The first part of 1 John 5 discusses the implications of belief in Jesus as the Son of God. It is woven together with the command of God for the children of God.
So much of the focus of these chapters are on the love of fellow men, I think this text serves to intertwine it with the love of God.
I have seen statements like verse (carry out God's commands) in the New Testament used as a backhanded way to bootstrap in lifestyle criteria to determine if one is Christian or not. Oftentimes, it is a sexual lifestyle criteria (homosexual, cohabiting without marriage), but it is not limited to that. In the church I grew up in, the focus was on the complete observance of a seventh day Sabbath. After all, these things are commanded at some point in the Bible.
But they are not commanded here and I do not think that is what John has in mind. Rather, the emphasis is on the love of fellow men.
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