1 John 2:3-11

John has already provided two areas of distinction between the doctrine of the apostles and the doctrine of the false teachers. First of all, he exposed that although the Gnostics believed in Jesus’ divinity, they did not believe in His humanity (1:1-4). If Jesus was not fully God as well as fully man, He could not be a sufficient sacrifice for sin. Since God demanded death to pay for sin (Romans 6:23), death is the only thing which could satisfy the wrath of God on sin. When God the Father sent His Son to earth as a human, His one mission was to pay the death sentence for mankind (John 3:16-17). Jesus had to be fully man to accomplish this; however, in order to guarantee life after death, Jesus must have also been God, which provided Him the power to conquer death (1 Corinthians 15:20-22, 56-57). The second area of John’s disagreement with the false teachers was their failure to believe in the reality of sin (1:5-2:2). Although these teachers thought they were enlightened, John revealed that their sinful lifestyles proved otherwise (1:6, 8).

In the next few verses, John points out a third area of concern about these false teachers – they did not obey God’s commandments. Listen to John’s warning to believer’s about these deceitful teachers, “Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, ‘I know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked” (2:3-6). One of the clearest ways to tell if someone is a teacher representing God is to see if they obey what He taught. If a person’s actions do not demonstrate obedience to God’s commandments, that person is a false teacher. Of course, John’s readers need to balance what he is saying with what he has already written. Believers will sin (1:8), but they will humbly confess before God (1:9) because they know that the Father has provided forgiveness through His Son, Jesus (2:1-2). In contrast to John’s teaching, these false teachers disregarded the commandments of God and their lives did not demonstrate love for Him. What a person teaches must also be modeled in their own life.

In addition to obeying God’s commandments, John also says that those who claim to represent God will love others (2:7-11). John presents this concept of loving others as “no new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning…” (2:7). Although loving others is an old commandment, it was realized in a new way as Jesus provided the perfect example of what it means to love others, so this “new commandment” (2:8) is no longer just seen in written commands, but in real life. John writes some strong words to those claiming to love God but hating others, “He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now. He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him. But he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes” (2:9-11). Again, all believers have hated others at one time or another, but the overall character of their life cannot be hatred toward others or else they also demonstrate their hatred for God.

Are you obeying God’s commandments? Are you loving others? If not, recognize that these are two indicators of those who love and follow God.

Dear God, through the power of the Holy Spirit, help me to obey Your commandments and demonstrate love toward others.