The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.
-I John 2:4-6
The book of I John is filled with bold statements that get right to the heart of the matter. If we claim to know Christ, but don’t keep His Commandments, we lie, and the truth is not in us. John says that if we say we are believers, but fail to follow what the Word of God says, then we are liars. That is a harsh indictment against those who claim to know the Lord, but fail to live it out in their daily lives.
Verse 5 is the reverse of this, however; those who keep the Word have the love of Christ perfected and made complete in them. The faithful follower of Christ has the constant affirmation from the Holy Spirit that we are in Christ and He is in us. I love this concept of God’s love being perfected in us. Perfection is something to be ever striving towards. Perfection comes when something is practiced over and over again for the long haul. A story is told of a tourist walking down the street one day in New York City. The tourist stopped a man on the street and asked him, “How do you get to Carnegie Hall?” The New Yorker replied, “Practice, practice, practice.”
So it is with the Christian life; we live it and practice it daily – over and over again that God’s love might be made perfect in us. By following Christ each day we find life, peace, and spiritual victory.
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