The Litmus Test

Love, a word we find ourselves using oh so often. "I loved that movie", or "I love your hair." We even tend to throw the word love around concerning human interaction. However, I'm not here to talk about loving one another (shocking I know). 

Today I want to focus on another notion. 

Do we love God?

I'm sure, when faced with this question, every one of us would emphatically declare, "Of course!". Just how sure are we? I'm going to step on some toes - don't worry I'm preaching to the choir.

Let's see what the Word says.

1 John 2: 3-6 (AMP)

3 And this is how we know [daily, by experience] that we have come to know Him [to understand Him and be more deeply acquainted with Him]: if we habitually keep [focused on His precepts and obey] His commandments (teachings). 4 Whoever says, “I have come to know Him,” but does not habitually keep [focused on His precepts and obey] His commandments (teachings), is a liar, and the truth [of the divine word] is not in him. 5 But whoever habitually keeps His word and obeys His precepts [and treasures His message in its entirety], in him the love of God has truly been perfected [it is completed and has reached maturity]. By this we know [for certain] that we are in Him: 6 whoever says he lives in Christ [that is, whoever says he has accepted Him as God and Savior] ought [as a moral obligation] to walk and conduct himself just as He walked and conducted Himself.


These verses present a very simple "if ______, then _______" scenario. Our society has a tendency to blur lines, smearing black and white into grays. There is no room for gray in Word of God. It is the Ultimate Truth, straightforward and cut and dried. 

We can find this same test of the heart in the gospel of John.


John 14:15 (AMP)

15 "If you [really] love Me, you will keep and obey My commandments."

From the start, we see the explicitness of this principle. Let's dig even deeper.

By keeping His commandments, we prove our love. 

What are we proving when we don't keep His commandments?

1 John 3:4 (AMP)

4 Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness [ignoring God’s law by action or neglect or by tolerating wrongdoing—being unrestrained by His commands and His will].

The key word here is "practices". Let's continue reading in verse 6.

6 No one who abides in Him [who remains united in fellowship with Him—deliberately, knowingly, and habitually] practices sin. No one who habitually sins has seen Him or known Him.

9 No one who is born of God [deliberately, knowingly, and habitually] practices sin, because God’s seed [His principle of life, the essence of His righteous character] remains [permanently] in him [who is born again—who is reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, and set apart for His purpose]; and he [who is born again] cannot habitually [live a life characterized by] sin, because he is born of God and longs to please Him. 10 By this the children of God and the children of the devil are clearly identified: anyone who does not practice righteousness [who does not seek God’s will in thought, action, and purpose] is not of God...

This truth may trouble many of us, but it is most certainly undeniable. A man can be judged by the fruit he bears (Luke 6:44-45). 

Some may rush to defend themselves. "But Nathan, we're flesh and flesh is imperfect." Or, "We're under grace".

Let's see what Paul has to say about that.

Romans 6:1-2 (AMP)

1 What shall we say [to all this]? Should we continue in sin and practice sin as a habit so that [God’s gift of] grace may increase and overflow? 2 Certainly not! How can we, the very ones who died to sin, continue to live in it any longer?


Now we see in Paul's writing that when we are born again, our old man dies. We are a new creation in Christ. As John wrote in 1 John 3:9, no one born of God can habitually or deliberately sin because the very nature of God (righteousness) remains permanently within him. When we are born again, that transformation makes it physically and spiritually impossible to knowingly sin on a perpetual level. 

Bringing everything in full circle, 

"If you love Me, keep My commandments."

So, do we love God?

This Truth bears weight and hits hard. Let each of us examine ourselves. Our actions are the litmus test of the heart.