HOW DO WE KNOW IF WE KNOW HIM?
1Jn 2:3 And by this we know that we have known Him, if we keep His commandments.
1Jn 2:4 He who says, I have known Him, and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
1Jn 2:5 But whoever keeps His Word, truly in this one the love of God is perfected. By this we know that we are in Him.
1Jn 2:6 He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk even as He walked.
So many times throughout my spiritual walk, I would stop and question myself. I always needed to know, did I really know God? Was I truly living the life he wanted me to live? And for much of my walk in faith the answer was no. I would justify my actions, traditions, and beliefs. I really had very little knowledge of whom and what God is. I had no real knowledge of what God wanted through my life and how I was to give it to him. As with many I think my journey began with a simple fear of Hell. I knew I needed to be saved so I could go to heaven. I went to a few different churches, tried to emulate what I saw, and really had no clue as to what the Will of God was for my life. But as I started to be awakened to Gods truth I really started studying the Holy Scripture. And as I have written in past articles, it changed everything. This week I want to go through one of those passages that really helped me, to come to an understanding of what God wants from us. First, we need to try and gain a true understanding of whom and what our God is, and what he wants from us. I hear so many believers saying that they feel lost. They are not sure if they even really know God. Thankfully God has given us a way to check and see if we know him. 1John 2:3-6 really isn’t cryptic on the subject, and is really quit to the point. 1John 2:3 plainly says (1Jn 2:3 And by this we know that we have known Him, if we keep His commandments. ) If we want to find out if we know the One True God then all we have to do is ask ourselves. Are we keeping his commandments? So what are his commandments? Where are they written? I once justified not keeping the Will of God in my life by grossly over simplifying this verse, and so many others like it. I would say that keeping his commandment is just following the New Testament. I didn’t understand that this could not have been the case. The simplest way to prove this idea is to remind all of us that the New Testament, for the most part was not written yet. And quite frankly if we truly followed the New Testament then wouldn’t we follow verses like this that plainly state that if we know God then we will keep His commandments! Let me assure you that the “He” spoken of in this passage is not your Pastor, Priest, Rabbi, Shaman, Church, or Synagogue. It is the Commandments of the One True God!
The disturbing thing about the passage of 1John 2:3-6 I think, is the next verse. (1Jn 2:4 He who says, I have known Him, and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.) So as easy as it would be to start pointing the finger with this verse, lets all try and keep from it. Instead, let us remember the words of Yeshua
Mat 7:1 Judge not, that you may not be judged.
Mat 7:2 For with whatever judgment you judge, you shall be judged; and with whatever measure you measure out, it shall be measured to you again.
Mat 7:3 And why do you look on the splinter that is in your brother's eye, but do not consider the beam that is in your own eye?
Mat 7:4 Or how will you say to your brother, Let me pull the splinter out of your eye; and, behold, a beam is in your own eye?
Mat 7:5 Hypocrite! First cast the beam out of your own eye, and then you shall see clearly to cast the splinter out of your brother's eye.
Luke 6:41 And why do you look at the splinter that is in your brother's eye, but do not see the beam that is in your own eye?
Luke 6:42 Or how can you say to your brother, Brother, let me pull out the splinter in your eye, when you yourself do not see the beam that is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First cast out the beam out of your own eye, and then you shall see clearly to pull out the splinter that is in your brother's eye.
So let us look to removing the beam form our own eyes. If we would say to others that we know and follow Yeshua, and are Disciples of Yeshua. But do not keep his commandments. Doesn’t this fact make us liars? According to Scripture the answer is emphatically yes! So much of the world has refused to acknowledge the existence, let alone the belief, in the One True God and his only begotten Son. And by presenting ourselves as liars and hypocrites, all we are representing, are lies, not Yeshua our Messiah. We must stop giving all the followers of our enemy ammunition by perpetuating these lies in our lives. (1Jn 2:4 He who says, I have known Him, and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.) We must stop and truly seek the Truth. We must study in prayer and follow the written Will of our Father without justification for our own flesh. We must follow what is written, and not the ideas and justifications found in fleshly interpretations to edify our fallen nature.
Let us instead try to gain a true understanding of whom our God is and What His true Will is. We must be as stated in John 2:5 (But whoever keeps His Word, truly in this one the love of God is perfected. By this we know that we are in Him.) We cannot be the true representatives of God in this fallen world, without knowing, acknowledging, and keeping the commandments of God. But by keeping his word not only is the Love of God perfected in us, but we can be certain, that without a doubt we know God, and are living in HIM. The way to know if we know God and are living within His Will, is to keep his commandments. And this is the only way!
1Jn 2:6 He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk even as He walked.
