By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. Love and obedience are the key words in this verse.
Love leads to obedience.
Obedience is the test of one's love. Neither love nor obedience is to be isolated from the other. The gospel aims to increase the righteous love in our lives. In considering this question of obedience, there are three possibilities. First, we can preach obedience to the law of God apart from Christ.