KNOWING JESUS ~ Precious Victor Akah

Almost everyone you ask - especially professing Christians - will strongly assert that they know Jesus Christ. However, from 1 John 2:3-6, we understand that it is not everyone who says they know Jesus or claims to know Jesus that actually knows Him. In fact, majority of the people professing to know Jesus actually do not know Him, judging by what this scripture reveals.

1 John 2:3-6: "And we can be sure that we know him if we obey his commandments. If someone claims, “I know God,” but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth. But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in him. Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did." NLT Version

Let's also read AMPLIFIED Version: "And this is how we know [daily, by experience] that we have come to know Him [to understand Him and be more deeply acquainted with Him]: if we habitually keep [focused on His precepts and obey] His commandments (teachings). Whoever says, “I have come to know Him,” but does not habitually keep [focused on His precepts and obey] His commandments (teachings), is a liar, and the truth [of the divine word] is not in him. But whoever habitually keeps His word and obeys His precepts [and treasures His message in its entirety], in him the love of God has truly been perfected [it is completed and has reached maturity]. By this we know [for certain] that we are in Him: whoever says he lives in Christ [that is, whoever says he has accepted Him as God and Savior] ought [as a moral obligation] to walk and conduct himself just as He walked and conducted Himself."

Now, what does it mean to know Jesus? A lot of Christians will say it means to have a relationship with Jesus. Some will affirm that it means to worship Jesus (go to church every Sunday, read the Bible and pray everyday). But the Scripture we just read above gives us clear insight and precise meaning of what it means to know Jesus.

It says: "We know that we have come to know Jesus if we obey His commands." This simply means that the surest way to know you have truly come to know Jesus is by OBEYING HIS COMMANDS.

So if you're claiming to know Jesus yet living in bold disobedience to His commands, the Bible says you're a liar: "The man who says, "I know Him," but does not do what He commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him." 1 John 2:4

Therefore, to be certain you have honestly come to the knowledge of Jesus, check your obedience to His commands. How obedient are you to Jesus' commands in the Scripture? Do you keep His commands? Or you don't care at all? Do you even know His commands and are you striving to keep them with the help of the Holy Spirit living in you?

Anyone who claims to know Jesus yet fails to live in obedience to His clear commands in the Bible is a liar. Such a person does not yet know Jesus; he or she is only pretending or just deceiving themselves.

We cannot claim to know Jesus yet we're finding it hard to obey His commands and are living life the way we want and not according to Jesus' instructions on how to live. 

Going to church every Sunday, reading the Bible daily, praying every day, paying your tithes, and even helping the poor, does not equate to knowing Jesus if we're doing all these but living in absolute disobedience to Jesus' commands. He expects that we obey ALL His commands, not some of His commands we like. Psalm 119:4 says this about God's commands: "You have laid down precepts that are to be FULLY OBEYED."

If I claim to know Jesus, I must obey His commands. If you say you know Jesus, you must obey His commands. The sure proof we have of truly knowing Jesus is obeying and keeping His commands.

Sadly, a lot of Christians are ready to go to church every Sunday, read the Bible, give offerings, pray everyday, but to obey Jesus' commands, they're not willing. 1 John 5:3 also says that loving God means keeping His commandments... "For the [true] love of God is this: that we habitually keep His commandments and remain focused on His precepts. And His commandments and His precepts are not difficult [to obey]."

We can see how important to God it is that we obey His commandments. Knowing Jesus is obeying His commands. Loving God is obeying His commands. God's commands are not difficult or impossible to obey, if we yield ourselves to the guidance and leadership of the Holy Spirit living in us as children of God. They only become impossible and very difficult to obey when we either do not have the Holy Spirit in us or we are depending on our physical strength to obey God's commands.

God's commands are divine laws, not man-made laws, so we need divine strength to obey and keep divine laws. 

May God the Holy Spirit keep supplying you with the strength and grace you need to keep God's commands. Shalom.

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