Obedience Through Action – 1 John

One of the main points we try to continually hammer at Spartan Christianity is the idea that love and obedience are actions, not emotions. We continually see throughout the Bible that God demonstrated love towards us by taking action that benefitted us. So also we take action that benefits God. 1 John demonstrates this idea well.

It is not enough to say we love God, it is not even enough to feel it. Without action, there is no love. 

1 John 2:3-6 ~ “Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.”

One of the reasons that John’s first letter was written was because there were groups of people in the church who were propagating two major lies about Christianity.

The first lie was that Jesus never actually came in the flesh, but was simply some sort of spirit. They made these statements because they believed that all physical matter was inherently evil, so there is no way Jesus would inhabit an evil flesh. John would go on to say that anyone who denied Christ came in the flesh would be an anti-Christ (II John 7, I John 2:18, 22). 

This incorrect idea about physical matter led to the second error in Christian teaching at this time which was the idea that because the flesh is evil, it is completely separate from the soul. So while the flesh engages in sensuality and sinful pleasure, the soul actually remains untainted. These Christians were living their lives exactly how they wanted to, engaging in orgies, drunkenness, and anything else commonly associated with godless individuals. (This sounds like the Catholic church).

John refuted these two incorrect ideologies by first assaulting the position that Christ did not inhabit the flesh and then attacking the resultant secular lifestyles of his target audience. This is why you see the constant reaffirmation of the idea of walking in the light, abiding with God, and obeying His commandments. 

News flash: if an individual is not living the way God intended, he is not a Christian.

This disqualifies many Catholics who live their lives however they please and then try to pay for their sins through indulgences. Other denominations are also not exempt from this habit of justifying immoral behavior through a misunderstanding of the law of God.

I John 3:4-6 ~ “Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin. Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him.”

One thing to note when John says that “Whoever abides in Him does not sin”, he means that these individuals do not actively go out and engage in orgies and drunkenness on a regular, habitual basis. Obviously, this passage is not suggesting that somehow after becoming a follower of God that you magically stop making mistakes. We are going to make errors, that is why we have the Advocate (1 John 2:1-2). The point is to avoid purposeful, planned, or habitual evil behavior. 

It is somewhat funny that John has to tell his audience that the man who commits sin commits lawlessness. We tend to think of the ancient Christians as astute Bible students who hold firmly to the principles they were taught.

But we forget the most important point about those early Christians: they were human beings.

And as such, it is guaranteed that they would make a substantial number of errors in their faith. Those people were no different from us. They were human beings and so are we (a profound statement, I know). 

One of the critical passages of this book is 1 John 3:18: “My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.” Can you find a clearer statement in the world of the idea that love is not demonstrated through emotion, feelings, or words, but through action? Back up just two verses and you will see again how love proves itself through action. Specifically through Christ’s action towards us as people. “By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.”

The idea you should keep in your mind at all times is that Love is not emotion. It is an action. Your emotions will fluctuate daily, but regardless of how you feel, you can demonstrate love through action.

Conduct Yourselves Like Men.