If we claim to indeed be the Disciples of Yeshua, we must walk as he walked. No where does this say that only after Yeshua’s death and resurrection did we truly find out how to walk. It plainly sates to walk as He walked. Here we must gain a better understanding of what discipleship truly means. Discipleship is following ones master in all that he is. We are to emulate our Messiah in all things. For those of us out there, who are still trying to hold to the justification of sin, found in the idea that the Law is no longer important in our life, need’s only to look at this verse. Go to the Gospels and see how our Messiah walked. Which part of the Law did he not keep? Let me remind us all that if Yeshua had broken even the least of the commandments, and taught others to do so, he could not have been our Messiah. He would not have been the perfect sinless sacrifice that was needed of the second Passover lamb. But thankfully Yeshua was and in fact is our Messiah. He did not break or do away with any part of the Law. For in his own words (Mat 5:17 Do not think that I have come to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I have not come to destroy but to fulfill.
Mat 5:18 For truly I say to you, Till the heaven and the earth pass away, not one jot or one tittle shall in any way pass from the Law until all is fulfilled.
Mat 5:19 Therefore whoever shall relax one of these commandments, the least, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of Heaven. But whoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of Heaven.)
It is time for us all to wake up and start to understand who our Messiah is, and how he walked! (1Jn 2:6 He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk even as He walked.)
Should Believers do what is right in our own eyes and follow after our own heart? Or should we just simply follow the Will of our Creator?
Deu 12:8. You shall not do according to all that we do hear today, each doing whatever is right in his own eyes.
We need to stop trying to justify and do what -ever is right in our own eyes and truly seek the Will of God. If we follow our own hearts or the hearts of other men, we will be lead astray every time. We must seek and follow our One True God.
Ecc 11:9 Rejoice, in your youth, young man; and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth, and walk in the ways of your heart, and in the sight of your eyes; but know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.
Yes, God does allow us to walk in the ways of our heat. I believe with the hope that we will one day remove our fallen nature, and our own desires, and replace them with the Spirit of God through His Will. But know that when we follow after and seek the foolishness of our fallen flesh, we will be brought into judgment. There is a judgment for those who deny the Will of God in there lives. No matter how much they profess with their lips. I was once one of these teachers. I knew little of our One True God, and even less of what His Will was for my life. I professed daily with my lips, yet my heart knew Him not.
Mat 7:21 Not everyone who says to Me, Lord! Lord! shall enter the kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in Heaven.
Mat 7:22 Many will say to Me in that day, Lord! Lord! Did we not prophesy in Your name, and through Your name throw out demons, and through Your name do many wonderful works?
Mat 7:23 And then I will say to them I never knew you! Depart from Me, those working lawlessness!
Not everyone who simply says Lord! Lord! Shall enter the kingdom, only those who do the Will of the Father. Only those who acknowledge the Will of God and follow can truly know Yeshua. Many will say they know him. They will even perform signs and wonders. Yet they did not acknowledge and keep His Will, therefore they never truly knew him. We must ask our selves do we truly know Him? (1Jn 2:3 And by this we know that we have known Him, if we keep His commandments.) We must stop the justifications of not following the Will of God and simply submit to His Will. This is the only way we can ever truly know Yeshua our Messiah! We can no longer seek after our own hearts and desires.
In justifying unfortunately we tend to add to and take away from Holy Scripture. So the next question is. Should we be careful not to add to or take away from Gods Commandments? (Deu 12:32 All the things I command you, be careful to do it. You shall not add to it, nor take away from it.) Some over simplify this, and other verses like it, by saying that they are only speaking of the adding to and taking away of books. But this is not what this verse is saying. It is speaking of adding to and taking away from the Will of God. The very thing that many say Yeshua our Messiah did. But if he did in fact do away with Gods Will, then he would have broken this most basic commandment, and could not have been our Messiah! No where did Yeshua ever do away with or break any of the Commandments. He did teach their true meaning, and taught us the true observance of them. We are commanded to observe and do the Word of God the way he tells us to. We are to Worship our Father the way he commands us too, not in our own way. We are to follow His Will the way he sets forth not in our way. Because it is not nor has it ever been about us, it is about our Creator. It is His story, not ours, we are just characters in it. We must be careful when living our lives not to fall under the false traditions of man. the traditions that in fact add to and do away with the Will of God! (Deu 4:2 You shall not add to the Word which I command you, neither shall you take away from it, so that you may keep the commands of your God which I command you.)
In conclusion we must know and acknowledge the Will of God in our lives. We must seek His Truth His way. We cannot let the false traditions of man get in the way of our true walk of Faith. It is time for us all to awaken to the truth found in Holy Scripture and stop the justifications. Justification of a fact does not change the fact. If we are to know God, we must know him his way. And his way is found in His commandments. We cannot seek God in our own way for our way is flawed. In Love this is written and it is my hope that it is in Love that it will be received. As we go forth in study let us pray for guidance, understanding, knowledge, and truth form our Fathers Holy Spirit. Let us seek Gods truth in Gods way. And may we be given eyes to see, ears to hear, and hearts to change for the Glory of Yeshua our Messiah.
