Brethren, I write no new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you heard from the beginning. Again, a new commandment I write to you, which thing is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining. He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now. He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him. But he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.--1 John 2:7-11
Dear Suzanne, Rebecca, Anna, and Mikayla,
A Christian who is walking in the light (obeying God) is going to love his brother. Love is the supreme commandment. Colossians 3 says that love is the bond of perfection. 1 Corinthians 13 says if we do not have love we are nothing. Love is the key. If we miss that everything else is a waste of time and effort. 1 John 4:8 says he who does not love does not know God for God is love. Romans 13 tells us to owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. Paul in Romans 13 is commenting on the second part of the law...the commandments regarding our behavior toward people. We fulfill the law in relationship to others if we love our neighbors as ourselves...Paul even gives us an easy definition of love to remember. "Love does no harm to a neighbor." Matthew 22:37-40 says love God and love your neighbor.
There is more...this could go on pretty endlessly. The commandment to love is all over the Bible. Jesus raises the bar even further. Read Matthew 5:21-32. Jesus took some of the commandments specifically and expounded on them. Speaking of the commandment not tu murder Jesus says "But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, Raca! shall be in danger of the council But whoever says, "You fool! shall be in danger of hell fire. Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift."
John is saying here in 1 John 2 that Jesus is introducing an old commandment but giving it a new twist so to speak. In John 13:34 Jesus gives us a new commandment "that you love one another; as I have loved you. Uh oh...that is pretty convicting. Jesus did not love with the kind of love most of us love others with. He loved with self sacrificing love. In fact He gave His life for each one of us and when we believe we become His brother or sister in Christ. This is what John meant in verse 8 about a new commandment...the old commandment which was from the beginning with a new twist. The old commandment was to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and your neighbor as yourself. (Deut 6:5, Lev 19:18) The new commandment says in addition to that we are to love each other as He has loved us. This was impossible before Jesus came. Jesus is the new standard of love...the self-sacrificing kind of love described in 1 Corinthians 13 and displayed on the cross at Calvary.
Again, a new commandment I write to you, which thing is true in Him. Jesus is the true light that gives light to every man coming into the world. We walk in darkness unless Christ the light of life lives inside us. Jesus fulfilled the commandment...it is true in Him.
John 1:9-13 says "that was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own,and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."
His light gives light to every man coming into the world When we accept Him as our Lord and Savior and His Spirit indwells us the darkness passes away and the true light shines in our hearts. When we are in the light John says there is no cause for stumbling. There is no cause in us that make us stumble because His light is a lamp to our feet. There is also no chance of us making another stumble because our word and deed match. We are not acting hypocritically.Our profession and our practice match.
1 John 4:12 says "No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us." God is manifested in the person of Jesus Christ. "He who has seen Me has seen the Father." We can only love this way if the love of God has been shed abroad in our heart by the Spirit of God who dwells in us upon our belief in His Son. His love is then perfected in us through Him...through our surrender and obedience to the Spirit of God inside. It is only then that we can love those that the Lord has placed in our lives with His love. He changes our hearts. If you love God, you will love your brother.
Love
Mom
1 John 3:14 says We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death.
1 John 4:20-21 If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.
