Do you know God? By knowing God, I don’t mean intellectually know about God. Do you know God in a way that is changing your life? Do you know his love for you in such a way that you love him back with all your heart? This is a vitally important question.

People trust in many things to show themselves (and others) that they know God: baptism, joining a church, even the time they first prayed to receive Jesus as their Savior. These are all important, but none get to the core of what it means to know God in Christ.

A. W. Tozer wrote a striking description of what it means to know God. He writes: Salvation comes not by "accepting the finished work" or "deciding for Christ." It comes by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, the whole, living, victorious Lord Who as God and man, fought our fight and won it, accepted our debt and paid it, took our sins and died under them and rose again to set us free. This is the true Christ, and nothing else will do."

We use the expression "accepting the finished work of Christ" to describe how we come in contact with the Savior Jesus. In one way this is an intellectual exercise. We come to Jesus with our mind, but more than just our mind. We "decide for Christ" with our wills. If you are not following Jesus with your will then you are not following Jesus. Still, we follow him with more than just our will. It is our believing on the Lord Jesus Christ with all we are that saves us. This is something that continues day by day and continues to change our very being.

We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands (v3). This is how the Apostle John says that we know God. We do not obey his commands in order to know God or in order to have fellowship with him. Keeping the commands of God is a result of the new life that we have when we know God through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Apostle John gives us a simple reality check. Just as the proof of the pudding is in the eating of it, the proof of the Christian life is in the living of it. If you say that you know God but don’t keep his commands, then you are kidding yourself.

If Jesus is your Lord, that means you follow him. You know that you are following Jesus if you are actually following Jesus. This is why it says in verse 5: But if anyone obeys his word, God’s love is truly made complete in him. In other words, when we are doing what Jesus told us to do, we know that this new life is actually real in us. Be encouraged wherever you see it taking effect. If you know Jesus in a saving way, your life will be different. Expect it. Look for it. Celebrate it.

There are many commands of God. We want to know them in order to live as he wants us to live. This is why we continually study the Bible in order to know the mind of the Lord we love. But you do not have to be an expert in the Bible in order to know the commands of God. They all boil down to one command—to love the Lord your God with all of your heart, all of your soul, all of your strength and all of your might; and to love your neighbor as yourself.

This was also the command that Jesus gave his disciples just before the soldiers took him from them. This is the time that he gave his final instructions and reminded them of the biggest priority. They were to love each other in the same way that he loved them. Jesus does not leave us to define what kind of love we are to give to others. He already defined it by his life and love. We know that we know Christ when we see his love coming out of us.

If you claim to be walking in the light and hate your brother, you are kidding yourself. You are in the darkness and are blinded (see v 11). If you are blinded, you don’t know where you are going. If you are blinded you need the light to be turned on.

That is why John is writing this little book, so the light will be turned on. We need the light to be turned on in all the areas of our hearts. So often, there is a corner of hate, a closet of grudge. Something is in there that needs to be exposed by the light. It is festering and it will smell bad. It will cause you to act in ways that are not loving. You need to get rid of it. You need to confess it to God who is faithful and will forgive you your sin and purify you from all unrighteousness.

The power of God to transform your life is what the Christian life is like. Let the light of God’s love fill you, wash you, and flow out of you. This book was written to encourage you, whether you are old or young, long in the faith or brand new. You can know God and be changed because of it.