1 John 2:4-5

"He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him."
1 John 2:4-5


This is interesting... I wonder if it means that we lose our knowledge of God as we get farther and farther off the path, or that when we sin, we obviously haven't gotten to know God, or we wouldn't do it in the first place.  I'm guessing the latter, but I really don't know. It is interesting to think about it the other way around too... we come to know God through living his commandments.  There isn't a way to separate the relationship from the gospel.  Kind of like people... we come to know other people through being involved in their lives, knowing what they love... those kinds of things.  And how can we possibly know God without knowing that everything he does is directed towards us, and trying to get us to come back to him?  How can we participate in his life without working towards the same end?  We don't know him if we can't keep the spirit with us... which means keeping the commandments. :)
I like the second verse too... the love of God is perfected in us if we keep his word... it's part of knowing him, but also part of knowing and loving others it seems. ...and "hereby know we that we are in him." ... We are part of him somehow, through the unity that comes from knowing God and participating in his plan.  We become part of something bigger than ourselves, and become more than we are in the process.  Not in some science fiction body-snatching way. :)  I just think that when we know anyone really well, and have a fabulous friendship, then we almost become part of each other... we know what the other will say, we participate in the other's joy, we have that kind of connection that is unseverable.... and who better to have that kind of a friendship with than God?   In fact, I'm sure any other comparison falls short... having God as your close friend is better than anything I can imagine. :) The first step is keeping the commandments... let's go for it.