1 John 2:7-11 Love the Brotherhood
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Hello, Good Morning, and welcome to Confessors of Christ Church this morning.
Illustration: Gossip: Did you hear that so and so said this or that,
Did you hear that as well? No? Oh I heard this instead. Oh no, you didn’t hear that, I thought for sure it was this.
And they go round and round trying to figure out what was being said instead of going to the person who actually said it.
Instead of going to the source, we go to whoever and whatever is closest to us.
Dare I say, that we do this with Scripture as well.
Today we come to a section of Scripture that can be a little difficult to interpret but I’d like us to journey through its interpretation together.
Interpreting this text correctly is vital to our assurance of faith.
A wrong interpretation of this text can lead to disastrous consequences, some that we are seeing before us today.
Our goal for today is to not only grasp this text but I want us to discover its application.
How are we to live out what is being said this morning?
Being that our text has been, continues to be, and will continue to be misunderstood,
I also want to make it a secondary goal to show how we work through scriptures to understand what the author says.
Now, here at Confessors of Christ Church we believe in what is called Sola Scriptura.
This is the Latin phrase for Scripture alone.
To give you a quick spoiler, we are going through the 5 Solas as a Bible study early next year, and I’m really excited for this study.
So, what does Sola Scriptura mean?
It means that we get our understanding of God, our understanding of ourselves, our understanding of Salvation, from God’s Word Alone.
We do not look to a Pope, we do not look to a denomination, we do not look to a prophet, we do not look to a teacher, we look to God’s complete Word.
The Scriptures are our standard.
Paul wanted to make sure we understood this as well when He wrote to Timothy and the Spirit preserved it for us today.
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,
This leads us to know that Scripture is from God and what we use to teach, correct, train and reproof.
This also means that we would do well to know how to interpret Scripture.
Here’s a question for you: Have you ever heard someone say, well that’s your interpretation of what the Bible says?
Does it mean that we can’t really know what the author meant and God inspired?
Should we really go around and get everyone’s opinion and be fine if they contradict each other?
No, we shouldn’t do that,
We should seek to understand what the author meant through proper hermeneutics and the power of the Spirit.
What is hermeneutics?
We discussed this during our Doctrines of Grace Bible Study and we will have one final study this coming Wednesday.
It’s not too late to jump in and catch up through our Youtube channel.
So, back to our question, what is hermeneutics?
We get a hint if we continue in 2nd Timothy.
Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.
It is rightly handling the word of truth.
Understanding it, interpreting it, and doing it correctly.
When rightly understood, Scripture will not contradict itself and will point us to God’s purpose and will.
Scripture will reveal to us God.
We begin by reading a verse or a section of Scripture and we try to see what the author’s intentions are.
We seek verses around the passage we are looking at in order to get its context.
We look at the entire book or letter to see if we can get the thrust or the purpose.
Then we test it to other writings by the same author and then the New Testament and lastly all of Scripture.
When it is especially difficult we try to find clear teachings on the same topic to help us interpret the more difficult teachings.
Today we are going to look at what John is talking about when he mentions an Old Commandment.
Then he is going to mention a new commandment.
This comes right after he tells us that the true believers will be those who follow Jesus’s commandments.
What does it all mean? How does this Word from God transform us today?
Let us not delay and look at our text in hopes to unpack it and see what beauties and wonders will unfold.
Open your Bibles to 1 John Chapter 2 verses 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.
Here we have a seaming contradiction along with fairly vague language.
John is writing no new commandment, then says he’s writing a new commandment.
John says he’s writing an old commandment that we already know of, but, at the same time writing a new commandment that we need to know.
John says this is a commandment from the beginning, but the beginning of what? Time? Life? Generation?
John uses imagery language like light and true light along with darkness and walking.
How are we to interpret this?
John uses a term like brother, but what does he mean by this? What if you don’t have a brother?
Lastly we see John talk of hate. What does He mean by hate? In the positive, what does John mean by love?
I will certainly answer these things, but I believe it will be beneficial if I not only answer them, but show you how I come to the answers.
Not only show you how I come to the answers but show you how applying these answers and how that changes everything.
So, let’s begin with the first verse and let’s discover what John is wanting to tell us.
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.
So let’s see what we already know about who and what John is talking about to see if we can understand what he means.
John begins by addressing us as his beloved. His greatly loved.
Early we see him use the phrase, my little children.
John is speaking to those who are believers. He is speaking to Christians. Whom He loves dealer.
John is not speaking to everyone, He is speaking specifically to those whom He has spent considerable time with already in this letter....
