We know we know God because we keep his commands (2:3). The phrase “by this” are missing in the NIV perhaps because it is a transition between the previous point (claiming to be without sin) and the next point (knowing we know God).
Does “him” refer to God or Jesus? Father or son? Likely this is God the Father, although 2:2 does describe Jesus as our advocate and atoning sacrifice. Perhaps this is intentionally ambiguous: in the Gospel of John knowing Father is to know the Son, and to know the son is to know the Father.
Knowledge in the Bible is more than just factual knowledge (that we are aware of the fact that God exists). In the Old Testament knowledge often has a sense of intimacy, so that it can be used as a metaphor for sexual intimacy (“Adam knew his wife”). Since John introduced the idea of fellowship in the introduction to the letter (1:3) and dealt with those who claim fellowship but continue to sin, it is important to understand knowledge in this context as intimate personal knowledge that comes from being in fellowship with God.
What does John mean by “keeping his commandments”? Is this the Law? Is this the Law of Christ? The command of Christ might be understood as the two great commandments, love the Lord your God and love your neighbor as yourself. But even in that context, those are summaries of the whole law. The noun ἐντολή is in the plural here, although John’s Gospel uses both the singular and the plural for Jesus’s commandment to love. John will use this noun seventeen times in the letter.
Are “his commandments” the Ten Commandments? The whole Jewish Law? There is “no hint elsewhere in the letter that the author is concerned about obedience to the Mosaic Law” (Kruse, The Letters of John, 78). Robert Yarbrough points out the word ἐντολή is not used in the LXX for the Ten Commandments, so it is not the case the “commandments” in 1 John 2 are the Decalogue (1-3 John, 82).
Knowing something implies responsibility for that knowledge. If you know what is right and good you are obligated to do what is right and good. Following C. H. Dodd, Jobes thinks this knowledge was promised as part of the new covenant (1, 2, & 3 John, 81). Jeremiah 31:34 says that when God makes the new covenant, the Law will be written on the heart so that God’s people will be able to keep it. In this case we know God and this implies our responsibility to keep his commands. But what commands? “When he uses the singular form, it always refers explicitly to Christ’s command that his followers should love one another.
Knowing God and being in fellowship with him is expressed in how we live. It is not possessing secret knowledge only revealed to the few (Gnosticism and the mystery religions), nor is it expressed religious rituals and rites (pagan sacrifices designed to placate the gods). If we know God then we know how he wants us to live. And if we know how God wants us to live, then we ought to live that way.
In the previous section of the letter, John dealt with the claim the opponents are without sin, now he is dealing with the claim they actually know God. To return to the original question, “how do we know we (really) know God?” For John, one clear indication is a person knows what God has commanded and is trying to respond to those commands. But this is not a long list of “thou shalt not” commands, John summarizes God’s demands a “love one another.”
What are some ways we can know we really know God by demonstrating love for one another? Who is included in this “one another”? Are there any limits in 1 John on who the Christian ought to love?
So far I am really liking this there posts 1 John.
Thanks!
To answer the question asked following the post I would say that we can know we really know God by demonstrating love for one another through our actions and our thoughts. I know that in verse 9-10 it states, “Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness. Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble.” Therefore, even if we act in a godly way or exhibit Christian like actions but still have hateful thoughts towards our brothers and sisters there is no difference than being horrible in person. Demonstrating love for another is being brought to the attention to the readers again to stress the importance of the concept. Demonstrating love for one another is being good to one another in person just as well as not having negative thoughts about one another in our minds. If our relationship with one another does not exhibit love, then our relationship with God cannot exhibit love either. To love God and hate a Christian brother or sister is not possible. I do not think that there are any limits of love in which Christians are supposed to express. Even if someone does not return the same love in which we provide to them, we are still supposed to continue to show God’s love. They will know we are Christians by our love.
