Daily Reading for Personal Growth, 40 Days with God

Footnotes

1. 1 John 2:3 Gnostics claimed to possess a special revealed “knowledge.” But John stresses that there is a real and living knowledge of God, a true light, an authentic truth, and it is expressed in a life that is lived in accord with the commandments of God. Its great characteristic is love. New doctrines are being put forth. Christian teaching is a commandment of Jesus, which in this sense is old. Yet it is also new because it is revealed in Jesus as a fact as well as in the life of believers. In the face of everything that is without purpose or sense, faith is a ray of light, a victory over darkness, a bright dawn for the world.
2. 1 John 2:4 John reiterates the testimony of Paul and James about faith and works. James said that faith without works is dead (see note on Jas 2:14-26). Paul indicated that rewards would be based on good and bad deeds (see 2 Cor 5:10; see also note on Rom 4:3). John says that Christians who do not keep the commandments of Jesus are liars and the truth is not in them. For faith in Christ without good deeds, i.e., keeping the commandments, is not authentic.