From last time, we saw that the first result of God is light being holiness. In this section, we will see the second result is obedience.
John’s transition (v. 3) to the subject of knowing God may seem more abrupt than it really is. In ancient thought, the concept of “light” readily suggested the idea of “vision,” “perception,” or “knowledge.”[1] It seems obvious that a life of fellowship with God in the light ought to lead to knowing Him. Of course, in a sense all true Christians know God (John 17:3), but sometimes even genuine believers can be said not to know God or Christ (John 14:7–9). Furthermore, Jesus promised His disciples a special self-disclosure that was predicated on their obeying His commands (John 14:21–23). It is clear that such an experience involves the knowledge of God.
Finally, in our level of human experience, fellowship naturally leads to knowing the person with whom that fellowship takes place. This is true in knowing the Almighty and having fellowship with Him. If a father and son live apart, they will not know each other as well as if they lived together, even though their parent-child relationship continues to exist.
On another point, one could argue that to read 1 John 2:3–11 as if John had left the subject of fellowship with God behind would be an error. They would say the contrary, that the subject of knowing God is its logical continuation.[2]
Verses:
3 By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. 4 The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; 5 but whoever follows His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: 6 the one who says that he remains in Him ought, himself also, walk just as He walked. (NASB)
Key Takeaways:
- If we claim to know God, we show this by our obedience to God and following Jesus’ example. Our continued disobedience shows that we do not truly know or love him.
- We demonstrate our love of God by loving others. We must reject the love of this world and its discontentment.
- To walk in the light or say we know God means to spend time daily in God’s Word, discovering His will; and then obeying what He has told us
Closer Look:
Verse 3: For readers who wish to decide whether their experience of fellowship with God has led them really to know Him in a personal way, John gave a simple test: “We know that we have come to know Him if we obey His commandments.” The two occurrences of the word “know” (ginōskō) in this verse are the first of 23 times John used this word in this epistle. (A synonym, oida, occurs six times: 3:2; 5:15 [twice], 18–20.) As often in John’s writings, the word “Him” might refer either to God or to Christ. For John, Jesus is so closely linked with the Father that a precise distinction between the Persons of the Godhead sometimes seems irrelevant.[3] Fellowship is with both the Father and the Son (1:3) and to know One of Them intimately is to know the Other. (obviously, John is not modalistic, nor does he combine the Father and Son; he treats them as united but separate Persons). But obedience is the condition for such knowledge (cf. John 14:21–23). It is also the means by which a Christian can be sure that they have really “come to know” the Lord (cf. “obey His commands” in 1 John 3:22, 24; 5:2–3).
Obedience to God’s Word is proof of our love for Him. There are three motives for obedience. We can obey because we have to, because we need to, or because we want to.
A slave obeys because he/she has to. If he/she doesn’t obey, they will be punished. An employee obeys because they need to. He/She may not enjoy their work, but they do enjoy getting their paycheck! They need to obey because they have a family to feed and clothe. But a Christian is to obey the Heavenly Father because they want to—for the relationship between them and God is one of love. “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15).
This is the way we learned obedience when we were children. First, we obeyed because we had to. If we didn’t obey, we were disciplined! But as we grew up, we discovered that obedience meant enjoyment and reward; so we started obeying because it met certain needs in our lives. And it was a mark of real maturity when we started obeying because of love.
“Baby Christians” must constantly be warned or rewarded. Mature Christians listen to God’s Word and obey it simply because they love Him.
Verse 4: Once again, John is talking about exactly what a dualist would say. This is precisely what these heretics would say. It would be manifested in ungodly practice; and again we can notice the contrast. It follows, therefore, that “the one who says, ‘I have come to know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar.” As in 1:6, someone may profess a fellowship with God which their life shows the person does not possess. John was not afraid to call this kind of claim what it really is: a lie. Furthermore, it may be said of the same person that “the truth is not in him.” The idea is similar to the statements made earlier about false claims (1:6, 8, 10). In such a person the truth is not a dynamic, controlling influence. The person is seriously out of touch with spiritual reality.
