November 10
“Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His Commandments. He who says, ‘I know Him,’ and does not keep His Commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His Word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked,” 1 John 2:3-6.
By faith in Jesus, we know Him and we trust in Him as the Son of God and our Savior. We have a living knowledge of Jesus. We believe in who He is and what He did to redeem us. We believe that He is true God, begotten of the Father from eternity, and also true Man, born of the Virgin Mary, who has redeemed us lost and condemned creatures, not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death. We believe that He rose from the dead, ascended into heaven, and that He is coming again to judge the living and the dead.
This is a faith that is alive. It is a faith that shows itself by Christian living – or, as John writes, by keeping His Commandments. This is what Jesus Himself said: “If you love Me, keep My Commandments . . . If anyone loves Me, he will keep My Word,” John 14:15, 23. If we are attached to Jesus with a trusting, loving faith, we will show it by the way we live. Remember what the apostle Paul wrote: “You cannot partake of the Lord’s Table and of the table of devils,” 1 Corinthians 10:21. You cannot be a child of God and live like a devil!
John writes, “He who says, ‘I know Him,’ and does not keep His Commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.” The words that come out of our mouths and the lives that we live should be in harmony. “If we love Him, why not serve Him, soldiers of the cross?”
“Whoever keeps His Word, truly the love of God is perfected in him.” In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, “You shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect,” Matthew 5:48. God wants us to keep His Commandments perfectly in thought, desire, word, and deed. Oh, indeed, we are far from being perfect! Natural man cannot fulfill the Law of God, and even Christians can keep the Law of God only imperfectly. We struggle and strive against our sinful nature, and we are moved by the love of God through Christ Jesus to live the Christian life.
The love of God for us sinners moves us to show our love for Him and His Word. As Christians, we want to continue in fellowship with the one true God. We have His promise to be with us and to bless us. The ascending Lord Jesus said to His followers, “Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age,” Matthew 28:20. In both the Old and New Testament we have the promise of our gracious God, “I will never leave you nor forsake you,” Hebrews 13:5, Deuteronomy 31:6, Joshua 1:5.
“He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.” While Jesus was on this earth, think of the many people to whom He said, “Follow Me!” Today, He asks you and me the same: “Follow Me!” As Christians, we follow Him. “We love Him because He first loved us,” 1 John 4:19.
“Come to Calv’ry’s holy mountain,
Sinners ruined by the Fall;
Here, a pure and healing fountain
Flows to you, to me, to all,
In a full, perpetual tide,
Opened when our Savior died.
Come in poverty and meanness,
Come defiled, without, within;
From infection and uncleanness,
From the leprosy of sin,
Wash your robes and make them white;
Ye shall walk with God in light.” Amen.