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Keeping Christ's commandments:
v. 3. And hereby we do know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments.
v. 4. He that saith, I know Him, and keepeth not His commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
v. 5. But whoso keepeth His Word, in him, verily, is the love of God perfected; hereby know we that we are in Him.
v. 6. He that saith he abideth in Him ought himself also so to walk even as He walked.
Faith in Christ the Savior confirms, establishes, the fellowship which we have with Him and our heavenly Father. The result is a living knowledge of Christ: And in this we may find out that we know Him, if we keep His commands. A mere cold, external knowledge about God, a mere head knowledge of His essence and properties, is not true faith and will bring no fruit. A genuine conception of God is that which acknowledges God and trusts in Him as the heavenly Father reconciled to us in Christ and loving us for His sake. If we live in accordance with the commands of this heavenly Father, if we do what His holy will desires of us, then we may take this fact as evidence that we possess the proper knowledge of God. Our life as Christians is the mark of our fellowship with God.
Hypocrites, therefore, and believers in name only should beware: He that says, "I know him," and does not keep His commands, is a liar, and in this person the truth is not. God wants a genuine keeping of His will. He abhors sham and hypocrisy. A mere outward profession of faith, a mere crying, "Lord, Lord," may make the desired impression upon men, especially since genuine good works may be imitated. God examines the condition of the works very closely; He knows the motive which prompts every word and deed of every person. The hypocrite may deceive others, but he cannot really deceive himself, and his efforts to deceive God are vain and foolish. The hypocrite, the mere head- and mouth-Christian, is a liar, he does not really know what truth is; he has gotten away so far from honest Christianity that all his pretended efforts avail him nothing.
Of the true, honest Christian St. John writes: But whoever keeps His Word, in this person the love of God is truly completed; in this we know that we are in Him. Out of the knowledge of God in faith there flows the true love of God. This love finds its expression in this, that the Christian keeps the Word of God, that we do what we know to be His will, that we refrain from everything that is contrary to His will. If this is our attitude, if this is brought out in our entire conduct, in our whole life, then our love toward God is really perfected, gives a proper, live account of itself, presents unmistakable proof of the right condition of our heart. A real Christian life is the mark of fellowship with God, it shows that our life is bound up with Him, that we obtain all our strength from Him.
It follows, then, as St. John puts it: He that says he abides in Him is also under obligation to conduct himself just as He conducted Himself. The fellowship with God into which we enter by faith is not a matter of a few hours or days, but is a living, permanent power in the life of the Christian. The Christian wants to remain in fellowship with God, of whose wonderful influence he has had a taste. For this reason he takes the life and conduct of Christ as his example and tries with all the power granted him by faith to follow in His steps. Christ's life is the pattern, the model; ours must at least be close imitations of His exemplary mode of living and conducting Himself. Thus the entire Christian life is obedience to God's command. This obedience results from true fellowship with God and is its mark and evidence. And all is based upon the certainty of the forgiveness of sins.