1 John 2:4

4 If someone claims, "I know him well!" but doesn't keep his commandments, he's obviously a liar. His life doesn't match his words.

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 When he served as a sacrifice for our sins, he solved the sin problem for good - not only ours, but the whole world's.

3 Here's how we can be sure that we know God in the right way: Keep his commandments.

4 If someone claims, "I know him well!" but doesn't keep his commandments, he's obviously a liar. His life doesn't match his words.

5 But the one who keeps God's word is the person in whom we see God's mature love. This is the only way to be sure we're in God.

6 Anyone who claims to be intimate with God ought to live the same kind of life Jesus lived.