1John 2:4 - The Unbended Knee and a Fake ID

"The [one] saying that, 'I have come to know Him' and His commands not keeping, a liar he is and in this one the truth is not."

-Variation on a theme here (1John 1.6).  John addresses this again, that there are some - too many - who profess to know the Lord, but in truth they do not.  They say they believe in Jesus.  They say they received Him at some meeting.  They prayed a prayer.  The Lord says, "Why do you call Me, 'Lord, Lord', and do not do what I say?’ (Luke 6.46)  We’re not talking about intermittent disobedience, Occasional missteps - there are no perfect Christ-followers.  No, we’re talking about a lifestyle, an ongoing pattern of choices which are in direct opposition to the commands of Scripture.  This person may actually be convinced that they know the Lord.  They had some religious experience.  They were raised in a Christian home.  Perhaps they even went to seminary, received some form of religious education.  Lots of head knowledge.  They know a lot of facts about Who God is.  But they don’t know Him.  All that knowledge never made the arduous 12-inch journey from their head to their heart.  And in fact, their heart is many miles away from the Lord, hard and unsurrendered.  A classic case of cardio-sclerosis.

-The truth is not in them, John says (neither is the One Who IS Truth).  They have not received a love of the truth so as to be saved (2Thessalonians 2.10).  Their ship has run aground somewhere, caught on a volitional sandbar.  It is possible that in spite of their profession of belief that they are choking on the trustworthiness of Scripture, or more likely they are ultimately unwilling to surrender to the God of Scripture.  Theirs is the unbended knee.  They would very much like to prolong their reign as king (or queen) of their castle.  Lord of the manor.  Master of their domain.  And so, John just calls them out.  Liar!  You don’t know Him.  You can’t truly know Him and not do what He says.  And it is not that they are simply telling a lie, but their identity is that which is fundamentally false.  They're passing off a fake ID.  You can’t trust what they say.  But this is about some would-be underage party-er trying to fool some bouncer or bartender at a club.  This is the one and only true almighty God of the Universe.  And they don’t know really Him.  Their life, their deeds, their fruit - is not consistent with a life which has been invaded by the God of Heaven.  Their ID - as well as mine and yours - is their life.  To be sure, we will know them by their fruits, Jesus said (Matthew 7.16-20).