Knowing Jesus Series

Knowing Jesus

Text: 1 John 2:3-11

Introduction

1. Illustration: "Often in the Scriptures the word know means not just being aware of something but having a personal experience of it. Jesus did not know sin, not because he was unaware of what it is but because he never committed it himself. For although he is like us in every other way, he never sinned. Given this meaning of the word know, it is clear that anyone who says that he knows God must also keep his commandments, for the two things go together" (Didymus The Blind, Ancient Christian Commentary On Scripture NT, vol 11, 178).

2. In our text this morning, John clarifies that true knowledge of God does not come by some special revelation revealed by false teachers; it only comes through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

3. But how do we know that someone really knows Jesus?

A. To Know Him Is To Obey Him

B. To Know Him Is To Love Others

C. To Know Him Is To Love His Children

4. Let's stand together as we read 1 Jn. 2:3-11.

Proposition: The true test of knowing God is do we live like Jesus.

Transition: The first sign of knowing God is...

I. To Know Him Is To Obey Him (3-6).

A. If We Obey His Commandments

1. John opens this section with the first of three tests of whether we know God.

2. In v. 3 he says, "And we can be sure that we know him if we obey his commandments."

A. John moves from the foundation laid in the previous verses to another simple test that exposes whether or not a person is truly a follower of Jesus Christ.

B. Again, John calls to mind the teaching of Jesus as recorded in his gospel account. "If you love me, you will obey my commandments" (John 14:15).

C. Building on this very simple statement, John establishes a simple test for the Christian and emphasizes the word know.

D. When he does this, he establishes a certainty to the phrase "that we know Him." Christians can be absolutely sure that they know the Lord by the simple criterion that they follow the Lord’s commandments—that they are obedient to them (Easy-To-Read Commentary Series, The - Easy-to-Read Commentary Series – The General Epistles: A Practical Faith).

E. Therefore, to know him is to obey his commands and life a way of life that he expects from his people.

F. Hosea 4:1 (NLT2)

1 Hear the word of the LORD, O people of Israel! The LORD has brought charges against you, saying: "There is no faithfulness, no kindness, no knowledge of God in your land.

G. When John speaks of knowing God he uses the perfects tense. This means that he is thinking of a past experience, which has continuing results: "we have come to know him."

H. He is writing this to reassure the readers that their experience with God was genuine.

I. He is saying we can know beyond a shadow of a doubt that we know God, but the test of this is whether or not we obey him (Marhsall, 121-123).

3. Then in v. 4, John talks about the negative side of the subject. He says, "If someone claims, “I know God,” but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth."

A. John now turns to the negative side of things and issues a warning to any who claim to have come to know God and yet do not keep God’s commandments.

B. Believers may be certain that a person is not a follower of Christ if that person fails to obey what the Lord has commanded. Indeed, John calls such a person a liar.

C. The truth does not abide in that individual, and the Spirit does not dwell in that person’s heart.

D. John does not suggest that genuine followers no longer sin. They have not reached sinless perfection. Such would contradict the criteria John has already established. "If we say, ‘We aren’t sinful’ we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us" (1 John 1:8).

E. It is imperative to understand the difference between the false claim that believers have no sin and the true premise that they simply obey His commandments (Easy-To-Read Commentary Series, The - Easy-to-Read Commentary Series – The General Epistles: A Practical Faith).

F. John implies that this individual will be exposed as a liar by his disobedience to God’s commands.

G. What is internal will eventually come to the surface. The condemnation of this person is quite similar to what John says in 1:6, 8.

H. Not only is the claim of this individual false, but the truth is altogether absent from his life (Akin, New American Commentary – Volume 38: 1, 2, 3 John, 91).