And by this we know that we know Him, if we should guard His commandments (1 John 2:3).
In the upper room, Jesus gave His disciples a new commandment: to love one another as He had loved them (John 13:34). He also spoke of the new relationship that was coming, illustrating it through the vine and branches (John 15:1–4). Therefore, the commandments we are to keep are these: to believe in Jesus, to love one another, and to abide in Christ (1 John 3:23–24).
Love is seeking the best for the one who is loved. It is a self-sacrificing kind of love, not for the benefit of the one who expresses it. Human love is a willingness to sacrifice, but for one’s own advantage (Luke 11:43). As we are filled by the Holy Spirit in the areas where we lack (Ephesians 5:18), He produces fruit in us that enables us to express God’s quality of love toward other saints, through which we experience Christ in us.
Our experiential knowledge of Him is directly related to our attitude toward His commandments. We are not seeking to place ourselves under any form of law to dictate our actions, for our standard in Christ is grace, which gives us the freedom to live out righteousness by properly exercising what He has given us to discern what is wrong from what is proper. Therefore, we walk according to the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, keeping His commandments to us (Romans 8:2).