1 John 2:4

4 The person who says, "I know him," but doesn't obey his commandments is a liar. The truth isn't in that person.

1 John 2:4 Meaning and Commentary

1 John 2:4

He that saith I know him
God or Christ, as the Gnostics did, who pretended to great, even perfect, knowledge of divine things:

and keepeth not his commandments;
which the above persons had no regard to, and as many who profess great light and knowledge in our days show no concern for:

is a liar;
he contradicts what he says, and gives the lie to it; for though in words he professes to know God, in works he denies him, and which betrays his ignorance of him:

and the truth is not in him;
there is no true knowledge of God and Christ in him; nor is the truth of the Gospel in his heart, however it may be in his head; nor is the truth of grace in him, for each of these lead persons to obedience. The Ethiopic version renders it, "the truth of God is not with him"; (See Gill on 1 John 1:8).

1 John 2:4 In-Context

2 He is the payment for our sins, and not only for our sins, but also for the sins of the whole world.

3 We are sure that we know Christ if we obey his commandments.

4 The person who says, "I know him," but doesn't obey his commandments is a liar. The truth isn't in that person.

5 But whoever obeys what Christ says is the kind of person in whom God's love is perfected. That's how we know we are in Christ.

6 Those who say that they live in him must live the same way he lived.