How do I know that I know God and His Son?

There are three “tests” that John put forth for a person, a believer, to know that they know God without a doubt. These tests are that we keep His commandments, to walk as Jesus walked in obedience to the Father and to show unconditional love toward our brothers. The first one is usually the hardest for some to understand. It is to keep or obey His commands. Not just the ten commandments, but the two which Jesus put forth in Matthew 22:34-40. Jesus said, “Love God with all of your heart, and with all your strength, and with all your soul and love your neighbor as yourself, on these two commandments hang all of the Law and the Prophets”.

Those who say that they know God, but do not keep his commandments are liars and the truth is not in them. Belief is not enough, reading the Bible, God’s Word is not enough, your life has to show beyond a doubt that you belong to Him. We are put where we are to be “salty” and to be reflections of Him, not of ourselves or our personal views. Our mission, if we are Christians as we claim to be, is to be the best reflection of Jesus that our lives can be. How we live our faith on a daily basis shows what is in our heart, not what may be on our minds at the time. At least, that is what the world should see.

To walk as Jesus walked, in total obedience to God’s will, is our goal and purpose. As Christians, we are to submit to the Spirit’s leading influence in our life on a daily basis. This does not mean to give up entirely, but we are to give Jesus and His Spirit control of our lives daily. This is a hard concept for us because we do not like to give up control of our lives.

How can we, mere humans, accomplish this? The only way that we can do this is through Him and His Spiritual control of our lives. The only way that we can be truly effective for Him is by the power of His Spirit in our life. If we did good things (works) for others before becoming a Christian, how much more could we do with Him in our life? Those works that we did before becoming Christians may have been good but they did nothing more than to make us look good in other people’s eyes. What about the ones we are led to do or accomplish after becoming Christians? As long as we obey Him and accomplish them, we are doing His will and fulfilling His purpose in our lives.

Even though we are not bound by Jewish law, are we required to act as if we are regarding the Ten Commandments, as well as the commandments Jesus gave in Matthew 22? If we are truly His, yes! Our life is to reflect that His spirit lives in us and that we live through Him. If our lives do not reflect what is in our hearts as the truth of God, we need to re-examine our faith and our beliefs. We can only pass the test when we are led by the Spirit on a daily basis.

Is there a broken relationship in your life? Is there any prejudice or animosity toward any particular group of people? Do you fail to demonstrate love for others through tangible actions, not just  giving people “stuff” ? Is there a way we can fix these failures? Yes! Come to Jesus and show that you truly love those who love you and those who don’t.

As followers of Christ, we are to love Him so that we can resist the attraction of the world and all that it tries to offer us. To serve Him in whatever we do, regardless of how insignificant it may seem to us is our calling and purpose. In that way the light of God and His Son, Jesus, should shine through us so that everyone we come in contact with will see that we have something that they need and in doing so we will be the true followers of God that we were called to be.