Walk as Christ did
But whoever keeps his word, truly in him the love of God is made complete. This is how we know we are in him: The one who says he remains in him should walk just as he walked. 1 John 2:5-6 CSB
As we saw from yesterday’s devotional, John is focused on the point of encouraging the believers to continue to walk in truth and light, obeying God’s commands. There were some that claimed to be followers of God, but by their actions, it seemed contrary to their claims of having the truth within them (see 1 John 2:4). Continuing from there, John reassures the believers that if they truly focus on keeping God’s Word within them, “truly in him the love of God is made complete.” There is a little bit of contention in the interpretation of that phrase “made complete”: either a believer, once fully matured in the faith, can love perfectly as God does; or a believer matures in their faith and learns to love as God loves, but will not reach the point of perfection. Looking at 1 John 1:8, it seems to be the latter, as believers will never be perfect on earth due to sin within everyone’s lives, but as they mature more and more in their walk with God, they mature in the ability to love as God loves others. Also, as Jesus said during His time on earth, if believers claim to love Him, they will keep His commandments, as seen in John 14:23, “Jesus answered, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word. My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.” Closing this section with verse 6, John summarizes the point again of faithfully following after Jesus’ example, “This is how we know we are in Him: the one who says he remains in Him should walk just as He walked.” This word “remain,” is also a reminder to the reader of Jesus being the vine and believers as the branches as seen in John 15:4-7, “Remain in me, and I in you. Just as a branch is unable to produce fruit by itself unless it remains on the vine, neither can you unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without me. If anyone does not remain in me, he is thrown aside like a branch and he withers. They gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you want and it will be done for you.” Without having a relationship with Jesus, the believer cannot produce fruit and grow. Walking with the Lord daily is key to growing in maturity in love and faith. We are in Christ, so we live for Him, and walks as He did.
Blessings,
Isaac De Guzman
