July18-24: Walking in the Light: Keeping His Commandments

Teaching Points

1. Observe this phrase in 1 John 2; "He that saith"

• 1 John 2:4 He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
• 1 John 2:6 He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.
• 1 John 2:9 He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now.

OBSERVATION:

• Compare with "If we say" in 1 John 1
• 1 John 1:6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth
• 1 John 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
• 1 John 1:10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
• Observe the similarities
• 1 John 1:6 "We lie" -1 John 2:4 "Is a liar"
• 1 John 1:8 "The truth is not in us" - 1 John 2:4 "the truth is not in him"
• Observe the progression
• General to specific: "If we say" to "He that saith"
• Wrong thinking to wrong doing: "we have no sin" to "keepeth not his commandments"
• John was revealing a group of people that were walking in darkness while claiming Christian fellowship.
• Wrong thinking will lead to wrong living.

2. Who is a "liar"?

• 1 John 2:4 "I know Him" BUT "keepeth not his commandments"
• 1 John 2:6 I "abideth in Him" BUT "walk" not as Jesus walked
• 1 John 2:9 I am "in the light" BUT "hateth his brother"

OBSERVATION:

• If you know Jesus then you should love Him. If you love Him, you want to keep His commandments. John 14:15
• If you are abiding in Him you should walk in His commandments
• If you are keeping His commandments then you should love your brother. When you love your brother then you are in the light. Therefore if you do not love your brother then you are a liar.
  

3. What is the "new commandment"? 1 John 2:7-8

• 1 John 3:23 And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.
• 1 John 4:21 And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.
• 1 John 5:2-3 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.

OBSERVATION:

• The new commandment is to "love one another." This commandment is not grievous because it should not be grievous to love one another.

4. True love is a self-sacrificing love

• 1 John 3:16-17 Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?

OBSERVATION:

• How do we love one another? The answer that John gives is willing to make a self-sacrifice for others. It is showing compassion to others. When we refuse to show compassion this might be a form of hate in a subtle way.

CONCLUSION:

• To walk in the light means to keep His commandments. To keep His commandments means to love one other. To love one another means to willing to show compassion and self-sacrificing love. Therefore to walk in the light means to allow God to shine His self-sacrificing through our life.