving power to become the sons of God to as many as receive Him and believe on His name. This obedient life marks Christ's people as distinct from the world, standing apart from the faithless, careless, unbelieving world, talking faith and determined to follow Christ's holy life with mind and eyes single-minded, single-hearted, and single to the glory of God. It is the privilege of every son and daughter of Adam to walk in this world as Christ walked, keeping His word so that the love of God is perfected in them, and a fragrant heavenly influence rests on every professed Christian character, while one who claims to abide in Christ must walk as Christ walked.
Holiness is not a profession or a religion of words, forms, feelings, admiring truth from the outside, or distrusting God in trial, but is shown by lifting the cross and doing God's will in faithful performance of duty. That faithful doing goes hand in hand with a right view of God's character and a serious regard for duty, and safety for churches comes only when keeping the commandments is taught as necessary, with knowing God tested by obedience and claiming to know Him while not keeping them proved false. Mere profession of knowing Christ while Christian principle is low is deception that forfeits acceptance with the Father, dishonors Christ's name, and leaves no true assurance. Keeping His word means putting away self-love, keeping the conditions of acceptance, obeying His commandments, believing the Word just as it reads, and walking even as Christ walked, while attacking God's commandment-keeping people exposes the attacker's own disobedience and claiming to know God while not keeping His commandments makes a person a liar with no truth in him.
When duty is pointed out, those who love God walk in the light as obedient children with filial fear rather than slavish fear, keeping the sacred trust given them during probation. Loving God with all the heart is impossible while breaking the fourth commandment, which stands in the center of the Ten Commandments, and keeping it in obedience fits for eternal life, for the love of God is made complete only in the one who keeps His word. To decree God's law unworthy to be kept makes one an enemy of the Lord, with reward promised to the obedient and punishment to the disobedient, while God does not compel obedience. Those who keep comply with God's holy law as the standard of righteousness and rule of life, keeping Christ's commandments and doing the will of God not by hearing only or theoretically accepting truth but by practicing it in daily life so it is stamped upon the soul, woven into the life, and sanctifies the character with grateful response. Those who do this abide in Christ's love even as Christ kept His Father's commandments and abides in His love, honor both God who gave the law and Christ who died to magnify it, and abide forever.
Whoever keeps His word has the love of God brought to full expression and completion in him, and by this obedient keeping it is known with sure proof that he is in Him and abides in Him. His word means God's word, Christ's word, His commandments and His holy law as the standard of righteousness and rule of life. Genuine love is not proved by claims, feeling, or profession of holiness, but is shown and completed only in obedience to His commandments. True knowledge of Him is proved by keeping His commandments and walking even as Christ walked, while saying I know Him without keeping them is lying, and this is the test of every profession of knowing God, holiness, and sanctification. Provision is made for any who sin to have Jesus Christ the righteous as Advocate with the Father and propitiation for the sins of the whole world, so that those who keep His word are assured their sins are remitted through Christ alone.
Verse Wording and Setting
"His word" in the verse means God's word and Christ's word, His commandments and His holy law as the standard of righteousness and rule of life, demanding full obedience and not mere admission that they are of God or hearing and theoretically accepting truth only. To keep it is to comply with that law and keep Christ's commandments and do the will of God in daily practice, so that truth is stamped upon the soul, woven into the life, and sanctifies the character. Keeping in this way forms character that will enable standing, while rejecting the advanced light now given leaves one in darkness.
The commandment to be kept is no new commandment but the old commandment and word heard from the beginning, certain with no doubt, given in Eden with binding claims on all mankind, laid when the foundations of the earth were laid when the morning stars sang together before any people were distinguished as Jews. It is unchanged from before the fall of Satan and still the same law obeyed by the angelic family in heaven, written years after the resurrection of Christ to leave no doubt which commandments must be obeyed, including the Sabbath commandment spoken from Sinai. This obedience belongs to that old commandment made new and true in Him and in believers because darkness is past and the true light now shines.
The epistle was written by John when he was an old man, nearly one hundred years old, as a firm, decided testimony showing how God can use aged workers. He lived out this keeping by revealing the life of Christ in his own life, steadfastly maintaining his faith and repeating over and over the story of the crucified and risen Saviour while persecution put believers young in experience in danger of losing their hold on Christ.
