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1 John 2:3-11
“How To Know I Know Jesus”
In the first century AD John writes to a group of believers with the purpose of equipping them to know they have eternal life. As part of that equipping John deals with the reality that
… if you want to be sure you have eternal life.
… you first need to be sure that you know Jesus.
So how can you know that you have come to know Jesus?
In response to that question John writes a test.
The test is not the only way to determine if you have come to know Jesus.
However it is still an important test because, if we cannot pass this test, then we need to be willing to face the possibility that we actually have not come to know Jesus. Which means the stakes are very high … of eternal consequence. So, let’s look at the test.
We are reading 1 John 2:3-11
3 We know that we have come to know Him if we keep His commands.
4 Whoever says, ‘I know Him,’ but does not do what He commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. 5 But if anyone obeys His word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in Him: 6 whoever claims to live in Him must live as Jesus did.
7 Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning. This old command is the message you have heard. 8 Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining.
9 Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness. 10 Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble. 11 But anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them.
The key focus in these verses is that
John wants us to know that we have come to know Jesus.
Every believer, at some point in the past, has come to know Jesus.
We believed that Jesus died for us.
It isn’t just an historical fact, or words we read in the Bible.
At some point we believed that Jesus entered our heart.
We confessed our sin.
We called upon his name.
We were saved.
That moment when the sacrifice of Jesus becomes personally applied to our lives. That moment when we said, “I have come to know Jesus”.
But then life happens.
We get busy with our agenda, and put the agenda of Jesus into the background.
We make horrible life decisions that cause brokenness.
We have days when reading our Bible does nothing for us.
We have times in our lives where we have cried out to God and said, “Do you see me? Do you care?”
We go through life quite well without really relying on God and we start to wonder, “Do I even need God?”
We pray … and it feels like we are talking to a brickwall.
We may have been in churches which have done more harm than good and so our faith has taken a beating.
We know our own sin, and the temptations which keep getting us.
We daily face a world that wants to stomp our faith out of us.
Life happens.
And there can be times in that life where we are sitting in this place
… of wondering.
… of doubt.
… or anger.
… or fear.
And as a result of how life is unfolding may find ourselves asking
Did I really come to know Jesus? Or was it all just words?
Was my “come to Jesus moment” a true transformation?
Or was I just saying it?
In the journey of faith there is a Scriptural truth which we must accept.
Knowing that you have come to know Jesus can’t be just words.
John makes this Scriptural truth an aspect of the test.
4 Whoever says, ‘I know Him,’ but does not do what He commands is a liar.
1 John 1:4
6 whoever claims to live (says I live) in Him must live as Jesus did.
1 John 1:6
9 Anyone who claims to be (says I am) in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness.
1 John 1:9
You can say “I have had a come-to-Jesus moment. I know Jesus”.
You can say that as loud as you want.
But unless your knowledge of Jesus transforms you.
Unless it is visible … to others … that you are following what Jesus.
Unless it is visible … to others … that you are living as Jesus did.
Unless it is visible … to others … that you don’t hate your fellow believers.
Unless that is the case … then it could well be that our “coming to know Jesus moment” is just all … words.
And if our knowing Jesus is just all words, then we are failing the test.
Let’s remind ourselves of the test … that which needs to be visible.
We visibly keep the commands of Jesus.
We visibly live as Jesus did.
We visibly do not hate a brother or sister in Christ.
That’s all we need to do to pass the test.
Well that just made having assurance a whole lot easier didn’t it? … NOT.
If anything, seeing the test outlined in this way.
Well, it has the capacity to put a dent in our assurance doesn’t it.
Let’s see how each part of the test can dent our confidence.
Visibly keeping the commands of Jesus.
What are some of the commands of Jesus?
22 Anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment.
Matthew 5:22
28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
Matthew 5:28
44 Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.
Matthew 5:44
That is just a few commands from one part of one sermon that Jesus preached.
And we could make the case that
… because the Scripture is God-breathed.
… and because Jesus is part of the God-head Trinity.
That all the commands in the New Testament come from Him.
And we could go even further and make the case that the commands of Jesus also encompass aspects of the Old Testament as well.
You put that all together and you have a lot of commands.
Then we head off to a test which says, “I need to visibly keep the commands of Jesus.”
What do you see happening? I see a failure on the horizon.
A failure that has the capacity to put a dent in our assurance that we have come to know Jesus.
And what about visibly living as Jesus did.
Instinctively we know that this doesn’t mean we need to gather a group of 12 followers. Or that we learn to speak Hebrew with a Galilean accent. Or that we need to die on a cross.
Some would argue that living as Jesus lived means healing the sick, rising the dead and driving out demons. But there is no indication in the Epistles that this is what John is teaching.
When John talks about living as Jesus lived John is talking about the driving purpose and values of Jesus. About the way that Jesus conducted His life.
We see that conduct and driving purpose described in the Gospel of John.
