For an explanation of this layout and the key to the books referenced, read here. https://stevehusting.com/alivetogod/meditations-on-1-john-11-4-with-notes/
Chapter 5 (CSB–the verses in this chapter were taken from this version. Each chapter will be from a different version to avoid copyright issues.)
(Bible Knowl Comm NT) “But the experience described there [4:11-19], with its astounding concept of boldness on the day of judgment, can be reached only in a most practical way.” The concluding verses are a summary of that way.
v. 1, Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father also loves the one born of him.
(Bible Knowl Comm NT) How do I know he’s a Christian? He believes that Jesus is the Christ. “5:1-3a. … Whether or not a believer exhibits an admirable life, he should be an object of his fellow Christian’s love.”
(ESV) “5:1-5 Faith Keeps the Commandment of God. The road to love—such a great concern of John’s—is paved with faith in Christ.” (Recovery) “The Gnostics and the Cerinthians did not believe that Jesus and the Christ were identical.”
v. 2, This is how we know that we love God’s children: when we love God and obey his commands.
(Bible Knowl Comm NT) “5:1-3a. … Moreover, love for God’s children is not mere sentiment or verbal expression, but is inseparable from loving God and obeying His commands.”
(Vincent’s II) “By this. … in the very exercise of the sentiment toward God, we perceive.”
(Moody) “5:1b-3. Love for God and love for man are so inseparable that the presence of either is evidence of the other.”
(ESV) “Love and law are complementary.”
v. 3, For this is what love for God is: to keep his commands. And his commands are not a burden,
(Bible Knowl Comm NT) Is loving like this “beyond the capacity of a believer?” “5:1-3a. … In this section, John pointed to faith as the secret of a victorious, obedient life.”
(Vincent’s II) “Grievous. Lit., heavy.”
(Life) “5:3-4 Jesus never promised that obeying him would be easy. But the hard work and self-discipline of serving Christ are no burden to those who love him.”
(Moody) “…are not burdensome but reasonable precisely because He provides the power to obey the commandments He has given.”
(ESV) “Rightly understood and followed, God’s commandments bring believers great joy and freedom, not a sense of oppression (cf. Matt. 11:28-30).”
FIRST JOHN 5 MEDITATION vv. 1-3.
It can be hard to take in the idea that loving God means to keep His commands (v. 2). Our sinful, broken hearts are restored when we can acknowledge loving (His children) and keeping (His commands) equally—when the internal impressions and the external actions synchronize with loving our neighbor. When we love “God’s children” (John prefers this term over “Christians”), then our love is being perfected. The commands in the Bible are relational commands; they govern how we are to love one another. They are all summed up with loving God and loving our neighbor as ourselves (Matt. 22:34-40). Where we have problems following through to love the others, the Lord will show the earnest Bible student an area He wants to work on next.
God our Savior sees our lack of love as something to be repaired. Where we do not love, we are still shattered. When we love selfishly, we are broken. God’s goal is that we love them with the love He has shown to us, not with our natural love. He can’t do this in vessels that are not yielded to Him to obey Him. His goal of us loving one another is so that He can love through us. That’s how Jesus will build up His church. If we don’t love practically, then the Lord can’t move through us to meet needs.
We show our love to the brethren by keeping His commands. If the command to us is not to lie to one another (Col. 3:9), we miss the Lord’s intent when we say to ourselves, “Well then, I should stop because it’s wrong.” What we do instead is think of the command from the perspective of the previous chapters of 1 John, from the perspective of who Jesus is. He is the truth, and doesn’t utter lies. If we lie, He can’t use us as His tool in the church because He doesn’t deceive. So we work on the lie-telling until we are facing the truth about who we are and how the world is, and rest in God’s truths. Then we speak healing words of truth, the truth we learned that changed us. We speak the truth in love.
If the command is to put off our anger issues and foul language (Col. 3:8), then we need to rediscover God as gracious and merciful, and His language is only blessing. We deal with those issues by the Spirit, then our mouth is used accordingly and we build up one another in love. “This is how we know we love God’s children.” We not only want to do good, but be a testimony of God’s character of love. This is how we become the light to a world that lies in darkness.
We reflect on these commands so that we see what God is like, how He would follow through, and that can change us. We love God by obeying His commands; obeying His commands like the ones above is how we love God’s children directly. His commands are therefore healing and part of the sanctification process where we put on Christ practically, where we become more like Him by faith. Not only do we benefit from changing our thinking and behavior, but that change directly affects how we bless the body of Christ. Our healing affects their healing.
If we believe we are a new creation in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17), then this is how we live it out in the real world of God’s kingdom. God’s commands are healing commands. They are the doctor’s yucky-tasting medicine that actually heals us when taken daily. We take the yucky medicine by faith (trusting the doctor), not by taste. We follow through on the difficult commands by faith (trusting God), not by feeling. Forget the feeling and get on with the new way of living. Let’s read the Bible daily and pay attention to how the commands affect our relationships with God and man.
