1 John 2:5 – Love Perfected in Him

1 John 2:5 (NKJV)
⁵ But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him.
By this we know that we are in Him.

In verses 3 and 4 John is talking about keeping the commandments. Most commentators say this is the Ten Commandments. But that is not in keeping with Paul’s teaching of grace that we are no longer under the law. In this verse John uses the word logos or “word.”

John is saying what others have said in other ways. If you are truly born again, then it is going to show in how you treat people. That is keeping the Word. John said to keep the commandments of Jesus. He had heard it and the Holy Spirit had Him write it down. Jesus told His disciples, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another” (John 13:34 (NASB). Love is the highest pinnacle of God’s commandments. “Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law” (Romans 13:10).

John echoed the commandment of Jesus in 1 John 3:23. “And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.” John isn’t talking about obedience to a commandment, but an outflow of love for Jesus. We know we have it straight when we love others. That is what is in our renewed spirit. That is what is in our heart. That is what needs to stream to our soul.

When you love then you know you have love perfected in you. It is complete in you. Because you love, you know (have a working knowledge) that you are in Him. Because He is in you, there is a strong desire to be like Him and show His love to the world. As James put the same saying, “If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well” (James 2:8)

Say, “The love of God is perfected in me because I am in Him.”