⁹Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son.

The teaching of unconditional and eternal love from God that can never be taken away from a believer does not undermine the need for obedience. The apostle John warns about taking his teaching “too far” and promoting what theologians call “antinomianism,” which defines someone who is against obeying God’s law. Nowhere does John teach or even hint at such a notion. His writings about love and his record of the teachings of Jesus always involved obeying Jesus’ teachings. But Jesus Himself spoke of a new, superseding commandment: love others as He loved us (John 15:12). So John is not telling us to scrap obedience.

What, then, is the so-called balance in this? First, in the negative, we are not to see obedience as merit-based motivation for preventing the loss of our salvation. We should not use obedience as a motivation for assuring God (and ourselves) that we really do believe. No! That is merit-based and locates the assurance of eternal life not in God and what He has done, but in us and what we believe. The apostle Paul wrote with precise terminology when he contrasted grace, faith, and works, “By grace you have been saved” (Eph. 2:8a). Yes, but where is faith in that? Paul goes on to say that our salvation is “through faith” (Eph. 2:8b). Notice the difference: salvation is rooted in and sourced in God; it is caused by God and God alone. He usesour faith in salvation, but it is not our faith that saves us. Paul goes on to say, “… [It is] not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Eph. 2:8–9).

So why then should we obey the teachings of Christ if we are secure in our salvation? One could very well ask, “Why do you show your love for your wife if you have already gained a marriage relationship with her?” Is the answer not very simple? Your sacrifices show your love. We resist the pedantic (insightful-sounding, but useless) questioning that goes something like this: Which comes first, the actions of love or the love itself? Which begets which? John would say the two are so intertwined that it is impossible to separate them. We go back to what he wrote earlier, “We love because God first loved us” (1 John 4:19). Love begets love, and it begins with God’s love for us. So, if we do not abide in Jesus’ teachings, we are not abiding in God or in His love. But if we are abiding in His teachings, then we truly have the Father and the Son.

Lord, I love You, and therefore I want to live by Your commandment of love.