Articles
This Is His Commandment - 1 John 3:23-24
One of John’s favorite terms to use for God is Father. He refers to God as Father twelve times in his first epistle, and its use conveys several ideas. First, a picture of God as a sustaining, loving, and caring parent is portrayed. Second, the concept of authority is bound up in the word Father. One lexicon brings these two concepts together and defines Father as “the supreme deity, who is responsible for the origin and care of all that exists.” It shouldn’t surprise us, then, to see the word commandment being used by John in reference with the Father. Commandments are “a direction for action.” What has our Father commanded us to do? What action does He want us to perform?
John wrote, “This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ…” (1 Jn. 3:23). F.F. Bruce comments, “The ‘name,’ as so often in biblical literature, is not merely the label of identification attached to the person but the person’s character and indeed the person himself.” The crowds who were seeking Jesus asked, “What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God?” (Jn. 6:28). Jesus answered, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent” (Jn. 6:29). Belief is what our Father desires from us. However, belief is more than just acknowledging who Jesus is. It involves total commitment and obedience to the Son. John wrote, “So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, ‘If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine’” (Jn. 8:31).
The Father has also commanded us to love one another. Readers of John’s first epistle are familiar with his emphasis on love. He wrote, “For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another” (1 Jn. 3:11). John’s audience was familiar with the Old Testament’s teaching about love (Lev. 19:18) and Jesus’s teaching about love (Jn. 13:33-34). They understood the importance of love. Recognizing the importance of love, however, is not the Father’s commandment. His “direction for action” is for us love in “deed and truth” (1 Jn. 3:18).
Is there a connection between having fellowship with the Father and keeping His commandments? John wrote, “The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. We know this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us” (1 Jn. 3:24). Fellowship with the Father is conditioned upon our obedience to His commands—something that the Spirit affirms (Rom. 8:16). It is a blessing to be united with the Father, but we must keep His commandments for that to happen.
The Father wants us to be active, and He has provided us with commandments to follow. Let’s commit ourselves to His Son and love one another. These are His commandments.
