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1 John 5:2–3a
“By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments.”
As John brings his first epistle to a close in chapter 5, he makes abundantly clear that the tests he has given us for measuring the authenticity of our salvation, and thereby gaining assurance, do not operate in isolation from one another. In fact, 1 John 5:1–5 tightly interweaves love for others, belief in the incarnation, and holiness of life. In His goodness, God gives us a multiplicity of tests so that we might have greater assurance that we belong to Him.
We began to see the Apostle join these tests in verse 1, where he ties confession of the incarnation to being born of God and therefore to loving Him and His other children. In today’s passage, John ties love for God’s children back to love for God and to personal holiness, for he tells us, “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments” (v. 2).
We have already seen in 4:20–21 that it is not possible to love God without loving His children. Verse 2 of chapter 5 tells us the other side of the equation, that it is not possible to love other believers truly unless we first love God. We deceive ourselves if we think that we have truly loved His children if we have no genuine love for God.
Moreover, it is not possible to love God truly without keeping His commandments, for John tells us, “This is the love of God, that we keep his commandments” (v. 3a). Our love for God is not simply a feeling; it expresses itself in obedience to His commands. Belief in God is not true and effectual unless it manifests itself in obedience (James 2:14–26), and the same is true of love for God: It is not true unless it manifests itself in obedience.
John wrote so that his original audience would realize that they were in fact born of God, and to that end he gave them three tests by which they could measure the authenticity of their faith. One of these tests is holiness of life. Because God is light, all who are born of Him must walk in the light (1 John 1:5–7). This means that we endeavor to keep His commandments and cease from sinning (2:15–17, 29; 3:4–10; 5:16–18). Walking in the light does not entail being sinless (1:8–2:6), but it does mean that all Christians will live lives of repentance and will not be dominated by the power of sin.
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
Do we say that we love God but then flee from obedience? True love for God will issue in a heart that is ready and eager to obey the Lord. Let us ask Him to help us embrace His commands as loving requirements and obey His law in all of life.
For further study
- Deuteronomy 10:12–13
- Psalm 119:33–40
- John 15:9–14
- James 2:8–12
The bible in a year
- Lamentations 5–Ezekiel 1
- Hebrews 9