OceanSide church of Christ

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A STUDY OF 1 JOHN (13)

 

Commandment Keeping & Fellowship with God

I John 2:3-6

Victor M. Eskew

 

            The religious world is full of people who voice strong disapproval of commandment-keeping.  They affirm that individuals are saved by faith and not by keeping the commands of God.  The apostle John disagrees.  Remember, this first epistle of the apostle centers upon fellowship with God.  If an individual is in fellowship with God, he is saved.  If he is not in fellowship with God, he is lost.  In 1 John 2:3-6, John teaches us that fellowship with God and commandment-keeping are eternally linked together.  “And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.  He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.  But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected:  hereby know we that we are in him.  He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.”  Go back and read that text again.  If you noticed closely, John uses the words “in him” four times.  To be in Christ, is to be in fellowship with Him.

            John begins this discussion with a BASIC TRUTH (v. 3).  “And hereby we do know that we know him, it we keep his commandments.”  John introduces his readers to the concept of knowing God.  Knowing God involves much more than affirming His existence or having some “head-knowledge” of God, His attributes, and His works.  Knowing God involves having a true, meaningful relationship with Him.  Knowing God means that He is part of who an individual is.  When a person knows God, he conforms into His image.  John tells his readers that this type of a relationship is only possessed by those who keep God’s commandments.  Every command of God springs from His holy and divine nature.  When man keeps the commands of God, he molds himself into the likeness of God.  “And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him” (Col. 3:10).  Knowing God is not just a feeling.  Knowing God is not just a “think so.”  Knowing God is more than an affirmation of such.  We know that we know God when we obey His commandments. 

            In verse 4, John looks at the opposite side of the coin.  He sets before his readers a BOLD LIAR.  “He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.”  John exposes all those individuals who are antagonists of the commands of God.  These opponents of obedience want all to know that they know God.   They will plainly affirm that they know God.  Sometimes, they believe that they know God better than those who keep the commands of God.  They are wrong.  John says they are liars.  It is impossible to know God and refuse to keep His commands.  John declares that the truth is not in them.  John sets before us a paradox.  Those who claim to know the Lord but refuse to do His commands are the very ones who do not know Him at all. 

            In verse 5, John returns to commandment-keeping.  In this verse, he writes about BLESSED OBEDIENCE.  Two blessings are conferred upon those who keep the word of God.  First, the individual manifests a “perfect” love for God.  “But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected.”  When we obey God’s word, our love for God becomes consummate in character.  Our love is carried out completely.  Our love accomplishes the end for which it is intended.  Loving God is not just a set of words.  Loving God is not some warm emotion that wells up in one’s chest.  Love is something proven by action.  The action is obedience to God’s word.  Listen to Jesus as he expounds upon this point.  “…If a man love me, he will keep my words:  and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him” (John 14:23).  Notice, Jesus also ties man’s fellowship with deity to man’s obedience.    Perhaps John had these words of the Lord in mind when he noted the second blessing of obedience.  “…hereby know we that we are in him.”  To be in Christ, it to be in fellowship with him.  We have our abode with Him.  We abide in His presence.  We stand approved in His eyes.  We are loved and adored.  We experience what it means to be partakers of the divine nature.

            The final point John makes involves a BINDING WALK.  John tells us that there is a walk that individuals can take that will enable them to be bound to Jesus.  The walk involves walking as Jesus walked.  The little word “as” means “to the same degree, extent, and amount.”  When we study the life of Christ, we find that He was one who was committed to obeying the Father’s commandments.  In John 14:31, Jesus tells us the following:  “But that the world may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do…”  In John 15:10, He affirms His obedience to God’s will once again.  “If ye keep my commands, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept the Father’s commands, and abide in his love.”  If an individual refuses to obey the commands of God, he is not walking as Christ walked.  And, if he does not walk as Christ walked, it is impossible for him to maintain fellowship with God. 

            In the first century, some of the Gnostics failed to keep the commandments of God.  They reasoned it was the flesh that disobeyed, and the flesh would eventually be cast aside.  Thus, they concluded that strict obedience was not necessary.  John obliterated that thinking in these four short verses.  Obedience is absolutely essential to fellowship with God.

            As Christians, some of us need to rethink obedience.  It is essential.  It is not something that is oppressive.  Obedience is simply keeping God’s word.  Obedience involves a person walking in the footsteps of Jesus.  Obedience manifests our love for God.  Too, it keeps us in fellowship with all of the members of the Godhead.  In the end, obedience will allow us through the beautiful gates of heaven.  “Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city” (Rev. 22:14).