“Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has become a child of God. And everyone who loves the Father loves his children, too. We know we love God’s children if we love God and obey his commandments.”
1 John 5:1-2 NLT
As John begins to close down his short book, he cinches up his point of belonging, adoption, and responsibility. If we love God, then we are part of the same family. If we are part of the same family, it is because of belief. If we have the same belief in God, then we are now God’s adopted children. Accepting this adoption means accepting those who have the same faith as part of the same family. These things are intrinsically connected to each other. You cannot be a child of God without either the faith or the action of love for those with the faith. Faith and love are lynchpins upon which our adoption in God’s family is predicated. Yet, even in the early church, John was writing to those who would choose to try to separate one of the three from each other for the benefits it brings. Christians should know better. And John aimed to make the teaching of Christ airtight in this matter. The family of God is a solid unit that is bound in adoption by faith and love. It isn’t a “get out of jail free card,” or a “no strings attached,” inheritance from a dead uncle you never met. It has real obligations upon acceptance. And its evidence of denial or usery is clear.
this post first appeared at JoshMcGary.com
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