I like the NIV because it written in modern English. John in 1Jn3 tells us what is commanded of Christians and it is not Torah in any sense: 9 This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence: 20 If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. 21 Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God 22 and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him. 23 And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. 24 The one who keeps God’s commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.
In 1jn5 John assumes the reader has absorbed his prior statement in !jn3. He is in no way referring to our keeping the law of Moses. The law of Moses ended when Jesus came. Gal 3:19. The law given to Israel was not for their salvation, it was for how they were to live in Canaan. Ex19:5-6. That is why Paul could write that the 10 commandments were temporary commands 2Cor3:7-11.
5 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. 2 This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. 3 In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, 4 for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. 5 Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.
God's commands come to us through Jesus Christ. Jesus kept Torah and he wants us to keep His commands which John so plainly states in 1Jn3. Jon didn't tell us we know we belong to the truth by keeping Torah. He is telling us we belong to the truth if we love God and love our fellow man as Jesus loves us. This is what Jesus commands. All the laws of Moses couldn't save one soul. The new covenant given to Christians along with the gift of the Holy Spirit is not burdensome.
So, you didn't address everything else I said about Acts 15:21, Deuteronomy 30:11, and the history that I gave you in the pdf and decided to go after 1 John 5:3??? You didn't seem to have a problem sticking to Acts 15 when it worked in your favor, but now that it doesn't you jump to other places in Scripture?
But, if you want to do that, that's fine. Here are a couple thoughts:
1) You quoted 1 John 3: "
This is how we know that we belong to the truth". What is the truth? Following your logic of interpreting a verse based on what came prior to it just as 1 John 3 is prior to 1 John 5, let's do the same and go back to what came prior to 1 John 3: Psalm 119:142 -
"Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and thy Law is the truth".
2) If you're going to quote Paul, you should keep in mind 2 Peter 3:15-17. It's a warning that those who are i
gnorant/unlearned and unstable/unrooted will misunderstand Paul to be preaching lawlessness (that the Law is changed or down away with). And that was back in those days - how much more so now when we are removed from the Hebraic culture?? So, what is
learning? Deuteronomy 4:1-8 talks about our wisdom/understanding/knowledge being the Law. Psalm 19:7 says the Law is perfect and makes the simple wise. If we don't know the Law, we shouldn't be reading Paul.
3) God's commands did come through Jesus, but they were nothing new. If they were, then Jesus would have been sinning, because it says in the Law not to add to or take away from the Law and even someone who works signs and wonders and teaches to obey new commands is a false prophet (Deuteronomy 4:2, Deuteronomy 12:32, and Deuteronomy 13:1-6).
In addition, there is no prophecy in the Bible about the Messiah changing the Law. Instead, you have Deuteronomy 18:15 where the Messiah will be a prophet like Moses. One of Moses' primary roles was to relay/teach God's Law to Israel, so Messiah should do the same. Disturbingly, the Antichrist is prophesied to change the Law (Daniel 7:25). So, if we say Jesus changed the Law, we are saying that He 1) sinned and 2) displays signs of the Antichrist.
3) Everyone likes to say that we are under a new covenant now, but few know what the terms are of that new covenant. Jeremiah 31:33-34 tells us what the terms are:
"But this
is the covenant that I will make with the
house of Israel after those days, says the Lord:
I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more."
First of all, God says His new covenant is with Israel. So, if you claim to be part of the new covenant, you need to be part of Israel (that's a different topic that I won't touch on here).
Second, God says that as part of His new covenant with Israel He will write His Law on their hearts. The Law refers to Genesis through Deuteronomy in it's entirety. There is no mention of an altered or new Law - it's the same Law that has been referred to in the Bible the whole time.
Third, it says that we will all know God and we won't teach each other anymore. The very fact that we are having this debate, that this website exists, that pastors give sermons every week, that Bible study groups meet every day of the week around the world proves that we are not in the new covenant yet. We are certainly moving towards it, but we are definitely not in it.
Lastly, to understand the "new" covenant we have to understand the original covenant. The original covenant is detailed in Genesis 17 and in 17:7 the covenant is called an "everlasting" covenant. So, if God doesn't change His mind (Numbers 23:19), then how is their a "new" covenant that replaces or does away with the original "everlasting" Genesis 17 covenant? The answer is that the "new" covenant is really a "renewed" covenant because as you read the details of the Genesis 17 and Jeremiah 31 covenants you'll see that they are the same overall terms, just a change in that the Law is written on our hearts in the Jeremiah 31 covenant.
Please don't think that I am saying that salvation comes from the Law. Certainly not! I give evidence of my salvation by following the Law (James 2:18), but my salvation come through Jesus Messiah.
Instead of reading the Bible from back to front and making the first 2/3rds (the Law and Prophets) fit your interpretation of the last 1/3rd (what we mistakenly call the "New Testament"), I would recommend reading the Bible front to back and interpret the last 1/3rd based on the first 2/3rds.