A New Commandment... or is it?

We continue our series this week, and today’s teaching will be a bit shorter than normal because how the divisions in the text fall. It would be challenging to move on to the next set of passages and keep this teaching to a reasonable length of time, so if you’re ok with me not going on a long and winding sermon, I promise I shall make up for it next week.

Review

We’ve been going through a journey through the book of 1st John, we have seen thus far...

That John's aim is that we may have fellowship with the Father and the Son, so our joy may be full -

That fellowship with the Father is contingent upon:

Walking in thwqse light -

Confessing our sins -

Then in beginning of 1 John 2 we learned to make use of our "advocate" and "propitiation", Jesus Christ the Righteous.

And that fellowship with the Son (Jesus) depends upon our:

Keeping His commandments

Walking as He walked -

-- Otherwise, it is not true that we "abide in Him", nor truly "know Him"

A New Commandment

Having stressed the importance of keeping the commandments of Jesus if we are to have fellowship with Him and the Father...

John proceeds to discuss one commandment in particular.

1 John 2:7–11 TLV

Loved ones, I am not writing a new commandment for you, but an old commandment—one you had from the beginning. This old commandment is the word you have heard. Yet I am writing a new commandment for you, which is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is fading and the true light is already shining. The one who says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in the darkness. The one who 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. He doesn’t know where he is going, because the darkness has made his eyes blind.

He discusses what can be called "A New Commandment" but is it really?

Let's consider first...

The Commandment Itself

Maybe It’s an Old Commandment

He does not write about something totally new to them

But something they had heard "from the beginning" (i.e., from the beginning of the gospel)

Perhaps it Actually is New

That is, it is ever fresh; though old in time, it is never stale

It is a commandment that is ever true in Jesus, and it is true in His disciples

It is both true and new because as John puts it in verse 8, "the darkness is fading and the true light is already shining. "

With the coming of the Messiah Yeshua, light has begun to penetrate the darkness. Consider:

Isaiah 9:2 TLV

You will multiply the nation. You will increase the joy. They will rejoice before You like the joy in the harvest, as they revel when they divide spoil.

That certainly sounds a lot more like light than it does darkness doesn’t it? How about:

Matthew 4:13–17 TLV

Leaving Natzeret, He came and settled in Capernaum, which is by the sea in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali. This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, saying, “Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations— the people sitting in darkness have seen a great light, and those sitting in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.” From then on, Yeshua began to proclaim, “Turn away from your sins, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”

Can’t be any more clear, but John earlier writes in his Gospel:

John 1:4–9 TLV

In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overpowered it. There came a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify about the light, so that through him everyone might believe. He was not the light, but he came to bear witness concerning the light. The true light, coming into the world, gives light to every man.

And Yeshua has this to say about himself.

John 8:12 TLV

Yeshua spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. The one who follows Me will no longer walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

It is a Command to Love One Another

How do we know this?

It is implied by verses 9-11

1 John 2:9–11 TLV

The one who says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in the darkness. The one who 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. He doesn’t know where he is going, because the darkness has made his eyes blind.

But even more, It is stated clearly in

1 John 3:11 TLV

For this is the message you have heard from the beginning—we should love one another.

and again in

1 John 4:21 TLV

And this commandment we have from Him: that the one who loves God should also love his brother.

This command was "from the beginning" of the gospel.

John 13:34–35 TLV

“I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, so also you must love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

and

John 15:12 TLV

“This is My commandment, that you love one another just as I have loved you.

and picking up in verse 17:

John 15:17 TLV

“These things I command you, so that you may love one another.”

What does it mean to "love one another"?

It may be helpful to first review the different Greek words for "love"

"storge" - describes love of family

"eros" - carnal, sexual love

"phileo" - love for dear friends

"agape" - active goodwill toward others

It is "agape" love that we are commanded to have in this text

It is also the same kind of love commanded in:

John 13:34–35 TLV

“I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, so also you must love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

It is that concern to meet the needs of others that is best exemplified in the life and death of Jesus.

1 John 3:16–17 TLV

We have come to know love by this—Yeshua laid down His life for us, and we also ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. But if someone has material possessions and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?

Therefore, to "love one another" is to consider the needs of one another, and to actively work toward meeting those needs (i.e., follow Jesus' example!)

Having identified what commandment is being discussed, consider what John says about...

What if We Fail to Keep this Commandment?

We are in Darkness

When a person claims to walk in the light, but hates his brother, he is still in darkness!

Indeed, he has always been in darkness!

And in fact, "is in darkness until now"

Despite what they may claim, they have not yet passed from darkness to light!

Or as expressed later, they have not yet passed from death to life! -

1 John 3:14 TLV

We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers and sisters. The one who does not love remains in death.

We Have No Idea Where We’re Going

We may "think" we have fellowship with God, that we are saved, but we are blind!

Such a one fails to realize the absurdity of his claim to know and love God.

1 John 4:20 TLV

If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar. For the one who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.

Blinded by darkness (hate), he cannot see that he is on the road to hell!

Given this, does it not then, make sense to strive to keep this commandment? Its importance is further illustrated as we consider...]

What if We Keep the Commandment?

The One Who Keeps the Commandment Abides in the Light

Meaning that they are in full fellowship with the Father!

1 John 1:7a (TLV)

But if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another...

And they enjoy the cleansing power of the blood of Jesus!

1 John 1:7b (TLV)

...and the blood of His Son Yeshua purifies us from all sin.

So unless we love one another, fellowship and forgiveness is not possible!

There is No Cause for Stumbling

1 John 2:10 TLV

The one who loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling.

Abiding in the light, he can see clearly as he walks

Fellowship with God makes it possible to "know where he is going" (unlike the one who hates his brother and is in darkness)

This does not mean he is sinlessness, rather as one walks in the light (in fellowship with God), he knows what to do when he sins, and in what direction he should be headed

1 John 1:9 TLV

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

Conclusion

This new, but not really new commandment is very important:

If we are not keeping it, we are still in darkness!

If we are in darkness...

We are not walking in the light!

We are not having fellowship with God, and the blood of Jesus does not cleanse us from our sins!

We cannot have that "fullness of joy" of which John wrote in

1 John 1:4 TLV

These things we write so our joy may be full.

It is only appropriate, then, to close this week’s teaching with the admonition of John found later in his epistle...

1 John 4:7–8 TLV

Loved ones, let us love one another, for love is from God. Everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

For those of us with friends and families who are not yet Christians, or not currently walking with Him, our attitude should be made in consideration of the next two verses:

1 John 4:9–12 TLV

The love of God was revealed among us by this—that God sent His one and only Son into the world so that we might live through Him. This is love—not that we have loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atonement for our sins. Loved ones, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God. If we love one another, God abides in us and His love is made perfect in us.

Jesus is not only the "propitiation" for our sins, but is available for the whole world . If He loved them, who are we to deny them the same love?