Those Who Know Christ Obey His Commands

1 John 2:3-6

1 John 2:3-6TSI-ID

³Inilah tanda bahwa kita benar-benar mengenal Allah, yakni bila kita menaati perintah-perintah-Nya. ⁴Jika seseorang berkata, “Saya mengenal Allah,” tetapi dia tidak menaati perintah-perintah Allah, berarti dia pembohong dan nyatalah bahwa sebenarnya dia belum disadarkan oleh ajaran benar dari Allah. ⁵Sebaliknya, semakin kita menaati ajaran Allah, semakin nyata bahwa kita mengasihi Allah dengan sempurna. Demikianlah kita tahu bahwa kita benar-benar sudah bersatu dengan Dia. ⁶Jadi, kalau kita mengaku bahwa kita sudah bersatu dengan Allah, hendaklah kita menaati Dia sepenuhnya, sama seperti Yesus taat kepada Bapa semasa hidup-Nya di dunia.

Provisional translation while the preferred version for this language is being licensed.

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Those Who Know Christ Obey His Commands

English original

Those who truly know Christ the King also obey his Kingdom commands. See "Sanctification: When Will I Stop Sinning?" and "The Perseverance and Preservation of Believers: Can I Lose My Salvation?" below. See WCF 19.5.

1 John 2:3-5 for a form a chiastic structure (a writing style that uses a unique repetition pattern for clarification and emphasis) focusing on the fact that covenant loyalty (keeping God's Word, his commandments) is evidence that his love dwells in them:

A. by this we know that we have come to know him (1 John 2:3)
B. keep his commandments (1 John 2:4)
B'. keeps his word (1 John 2:4)
A'. By this we may know that we are in him (1 John 2:5)

In chapter two, John addresses three false claims (2:4, 6, 9) in parallel to the false claims he addressed in chapter one (1:6, 8, 10). The claims are that people know God, abide in God, and dwell in the light of God. Each claim asserts the same identity as a child of God, and the same destiny—eternal life. But, John provides his readers with three identifying markers of God’s children, who possess this life: 1) a true confession about Christ, modeled in 2:1b-2. 2) obedience to Christ’s commands, which is the focus of this section, 2:3-6. And, 3) love for fellow Christ-followers, which is the focus of the next section, 2:7-11.

1 John 2:3-4

English original

In 1 John 2:3 John uses the same word - "know" - to mean two different things. If we obey God's commandments, we know (in the sense of having confidence) that we know (in the sense of personal intimacy) Christ.

Knowing Christ is the privilege of believers only, and believers truly obey the Lord (John 14:15; Eph. 2:10), however imperfectly this side of glory (1 John 1:8, 10). See WCF 16.2; 18.1; 18.2; WLC 80. Smalley makes an interesting observation regarding knowledge:

The claims in this question may be set out in this way:
1 John 2:4 Anyone who says, "I know him,"
must be obedient, 1 John 2:5.
1 John 2:6 Anyone who claims to abide in him,
must live as Jesus lived.
1 John 2:9 Anyone who claims to be in the light,
must love his brother, 1 John 2:10).
Two points are evident from the above. One is that these three statements are really three versions of the single Christian claim to know God, in the sense of being properly related to him (through Christ). To this extent they develop the thought about the true "knowledge" of God introduced (in opposition to gnostic error) in 1 John 2:3. Thus the true statements in 1 John 2:4, 6, 9, dealing with the right relationship between man and God, parallel the false statements in 1 John 2:1:6, 8, 10, dealing with the reality of sin which may interrupt that relationship.
Secondly, to each version of the claim about knowing is attached a condition which is also a test. Once more, the conditions are versions of the primary Christian obligation of obedience (similarly introduced as characteristic of a right relationship with God in 1 John 2:3). To obey God necessarily involves Christlikeness (1 John 2:6), and also love, which is the summation of God's moral law (1 John 2:9).

It is part of the new nature of the saint to continually test himself. See "I write these things to you who believe - 1 John 5:13," "Sanctification: When Will I Stop Sinning?," and "The Perseverance and Preservation of Believers: Can I Lose My Salvation?" below.

