"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 keepth 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."
1 John 2:3-6
Part 2
Yesterday: The Proof of My Personal Relationship with Jesus
“And hereby.”
“We do know that we know Him.”
“If we keep His commandments.”
Today: A Liar Does Not Walk His Talk
“He that saith, I know Him, and keepeth not His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him” (1 John 2:4).
Just saying something does not make it accurate. We live in a day and age where anyone can say just about anything they want, and the truth is most often lost in the shuffle. The test of truth nowadays seems to be how many people believe it. If more people believe it’s true than think it’s false, then it must be true, right? Not so. We who know Jesus Christ understand that the litmus test of truth is the Word of God, not people’s opinions.
“He that saith, I know Him.”
What a wonderful thing it is to know Jesus Christ personally. The blessings of this relationship with Him are innumerable! Being related to the King makes us His children with all the benefits of the family. There is no more tremendous blessing in life than “knowing Him.” According to this verse, not everyone that says they know Christ really does. A profession with the lips does not always mean possession of Christ in the heart.
“I Know Him”
“I have knowledge of (perfect) Him” [1] (JFB).
“They profess that they know God; but in works they deny Him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate” (Titus 1:16).
The apostle Paul ran into situations in his travels where people professed to know Christ, but there was nothing to back up their words in their life.
“Do distinguish, however, between knowing about Christ and knowing Christ. We may know very much about many of our great men, though we do not know them. Now, it will never save a soul to know about Christ. The only saving knowledge is to know Him, His very self, and to trust Him, the living Savior, who is now at the right hand of God” [2](Spurgeon).
Do you profess Christ and actually know Him personally? Or do you know about Jesus but have no personal relationship with Him? It’s the difference between what is true or false, life or death, heaven or hell.
“And keepeth not His commandments.”
Our profession of salvation must be backed up by more than just our good words. Our obedience to Jesus Christ and His Word is what sets apart a genuine child of God. Disobedience to what Jesus says also points out a person’s lack of a relationship with Him. Does your obedience to the Word back up your profession of salvation?
These are some commands the Lord gives us here in 1 John. These challenge my heart. How is your obedience to these? Don’t just blow through these but give them some thought.
Are you a lover or a hater?
“He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now” (1 John 2:9).
Who in your church fellowship do you have enmity in your heart toward? Do you honestly “love the brethren?”
Are you walking in the light or darkness?
“If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth” (1 John 1:6).
What is your heart following closely after? Which do you love? The things of the world, or the things of the Word?
Are you a sinner?
“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8).
“If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and His Word is not in us” (1 John 1:10).
No believer is perfect this side of heaven, but where’s your heart? Is your sin “not so bad?” Do you have pet sins that you indulge and pamper? Or do you deal with your sin according to the teachings of this book, 1 John 1:9?
Every believer gets tripped up from time to time. And we still sin daily. But the question is, are we handling our sin according to the teachings of this book? (1 John 1:9). Do we keep short sin accounts with God? Are we quick to confess our sin and to forsake it?
“Is a liar, and the truth is not in him.”
“He that saith, I know Him, and keepeth not His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.”
“Is a Liar.”
“If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth” (1 John 1:6).
“As in 1:6, someone may profess a fellowship with God which his life shows he does not possess. John was not afraid to call this kind of claim what it really is: a lie” [3] (BKC).
“The Truth Is Not in Him.”
In the original language, this statement is emphatic, and it means “[Literally], in this one the truth is not” [4] (Vincent).
“truth is not in this person – These people are revealed to be hypocritical. For John, a person cannot have an authentic relationship with Jesus and obstinately oppose His commandments with their actions” [5] (FSB).
“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8).
“In such a person, the truth is not a dynamic, controlling influence. He is seriously out of touch with spiritual reality” [6] (BKC).
Please come back tomorrow, and we will see what it means to have God’s love perfected in us.
Quote: Jesus’ commands. “The words His commands mean the same thing as “His word” in v. 5, and Jesus’s example in v. 6 (“just as He walked”). The true follower of Jesus is not just a talker but a doer (James 1:22)” [7] (CSB).
[1] JFB, Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., & Brown, D. (1997). Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (Vol. 2, p. 527). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc. The emphasis is his.
[2] EWC, Spurgeon’s quote is from the Enduring Word Commentary, the electronic version in eSword.
[3] BKC, Walvoord, J. F., & Zuck, R. B., Dallas Theological Seminary. (1985). The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 2, pp. 888–889). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[4] Vincent, M. R. (1887). Word studies in the New Testament (Vol. 2, pp. 326–329). New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons.
[5] Barry, J. D., Mangum, D., Brown, D. R., Heiser, M. S., Custis, M., Ritzema, E., … Bomar, D. (2012, 2016). Faithlife Study Bible (1 Jn 2:3–6). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press. The emphasis is theirs.
[6] BKC, ibid.
[7] Yarbrough, R. W. (2017). 1 John. In E. A. Blum & T. Wax (Eds.), CSB Study Bible: Notes (pp. 1994–1995). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers. The emphasis is theirs.