For this is the love of God…

“For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome” (1 John 5:3).

John’s hesitance to acknowledge the gray areas of the “Christian” life is at best unnerving.  If it’s the love of God to keep his commandments, then what is it called when we don’t keep his commandments?  Pointing primarily to our own experience, we want to believe there’s a middle ground for the believer who is walking in disobedience.  While John does make subtle allowance for that category in his epistle, he clearly prefers the black and white. 

“This is the love of God.”  It is the very embodiment of God’s love for us to do what He says to do.  And the second part of the verse helps us out: “And his commandments are not burdensome.”  It is an evidence of the gracious work of God in our lives that we love him and love to do what He commands.

It’s not that his commandments are particularly easy; faithfulness is hard and so is doing the right thing.  But they are not burdensome because they are so greatly outweighed by our love for Him.

A child with a righteous father will not find her father’s commands to be a burden for two reasons: the nature of the commands and the nature of the relationship.  The father will not place oppressive and unneeded burdens on the child he loves.  And the child will want to gain the favor and pleasure of her father so she will be happy to do what he asks.

Likewise, what the Father commands of us may not be easy, but it is not burdensome.  It is not a needless weight that we must bear alone.  It may require faith and be hard, but it will not be a heavy burden.

The voice of Jesus graciously haunts this book like it does the mind of John:

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.  By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35).

John was not only present when Jesus said those words, he was paying attention, as he actually recorded them for us.  Jesus’ message is a constant theme of 1 John and and evidence of God’s grace among us: our love for other Christians.

And this passage seems also to echo with a promise of Jesus:

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30).

So we hold side by side the clear, objective teachings of John and Jesus: if God’s love is in us and we belong to Him, we will love His people and obey His commandments, which are not burdensome.  But, “If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth” (1 John 1:6).

John doesn’t seem to see in shades of gray.  There’s no allowance for the Christian who just doesn’t like fellowship, or for the one who says he loves God but is unloving in his conduct toward other believers.

Or, to be clearer still, “Whoever says ‘I know him’ but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, 5 but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected” (1 John 2:4-5a).

May God’s love be evident in His people by our love for him and for one another.

Shared @ Adorned from Above Wednesday, WLWW,  Weekend Whatever, Domestically Divine Tuesday, Hear It On Sunday, Use It On Monday, In, On, & Around Mondays, Welcome Home Link Up, Better Mom Mondays, Proverbs 31 Thursdays.