Sermons
Keeping His Commandments
3Studies In First John
Keeping His Commandments
1 Jn. 2:3-11
Introduction:
1. Walking in the light results in fellowship with God and with others who are walking in the light.
2. Additionally, it involves the blood of Jesus cleansing us from all sin.
3. He is both our Advocate and the propitiation for our sins.
4. BUT what about keeping the commandments? What if someone says, “I know the Lord” but does not keep the commandments?
5. 1 Jn. 2:3-11 addresses these questions.
Discussion:
I. What does it mean “to know the Lord?” (3-5).
A. It is equivalent to “walking in the light” (1:7). It is equivalent to “practicing the
truth” (1:6).
1. “Knowing the Lord” is to walk in the path enlightened by the revelation God
has communicated.
2. It is according to “the message we have heard from Him” (1:5) that has been
announced by the apostles.
B. The Gnostic concept.
Knowledge of God was a favorite theme of ancient religion. It was particularly common
in a group of religions which have come to be known as “Gnostic” (from Gk. gn?sis,
“knowledge”). Although they flourished in the second century, some of their basic
motifs were already current earlier and their roots stretched a long way back. For some
religions of this kind “knowledge” of God meant some kind of mystical experience or
direct vision of the divine. For others it meant knowledge of esoteric myths, sometimes
given in visions, which conveyed salvation to those who were initiated in them. In both
cases knowledge was a purely religious attainment and had little, if any, connection
with moral behavior.
But in John’s writing “knowing the Lord” has definite moral implications. This is also the
case in the O.T. prophets.
C. In the O.T., the prophets complained that people did not know God.
1. In 1 Sam. 2:12 Eli’s sons are described as “worthless men (sons of Belial)” who did not
know the Lord. Isa 1:3 says “An ox knows its owner, and a donkey its master’s
manger, but Israel does not know, My people do not understand.” “My people go
into exile for their lack of knowledge” (Isa. 5:13). Jer. 9:6 says, “’Through deceit they
refuse to know Me,’ declares the Lord.”
2. They needed to know Him (1 Chron. 28:9). There were moral implications of knowing
the Lord: love, justice, righteousness, circumcision of the heart (read Jer. 9:23-26).
3. The prophets anticipated a time when people would know the Lord (Jer. 31:34; cf.
Heb. 8:11).
4. The sign of knowing the God was obedience to His commandments (read Hos. 4:1ff).
5. To know the Lord means you know His character and conform your character to His
and it is reflected in your obedience to His commandments.
D. So, how do I know if I know the Lord? (2:5).
1. By keeping His word.
2. By walking in the same manner as He walked. Knowing the Lord is transformative
(Rom. 12:2). If the direction of my life is sinful, I do NOT know the Lord.
3. Notice that “knowing the Lord” is equivalent to “the love of God” being perfected in us
(2:5).
4. “The love of God perfected in us” is evident in obedience to His commandments (2:5).
5. This love is not a syrupy ambiguous “be nice to grandma and don’t kick the cat” kind of
thing. It is a concrete keeping of His commandments.
6. It is not saying “keep the commandments so you can be saved.” You cannot secure
the favor of God by your good effort. It is saying, “keeping the commandments
evidences that you know God.” “So, how can I know that I am a Christian? I don’t feel
any different. My religious experience has been rather common.” I know I am a
Christian because I evidence the transformation in my behavior.
7. If you “abide in Him” you “walk in the same manner as He walked.” “Abiding in Him”
is equivalent to “keeping His word,” to “knowing the Lord,” and to “keeping His
commandments.” What does that look like? Peter said, “He went about doing good
and healing all who were oppressed by the devil” (Acts 10:38). Does your life reflect
that? Are you bringing life to people?
II. The Christian way of life (2:7-11).
A. John addresses his readers as “beloved.” The KJV translates “brethren.” It is a form of
“agapa?” in the original language. “Beloved, dear ones, but spoken only of Christians as
united with God or with each other in the bonds of holy love” (WSNTDICT). Cf. 1 Jn. 3:2,
21; 4:1, 7, 11; 2 Jn. 1, 5, 11. These beloved ones are those in fellowship with God and
with one another.
B. The new commandment which is old.
1. Jesus had spoken of a new commandment in Jn 13:34-35. “A new commandment I
give you, that you love one another even as I have loved you, that you also love one
another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one
another.” Love is the badge of discipleship.
2. The O.T. called for “loving your neighbor as yourself” (Lev. 19:18). This statement of
Jesus seems to enlarge on that. “As I have loved you” seems to expand “as yourself.”
3. But this is something John’s readers had been taught from the outset of their
Christianity (see Westcott, p. 51). So, this was not new to them.
4. Love is the commandment. Some object to “love.” They seem to remodel the
biblical concept to syrupy feeling and so diminish it. The love of this text and of Jesus
is self-sacrificial (Eph. 5:25). It is powerful and courageous and deliberate. It is no
mere sentimentality (cf. 2 Cor. 8:7-9). It was the love in Christ that took Him to the
cross. It is the love in us that we have toward our brother.
5. This is the love that characterizes those walking in the Light.
Jn. 15:12-13 “This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have
loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his
life for his friends.”
1 Jn. 3:23 “This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus
Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us.”
2 Jn. 5 “ . . . not as though I were writing to you a new commandment, but the one
which we have had from the beginning, that we love one another.”
6. Jesus has shown us the reality of this love in a concrete manner. The Light has
dawned on the world in Him.
“I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in darkness, but will
have the Light of life” (Jn. 8:12).
7. Obviously, this love is very demanding. It gives direction to one’s life. There is no
sitting on the sidelines. Either you seek life and good things for your brother or you
are not walking in the Light. It is not the mere absence of negative sins in your life,
but the positive action of love that is demanded. This is the “faith (that) expresses
itself in love” that Paul refers to in Gal. 5:6.
Conclusion:
1. Walking in the Light means keeping His commandments.
2. His commandments are encompassed in our loving one another.
3. Like Jesus we love and demonstrate it in doing good and bringing healing to those oppressed by the devil. This is our mission and purpose, but more than that, it is WHO we are as those enlightened by the Word of Life.
