1 John 2:7-11

Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you have heard.  At the same time, it is a new commandment that I am writing to you, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining.  Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness.  Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling.  But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

John is giving us a commandment that is old but with a new twist.  The command to love is certainly an old command as it had already been made very clear throughout the Old Testament.  However, the revelation of Jesus took this to an entirely different level.  Now the presence of His Spirit equips us in a completely new way.

AN OLD COMMANDMENT TO LOVE OTHERS: The call to love others is foundational truth clearly taught by God to His people throughout the Old Testament.  This should be part of the very fabric of what it means so be the people of God.  Unfortunately, the children of Israel became so proud of the fact that they were God’s “chosen people” that they ended up looking down their noses at all other people instead of loving them.  As a consequence, they ended up not even loving one another the way that God commanded.  God’s commandments reveal or “light” the way to His will.  Those who claim to be walking in God’s light but have hatred in their hearts are simply deceiving themselves.  The basic principle of God’s command was to love other as we would have them love us.  This “Golden Rule” is certainly a great starting point.  This is basic morality as taught in the Old Testament and placed on the hearts of all who bear God’s image.

A NEW COMMANDMENT TO LOVE LIKE JESUS: There is nothing new about the command to love others.  What is new about the commandment that Jesus gave His disciples was that they were to love one another the way that He loved them.  That is a much higher standard than loving the way we want to be loved.  The only way to obey the Christ-like love commandment is because He is in us by the power of the Holy Spirit.  That is how we can be assured of His presence with us is by the love He provides to the lives of otherwise sinful people.  Those who have allowed hatred to overtake their lives are walking in darkness and have become blinded by that darkness.  As followers of Jesus, He has revealed a supper-natural kind of love that we experience from Him and are then called to exemplify on His behalf.  He loves others through us.

APPLICATION: Never allow the gift of God choosing us to be His children to make us proud and cause us to look down at other people.  Observe the sacrificial and unconditional love that Jesus poured out on us and then depend on the Spirit of God to demonstrate that same kind of love to our brothers and sisters in Christ.

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