1 John 2:7–14 Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning. This old command is the message you have heard. Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining. Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him. I write to you, dear children, because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name. I write to you, fathers, because you have known him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, dear children, because you have known the Father. I write to you, fathers, because you have known him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God lives in you, and you have overcome the evil one.
John writes here, “I am not giving you a new command but an old one. Oh, but I do have a new command for you.” Confused? Let’s dig into this a bit.
God has always wanted us to love one another. That was His plan. The Ten Commandments were telling us how to love.
Deuteronomy 6:5 “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.”
Leviticus 19:18 “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself.”
Romans 13:10 “Love is the fulfillment of the law.”
When Jesus summarized the Law, He wasn’t saying anything new:
Matthew 22:37-39 “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ”
God’s Law was given to tell us how to love Him and our neighbor. But Jesus also said,
John 13:34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.
While the command sounds the same, there is a new element here. He is telling us to love the way He loves. John writes about this using his theme of light in the darkness. Those who live in the light, followers of Jesus, will not let the world define what love is and what love is not. They will emulate Jesus, striving to love others the way He did. We do this because we live in the forgiveness that He earned for us through His self-sacrifice on the cross.
The command has always been to love. The “new” part of the command is that Jesus showed us the right way to do it. He set the standard, and we try to love that way.
Love one another.
