A Study in First John
Hope Ellen Rapson
Proof #1: “We know that we have come to know him, if we obey his commands. The man who says, “I know Him, but does not do what He commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys his word, God’s love is truly made completes in Him. This how we know we are in Him: Whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus did.” (1 John 1:3-5)
John is writing to Christians who have been bombarded by false teachers. Some of those false teachers claimed to have special knowledge independent of Jesus' teachings. Some taught a separation of their outer physical lifestyle from their inner spirituality. As a result, they easily could profess to be a Christ-follower without actually being one. For example, Jesus made it clear that sexual activity outside of a marriage relationship was a sin. However, the false teachers basically said, “It happens. It’s reasonably normal, because what you do physically is totally separated from what you believe spiritually.”
Proof #1: “We know that we have come to know him, if we obey his commands. The man who says, “I know Him, but does not do what He commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys his word, God’s love is truly made completes in Him. This how we know we are in Him: Whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus did.” (1 John 1:3-5)
John is writing to Christians who have been bombarded by false teachers. Some of those false teachers claimed to have special knowledge independent of Jesus' teachings. Some taught a separation of their outer physical lifestyle from their inner spirituality. As a result, they easily could profess to be a Christ-follower without actually being one. For example, Jesus made it clear that sexual activity outside of a marriage relationship was a sin. However, the false teachers basically said, “It happens. It’s reasonably normal, because what you do physically is totally separated from what you believe spiritually.”
Sound familiar? Statistics indicate that the percentage of people professing to be Christians who live together before marriage or who are randomly sexually active, is essentially equal to those who profess unbelief. Many, so-called and often deceived Christian believers, divide the secular and the sacred. They profess, not confess faith in Jesus Christ. This propagates confusion in and outside the church.
John lived, walked, and talked with Jesus before and after his crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. He remembers Jesus’ repeated statement, “If you love Me, you will keep my commandments.” (John 14:15, 21, 23) Because John loves the community of believers he calls them “My dear children” (1 John 2: 1) and urges them to resist false teachings and societal pressures and to live according to the teachings of Jesus (I John 2:6). He makes obedience a proof of being “in Him” which means “being born again” or having been given “a new life” by trusting Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord (John 3:16).
However, John is realistic, and knows that even true believers fall into temptation and sin. He graciously states in 1 John 1:9, that “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us out sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
The key to knowing you are “born again” is your earnest desire to follow Christ’s commands and consistently seek his grace and empowerment to do so. You make mistakes, but you confess them before God, and seek not to make them again. This gradually develops a lifestyle that conforms to “what Jesus would do.” The proof of discipleship is in the progress of loving Him and becoming more like Him, in spite of the ups and downs of your obedience. Your overarching desire, in spite of weakness, is the earnest, heartfelt desire and commitment to please God because of the wonderful salvation He has provided through his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
“If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.” (I John 5-7) Proof #1: Love for Jesus Christ and obedience to his teachings.
So, keep asking yourself, am I becoming more obedient to the teachings of Christ? Am I loving Him enough to make my inner relationship with Him obvious in my outer lifestyle and activities? Am I resisting the teachings and pressures of those who says it does not matter, because I know that “God is light; in Him is no darkness at all?” (I John 1:5). If this describes you, along with Proofs # 2 and 3, you can be confident that you have received “new life in Christ.”
Related reading: You Must Be Born Again; First John on Marks of a Christian; Are You His Disciple Indeed?
“If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.” (I John 5-7) Proof #1: Love for Jesus Christ and obedience to his teachings.
So, keep asking yourself, am I becoming more obedient to the teachings of Christ? Am I loving Him enough to make my inner relationship with Him obvious in my outer lifestyle and activities? Am I resisting the teachings and pressures of those who says it does not matter, because I know that “God is light; in Him is no darkness at all?” (I John 1:5). If this describes you, along with Proofs # 2 and 3, you can be confident that you have received “new life in Christ.”
Related reading: You Must Be Born Again; First John on Marks of a Christian; Are You His Disciple Indeed?
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