Walk This Way (1 John 2:3-6)

“And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.” (1 John 2:3-6)

The question facing many of us today is simple: “True or false?” To answer this question, there must be a veracity of evidence. How do you evidence faith? How do you prove the truthfulness of our belief? Once, I owed an old Chrysler Sebring which had a broken gas gauge. How would one know when it was out of gas? The obvious answer is when it wouldn’t run. Now, how do you know if a Christian has faith? Is he functioning properly? Is he keeping the commandments? Is he walking like Jesus walked? The Apostle John does not have an app on his phone which tells him the faith level of his congregation, but he can see their works. As John Calvin says,

“The certainty of faith depends on the grace of Christ alone; but piety and holiness of life distinguish true faith from that knowledge of God which is fictitious and dead.”

Facts about God alone do nothing. Students learn facts about American presidents of whom they will never have a relationship with. Facts must be married to a lively faith. Faith is the instrument which unites us to Christ, which helps us to abide in Him. Just as children mimic the actions and attitudes of their parents, so all those who abide in Christ by faith will “walk in the same way in which he walked.” Those who walk like Christ has walked will go where Christ has gone. Let me ask us: how are we walking? Are we walking like those who have fellowship with the Father and the Son, or are we walking the way of the world?