First John: 1 John 5:3-Loving God is Defined as Obeying His Commands, Which Are Not Burdensome Lesson # 189

1 John 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. (ESV)

“For this is the love of God” presents the reason for the assertion recorded in 1 John 5:2 and is expressing the idea that divine-love for God the Father is defined by the child of God conscientiously obeying the Father’s commands.

“That we keep his commandments” identifies specifically for the reader what defines divine-love for God the Father.

“And his commandments are not burdensome” is not only connected to the previous one assertion but is also marking a transition from 1 John 4:7-5:3a, which is the ninth major section in First John, to the tenth major section in First John which ends in 1 John 5:12.

“Burdensome” pertains to that which is difficult in view of its being burdensome or oppressive or in other words, this word pertains to something being a source of difficulty or trouble because of the demands made by it.

1 John 5:2 By means of this, any one of us can at any time confirm that we are divinely loving God’s children: whenever any one of us does at any time divinely love God (the Father). Specifically, whenever any one of us does at any time obey His commands 3 because this defines divine-love for God (the Father), namely that each one of us does conscientiously obey His commands. Now, His commands are absolutely never characterized as burdensome. (My translation)

1 John 5:3 contains two declarations.

The first asserts divine-love for God the Father is defined by the child of God conscientiously obeying the Father’s commands.

The second asserts that these commands are absolutely never burdensome.

The first presents the reason for the assertion recorded in 1 John 5:2, which teaches that the child of God can confirm they are divinely loving their fellow child of God by divinely loving the Father which is accomplished by obeying His commands.

Therefore, in 1 John 5:2-3, John is teaching that the child of God can confirm they are divinely loving their fellow child of God by divinely loving the Father which is accomplished by obeying His commands “because” love for God the Father is defined by conscientiously observing His commands.

“His commands” appears in both assertions in 1 John 5:3 and in 1 John 5:2.

In each instance, it refers to the Father’s commands, which His Son Jesus Christ communicated by the Spirit directly to His apostles who in turn by the Spirit communicated them to the church.

They can be summarized as loving one another as He loved the believer which demonstrates divine-love for the Father.

“His commands” does not refer as it did in 1 John 3:23-24 to the command requiring the unregenerate sinner to trust in Jesus Christ as their Savior in order to be declared justified by the Father and the command to love one another.

This is indicated by the fact that John is speaking in the context of how a child of God can confirm if they are divinely loving the Father which is not by trusting in Jesus Christ as their Savior but by divinely loving their fellow child of God.

Furthermore, the unregenerate sinner does not have the capacity to divinely love God until they receive the Spirit, which they will receive at justification.

Only believers can love like God does.

Lastly, further indicating the plural form of entolē is referring in 1 John 5:2 to the various one another commands of Scripture is that John is attempting to identify for the recipients of First John how they can confirm they are divinely loving God’s children.

Of course, it is through obedience to the command to love one another.

Therefore, “His commands” in 1 John 5:2-3 refers to the various one another commands in the New Testament which can be summarized by the command to love one another and which command is recorded in John 13:34 and 15:12.

Obedience to these commands constitutes divine-love for the Father.

Further supporting this interpretation is that John is attempting to define for the recipients of First John love for God the Father.

Again, trusting in Jesus Christ one’s Savior does not define love for God because the unregenerate sinner does not have the capacity to divinely love God until they receive the Spirit and are regenerated, which they will receive at justification.

In other words, they don’t have the capacity to obey these commands until they become children of God through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone.

Only believers can love like God since the believer’s divine-love originates with God’s character and is reproduced in them when they accept by faith His love for them which was manifested through the sacrifice of His one and only Son on the cross.

Also, God’s love is reproduced in His children when they obey the Spirit inspired command to love one another.

In 1 John 5:3, John speaks of conscientious obedience to the Father’s commands.

To be “conscientious” means to “careful, thoughtful, heedful, attentive, meticulous.”

Thus, John is teaching that divine-love for the Father is defined by the child of God being careful, thoughtful, heedful, attentive, meticulous in conforming their thoughts and actions in compliance with His commands.

The second assertion which appears in 1 John 5:3 is not only connected to the first assertion but is also marking a transition from 1 John 4:7-5:3a, which is the ninth major section in First John, to the tenth major section in First John which ends in 1 John 5:12.

As we noted, both statements speak of the Father’s commands.

However, the second assertion marks a transition to a new section because this new section no longer speaks of loving God the Father by obeying His command to love another, which dominated the ninth major section.

Rather this new section asserts that the child of God’s belief that Jesus is the Son of God has not only given them the capacity to obey the Father’s commands but also has given them the victory over Satan’s cosmic world system and organization.

Now, the second assertion in 1 John 5:3 states that the Father’s commands are not burdensome or oppressive.

The first assertion in 1 John 5:4 presents the reason for this assertion by stating that everyone who has been born of God overcomes Satan’s world system and organization.

Then, John identifies specifically what gives the child of God the victory over Satan, namely their faith.

In 1 John 5:5, John teaches that it is specifically the child of God’s faith that Jesus is the Son of God which gives them this victory over the devil.

Therefore, these three assertions in 1 John 5:3b-5 are teaching that the Father’s commands are not burdensome because the child of God’s faith that Jesus is the Son of God gives them the victory over Satan.

Also, these assertions are teaching that the Father’s commands are never burdensome to the child of God because they are born of God as a result of their faith that Jesus is the Son of God.

Thus, when they became children of God through faith in His one and only Son Jesus Christ, they received the nature of God and thus the capacity to obey the Father’s commands.

Consequently, the commands of the Father are absolutely never burdensome to His children because they share His nature.

Therefore, the second assertion in 1 John 5:3 is a “janus,” which is a term named after the Roman god of doorways with one head and two faces looking in opposite directions and is a term applied to a literary unit that looks back and forth to unite the units before and after.

Therefore, this assertion unites the child of God’s obedience to the Father’s commands with their faith that Jesus is the Son of God which resulted in their becoming children of God.

D.E. Hiebert writes “The added words, ‘and His commandments are not burdensome,’ explain the impact of these commandments in the experience of the believer. Love-prompted obedience is not a crushing burden that exhausts the believer’s strength and destroys his sense of freedom in Christ. He finds that the new life in Christ makes obedience possible and has implanted in him a desire to do the will of God; for he realizes that God has given His laws for the believer’s own protection and highest welfare. He finds in them guidance concerning ‘what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect’ (Rom. 12:2). For him ‘the statutes again become songs, and the commandments prove to be the stepping-stones to freedom.’1 As Dodd points out, John ‘does not mean that God’s demands upon us are less exacting than we supposed, but that they are accompanied by the assurance of power to fulfil them.’2 God’s commandments become burdensome whenever a Christian desires to do something inconsistent with His directives; when a believer attempts to carry out his own will, God’s commandments seem cruel and restrictive and fellowship with God is broken. Then he finds that he must come back to a loving obedience.”3

1 R. E. O. White, Open Letter to Evangelicals: A Devotional and Homiletic Commentary on the First Epistle of John (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1964), p. 126.

2 C. H. Dodd, The Johannine Epistles, The Moffatt New Testament Commentary (New York: Harper & Row, 1946), p. 126.

3 Hiebert, D. E. (1990). An Expositional Study of 1 John Part 9 (of 10 parts): An Exposition of 1 John 5:1–12. Bibliotheca Sacra, 147, 219–220.