Who have tested themselves and found themselves to be in the faith, fully trusting, and relying upon Jesus.
We know this to be true based on everything John has already spoken of in this letter.
We can also know this to be true because of how John summarizes this letter.
I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.
The purpose and point of this letter is to give those who claim to be believers, assurance that we are believers.
So, we see that John is speaking to us who are believers....
So we have that as our initial context
Now, what does John want to tell us?
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.
Do you remember our series on the 10 commandments?
A commandment is a divine authoritative command.
John isn’t changing anything, he’s not giving a new divine authoritative command.
But, John is pointing that this is a command that they have had from the beginning.
Now, a question arises as to what is meant by beginning?
He is telling us something we have had from the beginning and that which we have heard.
In one concept John has used this term to mean beginning of all things.
1 John 2:13 (ESV)
I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning.
In a few verses from now John is going to speak of Jesus who is from the beginning.
This should remind us of John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word.
He could mean the beginning of Jesus’s ministry and the teaching and life of Jesus.
Let’s see if our next verse gives us context.
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.
John helps us answer the question of the previous verse by showing us that this revelation that He is presenting is true because of Jesus.
Which would lead us to believe that this commandment that is being spoken of has to do with Jesus.
At this point we see that this commandment has to do specifically with Jesus and the life of Jesus.
The life and ministry of Jesus is what is bringing about this new commandment.
This is important because we saw John last week tie our assurance, the assurance of our faith, to the commandments of Jesus.
So, this seems to be a continuation of that thought or mindset.
Let’s remind ourselves of this verse.
And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments.
John, last week told us something incredibly important to our assurance of salvation.
We know Jesus if we keep His commandments.
Thus we know we are still journeying through John’s unpacking of the difference between the believer and the unbeliever.
He is still showing us how to test our faith to see if it is a self-made manufactured faith, or if it is an authentic God-given faith.
Let me stop here for just a moment to make sure we understand the weight of what John is saying.
There is no greater importance in your life than to know whether you are in Christ or not.
There is no greater treasure that you can discover than to discover whether you are in Christ or not.
There is no greater purpose in your life than to know with assurance if you are in Christ or not.
If you have assurance this morning, then today’s message should invigorate your soul.
This should not be a message you check out on or feel isn’t important.
These verses should cause praise to burst out and worship to spring forth.
To know with assurance that Jesus is secured to you and you secured to Jesus is the most hopeful and glorious news you could receive.
Now, based on the context being assurance, based on our assurance being in Jesus,
Based on a test of this assurance being that those in Jesus follow the commandments of Jesus.
John is going to give us a commandment that is an old commandment from Jesus, but a new commandment at the same time.
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.
Look at what is happening.
John is saying that while this is an old commandment and something from the beginning that Jesus spoke of,
Something Jesus spoke of in His life and ministry, something new has happened.
Is this a contradiction? No.
What is new that has happened since the commandments were given from the beginning?
Jesus.
Not only Jesus as our Savior, but Jesus also as our example.
The new commandment that John is writing is true because of Jesus and us being in Jesus.
Darkness is passing away because Jesus has come into the world.
Jesus is the true light that is shining and continues to shine.
But, we could still be confused as to how this all ties together, and now John is going to give us clarity.
Not only clarity in this commandment that he speaks of, but also clarity in the assurance of our Salvation.
Which, we must not forget is the main point of his letter.
Let’s see this commandment now before us.
Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness.
And here it is, here we see the commandment that John is speaking of.
In the negative John uses hate, in the positive John is going to speak of Love
Using negative language this commandment is that we shall not hate our brothers.
In the positive, John will say in the next verse, we are to love our brothers.
This idea of love and hate aimed at our brothers is a determination of whether we are in light or in darkness.
John has used light to mean that of holiness and righteousness.
John also used it when saying God is light and that if we are in Christ, then we will walk in holiness and righteousness.
Meaning that our actions will be that of holiness and righteousness.
Therefore, if you say that you are a believer and walking in holiness and righteousness, but you hate your brother, then you are an unbeliever.
You are not a true believer, you are not a true Christian.
Let me ask you this: Have you heard of this commandment before?
Have you heard something similar directly from Jesus, Himself?
We actually went through it not too long ago in the Gospel of John.
Listen to this and see if you remember it.
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.
Jesus is telling his disciples that he is giving them a new commandment. One not of hate, but of love.
They are specifically to love one another and their love of one another displays their salvation as they walk in the light.
So Jesus is speaking of the disciples loving each other,
But, what does John mean when he declares this new commandment.
