The Importance of Obeying the Commands of God

When many look at Christianity, they see legalism.

Why is it important that we obey the commands of God?

Read 1 John 2:3-6

Let’s look at the question I posed at the beginning. First,

Obedience provides both proof and assurance of salvation

The Apostle John uses the word know twice just in this verse. He begins by saying that we are able to know, referring to the fact that we understand something to be fact in the same way that I know that I have 10 fingers and 10 toes because I’m able to count them all. It is something that we are able to both have confidence in and defend because it is observable.

The second use of the word know is “we have come to know Him…” This know is more about relationship. It is more than just knowledge of existence or even a vague familiarity. The know here is the same idea used in 1 John 1:6, which describes the fellowship that is had with God. As I explained when we covered those verses several weeks ago, fellowship implies that there is something that is common between the two parties. You can understand that to know God is more than just exchanging a prayer at meals once in a while or praying when there is an extreme need. This knowledge of God is an intimate, daily relationship that includes resting in Him, as we will get into more in verse 6.

Beyond looking at two similar yet different uses of the word ‘know’, we also should know for sure who the pronoun ‘he’ is referring to. The two options here are knowing Jesus or knowing God. The short answer here is that verses 5-7 talk about God and so we can use that context to point us to the fact that knowing God is what John is referencing. However, to know God is also to know His Son, Jesus.

Now, I am equating a person who knows God to a person who has received salvation. There are a few passages of scripture that are helpful in tying these ideas together but I believe of those, the most helpful is in Matthew 7 when Jesus addresses those who believed that they might be saved. Although these individuals did many great things in the name of Jesus, He tells them that they have no place in the Kingdom of Heaven and says to them, “I never know you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.” Those who do know God, and therefore know Jesus, will indeed enter the Kingdom.

One final note about the first half of this verse is that John points out that this individual has not always known God but have now come to know Him. There is no person who has always known God. There was a point in the life of every Christian where we did not confess that Jesus is the Christ. However, God has graciously revealed Himself to us to that we might know Him.

Understanding all of these things, what is the condition to be met in order for a person to know that they have come to know God? It is keeping His commandments. This verse speaks of the assurance that we can have when we evaluate our lives, compare them with the commandments, and find that we strive daily to keep them.

It’s important that the standard here is not 100% compliance with the commandments. Instead, it is a daily goal of obedience to what God has said we ought to do with our lives. When we do that, we can rest assured that we do indeed know God. Evidence of knowing Him as the Creator of the Universe is proven when we make intentional steps to live as He has created us to.

To fail to keep God’s commandments will make us a liar if we claim that we know God. It is possible that there are some here who claim to know God but rarely, if at all, make any effort in their lives to obey what God has said to do. This makes you a liar, both to yourself as well as to those who you make this claim.

And finally, the world will take note of this intentional effort to keep the commandments of God. Of course, they will witness the mistakes made when we give in to temptation, but the vast majority of the time it will be clear who it is that we serve!

Next, we see that

Obedience transforms our application of love from concept to action

John moves in verse five to this idea: the love of God is perfected when the commands of God are kept. However, there are three options here that should be explored as to what this perfected love is in reference to.

God loves us. Obedience is evidence that God loves us because our desire to fulfill His commandments have translated beyond just a head knowledge of who He is but rather His love for us. We live the way that we do because we know His love. His desire in sending Jesus to this earth is that we would recognize the crucifixion and desire to obey the commands of God based on what was completed on calvary.

We love God. The greatest evidence of a person’s love for another is their actions. Our obedience is directly correlated to the love that God has for us. Romans 5:8 comes to mind on the matter of love: “but God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” He did not die simply for those who He knew would come to a point of believing He is the Christ. No, He died knowing that there would be some who reject Him but He did this out of an abundance of love for us. Our obedience is a reflection of our understanding of that wondrous fact.

We love others with the love that He has first loved us. This could also be understood as obedience to the laws of God being reflected in how others are treated because there is so much in the commands of God having to do with how we love other people.

Ultimately, I think that all of these things are true. And hopefully you can see in each explanation that love takes its form in an action rather than simply a feeling or a thought.

When we consider this love, it is communicated through action in what we love, how we love, and who we love. Whichever way we translate this passage, the fact is that how we live is changed forever.

It’s also important that we understand that perfected does not mean without any flaw. Rather, it is a completion that was prophesied for years to come and completed in the sacrificial work of Jesus Christ on the cross.

Obedience comes from walking daily in the same way that Jesus did

It would be easy to dismiss this final point because it doesn’t seem to point back to the importance of obedience. However, I bring it up because this is the difficult part: walking in the same way that He walked. This verse is interesting because it is connected by a transitional statement at the end of verse five. We should if “by this we may know that we are in Him” is in reference to knowing God and keeping his commandments or walking in the way that He walked. One of the beautiful things about how scripture is constructed is that it can be both. We can know God both in keeping His word as well as abiding in Him and walking in the same way that He walked.

So, let’s spend some time looking inward. Does the whole of your life show that you know God by your obedience? Is there uncertainty when you evaluate what you do against what the word of God says? Has the love of God become a staple in how you conduct yourself, both in relation to God as well as to your fellow man? And simply put, do you abide in the Lord, resting in the fact that His word is true and therefore you life looks like His?