March 3, 2014
I John 5:1-3
(All scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated.)
We are nearing the end of John’s Nose! Well, there are only 5 of John’s Knows left, and we will cover them in two more blogs. Fourteen blogs examining John’s Nose are plenty!!!
This is an important know, and it is found in verse 2 of our scripture – I John 5:1 through 3:
Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who
loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him. By this we know
that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His command-
ments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments.
This know involves what John said in I John 4:21 “…he who loves God must love his brother also.”
Do you remember Frank Sinatra’s song from 1955, Love and Marriage? If you do, you are getting old like me! The opening lyrics are:
Love and marriage, love and marriage,
Go together like a horse and carriage.
This I tell ya, brother,
You can’t have one without the other.
Yes, “You can’t have one without the other.” John’s know in verses 1 and 2 is clear and shows both sides of this issue of whom we are to love: “… everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God…”
Consider the second half of verse 2: “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we…keep His commandments.” And John emphasizes this in I John 2:7: “I write no new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning.” What commandment? He tells us in his second epistle, verses 5 and 6: “This is the commandment…that we love one another.” The seed of this commandment is in the Old Testament, where it says in Leviticus 19:18, “…you shall love your neighbor as yourself….” But Jesus brought it to a new level – calling it a “…new commandment…” in John 13:34 and 35:
A new commandment I give to you, That you love one another; as I have
loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you
are My disciples, if you have love for one another.
It is new because of the level of love Jesus so plainly shows us – agape love. That’s the kind of love that gives everything without expecting anything back. Yes, agape love has been around for a long time – as long as God has been – which is forever. But it was never revealed so clearly before Jesus Christ gave everything – even His life – for us! And the Lord ties such loving one another with the most powerful witness Christians can have: “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” John says we are to “…keep His commandments” in verse 2 – plural, commandments! But Paul boils it down to the essence in Romans 13:8 through 10:
Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has
fulfilled the law. For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,”
“You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not bear false wit-
ness,” “You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, all are
summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
So we come back to the essence of God’s command – and John nails it in verse 1: “Whoever …is born of God…loves Him who begot [and] loves him who is begotten of Him.” Do you love God? Do you love your neighbor – your brothers and sisters in Christ? Remember, as Frank Sinatra sang, “You can’t have one without the other.”
One more thing from our scripture – verse 3: “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments.” Obedience shows we are loving God! Jesus said it very plainly in John 14:15: “If you love Me, keep My commandments.” You may be quick to say you love the Savior, but is He your Lord? Do you obey Him? And if the Great Commandment as recorded in Luke 10:27 says that we are to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind…,” do you obey “…the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind….”?
Think about it!