Each week throughout 2021, I will share a Bible study blog post taking us through the letter of 1 John. Only five chapters long, this brief book is worthy of our consideration. Whether you drop in for one post or many, I pray that you enjoy them. Access all posts here.
Introduction to the Test
Have you ever looked up symptoms of an unknown medical condition, only to find yourself wrongly believing that you have that condition?
At this point in John's letter, the readers may have felt he was singling them out. He had written about those who were walking in darkness, denying the presence of sin in their lives and excusing sin that was there, all while claiming friendship with God.
John could not have been more clear. Their lives were a lie. With term after term, phrase after phrase, John thundered. You do not know Him, John declared. If you did, you would walk in the light. You would confess your sins to Him. And you would turn to Christ as Your Advocate whenever you fell to temptation.
Instead, all John saw, was rebellion. So he called it out, and in so doing, made it clear how he viewed a walk with God.
At this point, however, some of John's readers might have become nervous. They might have thought they had the same symptoms. Some legitimate and godly believers might have thought John was talking about them. Like someone checking symptoms online, they may have concluded, Hey, that sounds like us. John thinks we aren't in step with God, that we don't know him.
In a masterstroke, John began rolling out tests for legitimate Christianity. He would repeat and rephrase and revisit these tests throughout the rest of his letter. The tests came in three forms.
- A moral test: Am I obedient to God?
- A social test: Do I love my fellow church member?
- And a doctrinal test: Do I believe in the real Jesus?
In the passage before us, the first two tests, the moral and social, are introduced and both tests flow from the same source. Let's read the big, source test:
3 And by this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments.
John was full of love for his readers. He was bothered by the deserters and secessionists, but those who remained had his affection, so he lovingly introduced a wonderful test to them. He wanted to give them a way to see the evidence of Christ's grace in their lives. He wanted to help them see they had, indeed, been walking in the light. So, he said,
And by this we know that we have come to know Him.
Only John -- or another apostle -- could write this way. And with authority, he offered them ways to know if someone really does know God. It started with this first test.
You see, John was a black and white man. He knew the truth was not a slippery mess, but a tangible reality. With a desire to get to that reality, he offered a way to verify. How does a person know God? John has a way to find out.
Backdrop of the Test: God Can Be Known?
"...we have come to know Him..." (4)
Before noting this first test's presence, we must think about its purpose. Some said they knew God, but didn't. Some wondered if they knew God, and they truly did. The test would help discern who knows God.
And -- stop for a moment on this radical truth -- God can be known! This is the jarring truth of the Bible. God is knowable because He has made Himself known.
God is pure actuality, meaning He is pure existence with no possibility of change, or to be anything other than what He is. God is indivisible, incapable of being divided. God is self-existent, the who that brought into and sustains everything else that is. God is essential, for His non-existence is impossible. God is eternal, meaning that, for Him, there is the absence of successive moments. God is unchangeable, for His perfection mandates He not change. God has unchangeable feelings, because they are rooted in His nature, not you. God is immaterial, meaning He is pure Spirit. God is immense, meaning He cannot be measured. God is omnipotent, meaning He is all-powerful. God is omnipresent, omniscient, majestic, immortal, and, though triune, One. And He is holy, righteous, just, truth, loving, kind, and jealous for you.
Brothers and sisters, this God can be known. And the Bible does not suggest mere intellectual knowledge about Him. This was the farthest thing from John's mind. He knew God, having experienced Him for decades. He'd walked the earth with Jesus. He'd seen the outpouring of the Spirit in the first days of the church's life. He'd watched God use Peter to restore a disabled man to wholeness. He'd witnessed the great evangelistic hauls of the Spirit we read of in Acts.
But he'd also experienced God in prison cells, through beatings, and the martyrdom of his older brother. So, for John, knowing God was much more than learning things about God. By the blood of Christ, we have access to enjoy a working, real, experiential relationship with God. Perhaps the word "relationship" softens it too much. He is God. He is power, goodness, love, and light. His transcendence and immanence can be known to us. There has never been, nor will there ever be, a being like Him. And we can know Him.
The Overall Test
"...if we keep His commandments." (3)
So John, knowing he should provide a test for the church to determine whether they are in a knowing relationship with God or not, said, "If we keep His commandments."
It is of utmost importance we get the order correct. The cart, as they say, cannot go before the horse. That setup gets you nowhere, and if one thinks keeping God's commandments will get them a relational knowledge of God, they have gotten the order wrong. What John tells us is a person who knows God is going to keep His commandments.
Think of this order. John already said God is light. When His light shines upon a human heart, they see their sin and His solution for it at the cross. Accepting Christ as their propitiatory sacrifice, they stand forgiven before God. Then, in response, they begin to step out into obedience to God and His word.
The Apostle Paul is a good template for this order. In rebellion against God, he traveled to Damascus to persecute Christians. Then God's light shone, knocking him to the ground. He asked, "Who are you?" The response, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting." Paul then said, "What do you want me to do?"
The light shone. Jesus was revealed. Paul surrendered at that moment. Once he learned of Jesus' true identity, his next move was to obey. The man had just started knowing God, and obedience was the outflow.
And John's test is of major importance in our modern world. It is far too easy for people to claim a knowledge of God evidenced by religious experiences. A tingle, an emotional moment, a moving worship song, or, like the secessionists in John's day would've said, a deep and internal knowledge they were in with God, are all held as rock-solid evidence of a relationship with God. But John would not base his test on any religious experience, no matter how valid. Instead, obedience to the commandments of God was his test.
You see, it isn't based on your feelings. But a life which submits to Christ's Lordship, one which surrenders to Him and embarks on a journey of obedience, is the apostolic evidence. The test is simple: do I obey Scripture's commands?
We are to be doers of the word, and not hearers only, which is self-deception (James 1:22). It is good to become doctrinally mature, biblically sound, but it is to no avail if life remains unsurrendered. To ignore the pleas of God's holy, perfect, and pure word is dangerous. The one who knows God and sees His light decides obedience is the best life possible.
Not Perfection
None of this suggests a perfect allegiance to God and His commands. John has already said, "If anyone sins, he has an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous" (1 John 2:1). The expectation, then, is that we will stumble. And John seems to think obedience to God's commandments is a general direction, not flawless execution.
No one but Christ has ever wholly satisfied the Law of God. Only Jesus kept the commandments without deviation. And the believer who has known Christ now longs to become like Christ, obedient and adhering to the commands of God's word.
What Are His Commandments?
At this point, however, the reader is left wondering about God's commandments. Certainly, we could spend a lifetime unearthing them from the pages of Scripture, and we should embark on such a journey, but John has some particular commands of God in mind. For this, we must read on. Tune in next week…