See WCF 19.5

Know him

English original

know him. In the OT, knowing God meant being in covenant with him, and practicing the ways of the covenant. Israel knew God when they obeyed his commands (see notes on Jer. 22:16; 31:33-34). The prophets frequently said the people were sinning because they did not know God, but that God would one day give them full knowledge of him (see notes on Jer. 9:6, 23-24; 31:34; Hos. 4:1; 6:1-3; Hab. 2:14). For John, to know God means to obey Christ's commands. commandments. See WCF 16.2; 18.1-2; WLC 80. True followers of Jesus do what their master tells them to do (see notes on Jn. 14:15; Eph. 2:10), not perfectly, but the direction in which they are walking follows in his steps (see notes on 2:1 and 1 Pet 2:21)

Truth

English original

truth. In the Fourth Gospel, the word truth (alētheia) refers to Jesus, the Holy Spirit, God’s Word, and practices of life flowing from and integral with them (see notes on Jn. 14:6, 17; 17:17). Truth is creation regained, the good restored in words and deeds that correspond with the reality of God. Therefore, those who profess to know God, but whose lives are characterized by sinful practices are bearing false witness (see note on Ex 20:16; WLC 143 and WSC 76).

The love of God

English original

It is not entirely clear whether 1 John 2:5 refers to God's love for us, our love for him, or love that is peculiar to God himself. As Kistemaker observes:

Although all three interpretations have merit, evidence from the immediate and the broader contexts seems to support the subjective interpretation. First, in the immediate context compare the parallel in verses 4 and 5 - [God's] truth is not in him" (1 John 2:4) and "God's love is in him" (1 John 2:5). Both "truth" and "love" originate in God but not in man. Next, in the broader context of the epistle John explains the origin of love: "love comes from God" (1 John 4:7), "God lives in us and his love is made complete in us" (1 John 4:12), and "we know and rely on the love God has for us" (1 John 4:16). God is the source and giver of love. In summary, then, the context is decisive in determining the meaning of the phrase God's love.

Obedience to God can come only through the new life believers receive when they are united to Christ (see below); therefore, obedience assures believers of both their union with Christ and of their salvation. See "Sanctification: When Will I Stop Sinning?" and "The Perseverance and Preservation of Believers: Can I Lose My Salvation?" below. See WCF 16.2.

the love of God has been perfected. The phrase love of God could either refer to God's love for Christians, as it does in other parts of the letter (see notes on 3:17; 4:9, 12) or it could refer to a Christian's love for God, like it does in other parts of the letter (see notes on 2:15; 5:3). Either way, the result is obedience. Since the content of this verse is close to that of 5:3, it probably refers to a Christian's love for God, a love perfected in those who keep God's Word. know that we are in him. See WCF 16.2. Obedience produces an assurance that one truly knows God, because it attests to the Spirit's work of new birth (see notes on John 3:5-8; 1 Jn 3:9-10).

Remain in him

English original

According to Calvin:

As he has already given us the example of God as light, he now calls us also to Christ, that we may imitate him. Yet he does not simply exhort us to imitate Christ, but from the union we have with him he proves that we ought to be like him. A likeness in life and deeds, he says, will prove that we are in Christ. But from these words he passes on to the next clause, which he immediately adds, regarding love for our brothers.

John presumed that his readers had extensive knowledge about Jesus' life and purposes - the kind of knowledge provided by John's Gospel. Since the saint has been endued with life, newness of life should flow from him. See "Sanctification: When Will I Stop Sinning?" and "The Perseverance and Preservation of Believers: Can I Lose My Salvation?" below.

remain in him. John uses the Greek word menein forty times in his Gospel and twenty-seven times in his letters. This word describes the person of abides or dwells in God (see notes on 3:24; 4:13) or in Jesus (see notes on 2:27-28; 3:6; Jn. 6:56; 15:4). Menein also refers to God indwelling Christians (see notes on 3:24; 4:12-13, 15-16). As Christians remain in Christ, Christ and his Spirit remains in them. walk. John assumed his readers knew details about the life of Jesus, which they learned from John's Gospel (see Introduction), and called them to follow his way of life

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