"Beloved, if our heart may not be condemning, we are having boldness toward God...and what if we may be asking we are receiving from Him, because His commands we are keeping and the [things] pleasing in His sight we are doing."
-Boldness. Boldness is for speaking. In this case we are talking about the difference between the dog who shrinks away from the Master, tail between his legs, because he knows he did something he wasn’t supposed to do, and the dog who has the confidence to go right up to the Master, waggy tail and all. Happy Master, happy doggie. Life is good. Which is all well and good, but I think we forget about Whom we are speaking. In this instance, we are talking about the boldness to approach and speak directly to almighty God, the King of the universe. Boldness to ask something from His hand, the Lion of Judah Who is definitely good but He is by no means safe. We’re talking about confidence. Some seriously HUGE spiritual swag.
-With the rise of modern democracies (at least in the west), kings are no longer what they once used to be. They are more figureheads. They’ve been effectively neutered, their power having been handed out to the people. But it used to be a HUGE deal simply to be in the same room as the king, much less to have an audience with him. One simply did not just go into his presence - you normally needed to be summoned. If the king did not summon you, and really, if he was not pleased with you in any way, you could forfeit your position and even your head (cf Esther 4.11). One was loathe to even be sad in his presence (Nehemiah 2.1-2). How much more of a mind-blowingly HUGE deal is it then, that we should be talking about an audience with the High King of heaven? The King of Kings? John is saying that we can have boldness toward Him. That we can boldly go where no mere mortal ought to be able to go, we can ask HUGE things from Him, and actually receive them, because He is pleased with us! (Scriptural language re asking tends to be rather limitless - Matthew 7.7-8, 18.19, 21.22; John 14.13, 15.7, 15.16, 16.23-24; Ephesians 3.20; James 1.5, 4.2; 1John 5.14-15 - surely we leave so much meat on the bone by simply not asking...). Limitless asking, limitless confidence. IF our heart does not condemn us.
-The way to stand completely free of condemnation with tails a-wagging in the presence of our Master of course is to do everything right. To keep all His commands and to always do the things which are pleasing in His sight. That’s what John says. But that’s the trick, isn’t it? Good luck with that, ‘cuz nobody can do it. And when I am holding on to wickedness in my heart, the Lord can’t even hear me (Psalm 66.18). But first and foremost, this is where Christ comes in. The only way to be condemnation-free is through Jesus (Romans 8.1). We take our stand in Him, in the grace and forgiveness which He alone provides, by faith, and His blood washes us clean. Wickedness gone. He gives us a clean heart, a new start. Every day, a new start. His Spirit gives us a new power source. And when we blow it, His grace is more than sufficient enough for us to be able to own it, be honest about it, be cleansed from it, turn around from it and let it go, not do it ever again (this is what John has already told us - 1John 1.9). But wait - there’s more! This is what John has been talking about - the grace and power of Christ positions us to be able to actually carry out God’s commands, and in fact to fulfill the entirety of God’s law, which we do by simply abiding in Him and carrying out this one overarching principle, which is to love one another. You manage to pull off this one thing, and you find yourself in the place of not only being free from vulnerability to any fiery arrows of condemnation launched in your direction by the enemy, but you’ll also be on sure footing with the High King of heaven, knowing that with you He is well pleased. You will have entered into the joy of your Master. Ask away, you good and faithful servant...!
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