In verse 22 John goes on to say, “And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and practice the things which are pleasing in His sight.” Offenses in the conscience of a condemning heart are obstacles to our prayer. A conscience void of offense in a tranquil heart straightens and clears the way for our petition to God.
In verse 22 the keeping of the commandments is not the keeping of the commandments of the Mosaic law by our own endeavor and strength. It is rather a part of the believers’ living as the issue of the divine life that abides in them. This is the habitual keeping of the Lord’s New Testament commandments through the inner operation of the power of the divine life. This accompanies the practicing, the habitual doing, of the things which are pleasing in His sight. This is a prerequisite to God’s answering our prayers, and it constitutes a condition of the life that abides in the Lord (v. 24).
In verse 22 John speaks of “the things which are pleasing in His sight.” No doubt, these things are the living of a life of righteousness and love. Literally, the Greek word rendered “sight” means seeing into. This does not refer to objective sight. On the contrary, it refers to the Lord’s watching over us and seeing into our situation. This indicates that the relationship between us and God is very personal.
In verse 23 John goes on to say, “And this is His commandment, that we should believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, even as He gave a commandment to us.” This is a summary of the commandments in the preceding and following verses. All the commandments are summarized in two: one is to believe in the name of God’s Son Jesus Christ, and the other is to love one another. The first is concerning faith; the second, love. To have faith is to receive the divine life in our relationship with the Lord; to love is to live the divine life in our relationship with the brothers. Faith touches the source of the divine life; love expresses the essence of the divine life. Both are needed for the believers to live a life that abides in the Lord.
According to the Gospel of John, faith and love are the two requirements for us to enjoy God. In order to receive God and enjoy Him, we need to believe in the Lord Jesus. We also need to love Him and love one another.
In verse 24 John concludes, “And he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And in this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He gave to us.” This verse is the conclusion of this section, which begins in 2:28, on our abiding in the Lord according to the teaching of the divine anointing, as unfolded in the preceding section (2:20-27). This section reveals that abiding in the Lord is the living of the children of God by His eternal life as the divine seed, which grows in practicing the righteousness of their begetting God (2:29; 3:7, 10) and the love of their begetting Father (3:10-11, 14-23). Such an abiding and its bases—the divine birth and the divine life as the divine seed—are mysterious yet real in the Spirit.
To keep His commandments is to live a life according to the divine reality. This is what it means to keep the Lord’s commandments according to this Epistle. This means that keeping His commandments is not the keeping of the Mosaic law. To keep the commandments of the Lord is to have a life according to the divine reality.
If we keep the Lord’s commandments by living in the divine reality, we shall abide in Him, and He in us. We abide in the Lord; then He abides in us. Our abiding in Him is a condition for His abiding in us (John 15:4). We enjoy His abiding in us by our abiding in Him.
The second part of verse 24 says, “And in this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He gave to us.” Literally, the Greek for “by” means out of. The phrase “by the Spirit” modifies “we know.”
Thus far in this Epistle the Spirit has not been referred to, though the Spirit is anonymously implied in the anointing in 2:20 and 27. Actually, the Spirit, that is, the all-inclusive compound life-giving Spirit, is the vital and crucial factor of all the mysteries unveiled in this Epistle: the divine life, the fellowship of the divine life, the divine anointing, the abiding in the Lord, the divine birth, and the divine seed. It is by this Spirit we are born of God, we receive the divine life as the divine seed in us, we have the fellowship of the divine life, we are anointed with the Triune God, and we abide in the Lord. This wonderful Spirit is given to us as the promised blessing of the New Testament (Gal. 3:14). He is given without measure by the Christ who is above all, who inherits all, and who is to be increased universally (John 3:31-35). This Spirit and the eternal life (1 John 3:15) are the basic elements by which we live the life that abides in the Lord continually. Hence, it is by this Spirit, who witnesses assuringly with our spirit, that we are the children of God (Rom. 8:16), and that we know that the Lord of all abides in us (1 John 4:13). It is through this Spirit that we are joined to the Lord as one spirit (1 Cor. 6:17). And it is by this Spirit that we enjoy the riches of the Triune God (2 Cor. 13:14).
Chapter three of 1 John concludes with a word concerning the Spirit. This indicates that what is covered in this chapter is a matter of the all-inclusive, compound, life-giving, indwelling Spirit. In this verse John does not speak of the Spirit of God or of the Holy Spirit; he speaks of the Spirit. Whenever the New Testament mentions the Spirit, it refers to the all-inclusive compound, life-giving, indwelling Spirit. In the last chapter of the Bible, we have a word concerning the Spirit (Rev. 22:17). The Spirit is more inclusive than the Spirit of God and the Holy Spirit. The Spirit refers to the Spirit who was not yet (John 7:39) before Christ’s glorification. Now since the resurrection of Christ, the Spirit is here. Therefore, we abide in the Lord and He abides in us by the Spirit whom He has given to us.