1 John 2:3

3. We know him The Gnostics claimed to know God, and thereby to be free to all bodily sin. See note on 2 Thessalonians 2:7. But the criterion of a true Christian Gnostic is his keeping God’s commandments. The character of the other sort of Gnostic is sharply pronounced in next verse. This knowing him is deeper than a mere historical perception of him. It requires that we should know that we know him, by knowing that it makes us keep his commandments. It is a knowledge which descends from the head into the heart, and runs along the nerves and muscles, making us think, and feel, and act rightly. Bengel notices the climax in the three 1 John 2:4-6 expressed in know, in him, and abide in him. These three he designates beautifully as cognition, communion, and constancy. No other know him has any saving value but the contrary. The more we know him without this test, the more our condemnation. In the verses previous to the first interlude (1 John 2:7) the sinlessness of the true Gnostic is designated as keeping commandments; in verses before the second interlude (1 John 2:12) under the images of love and light.