The Test of Love: 1 Jn. 2:7-11

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.”

This is God’s Word! Let us Pray!

How can we know that we are truly saved? In our pursuit of answering this all important question, we are studying verse by verse thru John’s series of tests that measures one’s intimacy with and knowledge of Christ.

1 John presents us with 3 tests by which we may discern whether we know God or not. The first test was theological. Do we believe that Jesus is the Son of God? (and) Do we believe that Christ came in the flesh? The test ends here for those who fail to believe the person and works of Jesus Christ, that is that Jesus is Who He Says He Is! The second test was moral. Are we obeying God’s commandments? This speaks of moral obedience, a new desire to obey God’s commandments. It is not the one who says he knows God who knows God, but the one who keeps His Word. The third test is the social test, which is the focus on today’s sermon. Its the evidence that God has placed a new desire to obey God’s commandments (vv. 3-6). The test exposes whether or not we love others. Do we keep Christ’s commandment to love our neighbor (brother)? Lets walk thru these verses together.

1. Love is the Old Commandment (v. 7)

1 John 2:7 “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.”

First, we note in verse 7, by way of context that the commandment being spoken of here is the love commandment. Verse 10 which is the main point of the sermon today gives us this insight.

1 John 2:10 “Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling.”

John reassures his audience that he is not bringing something new to the table because its an old commandment that you’ve had and heard from the beginning of your Christian life. John was conscious of his Jewish Christian audience who knew their their Old Testament. In no way is John laying additional burdens on this church, but he was encouraging a congregation that was left shaken, confused, and lacked assurance of their salvation after the destructive exit of the Gnostics.

1 John 3:11 “For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.”

The love commandment is rooted in the fifth book of Moses, called Deuteronomy in the Shema, the Jewish confession of faith.

Deut. 6:4-5: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”

The love commandment is rooted in the third book of Moses called Leviticus, in the middle of the “Holiness Code.”

Lev. 19:18: “You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.”

Jesus brings the law and gospel together together into two commandments in:

Matthew 22:37–39 “And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

Point is this: from the very beginning of one’s faith, a Christian is taught that how they behave demonstrates their relationship with Christ. A powerful indicator of this relationship is how one thinks about, acts towards, and treats other professing believers. As with other tests mentioned in 1 John, these are markers of one’s intimacy with and knowledge of Christ.

2. Love is the New Commandment (v. 8)

1 John 2:8 “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.”

Secondly, in verse 8 John tells us by saying, “a new commandment that I am writing to you, which is true in him” is that it finds its newness in Jesus because the command to love others finds its fullest expression, and example in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ.

1) Jesus the Expression of Love

Notice how Jesus Himself is the fullest expression of love.

Jesus is God: John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

God is love: 1 John 4:8 “Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.”

God is love; as the Puritans said, “Christ is love covered over with flesh.”

God’s essence is pure and infinite love, its “abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness” according to Exodus 34:6.

2. Jesus the Example of Love

Next, I want you to see the example of love. Last week, we learned from verse 6: “whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.” If you haven’t noticed yet, John really likes to use metaphorical language along with some of his favorite words like “abide” in referencing to our union, communion, and fellowship with Christ. In other words, those who are relationship with Christ by way of consequences will walk like Jesus, and will have a desire to be like Jesus.

Scripture gives us Christ’s example and motivates us to be conformed to it.

Romans 6:17–18 “But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.”

Here is John speaking to the brethren, I’ve written about these things and you’ve read them and you’ve heard them. I’ve written about the One who brought light into this dark world. Remember when I alluded to Jesus on the Day of the Feast of Tabernacles, in John 8. During the Feast of Tabernacles they would come, and they would light candles and place them on the floor of the outer courts of the sanctuary. And the temple on the last day of the Feast, especially at night, would be lit up with this sort of glow of light. And at the perfect moment Jesus says, “I am the Light of the world.” And if you abide in Jesus Christ, you’re not in darkness, but you’re in the light.

Or maybe I can jog your memory when I wrote about the humility Jesus displayed by washing the dirty feet of His disciples in John 13.

John 13:34–35 “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. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Or maybe just one more example of Jesus’ love that I know you will remember. Jesus is the greatest example of sacrificial love in that He laid down His life for the sake of His brothers.

John 3:16–17 ““For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”

John 15:13 “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.”