Verses 5–6: On the other hand, obedience to God’s Word (“His commands,” v. 3) results in a rich and full experience of God’s love: the love of God has truly been perfected. The Greek expression “the love of God” (rendered “God’s love” in some translations) could mean either His love for a Christian or a Christian’s love for God. But the phrasing “God’s love” or “love for God” is perhaps the best, particularly in light of John 14:21–23. In that passage an obedient disciple is promised the experience of the love of the Father and Son. Since a Christian is already the object of God’s saving love, this additional, experiential realization of the divine affection may be properly said to make God’s love complete in him/her (cf. 1 John 4:12, 17). That is to say, an obedient believer has a deep, full acquaintance with “God’s love.” Since God is love (4:16), to know God intimately is to know His love intimately.
A basic principle is found in verse 5, this is an important verse: “but whoever follows His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him.” A basic principle as found in verse 5 is that love comes to maturity in obedience. If you love the Lord, you will obey Him. You are My friends if you do what I commanded you. There is no genuine love of God without obedience, that’s what he’s saying here.
John then added, “By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says that he remains in Him ought, himself also, walk just as He walked.” (In some translations, the translators have supplied the word “Jesus” which is represented in the original by a pronoun.) In these statements, John used two other expressions (“in Him” and “remains in Him”) which further his thought. As with the connection he makes between obedience and the knowledge of God, here too the Upper Room Discourse (John 13–16) is the seed-plot from which these ideas come.[4] The concept involved is derived especially from the Parable of the Vine and the Branches (John 15:1–8). The vine-branch relationship is an image of the discipleship experience. Jesus said, “My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so [g]prove to be My disciples.” (John 15:8, NASB). In 1 John 2:5–6 discipleship is also in view, as is seen from the reference to the imitation of Christ in verse 6. Moreover, the Greek term menō, “remain,” is the same verb used in John 15:4 where it talks about remaining in Christ to bear fruit
It would be a mistake to equate the concept of being “in Him” as John uses it here with the Pauline concept of being “in Christ.” For Paul, the words “in Christ” describe a Christian’s permanent position in God’s Son with all its attendant privileges. With John, the kind of relationship pictured in the vine-branch imagery describes an experience that can be ruptured (John 15:6) with a resultant loss of fellowship and fruitfulness. Accordingly, here in 1 John, the proof that a person is enjoying this kind of experience is to be found in a life modeled after that of Jesus in obedience to His Word. In short, 2:5–6 continues to talk about the believer’s fellowship with God.
In verse 6, we have the first occurrence of the verb meno. What does meno mean? It simply means to remain, to stay, to live in a home, or to live in a certain place. It can be used to mean remaining in place of staying or continuing for a time or a continuing condition. A mentioned, it could be at home. In fact, that usage really gets the point across. The one who says, they are at home in Him, the one who remains in Him ought to walk. When used of a Christian’s relationship to God, it has the idea of continuing in a life of faith and obedience. It means just to walk with God. If you say you are walking with Him, you ought. The verb is opheilo. You are morally obligated. That’s what John is saying here. This means if you say you are abiding in Him, you are morally obligated to walk like Christ or to walk as He walked. So if you say, “I’m walking in fellowship with Him,” walk as He walked.
Let me just stop here quickly. What I’m saying can be very dangerous because you can become so introspective that you can say, “I don’t know if I’m walking in fellowship with Him, am I really walking in the light?” And you can become so self-centered, it is very dangerous. So I tell Christian’s this – assume you are walking in fellowship with the Lord unless you have reasons to know you are not. Otherwise, you’re just going to be, “I don’t know about this, I don’t know about that.” Really you could become neurotic just thinking about yourself. And usually your heart will condemn you; there is something within you that’ll say, “I shouldn’t have done that.” There’s something in the Word of God that’ll expose your heart so assume you are walking in fellowship with the Lord unless you have good reason to know you are not. And then confess it and move on with the Lord. But otherwise just assume you are walking with the Lord. That makes for a much healthier outlook – don’t be constantly looking at yourself being totally introspective.
