EXPLORE THE BIBLE:
Obedience is a key quality
in the Christian life
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1 John 2:3-17
___By Ellis Orozco
___Calvary Baptist Church, McAllen
___John answers the question, "How do I know that I am truly a Christian?"
___It's always been a touchy question. Yet John approaches it with stunning candor and child-like simplicity. It's a simple question that deserves a simple answer: Obey God.
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_The answer is simple, but the ramifications are complex. As soon as John gives the answer, he ties Christian obedience to a relationship. "The man who says, 'I know him,' but does not do what he commands is a liar" (1 John 2:4). The ability to obey is inextricably tied to the quality of relationship with Christ. John gives the qualities of the Christian life of obedience.
___ Obedience: A life of love (1 John 2:3-5). "But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him" (1 John 2:5). The only way to be made whole in Christ is to obey him every day. John summarizes the whole aim of the Christian life when he says, "Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did" (1 John 2:6). And how did Jesus walk? Watch him as he heals the sick, makes the blind to see, comforts a father whose daughter just died, hugs a leper, cries at the tomb of a friend, bounces a child on his knee, washes his disciples' feet and dies on a cross for our sins. His whole life was a testimony of God's love.
___ Obedience: A life of truth (1 John 2:7-8). John declares that he is not preaching a new command, but rather an old command with a new twist. It is the old seen from a new perspective--the perspective of Christ. All Scripture is to be interpreted through the prism of Christ. John must be remembering the words of Jesus: "I am the way and the truth and the life" (John 14:6). Everything that is true and right and just is in Christ and can be found only in him.
___ Obedience: A life of light (1 John 2:9-11). Again, John draws on the contrast between light and darkness. If we obey Christ, he gives us the light that helps us to navigate the shark-infested waters of this world. John draws a correlation between love for each other and the intensity of God's light in our lives. The more we love, the more light we possess. We don't have to stumble. We don't have to live our lives from one failure to the next. If we are willing to obey, Jesus can light the way.
___ Obedience: A life of overcoming (1 John 2:12-14). John emphasizes that in our obedience to Christ we become overcomers.
___Through Christ, we overcome sin and death (1 John 2:12), the barrier between God and man (1 John 2:13a, 14a), spiritual weakness (1 John 2:14b) and the evil one (1 John 2:13b, 14c). In our obedience to Christ, we overcome all that afflicts us.
___ Obedience: A life of distinction (1 John 2:15-17). John cites the only time God commands us to withhold our love. The object of our love loss should be anything and everything that is contrary to God's kingdom (1 John 2:15a). Ungodly hunger, lust and pride are the distinction of the one in the world. The one who does the will of God distinctly separates himself from the things of the world.
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