What about 1 John 2:4? "He that says, I know him, and does not keep his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him".
What about it? Do you not know and understand?
Rom 7:19-21 For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want.
But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.
I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good.
Do you even know the what the foremost commandment is?
Deut 6:4 “Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one!
"Hear, O Israel" is the foremost commandment, and it is keeping that commandment by faith which gives a person understanding and knowledge of what is going on around them. It is the commandment by which all other commandments are fulfilled. Yet it it the commandment I have not seen you testify to.
Mark 12:27 “He is not the God of the dead, but of the living; you are greatly mistaken.”
Mark 12:28 One of the scribes came and heard them arguing, and recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, “What commandment is the foremost of all?”
Mark 12:30 Jesus answered, “The foremost is, ‘HEAR, O ISRAEL! THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD;
AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.’
Now when going to post the above He wanted me to add the Mark 12:27 - because that is what you are missing the most!
If indeed we are alive in Christ then we hear His voice and do hear Him - as in "Hear, O Israel!"
And since we hear from Him we testify to it, but some don't accept our testimony. And it is the hearing by faith, because faith does come by hearing (Rom 10: 17) that is reckon to us as righteousness - which of course mean doing the right thing!
Gen 15:6 Then he believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.
Jn 3:11 “Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know and testify of what we have seen, and you do not accept our testimony.
And of course it usually seems to be those religious types - those trying to fulfill the Law by their own good works which you can't get to understand- because to get them to understand you have to get them to listen to what actually comes out the mouth of God to them.
Prov 2:6 For the LORD gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding.
And that is the problem here. Someone doesn't understand so they ask: "What about 1 John 2:4?"
The believe is reckon as righteous by the Lord our God because of our faith. That means in His eyes we don't do wrong, and if you don't understand why that is, it is because we are counted as His children who because we are His children are being taught by Him, and learning is not considered a sin. So we don't have to get 100% right on a test but we do have to take the class by sitting and listening to the Teacher, thereby showing we are indeed His students and children. And thereby fulling the commandment to "Hear, O Israel"
And don't you know that one of the lessons in the class is about the battle that takes place in us? Paul knew that which is why he wrote what is above from Romans 7. And John knew that which is why he wrote what he did in 1 Jn. But you are asking "What about", and show that you are having trouble understanding what is in the Bible.
So you ask about 1Jn 2:4 because you don't understand - well let us just look at that section
1 Jn 2:4-7 The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him;
but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him:
the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.
Beloved, I am not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning; the old commandment is the word which you have heard.
Now the old commandment - and not this time John talk also about a single commandment - the one "Hear, O Israel" that I went over with you. It is by that hearing in which a person comes to know Him, just like it is by talking back and forth by which we come to know other people also. And coming to know Him (God) that you really get a fear of Him, but it is not a fear like fearing a dragon but like fearing a loving Father, which you seem to have trouble understanding also. Which is to say fearing God with understanding, that comes from his voice, is not a fear of death but a fear of a swat in the butt, or something like that.
Therefore you don't understand that God truly judges the heart and not the deeds of a believer. And the heart is shown when you hear from Him everyday called "Today" - and by that I mean that you and Him will talk back and forth everyday, which does not mean you are perfect but does mean you are reckon as being so by Him, but that also mean you are still going to be taught of God because you need to learn things from your Father in heaven. It also does not mean there is not a rebelliousness in you, like Paul explain the principle that sin dwells in Him, the one who wants to do good.
So if you have not even realized that sin dwells in you then you do not understand 1 Jn 1:8: If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.
And that is why you had to ask about 1 Jn 2:4!!
You don't have understanding, because you have not been talking to Him like you should. Of course that judgement is His and not mine to make, but it is not so hard to understand because you have confusion on what makes a person righteous. It is not by your good works, but by you faith in Him, and again your faith comes from hearing Him talk to you personally!
So it is I hear from Him about a dozen different times a day, and so I testify about Him and the need we all have to listen to Him more, at least everyday called "Today" right?
And if we hear Him, we testify about hearing Him, right? And if we hear Him who only does and says what the Father tells them, then we are aware that we are not Him, but sinners in need of His forgiveness, mercy, and grace, which He gives in abundance. So real Christians are sometimes found with bumper stickers that read something like, "Forgiven not perfect" or "A work in progress" - and those still trying to fulfill the Law by there good works still come across as such, and it is not hard to see it - but it is really hard to get that person to start listening to Him!
Heb 5: 11,12 Concerning him we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing.
For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the [fn]elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food.
It is why He took me to Eze 3 one day and gave me a similar instruction to what He gave Ezekiel:
Eze 3: 4,5 Then He said to me, “Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak with My words to them.
“For you are not being sent to a people of unintelligible speech or difficult language, but to the house of Israel, ...
Eze 3: 7-9...yet the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, since they are not willing to listen to Me. Surely the whole house of Israel is stubborn and obstinate.
“Behold, I have made your face as hard as their faces and your forehead as hard as their foreheads.
“Like emery harder than flint I have made your forehead. Do not be afraid of them or be dismayed before them, though they are a rebellious house.”
Though you don't know it; coming to this forum and trying to get His people to listen to Him is me keeping His commandments to me. But of course Paul also wrote:
Phil 3:12 Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.
Of course I am perfect in His sight, made so by the cross, but I am not so in my eyes so I press on and take that attitude, which seems to have confused you, but it was not me who confused you but sin who dwells in you did that. So it caused you to take a different attitude.
Phil 3:15 Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, have this attitude; and if in anything you have a different attitude, God will reveal that also to you;