"We love [God] because He first loved us" (1 John 4:19), and He expects us to demonstrate our love for Him by acting in like manner toward others, a task that is not always easy.
I mentioned last time that one of the quasi-religious movements in the first century competing with Christianity is gnosticism, which asserts that reaching the spiritual realm where God dwells depends not on what you do but on what you know. According to the Gnostics, whose name comes from the Greek word for "knowledge," how you behave in this life is largely irrelevant—good or bad; it makes little difference1—what matters is whether or not you acquire the information necessary to transcend the limits of the physical realm and make that all-important leap into the place where God dwells.
This theosophical mumbo-jumbo is confusing many Christians in Asia Minor, who are wondering if, perhaps, they have backed the wrong horse, so to speak. John attempts to set the record straight. God is not aloof, waiting for us to come to Him. He has come to us. On more than one occasion, God has entered our world, most recently and notably in the person of His son Jesus, with whom John and others spent considerable time. As the apostle says in his opening remarks,
As John continues the discussion he began in the first chapter, he confronts two more claims of gnosticism in the second chapter, and he introduces those claims the same way, by presenting the Gnostic view: "The one who says...." He also employs some of the same contrasts he used earlier: truth and falsehood, light and darkness, this time adding love and hate. It is the last contrast—love and hate—that especially concerns him here.
The Gnostics claim to have information about God that includes no expectation from God. Because the physical world counts for nothing, you can live as you please. John considers such a notion ludicrous and, he said before, the proof is in the precepts. Follow with me, as I read from...
I. It concerns God.
Your conduct, how you relate to God in this life, is the chief indicator of whether or not you really know Him.2 The Gnostics claim to know God yet, as John notes in v.4...
Are there such people today? Do some choose or practice their religion based on how they think things should be or on how they want things to be? ...Alas, there are such people, even some who would claim to be Christians. They are not Gnostics but, in this respect, they behave like them.
To walk in love for God not only enables you to reach God, it places you in Him, where you can experience the many benefits of such a relationship: His presence, His provision, His protection, His promises. Some people relate to God as they prefer, but you who walk in love for God know you must relate to Him as He prefers, and that means obeying Him.
So, how are you doing in this area? As you take an inventory of your life, is what you want more important than what God commands? ...Do you love God more than anything or anyone else? ...Are you showing your love by obeying Him in everything or just in some things?
When John connects loving God and obeying God, he is not being innovative. He is not setting precedence, and he states as much in...
Those familiar with Jesus' instruction know there is another command of similar importance. From...
II. It concerns others.
How you relate to others in this life is an important indication of whether or not you understand what life is about. The Gnostics claim to be enlightened, but...
Sometimes the first question people ask before helping someone else is: How will my helping him help me? If it will not help me—by getting me some recognition or respect or reward—then why should I bother? Like the Gnostics, they see no value in caring for others, because it does not improve their own condition in this life. John says to his readers, including you, that it does improve your condition. To walk in love for others sheds the light of God's values on your path, enabling you to avoid the obstacles of selfishness that might cause you to stumble. It makes life more than just a quest for personal gratification. Some people relate to others as they prefer, but you who walk in love for others know that means helping them, and in helping others, you please God.
So, how are you doing in this? As you take an inventory of your life, is what you want more important than what others need?10 ...Do you harbor any ill will toward fellow believers? ...How does the way you treat them show your love?
Contrary to what the Gnostics profess, how you conduct yourself in this life matters. Whether it is relating to God or relating to others, He expects you to be Walking in Love. It matters in this life. It also prepares you for the next life, where you will spend eternity with the main object of your affection. If that object is yourself, you will spend eternity alone, apart from God, and the presence of those who made the same choice will not ease your pain. If the object of your affection is God, you will spend eternity with Him, and the presence of those who made the same choice will only enhance your pleasure.
