Verse 4
The profession in view, in the light of the context (1 John 1:6; 1 John 1:8; 1 John 1:10), is evidently another claim to having a close relationship with God, not a claim to being saved. [Note: See Zane C. Hodges, "Is God’s Truth in You? 1 John 2:4b," Grace Evangelical Society News 5:7 (July 1990):2-3.] If a person says he knows God intimately but is not obedient to the revealed will of God, he is a liar; he does not know God intimately, does not have a close relationship with God. Furthermore, God’s truth does not have a controlling influence over his life (cf. 1 John 1:8; 1 John 1:10).
"We may not like John’s verbal style [i.e., his hateful-sounding denunciation; cf. 1 John 4:20], but he may simply be stating a fact in God’s sight as a pastoral messenger to God’s people who need a wakeup call." [Note: Yarbrough, p. 85.]
Jesus used similar language in Matthew 23:13-33 and John 8:55, and John was one of two "sons of thunder" (Mark 3:17).
". . . who is not keeping God’s commands does not know God experientially no matter what he claims verbally." [Note: Robert N. Wilkin, "Knowing God By Our Works?" Grace Evangelical Society News 3:10 (October-November 1988):3.]
1 John 2:4; 1 John 2:6; 1 John 2:9 contain three more claims (cf. 1 John 1:6; 1 John 1:8; 1 John 1:10).
| Claim | Condition |
| "I have come to know Him" (1 John 2:4; cf. John 17:3) | He "keeps His word" (1 John 2:5) |
| "[I abide] in him" (1 John 2:6; cf. John 15:4) | He "walk[s] . . . as He walked" (1 John 2:6) |
| "[I am] in the light" (1 John 2:9; cf. John 12:46) | He "loves his brother" (1 John 2:10) |
"The three assertions about knowing God, abiding in him, and being in the light (as he himself is in the light, 1 John 2:7), are parallel versions of a single claim to be in a right relationship with the Father through the Son." [Note: Smalley, p. 59.]
Be the first to react on this!