The verse belongs with carefully reading 1 John 1, for its obedience test is understood better after that chapter. Its context gives the tests by which keeping is known: truly knowing Him by keeping His commandments, walking even as He walked, and loving one's brother and abiding in the light rather than hating one's brother and walking in darkness blinded so as not to know where one goes. Claiming to know Him without keeping His commandments makes a man a liar with no truth in him, while loving one's brother proves abiding in the light with no occasion of stumbling.
Love Perfected by Obedience
Whoever keeps His word has the love of God brought to its full expression, fullness, and completion in him, perfected in the keeper. This keeping gives sure assurance that the keeper is in God and in Christ and abides in Him. Knowing God is proved by keeping His commandments, and to claim to know Him while not keeping them is to lie with the truth not in the claimant. Abiding in Him requires walking even as Christ walked, and the commandment to do so is no new commandment but the old commandment and word heard from the beginning. Following Christ's steps in this keeping means lifting the cross, which brings courage and strength and points to Christ the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world.
Genuine love is not proved by claims or feelings alone, nor by religious feeling, profession of holiness, or saying one is sinless. It is shown and completed only in obedience to His commandments, with keeping His word as the test of every profession of holiness and of knowing God. Obedience does not earn salvation or pardon, for Christ has borne sin and is the propitiation for the sins of the whole world, freeing those who accept Him from the penalty of the law; obedience is the fruit of faith and love. When a person abides in Christ and God's love dwells in the heart, thoughts, feelings, and actions come into harmony with God's will and law. True love always produces the fruits of His Spirit in meekness and lowliness, springing from experimental knowledge of Christ and communion with Him as Redeemer and friend unto fervent love for God and for human beings.
A harsh, dictatorial, ungentlemanly spirit and wicked accusing words against brethren are no evidence of Christ's presence but evidence of the fallen foe and control by Satan, showing the person is not yoked with Christ nor learning in the school of the Master but learning disobedience. The perfected love is Christlike love that must live in the heart and appear in loving conduct toward fellow believers. Walking even as He walked means being full of pity, tenderness, and compassion. To keep His word is to keep His commandments, and this obedience gives assurance of knowing God and abiding in Him.
This is part of the science of salvation, for the question of inheriting eternal life is answered by loving God wholly and loving one's neighbor as oneself and living accordingly. Keeping the word means living by the holy law given from the beginning, including that whole love to God and neighbor, shown in righteous conduct and practical care for others and not merely in words. It is Christlike love for brethren, loving God and neighbor and loving those around as precious souls for whom Christ died, without which there is no faith unto eternal life, for there is no such thing as a loveless Christian because God is love. He who so loves is filled with light and love, and God is in him and all around him, and by this love he knows that he is in Him. Keeping His word means loving one another as Christ has loved, following His example of holy obedience and sympathy with men in all their woes and afflictions, for the standard is one and unchanging, spoken by Jesus Christ Himself enshrouded in the cloudy pillar in Leviticus 19 and spoken again in the New Testament by the One in whom is the knowledge of God, who gave His life and stands as substitute and surety and Advocate and propitiation for the sins of the whole world to inspire men to obey.
This love does not excuse sin or join hands with sin, and to claim to know God while not keeping His commandments makes a person a liar in whom the truth is not. Abiding in Him requires walking even as Christ walked, not making a boast of piety with a heart destitute of the love of God. True love does not conceal unconfessed sin or require compromise with evil, and claiming to abide in Christ while transgressing God's law contradicts the verse; love for people must be joined with a firm stand for what is right. Neglecting one commandment makes apparent obedience to another worthless before God. Presenting beautiful theories is not enough unless the love of Christ is in the heart, giving fragrance to words and works, and loss of this love results in loss of all things. This plain truth is to be read and studied by those living in the last days together with Christ's warning about leaving first love.
