Followers of God often wrestle with God’s specific instructions for them, and I have been challenged with similar questions. Sometimes, God’s answer is more like, “Wait a little bit, and I’ll give you the answer when the time is right”, or “Just trust me on this one.” (While I’m skeptical of some people who give me the latter message, I can indeed trust God…with everything!)
However, there are also sincere followers of Jesus Christ who want to know what to do in a more general sense, even when God has already provided clear direction in the Bible. If I’m honest, I’ve been in that situation, too! Maybe my behavior implies that I’m asking God questions like, “Do I really need to follow that command?” (when I really know better), or “What is the wise thing to do in this situation?” (when God has provided that answer in a passage I read in the Bible, but forgot about).
Continuing to look at the epistles of John, though, we find in 1 John 3 a pretty clear command from God.
And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. The one who keeps God’s commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.
1 John 3:23-24 NIV
You’ve probably heard – correctly – that following Jesus is less about religion and more about a relationship. (In fact, even while James 1:26-27 talks about religion a little bit, the actions associated with religion there are a natural result of our relationship with Jesus.)
Now, relationships today are all over the map. We have TV shows about them, books about them, and online discussions about them. With all due consideration to those who actually foster good relationships with others, I suspect that much of the relationship advice that goes around ranges from generally useless to downright bad. After all, when two people give completely opposite advice on the same situation, both can’t be simultaneously correct.
However, God – the author of human relationships – offers us a perfect relationship with Himself. Even when we wrecked that relationship, God made a way to restore it when we couldn’t.
A commentator [ref. Womack, p.95] used words like having “a common identity” for this relationship, as well as abiding, “union” and “fellowship”. I might add concepts like being part of the same family, or living together for a common purpose. It’s no wonder those in Antioch called followers of Jesus “little Christs”, or “Christians” (see Acts 11:25-26), as they tried to be like Jesus Himself. Jesus was the “big brother” of the family, and He is the example that they – and we – should strive to follow.
Consider in these two verses just how close we can be to God, with various aspects of that relationship overlapping with, building upon, and reinforcing each other:
- We believe in the name of Jesus. He is our Savior. He is our Lord. He is the Son of God.
- We love Jesus, and one of the ways that we love Jesus is by obeying Him.
- Jesus commanded us to love each other, and so – out of our love for Him – we love others.
- As Jesus’ disciples (who love Him), we remain in Him. We remain in His love, even as we love Him. And, God remains in us, and He continues to love us.
- And, we have a confirmation of this relationship by having the Holy Spirit within us.
- In addition to the Holy Spirit being a seal of our relationship with God, He is also a Helper who makes it possible for us to love God, love others, and follow God’s commands.
(By the way, these last couple of points would have been contradictory to the heretical Gnostics’ teaching of John’s day, which couldn’t accept that a good spirit could dwell in an “evil” human being.)
So, all of these truths from 1 John 3 are part of the same relationship that we can have with God:
- God the Father loved us so much that He made a way for us to be restored to Him.
- God the Son (Jesus Christ) gave His life as a sacrifice, paying for the sin that separated us from God, so that we can return to Him. Jesus also gave us commandments – including the commands to love God and love others – and demonstrated what living out that kind of love looks like.
- God the Holy Spirit confirms our relationship with God and enables us to live appropriately within that relationship.
Focusing too much on any one of these aspects of our relationship, or focusing too much on one of the three persons of God and His role in that relationship, while ignoring or denying any of the others, is done only at our own peril! It’s all a “package deal”, we might say.
And, what is our command from God as we enjoy this relationship with Him? Believe in the name of Jesus Christ and love one another. While I realize that this command (especially the latter part) can sometimes be a challenge to live out, it at least sounds straightforward to me!
From Sunday School lesson prepared for March 9, 2025
References:
- 1717 Bible Studies, 1, 2, and 3 John, © 2025 Christian Standard Media.
- Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
- The College Press NIV Commentary – 1, 2 & 3 John, by Morris M. Womack. © 1998 College Press Publishing Co.
Those Who Sin Differently 