A mother was preparing pancakes for her sons, Kevin, 5, and Ryan, 3. As the boys waited—not too patiently—they began to argue over who would get the first pancake. Their mother, seeing the opportunity for a moral lesson, said, "If Jesus were sitting here, he would say, 'Let my brother have the first pancake. I can wait." Hearing this, Kevin turned to his younger brother and said, "Ryan...you be Jesus."Not everyone sees the importance of brotherly love. If it is difficult for siblings to grasp, it is more difficult for those not related in this way. Nevertheless, God still expects Christians to behave toward Him and one another by Walking in Love.
I mentioned last time that one of the quasi-religious movements in the first century competing with Christianity is gnosticism, which asserts that reaching the spiritual realm where God dwells depends not on what you do but on what you know. According to the Gnostics, whose name comes from the Greek word for "knowledge," how you behave in this life is largely irrelevant—good or bad; it makes little difference1—what matters is whether or not you acquire the information necessary to transcend the limits of the physical realm and make that all-important leap into the place where God dwells.
This theosophical mumbo-jumbo is confusing many Christians in Asia Minor, who are wondering if, perhaps, they have backed the wrong horse, so to speak. John attempts to set the record straight. God is not aloof, waiting for us to come to Him. He has come to us. On more than one occasion, God has entered our world, most recently and notably in the person of His son Jesus, with whom John and others spent considerable time. As the apostle says in his opening remarks,
1 John 1:3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard....Unlike Gnosticism, this is not some pet theory about how things may be; this is the testimony of those who have witnessed how things are. It is what makes Christianity different from its competitors, the fact that its defining moments—particularly the life of Jesus—rest on eye-witness accounts rooted in history.
As John continues the discussion he began in the first chapter, he confronts two more claims of gnosticism in the second chapter, and he introduces those claims the same way, by presenting the Gnostic view: "The one who says...." He also employs some of the same contrasts he used earlier: truth and falsehood, light and darkness, this time adding love and hate. It is the last contrast—love and hate—that especially concerns him here.
The Gnostics claim to have information about God that includes no expectation from God. Because the physical world counts for nothing, you can live as you please. John considers such a notion ludicrous and, he said before, the proof is in the precepts. Follow with me, as I read from...
1 John 2:3 By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments.God may not live in the physical world, but He created it, He put man in it, and He gave instructions about how man should live. Contrary to what the Gnostics espouse, your conduct—your walk—in this life does matter. The first reason your conduct should concern you is that...
I. It concerns God.
Your conduct, how you relate to God in this life, is the chief indicator of whether or not you really know Him.2 The Gnostics claim to know God yet, as John notes in v.4...
1 John 2:4 The one who says, "I have come to know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; 5 but whoever keeps His word, in him: the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: 6 the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.There can be no relationship with God for those who deny the requirements of God. To suggest otherwise, especially in light of what He has revealed, is false. The most basic of those requirements is to love God.3 Without love, there is no relationship and, as John states here....
A. Those who do not walk in love are in denial (1 John 2:4).
A relationship with God is only for those who accept the requirements of God. Only those devoted to Him make what He has revealed, especially the most basic of those requirements, the first guiding principle of their life, and because...
- They lack integrity.
- They claim discernment of God but disregard His precepts.
B. Those who walk in love care about their Lord (1 John 2:5).
The Gnostics claim to know God, at least, as much as they can while still in the physical world. They also claim that God has imposed no moral constraints, leaving them to pursue their own agenda their own way. Wholly apart from the veracity of their position, whether it is true or false, you can see how such freedom would appeal to people, particularly if they do not care to look too critically at the underpinnings of this belief system.
- They have integrity...and...
- 2. They achieve spiritual maturity.
Are there such people today? Do some choose or practice their religion based on how they think things should be or on how they want things to be? ...Alas, there are such people, even some who would claim to be Christians. They are not Gnostics but, in this respect, they behave like them.
- They are spiritual searchers, forever looking but never finding because the object of their quest is the perfect church, the one that agrees with them. They wander from assembly to assembly and wonder why congregations cannot seem to get it right.
- Linda met a spiritual searcher who described her vain attempt to find the right church. She even tried the Unitarians, who believe everything in general and nothing in particular. When Linda said that God offers guidance for such decisions in the Bible, the woman dismissed it as out of touch with her preferred viewpoint.