The point that John is driving home is to remember the commandment, that is to love one another. “Remember this old commandment that you've heard over and over, that you love one another. And that love is exemplified for us in Jesus Christ. Love like Jesus loved, because the light has come.” John is saying, “Whenever you think about love and what love means, and when you want to define what love looks like, and you want an example for what love might look like in the body of Christ, well, look to Jesus!” John is saying. “Think of Him who thought it not robbery to be equal with God but made Himself of no reputation and humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even a death on the cross.” Love like that: a self-denying love.

3. The Application of Love (vv. 9-11)

Thirdly, in verses 9-11, John shows us the application of love. Not only did Jesus demonstrate the perfect love by expression, and by example, but He commands those who profess to be in relationship with Him to love others as He has loved us. Either you’re a person who loves or you’re a person who hates. There is no middle ground! Either you’re a born-again believer in Christ, or you’re an unbeliever still enslaved to Satan and the presence of love for the brethren or the lack thereof proves to be the evidence of our true spiritual state. So the question is: Are you keeping the commandment of love or not? That is, do you love or hate your brother?

The Professing Only Christian (vv. 9, 11)

1 John 2:9 “Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness.”

Regardless of what you may say, or what claim of faith you may make, if you cannot express love toward your brother you’re still in spiritual darkness. Those who are still in spiritual darkness are not “in Christ” for they are not children of God but children of the Devil. These are those who talk the big talk but cannot walk the walk. Those mentioned in chapter 1 in verses 6, 8, 10, 2:4 and here in verse 9. Their lifestyle of habitually walking in darkness, and refusing to confess their sins is the evidence that they’ve never been drawn to the saving light of Jesus Christ. Meaning they’ve never been drawn to God, because they’re still a slave to sin, serving their flesh and Satan. The most frightening aspect of this is that they’re under the illusion that they’ve been saved. You may have had a spiritual feeling, your emotions may have been heightened, you may have walked an aisle, repeated a prayer, joined a church, received water baptism but if you haven’t received a new heart and a new spirit, you cannot and will not walk in the ways of God.

Part of the authenticity of this love test is not just loving those who love you back but loving those who may be hard to love. Because if we’re honest we don’t get to pick our brothers and sisters, so you and I don’t have a say in who we are to love, because family is family and not all family is easy to love.

Matthew 5:44–48 “But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

May I remind you this morning this is not a suggestion, God has commanded us to love our brothers and sisters.

1 John 2:11 “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.”

Matthew 7:17–20 “So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.”

The point here is simple, by one’s hate for his brother (bad fruit), one’s spiritual state of darkness (bad root) is revealed.

2. The Professing and Possessing Christian (v. 10)

1 John 2:10 “Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling.”

Love of the brethren is the evidence that you are walking (present tense) in the light. For the Christian who understands the necessity of Christian love is also the one who discerns the weight of his redemption will not be a stumbling block of hypocrisy before the lost and dying world. God expresses his love for his people by saying that they are the apple of his eye—the most tender part of the body, which we naturally protect. If we love God, then we will love what he loves. Therefore, we must love the church. To claim to know God while we are unconcerned about our brothers and sisters in Christ is hypocrisy (1 John 4:7–8). Those who despise the church are those most unlike God, who sacrificed his Son for it. On the other hand, those who love God’s people with a Christlike love prove that they are true disciples of Christ (John 13:34–35). When we love one another in Christ, God himself dwells in us, and his love reaches its perfect goal in our lives (1 John 4:12).

The Gospel is that Christ died for sinners and God offers forgiveness and hope and life-changing power to all who will trust in him. The gospel contains not only the commandment to trust Jesus, but also the commandment, in the power of that trust, to be changed into a loving person.

Puritan Richard Sibbes said, “When we see the humility and obedience of Christ, when we look on Christ as God’s chosen servant in all this, and as our surety and head, it transforms us to the like humility and obedience.”

4. Charge to the Church

In closing this morning’s message, I would like to leave the church with this all-important charge. The church is the greatest evangelistic tool we have today in reaching the lost souls in our world but it begins with us loving each other.

George Swinnock said, “The hammer of the law may break the icy heart of a man… and yet it may remain ice.. but.. the fire of love kindly thaws.”

You want to melt the hearts of the spiritually blind that stumble in thru those doors each week, then we must all start loving one another as Christ loved us and gave Himself for His Church. Let us Pray!