February 16, 2023 BY THIS WE KNOW
1 Peter 2:3-6 “And by this we know that we have become to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says ‘I have come to know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps is word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: but the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.”
These scriptures no doubt cause us to examine ourselves; and if misunderstood, can be condemning. This passage is not saying that we must be perfect and keep every commandment of God in order to know Him, and it’s not saying that we do not know Him if we fail in one commandment. (There are many admonitions in scripture to grow in our faith; not to walk in the flesh; and to confess our sins.) The red flag warning is that if one claims to know God and yet habitually ignores the commandments of God “is a liar, and the truth is not in him.” The clear message of this passage is about the power of the love of God; the love of God changes us from the inside out. We cannot experience the love of God and remain unchanged. Keeping the word of God is a by-product of knowing Him; and keeping His word is proof that the love of God has been perfected in the one who says he knows God. A sure tell-tell sign that we know God is that we keep His word. As alluded to above, there will be times when we fail in keeping His word, but the Spirit will bring it to our attention and we confess it and then continue in keeping His word. The absolutely amazing reality that we find here is that because we abide in Him, WE OUGHT TO WALK IN THE SAME MANNER AS HE WALKED! I think that many believers have a problem accepting this at face value; there is a tendency to say that we are heaven bound, but we are still human and the old sin nature is alive-I’m still a sinner. There is truth in that, but the underlying problem with such a belief is that of allowing sin to be a part of our everyday life. The liberating truth is that because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts, we ‘walk as He walked.’ How awesome is it that in our everyday life, we can respond as Jesus responded; we can be guided by love of God; we can be agents of hope and encouragement; we can live with purpose; we can comfort others; we can be conveyors of truth; and the list goes on. Let us discard the lie that says we cannot ‘be like Jesus’ in our conduct. We must ask ourselves ‘Has the love of God been perfected in us?’ If we are walking in His ways, then His love has been perfected in us.
1 John 4:16 “So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in Him.”
Blessings,
Buddy
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