Assurance of Being in Him
By this obedient keeping it is known with sure evidence, proof and assurance that the keeper is in Him, in God, in Christ, and abides in Him. Keeping His word brings the love of God to its full expression, fullness and completion in the keeper, and this perfected love is the sign that he is in God. Being in Him means abiding in Him and walking even as He walked. Keeping His word is shown in following the steps of Christ by lifting the cross, and those who lift the cross are lifted by it, given fortitude, courage and strength, and pointed to Christ the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
Those who keep His word may have the same unity with Christ that Christ has with the Father. In that union they are made partakers of the divine nature, with the divine nature fashioned upon them, whereby they escape the corruption that is in the world through lust. This oneness with Jesus Christ and with the Father makes believers rich toward God and makes them at peace and one with one another, speaking the same thing in unity and love, walking in the knowledge of the truth with minds constantly improving in comprehending the plain requirements of the word and gaining a genuine experience of present value. True knowledge of Him is proved by keeping His commandments, and obedience to God's commands shows that believers truly know Him and are His children. Saying I know Him without keeping His commandments is lying and shows the truth is not in the claimant.
Provision is made for sinners not to sin, and for any who sin to have Jesus Christ the righteous as Advocate with the Father and propitiation for their sins and for the sins of the whole world. On the basis of keeping His word Christians are free and are to be encouraged, for their sins are remitted through the merits of Christ alone, since forgiveness rests on God alone and not on any priest or pope. Forgiveness of sins for His name's sake belongs to the little children who so keep His word, who come into the light confessing sins and believing the promise to forgive and cleanse from all unrighteousness through the blood of Jesus, who do not continue in sin but keep His commandments in thankfulness for the perfect sacrifice and walk as He walked. Holding fast what was heard from the beginning keeps believers in the Son and in the Father unto the promise of eternal life and confidence without shame at His coming, in the old commandment heard from the beginning made new and true because darkness is past and the true light now shines, where loving one's brother proves abiding in the light with no occasion of stumbling and hating one's brother proves abiding in darkness, walking in darkness blinded so as not to know where he goes.
Commandments and Christ's Example
To keep His word is to keep all His commandments with full and entire obedience, complying with God's holy law as the standard of righteousness and rule of life, keeping Christ's commandments and doing the will of God in daily practice. It is not mere admission that they are of God, nor hearing only or theoretically accepting truth, but practicing it so that truth is stamped upon the soul, woven into the life, and sanctifies the character, believing the Word just as it reads. Neglecting one commandment makes apparent obedience to another worthless before God. God's word here is the commandments given from the beginning, where obedience and love belong together, and those who are in Christ must walk as Christ walked.
Everyone who says he abides in Him ought to walk even as Christ walked, following His example who delighted to do God's will with the law within His heart and kept His Father's commandments and abode in His love, suffering for us and leaving an example that we should follow His steps. Walking as He walked means being full of pity, tenderness and compassion. It is the privilege of every son and daughter of Adam to walk in this world as Christ walked, standing apart from the faithless, careless, unbelieving world, talking faith, and being determined to follow Christ's holy life with mind and eyes single-minded, single-hearted, and single to the glory of God. This walk was made possible because Christ laid off His kingly crown, laid aside His royal robe, clothed His divinity with humanity to stand at the head of humanity, and purchased humanity by the sacrifice of His own blood in covenant with His Father.
Christ did not abolish the law to redeem the race but died as victim for transgression because the law could not be abolished, and His death proves the law is immutable and will endure through eternity, including the Sabbath commandment spoken from Sinai against the substitution of the first day. Claiming sanctification while disobeying God's commandments, including the Sabbath, is false, and this obedience belongs to genuine Bible sanctification joined to repentance for breaking God's law and faith in Jesus Christ. Loving God with all the heart is impossible while breaking the fourth commandment, which stands in the center of the Ten Commandments, and keeping it in obedience fits for eternal life. Deliberate violation of a known commandment is incompatible with knowing God and being in harmony with Him.
The standard is one and unchanging, for Jesus Christ Himself spoke the lessons of Leviticus 19 enshrouded in the cloudy pillar and speaks the same standard in the New Testament. He is the One in whom is the knowledge of God, who gave His life and stands as substitute and surety and Advocate and propitiation for the sins of the whole world to inspire men to obey. The question of inheriting eternal life belongs to the science of salvation and is answered by loving God wholly and loving one's neighbor as oneself and living accordingly. Those who do this abide in Christ's love even as Christ kept His Father's commandments and abides in His love, honor both God who gave the law and Christ who died to magnify it, and abide forever.