The trouble with this question is that it can only be answered by ourselves. I cannot answer whether you know God or not and you cannot answer whether I know God or not. No one knows whether someone else truly knows God or not. One can have a strong inkling as to whether someone truly knows God but this can never be confirmed to them. The question then becomes, how do I know that I know God? It is by my actions. Specifically by my response to knowing God. If I know God then I know his commands and if I know God’s commands then I should strive to live out those commands. The commands here are specifically to love God and to love one another. Ways in which we can show this love is through sacrificial living. Putting aside my desires for the needs of someone else; whether that is a very simple physical action such as making your siblings lunches for school because your parents do not have time or an emotional sacrifice of giving up your time to listen to someone who needs to let out their thoughts. Ultimately this idea of sacrificial love is what takes the forefront of our thoughts. It seeps into our beings. Now, the next question is who? I truly believe that Jesus was talking about taking care of each other meaning fellow Jews/Christians first. This does not mean that this love does not extend to possible converts (which means everyone). We are supposed to act this way towards everyone. Finally, we are not to love the world. This does not mean not to act in love towards the people in the world but not to love the world as a construct of sin. We also probably shouldn’t love the antichrist but that is for another post.
In this passage John refers to a new command when he tells his readers that they should love one another. I think he is referring, back to the teachings of Jesus in John 13:34 and 35. In these passages Jesus states that he is giving his disciples a new command, tells them to love one another, and then states that people will know that they are his disciples when they see how they love each other. I think that John is passing on this teaching to his readers here in 1 John 2:3- 11. He makes similar statements, such as referring to the teaching as a new commandment, and also states that if they don’t love each other it reveals that they don’t know Jesus. I think that John is trying to teach the same lesson to his readers that Jesus taught him, but expanding on it to help them understand and be more introspective about their own faith.
I believe that some ways we can know God with demonstration is from the verses which talk about loving your neighbor as thyself. Or another phrase is not fighting evil with evil, in the sense, do not engage in someone who is bestowing evil onto your life, instead forgive them because they mess up just like other people and ourselves. I feel like we can really tell that we know God by forgiveness of ones-self and the forgiveness of others, and this can tie in to the next question as well of who is included. I feel like the people included in this are everyone, no matter race, ethnicity, gender, it doesn’t matter, but the ultimate goal is for God to see us forgive just like he forgave us. There are no limits in God’s eyes on who ought to love, because if we are made in God’s image there should be no distinction on who gets to love who and how much they love that person. Obviously love has a bunch of definitions, but in this sense we are talking about friendships or close relationships.
How can one know that they really know God? I feel that this can be shown more than it can be described. By loving others like Jesus would have wanted us to do, we can show that we know God. 1 John 2:9-10 talks about being in the dark when you hate your brother. You are in the light when you learn to love that person. This is how we can say that we know God. Christians can act godly and still have hate for one another. It is impossible to know if another person knows God though. It comes from down in and only in yourself. It is easy to judge and get caught up in other people’s spiritual lives but what really matters is the heart that you have. It is common to second guess yourself a lot and to really question if you truly know God. Personally, no one can truly and fully know God without being God. We must forgive, repent, and pray to really know God. We must invest. Anyone can have a relationship with God and claim they know Him. True Christians know God and invest into their relationship with him. Jesus sets us many examples to follow and shows us how to love properly and to be loved. He shows how to forgive and to ask for forgiveness. The ultimate goal is to get to that point where you can fully say whole-heartedly that you know God.
There are lots of ways one can demonstrate love for another individual in and outside of the church in order to show that we really know God. Personally, I think as believers we use the cop out of these two things: giving materialistically or a more than normal financial amount; I feel most of us tend to resort to showing ‘love’ in this way because it’s the easiest way to feel instant satisfaction due to the recognition from the church leadership or congregation. When being present in a church it’s important to show how you as a member of the Body of Christ show your love by helping grow the Kingdom. So, in terms of demonstrating love for one another we should treat them as our friend in the way we care about them; this is what I think the author of John is trying to tell us. God is our father (first) and then our friend, He has an abundant amount of grace, mercy, forgiveness and peace that allows His love to be felt in believers. In the same way we should show individuals our love by giving them these same things and understanding that those who walk into a church are not perfect (or else they wouldn’t be there). When pouring into others no matter their background by showing grace, mercy, forgiveness and peace allows individuals to know that we value them as a person, and we care about them. No, we cannot act like God and be someone’s authority figure because that will drive them away and allow our pride to come into us building that individual up. But we as believers should hold one another accountable, by referencing Scripture and encouraging them to follow the will of God as best as they can. Though it’s hard to call people out when they are straying away in actions, attitude or spirituality, it shows them that we care, and it results in them feeling loved and valued. Giving financially or materialistically is good but, it’s the easy way out to show love for one another. I can’t speak for all believers but when trying to figure out how to show love for those in and outside of the church I think it takes prayerful consideration and a conversation with God to figure out what exactly you can do to show your love to the individuals in the community.
