“This is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, that as you have heard from the beginning, you should walk in it.”
you should walk in it
A command cannot generate love, but love can be commanded. Love manifests itself in responding to God’s will. Love for God is equal to keeping His commandments (Jn 14:15,31; 15:10,14). By the phrase, “walk in it,” John is saying in effect, “Put into practice your love for God, and don’t reinterpret God’s Word for sentimental reasons. Don’t yield to false teachers simply because they need a place to eat and sleep.”
Ro 13:8-10, 8 “Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9 For the commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ ‘You shall not murder,’ ‘You shall not steal,’ ‘You shall not bear false witness,’ ‘You shall not covet,’ and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 10 Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.”
PRINCIPLE:
Spirituality is more than dull and dead orthodoxy; it is a vital response to God’s will.
APPLICATION:
Walking in the truth can be as dry as last year’s bird nest. Orthodoxy without “orthopraxy” can be dry as dust. Many churches are like this today. They do not experience truth; they just assert truth. They are sound in doctrine but sound asleep in vitality.
Pharisees of 2000 years ago believed their Bible, but they were dead to a vital walk with God. Walking in the truth is more than believing the truth. It is practicing the truth. This involves loving one another.
