1 John 2:3,4 - The truth is not in him

2:3

“And by this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments”. The “him” here is Christ, and this verse sums up a key element of the gospel, and one that is so often ignored. The purpose of the gospel is God-centered. It is about us repenting of our sins, of us being forgiven for our sins, and us becoming ever more Christlike. The goal of the gospel is not that we don’t go to hell (though, of course, we won’t), but that we become like Christ. We become the people that God always envisaged us being (Rom 8:29). So if we truly know Christ we will start to become like Him.

In this, and other verses in 1 John, we do need to note that John is not saying we will be perfect. He is not saying the only proof of knowing Christ is perfect obedience. Rather it is that the direction of lives will be going in Christ’s direction, not man’s direction, not our own direction.

2:4

The converse of verse 3 is stated here. If someone claims to know Christ but does not keep His commandments, then that person is a liar. One might add that there are many liars about! Note also that John uses the word commandment, both here and in the preceding verse. This is not some vague notion of having a Christlike spirit, but is a matter of keeping His commands. If someone claims to know God, but then deliberately and persistently does things that God has said are wrong, then that person is talking absolute nonsense.