And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. The one who keeps God’s commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.

1 John 3:23, 24

John reminds us that those who are born again of the Spirit of the Lord, seek to obey God’s commands.  They do not always succeed but the fact that they always try is proof that the Spirit of the Lord is operating in their lives.  They know the secret of repentance when they fall short.  They do not stand over themselves in constant condemnation.  By the miracle of true heart-felt repentance they stay free.

They never outgrow their determination to live in God as God is in them.  The heart of the matter is this personal relationship God has with us and our personal relationship with him, a relationship based on the believe that we are led by the Holy Spirit of God.

That belief will show itself in our obedience to the word of God.

It seems that under the Old Covenant we hear one command after another.  It appears as though following God is a matter of keeping a long list of commands. That is good and should work – but it simply doesn’t.  Religion becomes an exercise in insisting on obedience to God’s commands.

There is another way.  It is so simple it can be easily missed.  There is only one command, “To believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another.”  “Believe” is the new comprehensive command.   Believe in what?  In the name of Jesus.  We could try to list what is in his name – Savior, friend, Lord, Creator, blesser, judge, and so forth.   The list goes on and on.  Jesus has many names, so to speak, each important.  He is all in all.

The central belief is that Jesus Christ is the Son of the Father.  That is so full of meaning that all the theologians put together can only touch the surface.  The heart of it all is to know that Jesus Christ is, indeed, the Son of the Father. That belief makes all the difference, top to bottom.

The second command is to love one another as Jesus commanded us to do. This is, in my own experience, one of the most demanding!  I find it easier to obey dozens of do’s and don’ts than to love a fellow believer who rubs me the wrong way or is simply not a friend in any way.  That is where I fail. My love has limits!  That is so unlike God’s love.

John’s words seem so simple but they are so profound that they shake the ego to the core.