True Sanctification Tested
The verse is the test of every man's profession of knowing God, of holiness, and of sanctification, for true Bible sanctification is loving God and keeping His commandments, with the love of God made complete in whoever keeps His word, and this obedience proves that a person knows God and is in Him. Claiming sanctification while living in transgression of the law, willfully violating one of His requirements, or disobeying the Sabbath commandment is false and without foundation, exposing outwardly beautiful claims that hide destructive errors, and such claims must be joined to repentance for breaking God's law and faith in Jesus Christ. Holiness must be measured by God's only standard of holiness in heaven and earth, the moral law, and no one who feels no weight of that law, belittles God's precepts, or breaks one of the least commandments and teaches men so has a founded claim. John's full teaching on love does not excuse disobedience or disregard of God's requirements.
A faith that professes to release men from obedience to God is not faith but presumption, for salvation is by grace through faith and faith without works is dead. Obedience does not earn salvation or pardon and does not mean people perfect their own moral character; it is the fruit of faith and love, while those who accept Jesus as personal Saviour are freed from the law's penalty, receive forgiveness through repentance, and share in Christ's righteousness with His life as the pattern for how they should walk. When a person abides in Christ and God's love dwells in the heart, thoughts, feelings, and actions come into harmony with God's will and law, following His example who delighted to do God's will with the law within His heart and kept His Father's commandments and abode in His love. Obedience is the plain proof of Bible election and gives a clear title to the immortal inheritance that will never be questioned, to the mansions Christ has gone to prepare. Those who by faith enter the kingdom of God now and hold fast their profession of faith will possess the kingdom forever and ever, with responsibility to glorify God in body and spirit as those bought with a price, rising above sordid influences and putting away earthliness.
True conversion produces transformation of character into Christlikeness where pride no longer rules the heart, sin is hated, and believers become Christlike in purpose and action, consecrating all powers to God's service with zeal tempered by meekness and lowliness and refusing a dictatorial spirit. As people know Christ more clearly they recognize their own weakness and need of His help, and obedience does not remove that need but is evidence of relationship with Him. Growth in grace is shown by increased ability to work for God in the assigned part of the Lord's vineyard, learned in the school of Christ under the great Teacher through prayer and speaking for the Master, with humble realization of lack of wisdom and experience, bringing daily growth in comprehending spiritual things and daily increased fitness to help others so that abiding in Christ bears much fruit. This keeping requires most earnest personal work and constant growing in the Lord, learning lessons often neglected, refusing selfishness, learning the hardest lesson of yielding self to Christ, beseeching Christ as a true humble learner to cleanse the heart from all defilement and rid the character of all deformity, living a life that leads others to Him, and undergoing an entire transformation of character through perfect self-surrender, without which no one can enter the holy city, live the life that measures with the life of God, or see the kingdom of God.
Those who walk in the light as Christ is in the light, confess and forsake their sins, and overcome sin in this present life receive fellowship with one another and cleansing from all sin in the blood of Jesus through the pledge of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This present time is the only probation for securing the eternal reward with no second probation after death, and those who truly believe and keep His word grow more and more like Christ until complete in Him, made free from sin to serve righteousness with fruit unto holiness and eternal life. In the judgment, when everyone is judged by the things written in the books, the law will be seen as holy, just and good in all its requirements with decisive claims against transgressors, dividing humanity into only two classes, those who violate God's law and those who keep it. Keeping His word is the only safety against following a strange path after a false standard, requiring searching the Scriptures, being diligent students of the Word of God and following the Light of Life. In the last days this means looking unto Jesus Christ and speaking to one another words of genuine faith and love, words of love, tenderness and true brotherly kindness, and standing on the solid rock of the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus as a loving warning to sin not and stand firm. Keeping His word forms character that will enable standing, while rejecting the advanced light God is now giving leaves one in darkness.
Practical Christian Application
Keeping His word belongs to making Jesus known to the world by both word and deed, for the love of God reaches its full expression and completion in the keeper and gives assurance of being in Him and in God. That obedience is practical and lived out toward other people in a life of goodness, love, and truth, with actions and words that fit the new pure nature and show the influence of religion. The verse therefore calls for urgent self-examination instead of exalting self and disparaging others, for criticizing self, setting the heart in order without delay, confessing and forsaking personal sins, and making diligent work of repentance so as to be cleansed from sin and made ready for the Lord's appearing while living in the great day of atonement. It requires taking individual heed that the truth as it is in Jesus abides in the heart and walking even as He walked.