When it comes to the question of how we know God this is something that many people wrestle with. How can we be 100% sure that we know who he is? We are often taught in the church that the best way to know God is by reading scripture and prayer. While these two options are definitely important and useful tools for getting closer to God, it simply doing these things doesn’t mean that you truly know him. As Long states in this post, “Knowing God and being in fellowship with him is expressed in how we live.” This does a good job of explaining that we can tell that we know God fully when we see the changes in our lives because of our knowledge of him. For example, a way that we can see this is if we had bad habits of doing things like falling into drunkenness or even using the lord’s name in vain constantly and we then stop doing these because of our knowledge of what God wants us to do. Another good verse that helps us understand how we know God is 2nd Peter 3:18 which reads, “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.” (2 Peter, 3:18). This also points out that our knowledge of God well have us affect our lives by giving him glory forever.
One thing that psychologists and theologists can agree on is human connection, the concept of “knowing,” is vital in every way. Humans want to be known, and so does God, but are we ready or willing to let God get to know us? We let people in once we are comfortable with them, once we know them, and it is this fight for knowing that causes tension before the relationship even has the chance to start or grow. One way this is put is like this:
“To be known is to be pursued, examined, and shaken. To be known is to be loved and to have hopes and even demands placed on you. It is to risk, not only the furniture in your home being rearranged, but your plans being rewritten, your walls being demolished and reconstructed. To be known means you allow your shame and guilt to be exposed” (Thompson, 2010, p. 23).
How to know God is to surrender to Him, to give every aspect of your life, your thoughts, time, and very being to Him. What it is is a mutual dependency between God and us. We know God through God’s power, while God knows us through emotional valence, but “by our obsession with knowing and believing the right things about God, about Jesus, about our theology, and about ‘right behavior’…defense against our feelings of insecurity and shame” (Thompson, p. 22). Our defense is looking ourselves up and holding onto our semblance of control, because we are afraid to show and be known in our vulnerability, but that only succeeds in isolating us from God because that vulnerability is essential to connection. Thus, “knowing God and being in fellowship with Him is expressed in how we live” (Long, pp. 7) What we long for is intimacy, but our actions with that displays our anxieties in sharing it with others. Intimacy is vulnerability; it is giving up control and hearing others as much as you want to be heard. God wants us to be “naked” before him. He wants us to love one another, because to connect with others also means you are connecting with him.
References:
Thompson, C (M.D.). (2010). Anatomy of the soul. Tyndale House Publishers.
That’s is an interesting way to look at what John has to say when he talks about what it means to know the Lord. The idea of knowledge comes with responsibility. It’s so true. And so applicable to this passage. For it is true, once we know the Lord and His commandments we can’t act like we are unaware of what He expects from us. “Knowing God and being in fellowship with him is expressed in how we live” (Long, 2018). For as we get to know the Lord, the more He reveals himself to us and what he expects from us. At the same time it’s crucial to understand the concept of knowledge is related to intimacy, to the relationship with Christ. We can’t get to know the Father, without pursuing this intimate relationship with the Son. Even more when it comes to being obedient to God’s commandment. Because we can’t just walk in righteousness on our own strength. But we desperately need Jesus to transform us from inside out in a way that we are to love God with all of our heart and to love and serve others. The more we seek Jesus through prayer and reading His words. But also have this humble heart to Him, submitting ourselves to Him, the more we are transformed in our minds and hearts. The more we allow the Lord to change our sinful nature the more we are able to experience God and get to know Him, as we are being transformed by Him. “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will” (Romans 12:2, NIV).