To walk in love for God not only enables you to reach God, it places you in Him, where you can experience the many benefits of such a relationship: His presence, His provision, His protection, His promises. Some people relate to God as they prefer, but you who walk in love for God know you must relate to Him as He prefers, and that means obeying Him.
So, how are you doing in this area? As you take an inventory of your life, is what you want more important than what God commands? ...Do you love God more than anything or anyone else? ...Are you showing your love by obeying Him in everything or just in some things?
When John connects loving God and obeying God, he is not being innovative. He is not setting precedence, and he states as much in...
1 John 2:7 Beloved, I am not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning; the old commandment is the word which you have heard. 8 On the other hand, I am writing a new commandment to you, which is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining.The old command John has in mind may be what the LORD gave to the Israelites in the wilderness when He, too, connected loving God and obeying God. From...
Deut 6:5a Love the LORD your God with all your heart and.... 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.Centuries later, when someone asked Jesus,...
Matt 22:36 "...which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" 37 Jesus replied: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart...."So, John is not issuing a new directive for God's people. Nevertheless, because each generation must decide to serve God, it is for them a new command, one they must choose to adopt and apply.5
Those familiar with Jesus' instruction know there is another command of similar importance. From...
Lev 19:18a [= Matt 22:39b] ...love your neighbor as yourself.Jesus said...
Matt 22:40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.As John continues his critique of the Gnostics, he identifies their poor treatment of others as another weakness of their position.6 Just as your conduct should concern you because it concerns God, so it should concern you because...
II. It concerns others.
How you relate to others in this life is an important indication of whether or not you understand what life is about. The Gnostics claim to be enlightened, but...
1 John 2:9 The one who says he is in the light and [yet WHO] HATES HIS BROTHER is in the darkness until now. 10 The one WHO LOVES HIS BROTHER abides in the light and there is no cause for stumbling in him. 11 But the one WHO HATES HIS BROTHER is in the darkness and walks in the darkness....As I mentioned earlier, gnosticism contends that how you behave in this life, including how you behave toward others, be it good or bad, does not matter to God. Such an assertion is in direct contradiction to what God has revealed. It is also proof that the Gnostics are not as enlightened as they think. In fact...
A. Those who do not walk in love are in darkness (1 John 2:9, 11).
Enlightenment, that awareness of God's presence and appreciation of God's purpose, is only for those who have affection for God's people.7 They, alone, make what He has revealed, especially in their relations with other believers, the second guiding principle of their life, and because...
- They lack clarity.
- They claim enlightenment from God but disdain His people.
B. Those who walk in love care for their brethren. (1 John 2:10)
...such that in their walk, "there is no cause for stumbling".9
- They have clarity.8
- They acquire personal stability.
Sometimes the first question people ask before helping someone else is: How will my helping him help me? If it will not help me—by getting me some recognition or respect or reward—then why should I bother? Like the Gnostics, they see no value in caring for others, because it does not improve their own condition in this life. John says to his readers, including you, that it does improve your condition. To walk in love for others sheds the light of God's values on your path, enabling you to avoid the obstacles of selfishness that might cause you to stumble. It makes life more than just a quest for personal gratification. Some people relate to others as they prefer, but you who walk in love for others know that means helping them, and in helping others, you please God.
So, how are you doing in this? As you take an inventory of your life, is what you want more important than what others need?10 ...Do you harbor any ill will toward fellow believers? ...How does the way you treat them show your love?
Contrary to what the Gnostics profess, how you conduct yourself in this life matters. Whether it is relating to God or relating to others, He expects you to be Walking in Love. It matters in this life. It also prepares you for the next life, where you will spend eternity with the main object of your affection. If that object is yourself, you will spend eternity alone, apart from God, and the presence of those who made the same choice will not ease your pain. If the object of your affection is God, you will spend eternity with Him, and the presence of those who made the same choice will only enhance your pleasure.
For the Bibliography and Endnotes see the pdf here.
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Jim Skaggs