This keeping forbids placing oneself on the judgment seat to pronounce sentence against brethren, since there is only one Judge, the One who died and took human nature with all the infirmities of humanity so that believers might stand on vantage ground with God. A harsh, dictatorial, ungentlemanly spirit and wicked accusing words against brethren are no evidence of Christ's presence but evidence of the fallen foe and control by Satan. Such a spirit shows the person is not yoked with Christ nor learning in the school of the Master but is learning disobedience. Keeping comes from experimental knowledge of Christ and communion with Him as Redeemer and friend, leading to true obedience and fervent love for God and for human beings, with the love of God always producing the fruits of His Spirit in meekness and lowliness. Obedience is a condition of claiming God's promises in prayer, for asking while refusing to obey does not show faith and love for Christ.
Obedience to God's will is for present and eternal good and should not be delayed until difficulties are removed, for although Satan places obstacles and attacks a person's weak points, Jesus helps the person to obey. Under the Abrahamic covenant, which is the covenant of grace, it is possible in the name and strength God gives to be obedient to all His commandments, and His commandments are not grievous but bring happiness and joy rather than mourning, doubt, and uncertainty. All who serve Christ as loyal subjects and work out His commands can know they are in Him, for the word and commandments meant are the law given in Eden with binding claims upon all mankind, and full and entire obedience brings joy. When taken unawares and led into sin, which is transgression of the law, one must not give up hope in Christ, cease to pray, or say there is no use trying, for to stop trying and become an open transgressor is exactly what Satan tempts him to do, and no one who has had light on what keeping the commandments comprehends will be saved in transgression of them.
For the church as the bride, the Lamb's wife, being in Him means keeping herself pure, sanctified, and holy, indulging in no foolishness, living as the bride of a King and realizing her exalted position so she becomes all-glorious within. This rests on Christ having purchased the human race at infinite cost and holding a just claim to every human being by creation and by redemption, with the deed of possession as Redeemer entitling Him to claim them as His property and giving power to become the sons of God to as many as receive Him and believe on His name. This obedient life marks Christ's people as distinct from the world, standing apart from the faithless, careless, unbelieving world, talking faith and determined to follow Christ's holy life with mind and eyes single-minded, single-hearted, and single to the glory of God. It is the privilege of every son and daughter of Adam to walk in this world as Christ walked, keeping His word so that the love of God is perfected in them, and a fragrant heavenly influence rests on every professed Christian character, while one who claims to abide in Christ must walk as Christ walked.
Holiness is not a profession or a religion of words, forms, feelings, admiring truth from the outside, or distrusting God in trial, but is shown by lifting the cross and doing God's will in faithful performance of duty. That faithful doing goes hand in hand with a right view of God's character and a serious regard for duty, and safety for churches comes only when keeping the commandments is taught as necessary, with knowing God tested by obedience and claiming to know Him while not keeping them proved false. Mere profession of knowing Christ while Christian principle is low is deception that forfeits acceptance with the Father, dishonors Christ's name, and leaves no true assurance. Keeping His word means putting away self-love, keeping the conditions of acceptance, obeying His commandments, believing the Word just as it reads, and walking even as Christ walked, while attacking God's commandment-keeping people exposes the attacker's own disobedience and claiming to know God while not keeping His commandments makes a person a liar with no truth in him.
When duty is pointed out, those who love God walk in the light as obedient children with filial fear rather than slavish fear, keeping the sacred trust given them during probation. Loving God with all the heart is impossible while breaking the fourth commandment, which stands in the center of the Ten Commandments, and keeping it in obedience fits for eternal life, for the love of God is made complete only in the one who keeps His word. To decree God's law unworthy to be kept makes one an enemy of the Lord, with reward promised to the obedient and punishment to the disobedient, while God does not compel obedience. Those who keep comply with God's holy law as the standard of righteousness and rule of life, keeping Christ's commandments and doing the will of God not by hearing only or theoretically accepting truth but by practicing it in daily life so it is stamped upon the soul, woven into the life, and sanctifies the character with grateful response. Those who do this abide in Christ's love even as Christ kept His Father's commandments and abides in His love, honor both God who gave the law and Christ who died to magnify it, and abide forever.