I John 2:3-4 (NIV)
We know that we have come to know Him if we
obey His commands. The man who says, “I know Him”, but does not do what He
commands, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
Imagine and reflect on the following dialogue between you and Jesus:
He says, “Do you love Me?”
Imagine and reflect on the following dialogue between you and Jesus:
He says, “Do you love Me?”
You reply, “Yes, Lord, I do”.
He says, “Then you must be
obeying My commands”.
You pause a bit…..“Er, what
commands are You talking about?”
He
says, “Well, for example, loving Me more than anyone else. Loving all other
people as you love yourself. Not breaking any of the Ten Commandments
(including keeping the Sabbath holy and always telling the truth). Doing to others what you would have them do
unto you. Forgiving others. Loving your enemies. Giving, praying, and fasting. Not worrying. Not judging others. Being like the Good
Samaritan. Telling others about Me.“
You
stammer, “Hmmmm, well I obey some of them, but not all.” He then says the following words that you
never want to hear: “Then how can you say that you love Me? You don’t love Me, and if you don’t Me, you
don’t know Me and you don’t have the truth in you. In fact, you are a liar if you say you love Me
and know Me, but don’t do what I command.”
Wow, pretty serious and
intimidating stuff, right? Yet, isn’t this what these verses are teaching? If
you don’t obey Jesus’ commands, how can you say that you love and know
Him? The Scripture does not say that
it’s okay to keep some but not all His commands. After all, who can? But, isn’t that what these verses are saying?
If you don’t do what He commands, it
says that you are a liar, the truth is not in you and you don’t know Him. On judgment day He is going to say “I never
knew you” because you never knew Him.
Now, earlier in I John it is written that is the person who says that he does not sin is deceiving himself and the truth is not in him (1:8), exactly what is concluded in I John 2:4. So how do you reconcile the apparent contradiction where I John 1:8-10 says basically that it’s impossible to be sinless, while I John 2:3-4 says that if you don’t obey His commands, you don’t know Him. Well, the answer is found in the two verses between I John 1:8-10 and I John 2:3-4. They say that (1) indeed, you should not sin, but (2) when you do, you have an Advocate in Jesus Himself if you believe that He died for your sins. I’m going to repeat what William MacDonald wrote in his Believer’s Bible Commentary (p.2312): “John does not imply that the Christian life consists of faultless obedience to the will of God, but rather that the Christian habitually desires to keep His commandments.” God sees your heart and your inner desire to obey Jesus commands. Yes, you will stumble, you will not always keep His commands, but if you are living the Spirit-filled life, the Spirit will convict you when you have been disobedient and your desire will be to be obedient again by confessing your sins and being cleansed of all unrighteousness (I John 1:9).
God will know whether or not your inner desire is to obey His commands. It’s the person who declares that he knows (obeys) God’s commands when God clearly sees in that person’s heart that he has little desire to be obedient.
Since you know that God knows what is deep within your heart, if you are convicted that you have been guilty of what I John 2:3-4 is condemning, then humble yourself before Christ, confess your sins, ask for forgiveness, and begin a new journey toward obedience every day to the commands of Christ. Every day you will need to confess your sins and be forgiven, but God sees your inner heart’s desire to be obedient to Him because His truth is now in you.
Now, earlier in I John it is written that is the person who says that he does not sin is deceiving himself and the truth is not in him (1:8), exactly what is concluded in I John 2:4. So how do you reconcile the apparent contradiction where I John 1:8-10 says basically that it’s impossible to be sinless, while I John 2:3-4 says that if you don’t obey His commands, you don’t know Him. Well, the answer is found in the two verses between I John 1:8-10 and I John 2:3-4. They say that (1) indeed, you should not sin, but (2) when you do, you have an Advocate in Jesus Himself if you believe that He died for your sins. I’m going to repeat what William MacDonald wrote in his Believer’s Bible Commentary (p.2312): “John does not imply that the Christian life consists of faultless obedience to the will of God, but rather that the Christian habitually desires to keep His commandments.” God sees your heart and your inner desire to obey Jesus commands. Yes, you will stumble, you will not always keep His commands, but if you are living the Spirit-filled life, the Spirit will convict you when you have been disobedient and your desire will be to be obedient again by confessing your sins and being cleansed of all unrighteousness (I John 1:9).
God will know whether or not your inner desire is to obey His commands. It’s the person who declares that he knows (obeys) God’s commands when God clearly sees in that person’s heart that he has little desire to be obedient.
Since you know that God knows what is deep within your heart, if you are convicted that you have been guilty of what I John 2:3-4 is condemning, then humble yourself before Christ, confess your sins, ask for forgiveness, and begin a new journey toward obedience every day to the commands of Christ. Every day you will need to confess your sins and be forgiven, but God sees your inner heart’s desire to be obedient to Him because His truth is now in you.
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