John refers to loving our brothers? What is meant by brother?
What if you do not have a brother?
First, John means this is a new commandment in that Jesus is declaring the old principle of love for each other.
It is from Him and now to us, so that we can now participate after Jesus has left, in bringing forth this commandment of love to each other.
But, this is aimed specifically. Specifically to brothers, what does this mean?
John is meaning other believers, other Christians, others who are walking in the light, as our brothers.
Jesus declared that each of the disciples were each others brothers.
Those who are in Christ and have put their faith and trust in Jesus, are our brothers.
Let’s see this in Scripture.
So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”
Paul and Ananias were not literal brothers.
If anything they were literal enemies.
Paul persecuted and killed Christians.
But because of Christ, they were now brothers, they were enemies, but now they are brothers.
This clearly shows us the transformation that happens between enemies and family because of Christ.
Now, let’s go to Paul himself.
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
As you can see we are going to other parts of the new testament and other writers to make sure we understand clearly what John is saying.
Paul and timothy where not family from a blood standpoint.
But they were family from a spiritual standpoint.
Now, let’s turn to Jesus who gave us this understanding in the first place.
For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”
Jesus now shows us that brother is a general term that includes everyone who is a believer.
Whether you are a brother, a sister, a mother.
Thus we see that this is an old/new commandment that will determine whether you are in the faith.
If you hate your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, then you are not in the light, but still in darkness.
John now moves to the positive side in this next verse.
Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling.
Here is another test that we can use to see if we are in the light or in the dark.
Another test to see if we are truly Christians or if we are lying to ourselves and to others.
Do we love our fellow believers in Christ.
This is a question we must test and ask ourselves.
Yet, this is key and this may blow your mind when you see it.
John is specific about who we should love.
Many people and even denominations get this wrong and it steers them in a wildly different area than John is saying.
John is not saying that, “whoever says he is in the light, and hates the people of the world, is still in darkness.”
No, John is saying our brothers and sisters in Christ, he is not talking about everyone outside of these doors.
The issue is that we are called to call out sin, we are called to rebuke the world, and call everyone to repentance.
What is greatly troubling right now is that denominations are beginning to accept sin and rebellion against God in the name of Love.
They can point to this verse as reasons why we must love everyone.
Then they give a new definition of love along with a new definition of brothers, that is not biblical, and we see people go very wrong and astray.
The Gospel is no longer the Gospel if it does not include confronting sin and turning from Sin.
This is what John spent so much time telling us that if we say we have no sin or do not sin, then we are not in Christ.
Hear me this morning: It is the most loving thing we can do to tell someone that they are dead in their sins and Jesus is the answer.
The greatest problem we have has the greatest solution in Christ.
John is saying that whoever says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is still in darkness, and not saved.
We are not to hate other believers, but we can in love call believers back to Jesus if they have fallen into unrepentant sin.
Matthew 18 is the chapter on church discipline which is where we call out to those in sin that are believers to when them back to Christ.
And we are to share the Gospel with believers, and also with the world, calling them from their unrepentant sin.
This is the most loving thing we could possibly do.
To really hate someone is to not be willing to tell them about their sin so that they perish in it.
Well, “I don’t want to offend them, I don’t want to hurt their feelings, I don’t want them to be angry with me.”
But you would rather them die in their sins and spend eternity in damnation?
Now, I am not contradicting the teachings we have been doing on the Doctrines of Grace.
God is still sovereign even if we are disobedient to the call of missions.
God can still use someone else to share the Gospel if you refuse to.
You, to the praise and glory of God’s name, cannot thwart God’s plan.
But, you are in direct disobedience to God’s Word if you do not share the good news of Jesus with those around you.
The issue is that hate, based on the world’s definition, is disagreeing with it.
Hate speech is saying anything that doesn’t line up with their standards.
How many of us, including myself, have tried to tip toe around the constant cultural shift.
Yet, do we ever consider what the culture is doing to be hate speech to our God?
Do you ever consider that what is being said from our culture is hate speech to our Creator?
Are you more concerned about holding on to culture’s good graces over God’s?
I must be careful because I’m going to go off topic.
My point is that we have to define hate, not by the world’s standards, but by God’s Standard.
Hate is in opposite of love.
Love does not mean accepting what is wrong. This is not love.
Love is pointing people to Jesus.
We love by caring for one another, respecting one another, encouraging one another, and pointing one another to Christ in all things.
We hate one another when we ignore them, refuse to pray for them, are selfish in our time and point them to the world instead of Jesus.
If we hate those who are professing believers in Christ, then we are walking in Darkness.