30 I seek not to please Myself but Him who sent Me.
John 5:30
38 For I have come down from heaven not to do My will but to do the will of Him who sent Me.
John 6:38
31 I love the Father and do exactly what My Father has commanded Me.
John 14:31
The driving purpose of Jesus is living in obedience to God.
So, for us to live as Jesus lived, it means visibly being those who live in obedience to God.
Which we can do.
Sometimes, but not always.
With a 70 … 50 … 30 percent success rate.
Maybe if I squint and turn my head to the side the obedience comes into view.
In the face of a test which requires us to walk in obedience as Jesus did – well it feels like failure is going to be on the cards.
Which would be another dent in our assurance that we have come to know Jesus.
And what about not hating our brother or sister.
Hate is such a wide ranging word that it may be a little difficult to know exactly what John means. Thankfully, in our text, John defines what “hate” looks
10 Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them (the brothers and sisters) stumble.
1 John 2:10
The one who hates is the same as the one who causes brothers and sisters to stumble.
Where my actions cause brothers and sisters to spiritually trip over.
Where my agenda brings brokenness into the church.
Where the building of my kingdom … my way … for my purposes … causes division, and schism, and the forming of allegiances and factions.
Causing brothers and sisters to stumble … that is how hate manifests.
The stumbling which comes by always finding problems and troubles.
The stumbling caused by those who feel they are entitled.
The stumbling which demands forgiveness without repentance.
These who know that they have come to know Jesus will not visibly hate the brothers and sisters in that way.
That is the test.
One which, sad to say, is regularly and visibly failed among the brothers and sisters.
Which means we are faced with another reason that puts a dent in our assurance.
That is the test.
Visibly keeping the commands of Jesus, which are the commands of the Bible.
Visibly living in obedience to God just as Jesus did.
Visibly not hating a brother or sister by not being a stumbling block.
It is a very daunting test which seems impossible to pass and which has the potential to put a huge dent in the assurance of our “come to Jesus moment”.
Why would John … why does Scripture … put before us a test that seems so impossible to pass?
What hope could we possibly hold onto as we stare in the face of impending failure?
That is where 1 John 2:7-8 come into focus.
7 Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning. This old command is the message you have heard. 8 Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining.
At first the hope may be a little hard to see.
But hope is given because, through these verses, John is asking a foundational faith question.
The question is,
Have you fully understood what happens when you come to know Jesus?
That understanding begins by recognising that there is nothing new about being expected to live in obedience to God, or being expected to not hate our brothers and sisters. These are old commands that you can find in Deuteronomy and Leviticus.
The expectation to love God.
The expectation to love our neighbour.
They are Old Commands. Old Commands which people keep failing to pass.
So, because of this continual failure, Jesus brings a new command.
We find that new command in John’s Gospel.
34 ‘A new command I give you: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.
John 13:34
This new command … to love one another …
Regarding this command
Its truth is seen in Him and in you
What truth?
The truth that “I have loved you”.
That truth is seen … it becomes visible … in you.
The love that Jesus has for you will continue to be seen … even when we are failing to obey the commands of Jesus.
The love that Jesus has for you will continue to be seen … even when we don’t walk in obedience.
The love that Jesus has for you will continue to be seen … even when we cause fellow believers to stumble.
How is that love of Jesus visibly seen?
the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining
The “as I have loved you” love of Jesus
It is a love that will keep putting the darkness out of the way. Darkness is not able to take residence. Darkness packs its bag and is sent off.
At the same time the true light it keeps glowing, it keeps shining, it keeps lighting.
That is what the love of Jesus in us does.
Darkness keeps being sent off.
Light keeps being brought in.
When we have the “as I have loved you” love of Jesus in us we will continually be in a state of spiritual discontent.
Passing the test does not require us to have sinless perfection.
If we say we have no sin we make God a liar. Sinless perfection is impossible.
But what is very possible is a continual response of spiritually discontent.
And the only way we will be those who are spiritually discontent is when we have come to know Jesus.
Those who have come to know Jesus can’t be spiritually content with the darkness of disobeying the commands. This spiritual discontent will be visible to others as the love of Jesus causes us to say “This disobedience does not belong here.” If it is visible that we are content with disobeying the commands – a reason may be that we have not come to know Jesus.
Those who have come to know Jesus can’t be spiritually content with not walking like Jesus did. The visible love of Jesus causes us to say, “This is not who Jesus has purposed us to be.” Those who are quite content to not walk like Jesus – it could well be that they have not come to know Jesus.
Those who have come to know Jesus can’t be spiritually content with causing brothers and sisters to stumble. The visible love of Jesus causes us to say “There is darkness in our community.” For those who are willing to cause brothers and sisters to stumble – the cause could be that they have not come to know Jesus.
Do you know that you have come to know Jesus.
Here is the test.
When we keep having spiritual discontent
…we can know that we have come to know Him.
When our disobedience, and not walking like Jesus, and hateful stumbling does not cause spiritual discontent
… it is then that we should stop and ask, “Have I really come to know Jesus. Or is it all just words.”
So what is it for you?
Are you spiritually discontent?
Or is it all just words?
Prayer