Going back now, when meno is used of a Christian’s relationship to God, it has an idea of continued life of faith and obedience.
Aside: Walking in the Light:
In 1 John 1:7, we saw John talking about walking in the light. In this section, specifically verse 6, we see that is fleshed out a touch more by describing it as walking as Jesus walked. So, let’s take some time and discuss more about what this means.
Walking in the light involves honesty, obedience, and love; it also involves following the example of Christ and walking as He walked (v. 6). Of course, we cannot become a Christian just by walking as Jesus walked or doing the “right” thing. We first need that acceptance and acknowledgement of Christ as our Savior. But after we come into God’s family, we are to look to Jesus Christ as the one great Example of the kind of life we should live.
This means “remaining (abiding) in Christ.” Christ is not only the Propitiation for our sins (1 John 2:2) and the Advocate who represents us before God (1 John 2:1), but He is also the perfect Example (He is “Jesus Christ the righteous”) for our daily life.
The key statement here in verse 6 is “as He is.” “because as He is, we also are in this world” (4:17, NASB). We are to walk in the light “as He is in the light” (1:7). We are to purify ourselves “just as He is pure” (3:3). “The one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous” (3:7, NASB). Walking in the light means living here on earth the way Jesus lived when He was here, and the way He is right now in heaven.
Obviously, this has extremely practical applications in our daily lives. For example, what should a believer do when another believer sins against him? The answer is that believers should forgive one another “even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you” (Eph. 4:32; cf. Col. 3:13).
Walking in the light—following the example of Christ—will affect a home. Husbands are supposed to love their wives “even as Christ also loved the church” (Eph. 5:25). Husbands are supposed to care for their wives “even as the Lord” cares for the church (Eph. 5:29). And wives are to honor their husbands (Eph. 5:22–24).
No matter what area of life it may be, our responsibility is to do what Jesus would do. “As He is, so are we in this world.” We should “walk [live] even as He walked [lived].”
Jesus Himself taught His disciples what it means to abide in Him. He explains it in His illustration of the vine and its branches (John 15). Just as the branch gets its life by remaining in contact with the vine, so believers receive their strength by maintaining fellowship with Christ.
To abide in Christ means to depend completely on Him for all that we need in order to live for Him and serve Him. It is a living relationship. As He lives out His life through us, we are able to follow His example and walk as He walked. Paul expresses this experience perfectly: “Christ lives in me” (Gal. 2:20).
This is a reference to the work of the Holy Spirit. Christ is our Advocate in heaven (2:1), to represent us before God when we sin. The Holy Spirit is God’s Advocate for us here on earth. Christ is making intercession for us (Rom. 8:34), and the Holy Spirit is also making intercession for us (Rom. 8:26–27). We are part of a fantastic “heavenly party line”: God the Son prays for us in heaven, and God the Spirit prays for us in our hearts. We have fellowship with the Father through the Son, and the Father has fellowship with us through the Spirit.[5]
Christ lives out His life through us by the power of the Spirit, who lives within our bodies. It is not by means of imitation that we abide in Christ and walk as He walked. No, it is through through His Spirit, “Christ lives in me.” To walk in the light is to walk in the Spirit and not fulfill the lusts of the flesh (cf. Gal. 5:16).
God has made provisions for us in these ways to conquer sin. We can never lose or change the sin nature that we were born with (1 John 1:8), but we need not obey its desires. As we walk in the light and see sin as it actually is, we will hate it and turn from it. And if we sin, we immediately confess it to God and claim His cleansing. By depending on the power of the indwelling Spirit, we abide in Christ and “walk as He walked.”
[1] John F. Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck, Dallas Theological Seminary, The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 887.
[2] John F. Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck, Dallas Theological Seminary, The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 888.
[3] John F. Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck, Dallas Theological Seminary, The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 888.
[4] John F. Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck, Dallas Theological Seminary, The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 888.
[5] Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1996), 484.