1 JOHN 2:3-6
THE PROOF THAT 4 He that saith, I know him, 2 The professing man:
ONE REALLY KNOWS and keepeth not his com- Says he knows God but
GOD: SEVEN TESTS, mandments, is a liar, and the does not keep His
2:3-29 truth is not in him. commandments
5 But whoso keepeth his 3 The obedient man:
word, in him verily is the Keeps God's Word
A. Keeping God’s love of God perfected: here-
Commandments, 2:3-6 by know we that we are in
him.
1 The test: Do we keep 3 And hereby we do know 6 He that saith he abideth 4 The responsible man:
God’s commandments? that we know him, if we keep in him ought himself also so Lives up to his profes-
his commandments. to walk, even as he walked. sion


BELIEVER’S LIFE & WALK: BASIC ESSENTIALS


A. Keeping God’s Commandments, 2:3-6

(2:3-6) Introduction: How do we know if we really know God? We live in a day when many people are not even interested
in knowing God. They could care less about knowing God. They want to live like they want and get all the possessions and
enjoy all the pleasures of the world they can. To know God is the furthest thing from their minds. But this is dangerous
ground, for if God really exists then the rejectors of God are going to miss out:
⇒ They are going to miss out on the purpose, meaning, and significance of life; they are going to miss out on real
love, joy, and peace and the abundance of a rich and full life both now and eternally. If God really exists and
they fail to know Him, they are going to miss out on all of what life really is. Why? Because God created life
and He knows what life should be. Therefore, if we do not know God, God who gave us life, then we miss out
on everything that God meant life to be. But this is not all that the rejectors will face if they do not know God.
⇒ If God exists, then it means that all those who reject Him must face His holiness and justice. They must stand
before Him having rejected Him and face His judgment.
The point is clear: we must know God. But how can we tell if we really know Him? There are seven tests that will show
us. The first test is the discussion of this passage: Do we keep God’s commandments?
1. The test: do we keep God’s commandments (v.3)?
2. The professing man: says he knows God but does not keep His commandments (v.4).
3. The obedient man: keeps God’s Word (v.5).
4. The responsible man: lives up to his profession (v.6).

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(2:3) Commandments—Knowledge, of God—Believers: How do we know if we really know God? There is a test that
will show us. Do we keep God’s commandments? Man faces an enormous problem, a problem that any thinking and
honest person can see. If God really exists, man can never know it—not by his own reasonings and energy or effort. No mat-
ter how much thought or creative thinking and inner feelings man may have, man can never know for sure if God exists—not
in and of himself. There is a clear reason for this. Man lives in a physical and material world, and the physical and material
world cannot penetrate or cross over into the other world, that is, into the spiritual world. If man is ever to know the spiritual
world, if he is ever to know God, then God has to enter the physical and material world and reveal Himself to man. And
note: this is exactly what God has done. God has sent His Son Jesus Christ into the world to tell man the truth: the truth about
God, about man himself, about the world in which man lives, and about the world to come. This is exactly what Jesus Christ
and His followers said time and again. This is exactly what Jesus Christ and Scripture declare:
⇒ No man has ever crossed over into the spirit world and returned, no man but Jesus Christ.

“And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even
the Son of man which is in heaven” (Jn.3:13).
“For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the
world....For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent
me” (Jn.6:33, 38).
“This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man eat thereof, and not die.
I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall
live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the
world” (Jn.6:50-51).
“Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded
forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me” (Jn.8:42).
“Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was
come from God, and went to God” (Jn.13:3).
“And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had
with thee before the world was” (Jn.17:5).


⇒ Jesus Christ came to save man from perishing and to give man an abundant life both now and eternally.

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