Let’s look at our final verse.
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 has used this term, “walk” already in first John, so we should already know that it is a lifestyle.
To walk in darkness is to live a lifestyle that is opposed to God.
It is to live a lifestyle that is against the commandments of Jesus.
It is to say that we have no sin or we do not sin.
It is to hate other believers.
To be unrepentant puts you in darkness.
It is not just to be in the dark, it is walking in the dark and the darkness has blinded your eyes.
You do not see where you are going, what you are doing, because you do not even see as you should.
Paul echos this thought of darkness and blindness in the famous first chapter of Romans.
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.
They just do not see it.
For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
They have no excuse before God, no reason that would be valid.
For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.
This is who John is speaking of.
These are those who walk in darkness with blinded eyes.
These are the people who’s only hope is the Gospel and only Hope is that God would grant repentance.
But, John is not just concerned about the unbelievers.
John is not writing this letter that we are currently in, for the unbelievers,
He already did that in His Gospel.
John is mainly concerned about those who claim to be believers.
John is mainly concerned that those who claim to be believers truly are believers.
And that they have assurance in their faith.
This is what John’s main and over arching point consists of.
Let me close with a sneak peak at a future verse.
In our hermeneutical interpretation we must also look at the context of the letter itself.
John gives us the interpretation.
For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.
You’ve heard me say many times that what sets the church a part from the world is its love for one another.
The love that we have for each other and how we got each other’s backs.
The love that we have for each other and how we make sure no one goes without.
The love that we have for each other and how we hold Christ as high and lifted up over everything else.
On Tuesday we are going to go to the polls if you haven’t already done so.
But, the way someone votes will have no effect on the relationship of those who are in Christ, because we are not united in politics.
We are not united in our policies.
Matter of fact I know for a fact that many in here disagree with others in this church even if you do not know it.
Part of the perks or curse of being a pastor, I guess.
Yesterday, I was over at Brad’s house watching the Tennessee vs Georgia game.
Brad with his Tennessee Orange on and Brandon and Victoria in their Georgia Red.
Yet, the love for each other made it enjoyable even when one was winning and one was losing.
Ned wore Teal in an attempt to love both Brad and Brandon well.
I just wore whatever I had on my back because I barely knew who was playing, I just knew Brandon was making pork sliders.
But, what brought these few together was not football or food, but what unites our friendships is Christ.
It isn’t just the good things it can also be the difficult things.
When sin and our flesh get in the way.
When we find ourselves slipping in the wrong direction.
It is the love we have for each other to point us back to Christ and rest in the forgiveness and advocacy of our Savior.
When the world would say it is impossible.
The Christian says all things are possible for those who believe.
This is what we are invited into today.
This is what our call is this morning.
We have an opportunity to unite around something not temporary, not that resets every year or every 4 years.
We have the opportunity to unite around that which is everlasting to everlasting.
The Believer is the one who loves their Brother’s and Sisters in Christ.
My goal this morning is to show us this verse, yes.
My secondary goal is to show you how I came to the conclusion of the interpretation of this verse. 100%
I hope I have done so.
But, none of this matters if it does not transform us and we actually apply what it is being taught.
Is there someone whom is a believer that you hold hate towards.
Now I’m not saying it isn’t wise to hold someone at a distance if they are stumbling or trying to figure this out and have targeted you in an unfair way.
In love you think of them, pray for them, but not engage with them.
But, there should not be hate in your heart.
We must remember that we have been forgiven by God more than we could ever forgive someone else.
Therefore, we are free to extend grace because graced has been flooded into our lives by and through Jesus.
This morning I invite you to test yourself to see if you are in the faith.
This morning I invite you into a time of repentance if there is someone that you know to be a true believer, but hold out hatred towards them due to an event.
Due to our fallen and brokenness, due to our struggle in a sinful world.
A true believer is someone who loves their brothers and sisters in Christ.
Is that you this morning?
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I want to do something a little different.
I’m going to invite Josiah up to play some music, not to create any emotional response, but to help us focus without distractions, what I’m calling us to do.
I want to spend a few moments asking God to reveal to our hearts anyone that we may hold hate towards that is a believer in Christ.
I want you to spend a few moments asking God to show you this person in your minds eye.
Then I want you to ask for forgiveness and ask God for the opportunity and the situations to make it right.
If this person is no longer with us then give the situation fully to God and receive His grace and forgiveness.
I want us to do this instead of our normal prayers that we do during this time.
In a few moments I’ll come back up and we will continue with our offering and communion.
Let us go before the Lord Now.